2nd
October 2024
I
wish you a Shana Tova, a good year, but first let me tell you about last night.
It
was, without doubt, a blitzkrieg. Blitzkrieg, a swift and violent military
offensive with intensive aerial bombardment and this time it didn’t come from
Lebanon, Gaza, Syria or Yemen, it came directly from Teheran.
It
is a miracle that there were no deaths (not in the blitzkrieg anyway) and the
reason is the inventor of the Iron Dome, Brigadier General, (Ret),
Dr Danny Gold. When he came up with the idea of a defence system against
even ballistic missiles, the powers that be in the IDF and government, thought he was crazy.
Nonetheless, the development continued and the Iron Dome saved thousands of
lives yesterday and for the last years of constant bombardment. Danny thank you
for saving my life and the lives of my loved ones. You are a true hero.
Interestingly,
although there were no deaths in Israel, there was one Palestinian killed in
Jericho and 5 Iranian Revolutionary Guards who died when their missile
backfired.
Just
before the constant sirens and explosions began, two terrorists shot and killed
7 people, injuring many more, at a light rail station in Jaffa. Such tragedy. Nobody,
not one of those killed or injured, meant harm to anyone, they just wanted to
go home. Such hatred. Such hatred inculcated through education for decades. https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-822839
Iron
dome and the accessibility of either safe rooms or bomb shelters is how we, as
a country, spend our money. Not on terror tunnels and not on planning attacks,
we spend our money on saving lives and on defence. So let me explain what
happened yesterday.
Two
men from our neighborhood came for a meeting and one of them, Itzik, told me
that he lives in the next building and enjoys overlooking our veranda and
noticed how hard I work to keep it beautiful, normal conversation; then our
incredible friend Hannah, a magical reflexologist, popped in to help ease the
terrible pain Zvi had in his neck. No sooner did Hannah walk in the door when
the first warning came over the television and my phone warned us to go into
the safe room. I have an app that ensures that we hear the siren and any warnings
in our immediate area. We immediately went into our safe room, securely closing
the strong metal door and ensuring that the metal cover was in place over the
window, that the air filtration unit and the A/C were working and the emergency
light was switched to on. Our safe room doubles as our office, indeed that’s
where I am sitting now. The internet remained the main source of information
and we were able to watch the television news on our computers. I have a supply
of food, drinks and medicines, not a huge amount but enough should we need it
(plenty of Coke Zero for Zvi), and reading matter on the shelves! There was no
panic, despite the constant sirens and booms, mainly because we were confident
that the booms were caused by Iron Dome shooting down the ballistic missiles.
We stayed until the all clear was given and came out to continue our evening.
Zvi received his treatment and I made supper………. Such is life in the fast lane!
We didn’t lose phone, internet or cell phone contact for one minute, talking to
and writing to family both here and abroad. The WhatsApps from our local
council were constant, checking that we were all abiding by the rules and if
anyone needed help….
Both
USA and UK forces played a part in “downing” the missiles which gives us heart
in a world that seems to have turned on its head against us. Both have ships,
aircraft carriers, in the vicinity should we need them.
Please,
please can I get back to our hopes and prayers for Rosh Hashanah and forget
about Haman, aka Khomeini, Khamenei and all the others – and think about our
prayers and thoughts for a better future for our children and grandchildren.
I
woke up this morning to another glorious sunrise. The view from our veranda is
spectacular, over the Jerusalem Hills to Jerusalem, sparkling in the morning
sun. As I do every morning, I sat at the table to eat my breakfast, read the
papers and absorb my surroundings, enjoying the flowers and trees that indicate
our future, the fruits ripening, the flowers blooming, life around us
continuing as if yesterday didn’t happen, but it did. The
view from our veranda gives me hope, makes me confident that we are here to stay.
Our greatest danger is not Iran, our greatest danger is internecine fighting. So,
in this short missive I have only one prayer for the coming year. We must learn
to live together, to accept our differences, to support this amazing country
and to be prepared to pay our huge debt to this exceptional society, by
defending Israel in whatever way we need. Nobody, but nobody can stand by and
watch Jerusalem burn.
So
many of you wrote and called us last night, simple phone calls and messages,
that warmed our hearts. That’s why I wrote now, to let you know what is happening
and that thank heaven we are safe and sane.
Only
one song today, one song that tells our story above all others. Am Yisrael
Chai!! https://youtu.be/2p3rtnQ_7y4?si=ZcovUWh_M0a-i_zs
Shana
Tova, stay strong, stay united and never ever despair. We are strong together.
Sheila
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