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:

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 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.