At a Movie. With Our Granddaughter. In Haifa.

Our granddaughter Ahava is seven, and a half. Weally. And a half. You can ask her yourself.

After months of regularly scurrying for the bomb shelter in their building, and given that Ahava’s little heart beats extra fast when funder ripples through the night air, or a brother slams a door, her parents had a serious decision to make.

Which movie with Saba, that’s me, would be less skawy and less likely to stir a wave of trauma? Would Mufasa be the safer bet, or Sonic the Hedgehog 3? We settled on Sonic. Trust me, the only Oscar it might have a shot at is in the least-likely-to-traumatize-little-girls-in-Israel category.

The next day we boarded a bus from Kiryat Tiyvon to the Yes Planet theater in Haifa.

Shortly after settling into our seats, something appeared on the screen between the trailers and the “please silence your phone or we’ll take away your popcorn” announcement. Actually, two somethings appeared.

Something #1:          The what-to-do-in-case-of-incoming-missile-announcement. You know, the one where you are told that the movie will stop, that you should stay in your seat, crouch down, cover your head, try not to spill your Icee slushy drink all over your Saba, and wait ten minutes for our multi-layered missile defense system to work, and for the all-clear to be announced. I’m pretty sure that one caught little Ahava’s attention.

Something #2:          That new El Al commercial. The one starring one of Israel’s most popular singers, Hanan Ben Ari, and his mother. Passengers are boarding, Hanan and his mother are in their seats, and a couple with a baby maneuver down the aisle. They recognize one another from Gaza and exchange greetings. As Hanan begins to tell his mother about the couple, a film of their story appears on the screen. Hanan tells his mother, “Chananya was suddenly called to Gaza and Maya was in her seventh month …one day he got a panicked call from Maya, ‘The baby is coming, I need you…’ but Chananya couldn’t be there, his unit was heading out on a mission, and in the words of his commander, “the nation is depending on us…’”

The film shows Maya giving birth alone. “Those are our heroes,” sighs Hanan Ben Ari’s mother.

Another couple makes its way down the aisle towards their seats. He is using crutches. They recognize Hanan. Another Miluim story unfolds on screen.

After a final reminder to respect those around us and shut our phones, an animated bucket of popcorn reminds everyone to “Enjoy the movie.”

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 began with a booming, clashing, exploding alien hedgehog battle scene, and with my granddaughter clutching my arm and burying her face in my sweater. Would she have done the same if she hadn’t experienced the shocking sirens of Oct. 7^th and the murder of her uncle’s best friend at Nova? Would she have done the same if her brother’s classmate had not lost his father in battle to Hamas? Would she have done the same if she had not run who knows how many times to the bomb shelter?

Who knows.

Enjoy the movie.