Reality Check

The picture was taken at Kever Rochel 14th November 2012 while the local Arabs were firing stones and missiles at the people praying inside . When choosing to make Alyiah to live in Israel, one knows there is a security risk, and in the nearly seven years since my arrival I there has been a war in the north, terrorist attacks, a terrorist murder in the village where I live, continual bombardment of missiles in the south of Israel. One almost becomes immune to the war going on around you and gets on with daily life, offering support to people in affected areas. Last week the war became more personal, on Wednesday while visiting Kever Rochel ( Rachels Tomb) with some ladies from my yeshuve ( village) to daven ( pray) & for a Rosh Codesh farbrengn,a get together to celebrate the new month, the local Arab youth attacked the area with rocks missiles and stones, the army secured the area, and we carried on inside after an hour the all clear was sounded, our group emerged none the worse for wear fortified by Johnny Walker gold label from one of the ladies hip flask! However you could see the faces of some of the women in other groups visibly shocked and shaken. Living in the Gush, there is a risk factor, there have been drive by shooting, cars being stoned, and murders from our less than friendly neighbours but these are not an everyday occurrence. Normally in our village life goes on at a regular pace, babies are born, we celebrate bat and bar mitzvahs, engagements and weddings, people get sick, we come together for funerals and shivas, we support care for , and look out for each other, we laugh over the fact we live in a small village but might not see each other from one month to the next, we send meals in when babies are born, give each other rides to near and far and lend each other cups of sugar carrots or silver foil when the makolet is shut. The scenery is stunning, the life her is not luxury but for the main part we all have what we need if not what what we want to get by. On Friday night just as Shabbat came in and the shul had just started, the siren rang out, many people living here had never heard it before and were not aware of what to to do or where to go. Students from an Anglo midreshet ran swiftly to a neighbour's safe room, other people ran into stairwells and corridors. I was at a friends house who husband is disabled and chronically sick ironically after being shot when serving in the IDF during the Yom Kippur war, we hardly heard the siren over the noise of his oxygen machine, she also has two children one in a wheelchair and one with kidney disease , we sat in her lounge as we realised that there was no way we could get her husband and his breathing machine and the two children into the shelter in time. We pondered about the location of the warning, maybe it was a mistake, maybe the wind set of the siren. After the all clear I went next door, and discovered that a bomb had fallen not that far away, but no one was hurt. The Rabbi's son told me what to do and where to go if the sirens went again. After ensuring my friend was ok and was aware of how to get her kids to safety if the siren went again I went with the Rebbitzin of the yeshuve to check in on and talk to a group of 30 North American sem girls that were visiting the yehuve for Shabbat. I went to bed Friday night dressed in a long housecoat a woolly hat, thick socks, my slippers placed just by my bed, my coat on the end of the bed and my shelter bag packed with medicine, tehillim spare charged cell phone toothbrush spare pants and a picture of my grandchildren, It's a two minute fast trot across an unlit rocky garden to my nearest shelter,the bag is on my door, In the south they only have 15 seconds, This week was a reality check, the ice cold fear and adrenaline rush that kicks in when a siren goes off is unbelievable, I have only had to experience it once but the people in the south are subjected to it every day day in and day out..how can they endure it? It is true to say that life will continue in my sleepy village at the same pace, however the reality of Israel at war has hit home. Outside of the village there will be fatalities there will be grieving parents, and spouses, there will be traumatised children, then life will continue although for some it might never be the same. May all my friends and their families stay safe May all the people in the south stay safe and strong. May this conflict end soon and life return to peace in our precious little country very very soon. Have a good and safe week.