Roller Coaster of Emotions

What is life like here into the 4th month of war?

Firstly, there is the intense grief we all feel when we read about another soldier’s death. We really feel like we are all one family and every death is a knife in our hearts. We hold our breath when going online in the morning, terrified of what news awaits us, and who are the holy korbonot who sacrificed their lives for us.

Then there is the heartbreak for the hostages who are still being held in hell and for the hostages who have been released and survivors of the massacre who are dealing with their PTSD.

The heartbreak for those who lost their lives, who lost their family, friends, and community, for the loss of all our innocence that ‘Never Again’ was happening here in our own country.

Unfortunately, there are way too many examples of heartbreak to write you, but you get the picture. I know that I cry every day and I am not alone in that.

However, we also have intense pride – the same intensity as the grief.  

So many heroes have been revealed. People who, on October 7th, jumped into their vehicles to rescue and treat the victims of the horror – regular people like you and me. Women, old and young, big and small, threw wounded on their backs and carried them to safety. Toddlers and children who stayed quiet for many hours, under the most adverse circumstances, so that terrorists wouldn’t kill them too. 

Parents who drove across the country to save their children from the terrorists, and saved tens or hundreds of others too.

We have heroes who cook for our soldiers, our wounded, and our displaced every single week.

We have heroes who raise money and buy supplies for those in need.

We have heroes who massage, do acupuncture, and give hair cuts for them too.

We have heroes who haven’t slept for almost 100 days because they are so busy being angels on earth making life  bearable for all those affected by this war in any way.

Heroes who came here from abroad to help us in any way possible and to show solidarity.

Heroes of every size and age in every nook and cranny doing anything and every thing.

For every tear we shed for our grief, we shed one for our pride in our people.

We are one family – here we experience life on fast forward – the entire gamut of emotions in a day, sometimes in only a minute. I didn’t mention the anger, the rage, the depression, the hope, the love – but they are all present too.

I really feel that we are now together standing as one – one people, one heart. I don’t know if we have ever been like this since receiving the Torah on Har Sinai. Again the paradox of emotions – it is the most thrilling and devastating time to be alive.

—

Shellie Grafstein

Life Coach for Women over 50