20th March 2026
2nd of Nissan, 5786
Shabbat Shalom, Eid Mubarak and of course a huge Happy Birthday to
my Zvi
"In war, the Gordian Knot of diplomacy is often untied only by
the steel of the sword." The question is whether to slice it like
Alexander the Great or to find a way of untying it.
In Wednesday’s midweek update, I touched on
something that feels increasingly important to say clearly: it is not only
Jewish Israelis who have been affected, but all Israelis regardless of faith,
background, or belief. In the north of Israel, many Muslim Arab villages have
suffered terribly, their communities caught in the same wave of violence. In
recent days alone, terror does not distinguish between people.
Missiles fired from Iran have brought fear, trauma and
uncertainty, but it is physical, identifiable, we know from whence the threat, we
know who is shooting what and at whom. However, outside Israel there is a terrifying
rise in antisemitism. Synagogues have been targetted, and Jews are afraid to
openly express their identity, whether it’s placing a mezuzah on their
doorposts or wearing a kippah in public. This does not arise in isolation; it has
been carefully crafted through disinformation, misunderstanding, and narratives
that deepen the divide, encourage anti-Semitism and cloud the facts rather than
foster clarity.
Thursday night. 22:45 until 01:28. I was busy
writing to you, although it is late, and then it happened; we have been under
fire of cluster missiles, in and out in and out 4 or 5 times. Just as you think
that there’s time to go and get a drink, or
something to munch on, the hatra’ah, that awful tch tch tch goes off
again causing one’s heart to go into one’s shoes, no matter how calm an
exterior we may display or brag about, how pragmatic a personality it disturbs
ones equilibrium, then the siren on our phones, then the siren in the area,
then the booms, sometimes closer, sometimes further, the booms that tell us
that Iron Dome or another form of interception has yet again prevented a
missile reaching its target, but it is simultaneously comforting and
discomforting wherever they are. I told you that we are lucky, we have a mamad
in our home, I can sit comfortably and write to you, but at least 50% of
Israelis if not many more than that, don’t have that luxury, don’t live in new
buildings where it is compulsory. They have to go up and down, down and up
every time anew.
It's now 08:45 and the hatra’a just went off
on my phone followed by a siren, perhaps I should stop writing to you, each
time I sit down to tell you about our week we get a ******* multi-headed
missile from Iran! I haven’t heared the booms yet so nothing has landed, unless
it is still on its way. I’m just going to check the news on my computer. The
newsreader, Eli Rachlin is in the safe room studio with a spokesman for the IDF
and for Magen David Adom reporting on the situation and explaining about the
diabolical missiles that have warheads that split on impact or when
intercepted. The supposedly small off-shoots are dangerous enough to break
through walls and explode and destroy cars. A good reason why we are told, when
on the road, to distance ourselves from the falling shrapnel, which is
conceivably more dangerous than the missile head itself.
OK no booms, hopefully a false alarm, or we got it before it
arrived. Hmmm I wonder what to eat for breakfast? My usual cottage cheese and
crackers with a good cup of coffee or should I treat myself to something more
interesting? I know, smoked salmon instead of cottage! What on earth is she
going on about breakfast you may ask, a second ago she was telling us that
missiles may be flying over her head. Welcome to our world. We go from the safe
room to a normal, mundane life in seconds – it keeps us sane.
Sitting facing my favourite view in the world,
the view from my veranda, actually of our veranda, I began to think of what to
tell you. I make little notes all week and send them to myself in emails so
that I won’t forget what I want to say. Well, what I want to say has nothing to
do with those notes on politics, diplomacy, war and response, it has to do with
what I saw while sitting, eating my crackers and smoked salmon and that
essential cup o’ Joe. I saw trees, beauty, I saw apple and orange blossom,
harbingers of spring and I saw exactly what we are fighting for. All those
notes that I made, thinking of you all week, are irrelevant, the reason we are
in shelters, safe rooms and are willing to fight back is because this view,
these trees, the blue skies and the ability to sit and admire the view are what,
for Israel, this is what it is all about.
Most of the news reports tell us that Americans are against
this war because the price of crude oil has gone up and it affects their
lifestyle, before you get defensive I know that’s not you, but the wider public
doesn’t understand that a few cents on their petrol bill doesn’t compare to a
constant bombardment which ultimately threatens your very existence, yes you, it
means all of you, not just us.
A quick run down of news that I cannot run away from – Oh,
sorry you will have to wait. It’s now 10:38 and we have another hatra’a to
break in to my thoughts. Luckily the computer is right here in the safe room.
Lebanese President Aoun has called on the EU to help with
establishing a ceasefire, support for the Lebanese Army and dismantle
Hezb-Allah. That means that Christians could get back Lebanon and Northern
Israel would be safe
Princess Noor Pahlavi is calling on the world to remove
the Ayatollahs regime and return Iran to the free society it once was.
My amazing friend Liz Harris sent me a spot poll of people in
the streets of London and New York asked random people how many Jews they think
are in the world. Their responses were incredible, from between half a million
to two billion! Of course, the answer is about 13 million, less than .02% of
the world’s population. The presenter found a passage in the Tenach that said
that although we may not be great in number, the Almighty will ensure that our
name is great. I can’t decide if that’s a blessing or a curse but then I look
at the contribution of Jews to the world and I understand that the curse or
renown is a blessing
Stephen Fry is a brilliant actor/humourist/satirist who made this very
short video called I am Stephen Fry “I am a Jew” https://youtube.com/shorts/65wE2wFR5f8?si=7w7DEa-jPk_OUpxr
We just got the all clear and then immediately another hatra’a
and siren. Luckily, we hadn’t left the safe room. Just waiting for the boom and
the message that we can go back about our business. No sooner had I finished
the sentence when there was another siren and now a cluster of booms, not too
far away. The authorities are on the spot, although we can’t say where it is,
but a private house was utterly destroyed. Thank heaven the people had left the
house and gone to the public shelter.
Good grief, as my favourite cartoon character Linus would
say, good grief, another one. Oh well,
every onward.
Meanwhile the Al Quds day march didn’t happen in London this
week. The annual hate march was banned and only a small number turned up for a
static demonstration in support of the Iranian regime. Across the river, a
counter demonstration by pro-Israelis and anti-Regime Iranians took place as
planned.
My friend and mentor Rabbi Jeremy Rosen
writes every week about current events and their relationship to the Torah or
Talmud. This is an excerpt from today’s wisdom. “We are living through the most
turbulent, challenging and frightening world that I have ever experienced.
Rationally I despair. Thank goodness I have a spiritual dimension that provides
me with a non-rational dose of optimism. We have survived such a continuum of
alienation and isolation, finding ourselves at odds with almost every world
civilization and power at some stage or another, that this present state seems
more normal than exceptional.” Dear Jeremy, my thoughts precisely. He also
quotes Brandolini's law of 2013, which compares the considerable effort of debunking misinformation to
the relative ease of creating it in the first place. The adage states:
“The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is
an order of magnitude bigger than that needed
to produce it.”
My goodness, my usual tendency to digress has gone berserk this
week, but I hope that you understand why. Incidentally, your response to my
midweek update really warmed my heart.
Another digression but a natural progression –
This week, yesterday to be exact, Zvi celebrated his 81st birthday in style. He
met with friends in Café Ella and received the most beautiful bouquet of
flowers; his Facebook page received over 300 messages of congratulation and we
then went with our friend Sam Alberanes to our coffee shop where we celebrated
with a cupcake resplendent with hundreds and thousands and a candle presented
by Yisrael who I told you about a couple of weeks ago. The good news is that
Yisrael is coping with the sirens and booms far better than we expected. This
is a horrific time for people with PTSD. Anyway, back to Zvi, he received
congratulatory phone calls from Canada, Mexico, the USA and the UK. Our
granddaughter Talia, Rachel’s daughter, even sang happy birthday to him from
Lima airport Peru where she was about to catch a plane back to Panama and the
Safdie family. Sally, you are amazing, the way Talia feels so at home while on
her travels so far from home is very special.
Zvi is about to leave for his parliament, again in the local mall.
It never fails to amaze me, in a good way, that the mall is as bustling and
lively as always. The coffee shops full and people chatting as if nothing else
was happening. The supermarket is filled with shoppers buying the goods toward
Pesach, and gifts for the family. I can’t decide if it is resilience or the
fact that we are a stubborn people, we are determined to carry on our lives
despite. Maybe it is inherited; inherited history of survival. Anyway, we won’t
give up on our Aroma coffee, or any of the amazing delicacies that every
parliament, male or female enjoys.
I intended letting you off with a relatively short missive but my
pen had wings today. I don’t apologise for the inconsistencies therein. I
thought of changing it, making it more lucid, shorter, but on the other hand,
nothing is lucid, nothing is dependable except our own ability to overcome all
obstacles. So dear friends, please accept my digressions, my drifting
excursions into confused thought which bring you into the average Israeli mind
today.
And so to music, to song, the expression of emotion through sound.
Bella Ciao is a song dedicated to all women who are in a
war zone but particularly the women of Iran. In Farsi, Hebrew and Arabic with
English subtitles, it is a cry for togetherness, for unity. https://youtu.be/kBJoGGfNzUg?si=WIMkJiQJ4zAUiKQ2
Shalom Aleichem, Peace be with you,
the song we sing before Shabbat. Have you ever thought that almost every song,
every Israeli song, every Israeli greeting mentions peace, craves peace. We are
not a belligerent people. We are a people that love to argue, but not to fight.
Enjoy this beautiful song, maybe sing along! https://youtu.be/Y9cNstcOCIU?si=Hw2XbNyP-vVaK0sw
Many accuse me of being an optimist, actually that isn’t an
accusation, it’s a compliment! Without optimism life becomes painful. When in
doubt I simply sing that insane song from Life of Brian. “Always Look on The
Bright Side of Life” with its irreverent reverence for positivity. Go on, I
dare you not to sing along with Eric Idle but don’t forget the key change in
the middle! https://youtu.be/JrdEMERq8MA?si=5AXt3EGiVdYCBnQl
That’s it folks. I’m not going to Rachel today, she doesn’t want me
to be out on the road without need. She is right, when friends tell me that
when there is a siren and they are en route, they are alright crouching down at
the side of the road but cannot get back up again, I admit that I can’t even
get down let alone back up again!! So I’m going to get our supper ready, set
the table for two, then open it up for the 14 or 15 for lunch tomorrow. Don’t
worry most of the food is already in the fridge or freezer, I’m good but not
that good that I can do it all in one go!!
I wish you Shabbat Shalom and please, be proud of who you are, of
what you are, not what you are perceived to be, the real honest you. Jew,
Christian, Moslem, Bahai, LDS, Druze, we should wear our identity as a badge of
pride not be afraid. Accept others, accept those different to ourselves and the
world would already be a better place.
Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem, the View From Our Veranda. I promise
to think of you tonight as I light the Shabbat candles, will you think of us?
With much love
Sheila
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