It’s still October 7

The 6 months since October cannot be described really. I’ve heard people use the term “rollercoaster”, but to me, most rollercoasters are fun, even if there are moments of fear while on the ride, when you get off the coaster at the end, you feel invigorated, elevated, on a high, you may even want to queue up to do it again.

This is not something that can be said about the reality since October 7th. Even when this war comes to an end, there will be nothing good about the feelings it will leave behind.

So many lives lost. So many lives changed forever. So many young people who have lost limbs, who have lost their friends. So many parents who have buried their children. So many grandparents who have buried grandchildren.
So many homeless. Refugees in their own country.
Cannot return home because they have no home to return to.
Cannot return home because it is not safe.
Cannot return home because of the trauma home now contains.

The world yet again has turned against Israel and the Jews. This tiny oasis in the Middle East. A paradise surrounded by enemies who want to annihilate her and her people, and who then want to go on and take over the West. The West who is so blind to the truth. The West who is so ignorant of the culture in this corner of the world. The West who bribes us to “stop the war” that we didn’t start, conveniently forgetting the complicity of the “civilians” they claim to be concerned about, in the actions of October 7th.

None of this should surprise me, and none of it really does. As the months go by, I understand more and more how the Holocaust happened, and how the Nazis got away with so much before the world intervened.
Today, with the instant access to photographic evidence, the live broadcast of the atrocities carried out by Gazans on October 7th, the world still continues to turn a blind eye. How much easier it was to turn a blind eye in the 1940s! When it took weeks for news to travel and for photographs to be developed.

No, we are not living on a rollercoaster right now. We are living on the hamster wheel of Jews and Israel. Round and round and round and round. Nothing changes. History repeats itself time and time again.

The only thing that we have to hold on to is our faith in God. Somehow we have to cling to that, and to believe in His Divine plan. I am not strong enough to allow that belief to hold me constantly. I am human after all. I cry most days, for the lives lost – those I knew, and those I do not. I cry for my son who is now a man, not because he is 20, but because of what he has seen. I cry for my daughters because I believe that one day they too will be mothers to children they will have to send to the army. I cry for them because of the friends they have lost, and the friends of friends, and the friends of friends of friends. Because we are a tiny country. There is no single person in Israel who has not been affected by this war. Everyone knows someone. Everyone has lost someone, or knows someone who has lost someone.
I cry for the hostages, alive and dead. Those who are still alive, may wish they were dead, for who knows what torture they are experiencing at the hands of these monsters. I cry for their families who just want them home. I cry for the children whose parents are gone, whose siblings are gone.
I cry for me, for the fear that envelopes me every time my son calls and says “I love you Mommy, they’re taking our phones”.

This is no rollercoaster. This is our lives. This is our existence. This is our past, our present and our future.
God, I cannot claim to know Your plan, I can only pray that the fate of these people will be like that of the others who have tried to destroy Your people. Just please hurry. Please.

If you’ve read this and would like to help us raise money for soldiers were lease use this link:

https://my.israelgives.org/en/fundme/IronSwordRelief

All money raised goes directly to help soldiers get equipment that can be lifesaving. Please specify Gdud 202/Elnadav Brooks at the end of your transaction in the box for messages. Thank you!

Part II

The kids are now practically Israeli (just not the Hebrew speaking kind). They drink chocolate milks from bags, know where the nearest makolet (mini-mart) is, go alone to the park and know how to use the “rav kav” card thingamabob on the buses.

We’re definitely still on our “aliyah-moon” – even when I get annoyed about things, I manage to brush it off with “yiyeh b’seder” (it’ll be ok) and get on with things. The hardest thing we dealt with last week, was not our first siren (that came last Tuesday night) but hearing that our lift would not reach the port in Ashdod until September 8th, and therefore we won’t have our stuff until some time after that. I stewed over that for a few hours, because as pioneering as I am (those of you who know me well, are no doubt snorting liquid out from your nostrils right now at the thought of me being a pioneer at all….) spending another 3 weeks at least without a real cooking utensil, and more importantly, without my make up and nail polish, is really just a  bit much. I can sleep on a mattress on the floor. I can wash the same towels and sheets over and over. I can even manage to cook with the few things people have lent us, and hopefully we will get a real fridge soon which will enable me to shop for more than a day at a time.

But I really want my clothes. I’m tired of the few things I’ve been wearing non stop for 3 weeks. I want to do my nails. Everywhere we go people ask me what my work is here, and I tell them “I’m a certified nail professional”. They probably think I’m certifiable because my nails are unpolished and boring. Oh well. Yiyeh b’seder…

So, we had our first “azaka” (siren) last Tuesday night. It was about 10:45pm, all the kids were in bed, and Keith & I were working on stuff on laptops. The noise started, we glanced at each other for a split second, and both said “oh, that is definitely a siren”. In that split second, our 12 year old woke up, left her bedroom, went straight into the safe room (our 10 year old’s bedroom), opened the window and pulled shut the sealed shutters. Like a pro. Keith picked up our sleeping 7 year old, the dog followed us all, and into the room we went. Our 10 year old woke up only after the siren had stopped and said “what are you all doing in my room?” The 7 year old woke up briefly, and the dog farted, which really was enough to make everyone wish away those 10 minutes really, really fast… No one panicked, no one was scared, everyone went straight back to sleep, and that was that. It did prompt some interesting conversations the next day. Everywhere we went, the kids paid attention, and asked where we would go for cover if there was another siren. But not in any way that makes us  believe they were scared. They are just aware now. 90 seconds is a long time to get to safety, as long as you’re in a built up area. We are lucky, in the south, they only have 15 seconds.

We dealt with more bureaucracy during the week too, with a visit to the Absorption Ministry (how many countries have one of those, by the way? A ministry dedicated solely to helping immigrants?) We learned about the “sal klita” – the absorption basket – money that we will start to receive shortly, and Keith was given information about Ulpan (Hebrew classes). Ulpan, by the way, is 100% free, plus the Absorption Ministry reimburses you 90% of your travel expenses! What a country. 

We got everyone fully signed up for health care. For the first year it is completely free. Imagine that! When I moved to the US from the UK, it was next to impossible for me to get health insurance as an individual who was willing to pay for it, let alone get anything for free! After the first year, health insurance is covered by the Israeli equivalent of social security, but the cost is negligible compared to what you pay in the US. I’m not  going to argue with anyone over the quality of Israeli vs US healthcare, I’ll just say that I’ve lived in Ireland, Israel, the UK and the US, and the US has by far the absolute worst health care system, and Israel has by far the very best. Nothing is perfect.

We went to purchase textbooks for the kids for school. School is free, but the parents buy the books. I was completely overwhelmed when we walked into the store. So I asked if I could possibly leave the lists with them, and come pick up the books when they were ready. They told me yes. When I told someone this in synagogue on Shabbat she said “oh you’re already so Israeli!” – And there was me thinking it was a very Boca thing to do!

Our 12 year old starts school on Thursday. She has an orientation on Wednesday afternoon. Today we drove by her school to see where it is, as we had no idea. It’s a brand new  building, just completed this summer, and from the outside it looks very, very nice. A large building, on lots of campus grounds. She’s a little nervous, but also excited. She has met a number of girls that she will be in school with, and 7th grade is the entrance grade at the school, so it’s new to all of them. She has a late start this year, compared to last year – she’ll be picked up by the bus at 7:15 instead of 7, and the bus is picking her up outside our building. Score!

We have rented a car for the week, so we can explore a little further outside of Rehovot. I have a special birthday coming up on Wednesday. I really wanted a Nespresso coffeemaker for my birthday, but instead, it looks like I will be getting either a bed, a fridge, a washer, or if I’m very lucky indeed, a printer…

Yiyeh B’seder!

 

I’m not really a liberal

I write this with tears pouring down my face. I can barely breathe, and I keep checking my Facebook feed in case I am mistaken.

The bodies of three Israeli teenagers (one, a dual citizen of the US and Israel) who were abducted 18 days ago while on their way home from school, have just been found.

Eyal Yifrach. Gil-ad Shaar. Naftali Fraenkel.

Aged 16 and 19 years old. Children. Sons, grandsons, brothers, nephews. Kids.

The boys were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists, as they waited to hitch a ride home for Shabbat. I’m not going to write about hitchiking and its dangers here, because in truth, when it comes to hitching in Israel (called “tremping”) it’s not something you can understand unless you have lived there.

My friends in the US think of me as a liberal, because I believe in equality for all US citizens, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. This has resulted in me having the label “LIBERAL” stuck on me.

But I’ve always said that when it comes to Israel everything changes.

Right now, right at this moment, all I can think is “Hashem Yinkom D’mam” – “God will avenge their blood”. And by that I mean, Tzahal, the IDF, with God’s help, of course. Because Hamas are terrorists. Because the majority of Palestinians do not want a two state solution, or any other kind of peace with Israel. The majority of Palestinians are not a “peace loving people”. They want to annihilate the Jewish state of Israel, and all the Jews within. In all likelihood, within the next hour or two, we will start to hear stories coming out of Gaza and Ramallah, and other areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority of celebrations. What are they celebrating? The deaths of 3 children. 3 children abducted and brutally murdered on their way home from school. For no reason other than being Jews living in the land of Israel.

Let Israel hold back nothing when chasing down the animals responsible for this. And they will find them. Enough deals. Enough “peace talks” – there cannot be peace with a people who rule with terrorism.

Baruch Dayan HaEmet. May the memories of Eyal, Gil-ad and Naftali be for a blessing, and may their families, somehow, find comfort as they become a part of the ever growing “Mishpachot sh’kulot” – bereaved families – in Israel.