So much happens between my posts. Just here in Israel alone. Last week was a week of bad news. Two of the hostages in Gaza were confirmed dead. Alex Dancyg, 75 and Yawger Buchstav,35, died several months ago. They were being held together by Hamas in Khan Younis. I don’t know how they died. But Alex was the best friend of our family friend, Piotr. Both gentlemen were from Poland. Alex was a son of two Holocaust survivors. He was a professor and lecturer on the atrocities of the Nazis and horrors of the Shoah. He often led groups to Auschwitz and Dachau. We prayed for him nightly and believed that despite his age, if anyone would survive to tell the tale, it would be Alex Dancyg. Their bodies are still being held hostage.

Also last week, the bodies of five other people were located in a side wall of one of the terror tunnels deep underground in Khan Younis. We thank the IDF for rescuing the bodies after captured Hamas terrorists informed the IDF of their location. The families need closure and were able to give proper burial. I hope the hostages knew we didn’t forget them. G-d willing, next time, the IDF will be able to bring back five living hostages.

This week saw the start of the Paris Olympics. The names and personal information of all 88 Israeli athletes and their coaches were leaked over the internet. Several of the competitors received death threats. Even a member of the French government called for them to be banned from the games (as was Russia). The security in Paris is like nothing anyone has ever seen. And still, four major train lines had explosives detonated on the Chemin de Fer French rail lines last Friday. Anti Israel posters were hung all over Paris. We pray for the safety of the athletes, coaches and audiences.

Yesterday was Shabbat. The red alerts were going off on my phone all afternoon. Kiryat Shmona, Tel Hai, Shneir, Kfar Szold, Neot Mordechai, Kfar Blum…. It wasn’t terribly close by – on the gorgeous Northern border on the way up to the Golan. We are used to the red alerts at this point, and unless there is a local siren or I see on my app that the trajectories of the incoming missiles and drones (קרבם- in Hebrew it’s pronounced ‘cat- bomb’) are close by, I normally don’t do anything. It’s a little alarming how normal all this has become.

Just after Shabbat ended, the news started flowing. A missile with a large payload made a direct hit in the Druze city of Madj al Shams in the Golan. Madj al Shams lies at the foot of Mount Hermon on the Syrian border. It’s a quaint little family town. Beautiful, friendly people. In the winter, it becomes a playground where people stop to eat and have a hot drink at one of the local cafes and stock up on winter gear for skiing and sledding the slopes of Hermon. In the late summer, they have the best apples and carob honey. The Druze set up local farm stands and are very welcoming to visitors.

Yesterday was a lazy, hot summer Saturday afternoon. The kids and their parents wear all gathered on the football/soccer field for a friendly game as was usual. No one was suspecting anything abnormal. It’s what families do here. With very little advance warning, only about five seconds, the missile struck, killing 12 young people between the ages of 2-19. 29 more people were helicoptered to local hospitals, 13 critically wounded. Many were treated for shock. It’s absolutely horrific.

The Druze are Israeli citizens, loyal Arabs who fight in the IDF. They are our security people and police officers. They are our neighbors. They are our friends. It’s a great loss for us.

At the time, Prime Minister Netanyahu was out of the country in the US. He is now flying back to Israel. The head of the IDF, Gen. Herzi Halevy and Gen. Gordon of the Northern Command visited the Druze families last night to assure them that the response against Hizbulla will be swift and will be drastic.

Last night was eerily quiet for us. On the mirpesset I could only hear the wind and the gentle rustling of leaves and the occasional jackal yapping in the distance. No drones. No jets. No bombs. No cars or people. It seemed that everyone was just holding their breath.

We scanned the news as the headlines eventually started coming through.

This morning, we left for a meeting in Tiberias. People were driving on their way to work. The streets of the cities were full of people. On the way, someone had stretched a giant banner across a mountain. It said in Hebrew, “ G-d is the King. There is none other than Him.” (Adonai, hu ha melekh. Ayn ode mil-vah-DOE)

Thank you for the reminder. We sorely need to hear this now. I made John take our ‘bug out bags’ with us in the car, just in case. They are backpacks with some food, change of clothes, flashlight, med kit, water, passports, and essential hygiene. I hated leaving the dog behind, but wanted to be prepared with some important belongings just in case. One never knows. It was fairly quiet as far as planes or any sounds of military activity, yet we all know something very big is about to go down. A huge red line was crossed by Hizbulla yesterday.

After my meeting, a few of the people were trying to guess what would happen next. I heard it said three times,”The government is so careful to try to avoid civilian casualties I Gaza, but what about us? How are we to feel? There’s no way we can be moved out of harm’s way.” We are all waiting with bated breath.

So, more info is coming out. From the pieces collected, the IDF reports that it was a 53 kg (120 lb) warhead on an Iranian Falaq rocket fired by Hizbulla in Lebanon. The Iron Dome failed to intercept the rocket because it was fired at close range (less than 10 km/6miles) and took less than 12 seconds to reach its target. They know the name of the commander (somehow) because of the direction and trajectory.

As can be expected of disobedient children, Hizbulla immediately denied the fact that they shot the missile. Remember, they had been firing scores (over 40) rockets at the border communities throughout the day yesterday. Then, to make matters worse, they said it was actually an Israeli Iron Dome misfire…. sounds like the Gaza hospital strike story in reverse to me.

In other headlines:

Late this morning, tens of thousands of people showed up for the funerals of the 12 children. Druze, Jews, and Christians poured in from many villages and cities in the North. I doubt there will be any military activity until at least early evening to give the mourners a chance to grieve and bury their dead.

Both President Herzog and the Prime Minister have televised speeches of expressing sorrow, solidarity and a “rising of readiness to the next level…we are on war footing….this will not go unanswered.” Now, it’s a waiting game. The country is on pins and needles.

I’m keeping calm and busy. I’m writing…. and canning. I just made lacto-fermented pickles from my cucumber harvest and the tomatoes and peppers are roasting in the oven for pasta sauce. John is fixing broken things around the house; putting on a new garden hose; walking the dog; folding laundry. We are packing for our trip to the States later this week, G-d willing. It will be the first time in ten years that all the siblings will be together in one place. We have rented a beach house and we look forward to the girls meeting the new husbands and all of us seeing and enjoying the new babies. We now have six beautiful grandchildren, thanks be to G-d. Hopefully, we will be reunited with them this time next week.