Off to the Front

I am writing this as Shabbat approaches… Tomorrow, I am off to join my daughter and her family in Karmiel.

As most of you know Karmiel is a large town in northern Israel, typically pretty quiet and peaceful. The streets roll up around 8 pm each night, maybe later at the clubs for young people after Shabbos ends.

Karmiel was shaken in the last few days by Katyushas. Unlike its neighbors to the east and west, Tsfat, Haifa, and Naharia, Karmiel suffered little if any physical damage, thank G-d. But the emotional damage is evident in the phone calls this last week with my daughter, Lisa.

Although seemingly calm, I can sense her distraction and fragility as she breaks suddenly from the phone to watch a breaking news report, and when she forgets to say good-bye when she hangs up. The children feel the tension… They have heard the explosions and know their mother is frightened.

My friends… even my daughters here in the states, ask me, "Why are you leaving to go to Israel at this time?"

My first answer is, "I have three daughters in Israel…. Of course I am going… What? Should I stay here?"

But, in reality I have multiple feelings. I am terribly excited to be seeing three of my daughters and my eldest daughter's family… my grandchildren, my son-in-law, even my ex-wife! I want to reassure them that all will be well… that I will take care of them… that I can protect them… But in reality, I can't protect them from a Katyusha! War is something that is created by leaders and happens to people. I am frightened… not for myself, but I am afraid that I cannot protect them.

But… this is not true. We protect our children as best we can by providing them with a future. As a Jew who is well aware of the history of the Jew's plight in a world without Israel, I know how absolutely critical it is to our survival that Israel must survive and be strong.
Europe is wrong… The UN is wrong… Israel has NO choice but to strike back ferociously when it is hit… whether by terrorists or by invaders (read Hezbollah.) Israel must do this because its survival is at stake. This is not "just" a "minor" border incursion. This is an attack from the territory of a foreign country, by an organization who has an avowed policy calling for the destruction of the Jewish state, Israel.

Mostly, I feel enraged… at both the terrorists as well as the idiots in the world who truly believe that Israel should "moderate" its response. Who the hell do they think they are? Why the hell have they not demanded that Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria, and Iran "moderate" themselves these last 60 years…

More later…

Good Shabbos,
Steve
Sha'ul G'daliah ben Yehudah Leb