War Diary: Day 320-334 Roller Coaster Intensive

These last two weeks have been such a roller coaster of dramatic events, it is easier to share my story in diary form.

Aug 21: Day 320: 180 rockets fired on Northern Israel in one day! Heavy damage to property and one person injured in Katzrin. Hezbollah is firing further and deeper into Israel than earlier in the war. In the morning a siren in Rosh Pina alerted us to a drone flying overhead and we ran to our ‘safe room.’ The siren sounded on my daughter Shir’s phone from her Home Front Command app. Startled, she looked around for a place to take shelter and then remembered that she was in Chang Mai, Thailand!

Aug 22: Day 321: I swim at sunrise in the Kinneret. Water tinged red gold. It is a sacred sight. It calms me, this warm embrace of God-in-nature. I feel so blessed to immerse myself daily in these healing waters of liquid light. After two kilometers I flip on my back for morning prayers, watching the sun line the clouds with silver. My favorite prayer asks for strength to serve God and see him (it’s the same word as “fear him” but I prefer to to see him). The prayer ends with a request that I be “able to witness God’s favor/goodness and visit his temple.” לחזות בנועם ה’ ולבקר בהיכלו.

The Earth is his temple, and when we appreciate his creation we are truly looking upon God. All day those words echoed in my heart: “Levaker Beheichalo.” Despite the chaos around me, the fear and the uncertainty, I am comforted by the privilege of being a guest in God’s temple.

Later, I watched Jon and Rachel, the parents of hostage Hirsh Goldberg-Polin, speak at the DNC. The support and compassion they received touched me deeply. Some Americans do care about Israel and feel our pain. A counter to the vocal Israel haters who make us feel despised and alone.

The news is full of American optimism regarding a ceasefire/hostage deal, but the Israeli press reports the talks are almost derailed. They warn that Iran plans to attack as soon as the talks fail.

Fri. Aug 23: Day 322: I go for body work at the clinic of Atia, a massage therapist at our hotel. I am nervous as it is very close to the Pikud Hatzafon army base, a target for missile attacks, and she has no safe room. Atia lives with her handicapped son in a small prefab wooden house. A couple of weeks ago, after Hezbollah and Iran threatened major attacks on Israel, the army came to her home and suggested strongly that they leave until the danger passed. After two weeks on her bothers’ couch they came home. One hour after I left a missile bombardment began.

Sun. Aug 25: Day 324: We awoke at 6:00 to a siren. My son Orel was already up, getting ready to head back to Jerusalem on his new motorcycle. We gathered in the safe room. I have to admit, I wasn’t scared, it has become routine. Then we saw on the news that Israel had launched a major preemptive strike on Hezbollah as they were preparing to attack targets across Israel. A hundred planes flew deep into Lebanon and took out their rocket launchers and thousands of missiles. Hezbollah still managed to fire about 350 missiles and armed drones, its largest assault on Israel since the War began. Luckily, all the missiles and drones were shot down and Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, deemed his rump attack adequate vengeance for Israel’s killing of his military commander Fuad Shukr. The North was safe, for now.

Mon. Aug 26: Day 325: Our relief at the dissipation of the Hezbollah threat (although Iran’s is still looming) was tinged with grief as we buried five soldiers today. One was killed during the missile attack, and four lost their lives in Gaza. It is so painful to see the photos of these beautiful young men, some reserve soldiers with small children and pregnant wives, and to watch their heart-wrenching funerals. And now that my youngest son has been drafted into a combat unit two weeks ago, the pain of witnessing their loss morphs into a deeply personal fear.

Tues Aug 27: Day 326: Elation today as Israel frees a hostage, Farhan al-Qadi a Bedouin Israeli father of eleven, from a Gaza tunnel. An IDF soldier was injured when a UAV fell near Safed.

Thurs. Aug 29: Day 328: Families of hostages go to the Gaza border and shout encouragement to their loved ones. Rachel Goldberg-Polin screams “HEEERRSSHH. Stay strong. Survive.”

Fri Aug 30: Day 329: We drive to the south of Israel, to the remote settlement of Azuz, to the “tzimmer bus” of our lovely friends Eyal and Avigail Hirshfeld who converted three Egged buses into beautiful guest rooms. They have nine children and are among the most spiritual, inspiring people I know. Being in the desert, in the simplicity of emptiness, watching the incredible sunsets, I was revived. I could feel the colors of the sunset, the bands of red-orange-yellow-green-blue, seep into my body, vibrating inside me, alive with energy and power.

Sun Sep 1: Day 331: Terrible tragic Day
At 5:30 AM we left Azuz for my root canal in Jerusalem. The radio offers us the shocking, terrible news that the IDF has found the bodies of six hostages executed in a Gaza tunnel. Five of the six had been on a list for the next prisoner exchange, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin and yoga teacher Carmel Gat. Noooooo! As I enter the dentist’s office I hear that three police officers were killed in a West Bank terror attack. One of them, Sgt. Maj. Roni Shakuri, had lost his daughter on October 7th. Mor Shakuri was one of the brave police officers who held off terrorists for hours at the Sderot police station until they ran out of ammunition. The country is roiling with grief and madness at the brutal murders. By evening, major protests are staged throughout the country demanding our government agree to a hostage deal. In our small town of Rosh Pina hundreds of people crowd the junction with Route 90, many more than ever turned out for the protests against the legislative reform in 2023. Hundreds of thousands of protesters fill the streets of Tel Aviv.

Mon Sep 2: Day 332: Rosh Chodesh New Moon in Virgo: The Histadrut labor union stages a general strike in solidarity with demands for a hostage release. Ben Gurion airport shuts down. The teacher’s union strike keeps high schools from opening. More protests. The army intensifies its counterterrorism operations in the West Bank. The country is aflame. Later in the day the funeral of Hersh Goldberg-Polin draws thousands of people to the streets of Jerusalem to honor Hirsh. They hold Israeli flags and join in prayer and song. It is heartbreaking and heartwarming as Israelis standing side by side in communal grief, chanting words of mourning and of hope. In the evening Netanyahu addresses the nation. He begins by offering apologies to the families of the murdered hostages. It rings hollow and insincere. He devotes a few minutes to addressing the pain of the families and the nation, and forty minutes to explaining why he insists on not giving up the Philadelphi corridor, a parameter that is apparently stalling the negotiations.

Tues Sep 3: Day 333: Biden says Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure the release of hostages. More protests, some violent.

Wed Sept 4: Day 334: Yoga class in Amuka is punctuated by booms. The rocket attacks have intensified today. My yoga teacher Ofra has just returned after being stranded in Thailand with her husband and three children when their flight home was cancelled after the Iranian threat led to many airlines suspending service to Israel. They have been evacuated from their home in the Galilee for eleven months and are living in small quarters in a kibbutz guesthouse. After yoga, another massage at Atia’s clinic. Praying no rockets will disturb us. By evening Hezbollah had launched 100 rockets at towns in the Galilee, some making direct hits and igniting many fires. Despite the rocket threat, I took my canine companion Toby on his evening walk. We encountered a nasty dog who was off leash and I was bitten trying to protect Toby. I got a deep puncture wound. Tetanus shot tomorrow. I was worried about rockets, and got attacked by a dog!

Life is full of surprises.