Oy, Here we go again. Maspeek!

MASPEEK!

I said “lila tov” to my daughter who lives in Tel Aviv. The next thing I saw on the internet news were reports that missiles had been intercepted and extra loud BOOMS were heard across Tel Aviv. I did not want to wake my daughter, but I assumed she knew what was going on; perhaps the siren sounded and woke her. I decided not to get in touch with her; I would wait until the morning to check in.

I used to wake up at 3am New York time to say “‘boker tov” to my daughter but since she told me that upset her to know I was awake in the middle of the night, I stopped. Instead I wait until around 6:30 or 7am before I sign onto Skype to find her already done with lunch and working away at her desk in Tel Aviv. The time difference can certainly be annoying. In any case, I asked her the following morning how she was the night before with the booms. She made light of it because it was not so heavy for her anymore.“The booms were loud”, she said calmly. She did not get out of bed, as disturbing as that will always be, and she did not hear the sirens. She felt safe and she knew that she was protected; the Iron Dome would succeed. I then asked her what her plan was with regards to leaving work and asked if there was any talk around her. She said that she was planning to walk home from work as usual and that no one was talking about the situation. People go on, because life goes on as normal as possible. Basically, there were not really any changes in Israel’s lifestyle at this point; everyone knew how to handle the “situation” and that was it.

This mission is coming to an end. It must. However, even though this annoyance of Hamas and any other terrorist group that suddenly wants to chime in hasn’t stopped LIFE, life in Israel does not stop. Life goes on,it is going on.

People are getting married, having babies and making parties. They are all going to work, they are going shopping, to the shuk, buying school supplies and celebrating Shabbat. People are coming and going in and out of Ben Gurion Airport. There is Birthright and the mission trips and the various gatherings that will continue from the Kotel to Masada and everywhere in between.The terrorists are nasty pests, similar to a really fierce disease, but one that can be conquered. They are similar to lice, mice and rats and roaches in that we live knowing they may be hovering around us. Even though they disgust us and upset us as they attempt to exist in the world, we carry on. We know how to get rid of them and we will.

The strength that I am hearing and actually feeling across the many many miles is extraordinary. I hope that all of us will stand as strong. To say that this has all been so easy and so simple is really not the case, NO, not at all. But it boils down to the reality of life; when people need to cope and deal with a situation, they do because they really do not have a choice. Therefore, they deal and they cope, and they live.

Yalla! Move on already because Israel and its citizens certainly are.