Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Do you know what it feels like...

We are in a state of war.  If you can, try to imagine for one moment what it feels like to know that there is an enemy who wants nothing less than to eradicate each and every one of us from the face of the earth, for no reason other than our existence.  This is how it plays out in our lives.

Things I am not doing:
- relaxing
- letting my mind wander
- getting rid of my headache
- staying away from my Facebook newsfeed for very long
- posting pictures of cakes and cookies on my Facebook page
- appreciating any light and fluffy posts or pictures, from either side of the ocean
- taking long, luxurious showers
- driving without paying 1000% attention to where it might be safe to pull over in case of a siren
- playing music loudly in the car
- walking into a store without checking where the safe area is
- wearing clothes that would look terrible afterwards if I had to lie down at the side of the road
- sleeping soundly
- letting my phone battery run down
- forgetting about the hideous, painful loss of our three boys
- caring what left leaning politicians and bigmouths have to say

Things I am doing:
- loving my family, my community, my nation for how amazing, thoughtful, caring you all are
- appreciating the hard work everyone is doing to take care of one another and keep spirits up
- finding extra meaning in every prayer
- mourning our lost soldiers, Hashem yikom damam
- feeling horrified at the level and intensity of anti-Semitism around the globe, and wondering why more Jews are not coming home
- welling up with pride at the 228 North American Olim who came home today, part of 1300 Olim in the last week
- continuing to help families celebrate their milestones with cakes and cookies, including marking the induction of their sons into the army, may Hashem protect them all and bring them home safely
- sharing whatever news I can with my friends and family
- feeling responsible to make sure the truth of what is taking place here gets out into the world
- using my words to challenge bias
- working to keep our family's life as normal as possible
- being grateful that despite it all, there is nowhere in the world I would rather be

Am Yisrael Chai!





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