Tuesday update
Lots of stuff going on, not so much strength and energy to write about it.
Here in Jerusalem, we're pretty well insulated from the vast majority of the war. We don't hear the CODE RED warnings going off all the time, and we certainly don't hear the explosions of the rockets.
I don't know of any of my personal friends who've been called up at this point. I'm sure there are some, but they're not the close-enough friends that I'm on the top of the list to be informed.
But still, there are signs.
Yesterday, the sky was crossed with vapor trails from the fighter planes traveling to and fro.
Today I could hear the military helicopters for most of the time I was getting ready for work.
Today was also a fast day. It was the 10th of Tevet, the anniversary of the beginning of the siege against the Temple.
We believe the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were evicted from worshipping as G-d told us to, because of free hatred. We also believe that one reason the world hasn't been redeemed yet is that we still carry symptoms of what caused that destruction in the first place.
So the 10th of Tevet is a day to focus on starting over again -- starting again to try and love our fellow Jews and non-Jews. To start again to try and be better Jews. We fast from sunrise to sunset in order to help remind us of what we're aiming for.
And I have to say... having the war in the background added an extra dimension to the day. When we were thirsty or hungry, it took but a mere second to remind ourselves that our soldiers were out there risking their lives, and suddenly our thirst wasn't so important.
Meanwhile, the world is starting to come out of its deer-in-the-headlights surprise at our operation and starting the kvetching about how we're overreacting and responding in an out-of-proportion manner to the Hamas rockets that have been raining down on our land for the last 8 years.
And I say, yet again, that there is not a single sovereign country on the planet, now or in any other time in history, that would have allowed this to go on for eight DAYS, let alone eight YEARS.
War is hard. It stinks. Yes, "civilians" will die. We hate it that civilians die. That's why we drop leaflets, send SMSs, etc., to tell civilians to leave their locations, because we're going in. I mean, sheesh -- we're doing everything we possibly can to avoid "collateral damage."
On the flip side -- they're aiming rockets at Jews -- anywhere they can. At least two schools have been hit -- the only reason people did not die was that we're keeping our children home from school for the duration of the war, in any region close enough to be hit by rockets.
I am not going to apologize for civilian Gazan deaths. If they want the war to stop, they need to start standing up for themselves within their own people.
And I hope they do it soon. Otherwise, I hope our leaders and soldiers keep doing what they need to do, to make sure we don't go through this again.
Here in Jerusalem, we're pretty well insulated from the vast majority of the war. We don't hear the CODE RED warnings going off all the time, and we certainly don't hear the explosions of the rockets.
I don't know of any of my personal friends who've been called up at this point. I'm sure there are some, but they're not the close-enough friends that I'm on the top of the list to be informed.
But still, there are signs.
Yesterday, the sky was crossed with vapor trails from the fighter planes traveling to and fro.
Today I could hear the military helicopters for most of the time I was getting ready for work.
Today was also a fast day. It was the 10th of Tevet, the anniversary of the beginning of the siege against the Temple.
We believe the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were evicted from worshipping as G-d told us to, because of free hatred. We also believe that one reason the world hasn't been redeemed yet is that we still carry symptoms of what caused that destruction in the first place.
So the 10th of Tevet is a day to focus on starting over again -- starting again to try and love our fellow Jews and non-Jews. To start again to try and be better Jews. We fast from sunrise to sunset in order to help remind us of what we're aiming for.
And I have to say... having the war in the background added an extra dimension to the day. When we were thirsty or hungry, it took but a mere second to remind ourselves that our soldiers were out there risking their lives, and suddenly our thirst wasn't so important.
Meanwhile, the world is starting to come out of its deer-in-the-headlights surprise at our operation and starting the kvetching about how we're overreacting and responding in an out-of-proportion manner to the Hamas rockets that have been raining down on our land for the last 8 years.
And I say, yet again, that there is not a single sovereign country on the planet, now or in any other time in history, that would have allowed this to go on for eight DAYS, let alone eight YEARS.
War is hard. It stinks. Yes, "civilians" will die. We hate it that civilians die. That's why we drop leaflets, send SMSs, etc., to tell civilians to leave their locations, because we're going in. I mean, sheesh -- we're doing everything we possibly can to avoid "collateral damage."
On the flip side -- they're aiming rockets at Jews -- anywhere they can. At least two schools have been hit -- the only reason people did not die was that we're keeping our children home from school for the duration of the war, in any region close enough to be hit by rockets.
I am not going to apologize for civilian Gazan deaths. If they want the war to stop, they need to start standing up for themselves within their own people.
And I hope they do it soon. Otherwise, I hope our leaders and soldiers keep doing what they need to do, to make sure we don't go through this again.
posted by M at 22:10
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