SO.....MANY....EMOTIONS

The twenty living hostages came home to Israel on Monday. Monday was also the holiday of Hoshana Raba, the last day of Sukkot. One of the reasons this holiday is special is that it is considered the main time that the "who will live/who will die" spiritual verdict of the High Holy Days is sealed. 

As Herb Keinon, commentator for the Jerusalem Post, wrote: "Rare are the days when history and holiness meet, when the Jewish calendar's rhythms and the country's pulse seem to beat as one. Monday was one of those days".  It was also the rare holiday when things like phones and driving are allowed. And, for me, one of the VERY rare times that I not only had my phone with me in synagogue, but had it face up and looking at every update Penina was sending to me. 

How many emotions can our hearts hold at once? 

Intense joy at the return of the hostages

Heavy grief at those, already murdered, whose bodies are still being held as bargaining chips

Deep sadness at the number of soldiers seriously wounded or killed over the past two years

Gnawing fear that the 2000 terrorists released from Israeli jails as part of this deal are already planning what new evil they can perpetrate

and, with every photo and video of families of hostages being reunited with their sons/brothers/husbands/fathers who they had such a high chance of never seeing alive again....intense joy. And the cycle starts all over again.

For more than a year, Avinatan Or was chained inside a cage shorter than he is and barely larger than his mattress. It is estimated he lost 30-40% of his body weight while in captivity

While October 7 was last week on the secular calendar, on the Hebrew calendar, the dates worked out pretty incredibly: Hoshanah Raba is exactly one day before Simchat Torah, the day this all started two years ago. Amazing that Hashem gave us this "day before", when we could all be glued to the media showing the hostages coming home and THEN give us the whole-heart joy that is Simchat Torah, when we finish reading the Torah for one year and start again with Bereishit: "In the beginning". And this moment certainly is a new beginning for those twenty families. May it also be a new beginning for this entire region.

The bodies of 21 people are still being held captive. Please Gd they will be returned soon for proper burial in Israel. 

They're b''eH Coming Home!!!

Cautious optimism

I'm writing this Sunday night. Tomorrow, please Gd, the last twenty remaining living hostages will be released. By the time this blog gets sent out by email, it's possible that two years of living hell will be over for these people.

Hope

Will Hamas keep their word? Unclear because their word doesn't mean much. Is it worth Israel releasing close to 2000 terrorists, 250 of whom are serving life sentences? What percentage of those released will commit acts of terror again?  On Friday morning, the protocol was put into action to to notify people when the killers of their family members are about to be released....

Sadness

As one example: the killer of Dafna Meir, a nurse and mother of six who was stabbed her to death in her home as some of her children watched, will be released. At the time of his sentencing, it was recommended that he "never be set free" due to carrying out the murder “with abnormal cruelty and in cold blood.” As the article says, "When asked by the investigator what he would do if allowed to go free, Adais said: “I would go Al-Aqsa mosque, even if I was killed, and on the way I would kill as many Zionist Jews as I could.” Sigh. He will soon be free. 

Fear

As former Maldonian Josh Vogel wrote: "The deal seems fair at face value despite the high price in released prisoners....[it] moves the needle in the right direction" (catch his Substack here)

So many emotions....

People are getting ready to welcome the hostages back. Hostage Square in Tel Aviv is open non-stop until everyone is back, with thousands watching, waiting.....The hospital rooms are ready, with an extra bed for a family member to sleep in, and tables for extended families to eat together in the hospital rooms (the spokesperson giving the video tour said something like, "this is Israel--the whole family is going to be here"). The Prime Minister's office made gift bags including clothing, toiletries, and a cellphone, tablet and laptop. President Herzog left a handwritten note on every hostage's hospital bed, writing: "How great it is that you are home" (it sounds better in Hebrew)

Praying there will be good news tomorrow....

www.chabad.org/hostages

Ten Year Aliyahversary!

We are officially no longer "new olim" having passed the decade mark! I went back today to read some of the posts we wrote from our first days (if you want to get all nostalgic with me, click here). We have come a looooong way, baby!

Somehow, in my mind, when I think about making aliyah, our kids are the ages they are now. Ilana definitely made aliyah, at age 19 (right?!). And then I look at the photos and see this little 9 year-old:

My heart is so full when I think of the last decade. It hasn't always been easy (when I started writing this, I was interrupted by a ballistic missile sent by the Houthis and had to head to the mamad. Although much more difficult was coping from afar with the deaths of Shalom Shachne's stepsisters Hilary and Deborah, his stepfather Ed, and my father Norman).

You know how when you're about to have a new experience, like starting a job, you lie in bed at night and imagine how it will be? Before I started college, I had visited my university. When you are about to begin a new job, you (usually) have been in the building you will be working at. Even things like having a baby, even if it's your first, you get a sense of what it will be like ("there will be crying. Diapers. Tiny clothes"). Well, aliyah was different for me. When I tried to look ahead, I saw....nothing because I had absolutely no idea what might come next. I had no relatives in the country and only two friends (shout-out to Lori and Fern!), neither of whom lived in our city.

And yet somehow Hashem smiled on us and helped us get through the last decade. We've all grown tremendously as people and as a family. Our kids were pretty darn incredible with how they dealt with the HUGE challenges of making aliyah, especially since they were over the "recommended" age of "under second grade". 

We went out today to Jerusalem to celebrate (a week late, but we had to wait for Ilana to be back in the country). Among other things, we went to the Kotel and out to eat at our favorite restaurant, Piccolino. 

Here is our poorly Photoshopped group "Then and Now" photos (since Chana and Percy weren't with us today, we had to be a little creative):

I am so thankful to Hashem for all the good things this decade has brought us (especially Menashe and Penina, who never would have met were she still living in the US) and hope that b''eH we will have many more happy, healthy decades here in this beautiful country.

Tying Tzitzit

Wearing Tzitizit (see here for more info) has become more popular since the war started, at least in the Army. Many soldiers who don't wear them in their civilian life are open to wearing them when in the Army. This has led to a huge surge in the numbers of tzitziot the Army needs. In May, the Army gave out 5000 pairs (a pair = one shirt with tzitziot on the four corners)! The goal is 250,000 pairs and over 118,000 pairs have already been made.

"Strings" in the circle are tzitzit

This is a post I've been thinking of writing since February, when I first tied tzitzit. I had gone last year, after the war started, a few times in my neighborhood. It was always packed and those who didn't already know how to tie the strings (like me) got put on other duties like making bundles of four strings. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but it didn't feel like my presence was so necessary.

First night! With my friend, Becca

Like so many other things, attendance has dwindled as the war has gone on, and, when I went to the one official site in my part of the city (sadly, it's not in my neighborhood anymore) in February, I found that they now give you a shirt and strings and teach you now to do it from almost-start (kids less than bar/bat mitzvah age, who cannot tie until they become bar/bat mitzvah, make the bundles of strings now) through to the almost-end (the Army checks that each pair is done correctly before giving it to a soldier).

I was SO moved by "making" something for a soldier that he would wear during his Army service. As a woman there said once, "we're surrounding them with the protection of the bracha of wearing tzizit". 

Each set takes about 15 minutes to make. I make a few sets during the weekly meeting and then bring 4 or 5 pairs home with me to do during the week (the Jewish/modern version of knitting socks for soldiers!!). I think once a person goes they're likely to get hooked :). Rivka and Jaim, Menashe's mother and stepfather, tie at home every week and Jaim and I say "hola/Shalom/hi" at pickup/drop-off of finished pairs.

Their are two ways of tying tzitziot: Ashkenazi and Sephardi. I know Sephardi (I tried Ashkenazi once and, although it was nice to have a final product that looks like what my husband wears, I found it much more difficult [although I've heard people say Sephardi is more complex, so I guess it's just what you get used to]). I asked once how the Army figures out how to get enough of each type and was told, "When a soldier is handed their uniforms they are asked if they want tzitzit. If they say 'yes', they are handed a pair. They can go try to trade it if it's not the right one for them". Sounded very Army-like :)

The strings are tied to represent the 4 letters in Gd's name, with a double knot in between each of the letters. I take the opportunity to ask Hashem to bless this soldier, and all soldiers, each time I make a double knot ("Hashem should bless you and keep you. You should be protected") and at the last set of double knots, I ask that the soldier should be "blessed with health: physical, mental, spiritual, interpersonal and financial. May your Army service only bring you good".

A few months ago, when flying to/from Boston to visit my Mom, I brought ten pairs to do on the plane. Too bad the weight really adds up and I could only bring ten pairs because it was a GREAT way to pass the time. 

Last Post (for now...) About El Al

 El Al sent this out and I found their metrics very interesting:

And if you, like Damon (hi, Damon!) would like to hear the hold music Dr Avraham listened to for hours and hours on end, here it is (translation-ish: "El Al, the most at home in the world"): 

El Al theme song

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.

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" ;)