Guest Post by Avraham: What it Was Like to be in the US, Rather Than Israel

My friend Sharon and I co-sponsored kiddush at shul this Shabbos to welcome our husbands back from their unintentionally-extended stays in the US. Here is what her husband said when he spoke:

------------------------------------------------

 First, I want to acknowledge that Sharon intended this to be a surprise for me and therefore, I don't have any prepared comments to read and say [at this point, he pulled out some papers ;)]

So this is dedicated to me to mark and honor my return from three weeks in the United States, but I dedicate this to honor all of you, who struggled and sacrificed and persevered under very trying circumstances, certainly fraught with major uncertainty if not downright panic and fear- so I salute you and give yourselves a well-deserved round of applause.

As for me, all I had to do was to continuously read the news. I usually don't sleep much more than six hours and am awake and moving at 5:30 am anywhere I am, but in those days, the nights consisted of sleep one hour and wake up and follow the reports for an hour- that's how it turned out for me.

Yes, I was focused, concerned and worried. I invested a large amount of time in hours in order to return. I'll now "briefly" tell you the story of how I managed to do that.

I am experienced in canceled and rescheduled flights and getting to the U.S. this time was no exception- there were both cancelations and reschedulings before I even departed from here.

From the moment that the encounter with Iran started (one night after my arrival for a two week visit), we knew that my Delta and KLM flights were doomed. But it was several days until I decided and actually purchased a one way ticket on El Al, but for a full three weeks later- scheduled to arrive yesterday, 4 July, two hours before sundown.

Then started the attempts to obtain a spot on a "rescue" flight- that occupied a significant amount of time and became my nightly routine from 2am to 4am, which correspond to the primary working hours in Israel- no- don't worry with the math and calculations- I'll tell you: that's 9am to 11am here.

I was not accepted on a "rescue" flight because it was only for El Al passengers whose flights had been canceled and mine was for three weeks from then. They would not interested in and did not accept that my Delta/KLM flights had been canceled.

I asked my medical administrator [Avraham is a general practice MD] to write a strongly worded letter stating that I was essential medical personnel for a vital national interest. National Maccabi personnel and human resourced got involved. I established personal contacts and interactions with Ministry of Health officials. I was even given a unique voucher number from the Prime Minister's office and told that I could use it for any airline, but El Al refused to hear of it.

Eventually, my request for early repatriation based on medical need was rejected by El Al.

In despair, I gave up but one morning, I decided to give it one last two and a half hour on hold wait until I found a representative who was sympathetic to my story and agreed to advance my flight, so here I am.

Two and a half hours on hold every time- can you imagine how many times after that I had that tune אל על הכי בבית בעולם ringing in my ears? [at this point, everyone at kiddush sang along to the El Al theme song because we have ALL been on hold with them at some point or other....]

So what was it like to be there in the U.S. during this Iran War? Not palpably different than other times- people did express more concern and worry, but life continued. The three synagogues that I attended all addressed the current events as central parts of sermons and speeches and recitations of Psalms. We who live here were referred to there as "our Israeli brethren." One rabbi insisted on hugging me because I was an "Eretz Yisrael Jew."

A number of times, I thought and articulated to those close to me that I was fascinated and maybe even confounded by my earnest and eager desire and attempt to enter a war zone. Why?? Who would want to do that? And why?

And here is what I realized: in my thoughts then and there, I connected consciously to something that usually lives under the surface, and that is that I have a dedication and a mission and a purpose: to be here in time of need, and... to serve- family and others.

Way to Avoid the Pop-Ups When This Blog Comes to Your Email

 Sorry, gang, that Blogspot changed their email delivery system a few months ago and now everyone gets this blog via follow.it with its pop-up ads. An easy way to avoid this is to bookmark my blog and then just use the email notification as a tip that something new has been written and go to the blog. Voila--no pop-up ads! No "click here" notifications. Just "We Made Aliyah" ;)

Aaaaand—he’s home!!!

 B”H after an extra week in the US and lots (and lots and lots) of time with our kids and cousins in NY, Shalom Shachne made it home last night! 

We were hoping he’d get to visit Barbara, his stepmother, in  FL, and my mother in Boston with the extra time, but the travel agent told him he had to stay in NY, since if he was offered an El Al flight and wasn’t there to take it, he’d be at the bottom of the list for the future (and since the original estimate of his arrival home was July 7, we weren’t taking any chances).

Airport was Covid-esque in terms of small crowds (and great parking spots)

Beyond thankful that he is back!!!

After Twelve Days....

 Please Gd, this is over. Yesterday, a cease fire with Iran was announced to start at seven in the morning. Starting at 5:13 a.m., we got five pre-warnings that missiles were on the way. B''H they skipped over our section of the country, but unfortunately, four people were killed in Be'er Sheva.....

Best armchair quarterback analysis I heard was that Trump announced the cease fire on his own. Worked for Israel because we've accomplished what was necessary there. Worked for Iran because they were looking for a face-saving way out. If the cease fire sticks, Trump gets to play hero and maybe even get that Nobel Peace Prize he seems to want. If not, he's got an excuse to further pound Iran. While I have no idea if any of that is true, it makes sense to me.

Penina and I went out for dinner to celebrate (poor Menashe had already gone back to Jerusalem. #IOweYouDinner!). This is what the mall looked like at 8 PM on Tuesday evening:

And the big "welcome" sign at the entrance was directions to the nearest safe room in the mall:

HomeFront Command lifted most restrictions right around when we went out.  Crazy hard to find a place that was open, as the previous guidelines had only allowed restaurants to be open for delivery or take out and every non-essential business was not allowed to be open (hence the empty mall since only the restaurants and SuperPharm were open). After trying our top four restaurants, we joined the crowds at the burger joint, which seemed to be the only place open for dine-in.

Came home fully prepared and excited to hopefully have a good night's sleep. At 1:30 I heard Percy barking. Tried to ignore him. Thought about how he'd perhaps gotten spoiled being taken upstairs in the middle of the last 12 nights (for warnings/azakot) and maybe he was now expecting to sleep in someone's bed? Finally decided I'd rather sleep than take a sleep-training stand and brought him up to my bed, where he stood on the edge of my bed and barked. Oh noooo. That must mean.....Yup, his doggie friend Theo, who lives on the next block and (literally) walks himself over for playdates a few times a week, was outside our door. Thankfully Theo's family was still awake and someone came to get him shortly after. And after that? A blissful night's sleep.....

I think this was the war we all thought we would have after October 7: brutal but short, as opposed to brutal-but-628-days-long. Praying that Hamas, seeing what happened to Iran (their main supplier of weapons, training, intelligence, etc etc) will free the remaining hostages.

Schools started up again today and no restrictions of movement/business openings. I have never been so happy to see traffic in the mercaz before!! With tremendous thanks to Hashem, I am making dinner for a number of miluim families tonight, who still have the stress and challenge of their husband/father being out at war. 

Still no update on when my dear husband will be coming home. Our-friend-the-doctor is still stuck in the US, so it's not looking so great for either of them to come back before Shabbos. 

Next up: cleaning up the mamad which got WAY too much use over the past 12 days. Thank you, Hashem, for protecting us. May we never need to use it as anything but a guest room again!

(I feel like I could make a fun (for lack of a better word) "find the" game: Can you find Tums? Rescue Remedy? Sefer Tehilim? The "Go Bag" with medicines, our lock box with cash and all our important papers? Shoes for the three of us because if the house gets destroyed and you need to leave the mamad, you need to be able to walk through the wreckage? Dog food and leash? Snacks and more snacks? Flashlights and battery-operated lights in case the power went out? Satellite phone? Oy. Never mind. I'm getting stressed even thinking about what's in there!)

Update on the Rest of the Family

 It's really weird to have all of our immediate family members who are in Israel in our house and the sum total is....three: Penina, Menashe and me. (Well, four if we're including Percy, but he's not a big traveler)

Shalom Shachne left two weeks ago to go visit his mother and brothers in Los Angeles and then go to NY to visit our kids there. And there he remains. There are something like 100,000 Israelis who are out of the country and trying to come back now. First spots are filled with humanitarian needs (although even our friend who is an MD did not get on a flight yet), soldiers returning for reserve duty and unaccompanied minors (geesh--get those kids home NOW!). El Al keeps sending him emails like, "Sorry, today's not your day, buddy". 

Ilana was on a school trip to Poland when things heated up with Iran. She was supposed to come back home for a few days, pack her stuff and then head to NY to work in a summer camp. When it became clear that she was not going to be able to come home, Penina played travel agent and switched her tickets around to get her to New York without coming home. Except Ilana only had her Israeli passport with her, since she had flown directly from school and we keep her US passport here (it is not necessary to send me messages about always traveling with both passport #WeKnowThatNow). So she missed the last day of the trip and spent the day at the US Embassy in Warsaw getting an emergency passport (thankfully. It was unclear if they would even see her that day, but she was persistent when they tried to send her away).

Just to add to the fun, Israel is now saying that anyone who leaves the country cannot return until 30 days or more have passed. While I understand the reasoning, I hope that changes by the time my next tickets to the US roll around in a month....

After Six Nights of This....

 I'm tired. Much/most/all of the country is tired....

Various posts from my Whatsapp status over the past few days (always a good way to keep track of what's going on with me, for those who know me in real life/have my Whatsapp number). Also good to do it this way because I'm too darn tired to write a whole thing at the moment:

From the night before last:

"Okay, I showered (quickly), took melatonin and ready for lights out. Please Gd: peace, safety and a normal night's sleep"

6:29 am: "I just woke up. We didn't have to go back into the mamad again! Thank you, Hashem!  

I feel so much better from a semi-normal night's sleep ("Iran only sent a volley of intercontinental ballistic missiles to try to kill my entire nation once last night! Wow, I can't believe how refreshing it is that it was only once!"). (PS other parts of the country did have more azakot)"

So I went for a run around the safest part of the city I could think of #FlashbacksToTheBeginningOfTheWar. My Status description says, "Wow, thank you, Hashem, since I know I did not run either this fast or this far. I appreciate the Love Tap". (fun fact: the only other time my run tracker has not been accurate is when I walk around Logan Airport waiting for my flight back here. While I'm dragging my carry-on along trying to get my steps in, I always notice (and appreciate) that the km get racked up in a way that is clearly not accurate (but IS appreciated). I assume it has something to do with electrical interference/GPS usage from all the planes there and, well, doesn't that make sense re. why my run tracker wouldn't be accurate at the moment [PS I always fly at night from here and never put my tracker on, so don't know if it's every airport, but I wouldn't be too surprised]).

It was a nice run and good to be out, even if I did feel a might creaky. Then, when I was coming home:

(Penina gets extra points for always doing her part to make sure I know danger is on the way)

And just a last few memes before I try to go take a nap before work:

What time is it? Who am I? Why did I wake up? Did I even sleep? Did we win already?

Who are we? The Israelis
What do we want? Sleep!
And what will we do? Wait for the azazka

'Night all!

A Day In Our Lives, During These Crazy Times....

Everyone woke up late due to the late-night azakot last night. I was exercising in my room (running outside would be folly) when I suddenly realized it was 9:20 and Percy usually goes for a walk at 8. I took him from the mamad, where he was with Penina and Menashe (they had given up moving back after the second siren and decided to stay there the rest of the night. I figured that the azaka was going to wake me wherever I was, so I might as well be comfortable in my own bed).

Heartfelt davening. 

I had told the Yeshiva that I would not be coming in person (as a nurse, I could technically have gone #CovidFlashbacks, but, again : FOLLY!), but would do clinic virtually if students needed me. Most were scheduled to fly out tonight, but that will not be happening since the airport is closed for the foreseeable future.

Penina, Menashe and I went grocery shopping. Limit of two cartons of eggs and two milks per person (and most stores were running low on milk). We got lots of goodies to tide us over: "If we have to live through war, we're not going to be concerned about the grocery budget. Buy whatever you want". 

The woman who organizes gluten-free meals for soldiers thought she had both a need and a driver, so I made 5 meals of GF falafel with quiona-brown rice pilaf, salad, GF pita and homemade GF cookies (from the freezer). 

Then, time to leave for work (private duty RN with an incredible Holocaust survivor who lives about ten minutes away). I called my mother as I started driving and thus missed FOURTEEN calls/Whatsapps/Facetimes from Penina and Menashe trying to make sure I knew that an "early warning stay near a safe space" had been announced. I did not know. Eek. When I finally saw that Penina was calling me on time 14, I was almost to work, thankfully. I walked in about three minutes before the siren went off and was able to help "my lovely lady" get to the mamad.

mamad hand-holding chain between me, her and her husband

I had ended up bringing the meals with me, as the coordinator was having trouble contacting the volunteer driver (which, if he is in the Army, is understandable). When I was ready to leave work, she told me she wasn't able to find anyone and that the meals were going far away so I couldn't bring them myself (honestly, I would only have gone within my city limits). As I was driving home (after updating Penina and Menashe that I was leaving and would put my phone where I could see incoming alerts), I thought to call the two miluim families I often cook for and explain that I had fresh GF meals that couldn't be frozen and would they like? I had been concerned that I might not be able to cook for these two families this week, so it was great that they both said 'yes' and, although not how I had planned it, I was glad their families could get a meal they didn't need to prepare.

Tonight we were supposed to attend a wedding at the same winery Penina and Menashe got married in. All in-person gatherings were canceled, however ;( . SO moved by the incredible letter the families sent out earlier today, which read, in part:

"Tonight was meant to be a joyful celebration of N. and G's wedding....Unfortunately, we are unable to hold the event as originally planned.

But as our history has shown time and again, the Jewish spirit is not easily shaken. N. and G. are resolute in their commitment--not only to each other, but to building a life rooted in faith, resilience and love. They have chosen to proceed with a small, intimate chuppah in a private home in the Old City of Jerusalem, a place deeply meaningful to them both and steeped in the eternal legacy of our people.

They will not allow the ayatollahs of Iran--or any enemy of Am Yisrael--to define their future. With Hashem's help, they will begin their life together with the same courage and devotion that have always carried the Jewish people forward, even in the most uncertain times"

Watched the wedding virtually (the bride carried a Mashiach-welcoming tambourine. Chills). It was so beautiful to see our people's resilience!

I slept from 10-midnight when a pre-warning woke us up. Back to the mamad. To wait and wait. Best case scenario: Israel knocked everything down outside of the country. At the moment, it's  unclear. 

Praying for peace. Praying for safety.