Hope you’re good at math and logistics

Today’s headline on Times of Israel: IDF threatens Hezbollah as US says it is in talks with Israel for Gaza ‘safe zones’

What is there to say at this point, almost two weeks into the war?

There are rockets from the north, rockets from the south, sometimes at the same time. There is a calculation of when is the best time of day to take a shower in Israel based on where you are located. I’d tell you, but I’m afraid Hamas will read this and use it against us.

They’ve run out of everything in Gaza, everything except, that is, rockets and kidnap victims.

Hamas is blocking its citizens from leaving, from evacuating, because — GOD FORBID — their human shields run away.

This week, I checked in one on of my Palestinian friends; he’s safe and wished me safety and better times together. But who knows when that will come…

Because now Iran is poking the bear, American soldiers are being attacked on bases in Iraq, and Jews are being attacked around the world. At least in Israel you know what to expect and who will protect you.

This is where sheer logistics comes into play.

You know exactly how much time you need to run a certain distance to safety, so you calculate which park you can take your kids to, whether with one parent or two. You have confidence that the older kids can run to a safe room within 90 seconds, but you certainly cannot count on the 5 and 3-yo running the right way… so they have to be grabbed on the way; bikes can be left behind.

Oh and better, the kids are not yet returning to school yet – there is no safe space on the campus and simply not enough security guards to protect all the children. On a lighter note, we did just receive note that the extracurriculars (chugim) are back on since our community center has a large security room, enough for everyone.

But see, that’s where we are. We are now officially statisticians and logisticians. We weigh the risk of doing something ‘normal’ (grocery shopping, showering, taking my kids to a chug) and analyze the cost of a rocket hit, an injury, a kill.

And sometimes, you have had enough, and you just have to say,

F*CK IT. F*CK YOU, HAMAS.