Shalom friends
Last night, after breaking the Tisha Be' Av fast, I sat at the computer trying to write a report of these last days events.
Words failed me. Every hour the reports of the number of casualties increased. First it was 2 in Acco then 2 in Maalot. Then an additional youngster from Maalot died on the way to the hospital bringing the number up to 3, then it was another one in Acco, and another one…
And the soldiers killed in battle... while they were burying Sgt Michael Levine in Jerusalem, they reported 2 killed, later another one. By morning it was 4 soldiers killed and 8 civilians. But the stress doesn’t stop. Because then you wait every hour, to hear the names of the casualties. It takes time before they announce the names (there has to be positive identification, then families need to be notified, and only later the names are made available to the general public).
It is Friday afternoon here. The Victims of yesterday's terrorist barrage are being laid to rest for the last time. 44 year old Shimon Zaribi and his 15 year old daughter. 39 year old Tiran Tamam and his 51 year old brother Aryeh. Tiran was born after the 6 day war and was called Tiran after the Tiran straights that were re-opened in that war. His wife and children were already in a tent village in Nitsaninm in the south of the country. Aryeh's wife Zviah his son Etgar (10) and daughter Noa (6) were injured and are in the same hospital room bereaving the loss of husband and father.
And the soldiers… These young handsome boys/men, who are each and every one of our's son's/ brothers/friends/ nephews… These brave youngsters, who gave the ultimate sacrifice in order to secure Israel. The stories of their valor, their incredible character, their families, all of these fill our minds and hearts to the brink...
Yet we remain optimistic. As we move from the 3 weeks of "Bein Ha-Maytsarim" those 3 weeks of tragic events in our Jewish history.
Wow! The siren is sounding. I will get back to you…
That was quite an experience. We all went quietly down to the shelter. Our upstairs neighbor was just bathing their 1 year old baby. The other neighbors were just on the way to their car to go to their parents in Natanya for the weekend. The shelter - though clean - is stifling . My heart goes out to people who need to stay there for hours, not mention days.
My youngest son Noam (10) was - and still is- frightened. The rockets fell north of here, and its not quite clear why the sirens went off here. Meanwhile its reported that 1 of the rockets fell in the Arab village of M'rar, and there is one casualty, additional rockets fell in Kiryat Shmona, with one serious wounded. Etc…
And yet - as I mentioned before I was so rudely interrupted - we remain optimistic. After all we are the promised people living in the promised land. We just commemorated Tisha Be Av, probably the worst, most horrific of all our tragedies, yet here we are 2500 years later, still kicking.
I am going to sit with Noam for a bit, then continue our preparation for a peaceful Shabbat here in Yokneam.
Shabbat Shalom
Hanan