Last night after a sizable barrage around sunset, we had a relatively quiet night. John and I prayed, of course, and then watched a couple more episodes of Mrs. Maisel, our latest diversion. We caught up on news, said night prayers and tucked in early, for us 11:30 pm. John woke up a few minutes before 4 am and commented on what a restful night it’s been. “Maybe they’ve been so decommissioned in Iran that they can’t launch any more missiles. I’m going back to sleep.” BAM!!! It’s all his fault😉
The banshee wail struck again at exactly 4am. Not 30 seconds later the neighborhood sirens blared out in communion with all the sirens from neighboring cities miles away. Thank you, Israel (Pikud haOref/Home Front Command). You sure are doing a swell job of warning your people.
We now know how important it is to be in a shelter. With these hypersonic, heavily loaded ICBMs it’s a whole new ballgame. And we as a nation are learning the best place is underground. Thank goodness our saferoom is below ground and more than heavily fortified with 24 inch steel enforced concrete walls and a steel door that reminds me of Ft. Knox. (Only problem is we have the old doors designed to handle missile attacks but not invasions. They are not lockable from the inside.) Anyway we beat feet again, our small long-haired dachshund flying off the bed and leading the way.
It was another hard night. Again. I reiterate. John and I are not afraid. We are taking all precautions and leave the rest up to G-d. We rely upon His Divine protection after having done all else. Still. The sounds of the Iron Dome rockets actually whizzing past our house (I sometimes wonder how they clear our roofline) and the crashes of the interceptions and also the direct hits (we hear those too. They are much different than the interceptions) are nerve wracking. The red alerts on our phones tell us where and when the strikes are expected in real time so those procrastinating Israelis can really run in those last few seconds.
The battery of missiles started in the north where we live. Not only were they going for dense packed areas, but this time, it was fairly evident they were aiming at various military bases and defense companies. The barrage moved to the center of the country. Then the desert towards Eilat. Was it Houthis joining in? Then the Gaza envelope, Ashdod, Beersheva. Jerusalem area. Back up to the Golan and Galil. Down towards the center. Tel Aviv. Jaffa. Bnei Barack. Petach Tikvah. ramat Gan. Then towards the central coast, towards Caesaria, where Netanyahu’s home is. Then back up here. No joke. It lasted for more than 25 minutes. Never seen anything like it. These b@$+@**$ were going all I stopped taking screen shots after awhile. We later found out over 100 ICBMs had been fired at us.
We stayed in the mammad for almost 45 minutes waiting for the all-clear sign. A big shout out to our local Spanish-speaking community who launches up-to-date information and messages like Iran launches missiles. Mucho gracias!!! Next: to scour all the top news sites I could (John quickly and smartly went right back to bed) for the latest of what the heck just happened. Before retiring around 6am, all I could find out was that there had been at least five direct hits in central Israel. They were pulling people out of rubble and putting out fires. One direct hit at least in Haifa.
First let me back-track a bit with the photos I was unable to bring up yesterday. This is some of the devastation from Saturday night’s barrage, mostly in Bat Yam a coastal community just outside Tel Aviv.
And from other parts in central Israel, Rehovot (Rehobath in “American”), and another Tel Aviv suburb
The death toll from last night has climbed to 10. Of course we all are mourning the deaths of every person lost, but thank goodness, it was that low. Multiple impact sites included Haifa, Tel Aviv, cities surrounding the Tel Aviv area, and Eilat. Over 200 people were injured and required hospitalization, including a 10 year old boy and a days old baby. An elderly couple did not survive a direct hit to their apartment complex. They were in their safe room, which completely ripped away from the building. A yeshiva in Bnei Barack was hit as well as a synagogue in Holon. Relief and rescue workers are still pulling people from the rubble.
Just thought you should know. When you hear about shrapnel falling from the sky, this is what it looks like. From a side yard in the Hula Valley (Upper Galilee), this stood waist tall to a man:
We had seem some pretty strange occurrences from videos taken, most specifically from our friend in Poriyya. At first John and I couldn’t completely explain the phenomenon. We knew the missiles exited then reentered earths atmosphere, but didn’t know the scientific mechanism. So now for the nerd part-
Some of the missiles experienced an exoatmospheric detonation when intercepted in space. It happens when an explosion occurs outside the earth’s atmosphere, about 62 miles or 100 km up or higher, where there is a vacuum. There is no oxygen to propagate a thermal blast like it does on earth. When an explosion happens on earth, the detonation produces a shock wave. This occurs due to the interaction of the explosion’s energy with the air’s molecules which usually causes a fireball. Since there’s no air molecules in space, because it’s a vacuum, these effects are absent because there’s no medium to compress or heat. Instead the energy is released as electromagnetic radiation or pulse. (-Kagan Dunlap)
https://youtube.com/shorts/2peVd5VviQQ?si=PKV2jm0Gq5So1TLb
The next short is footage from an Emirates flight. You can see when the rocket boosters fire, propelling the missile out of earth’s atmosphere. The missiles traveled in space for longer than Katy Perry, just sayin’-
https://youtube.com/shorts/6sYymRf1iBk?si=sraUzAimtyrvQna1
Our neighbors, men and women, are now being called up to serve. Two are paramedics. One is a nurse. The other an engineer. Two are border patrol. One neighbor told John he was going to be stationed on the Jordanian border, as there is a real threat of both drone infiltration and infiltration of a large contingent of ‘Palestinian refugees’ from Jordan there who want to see another 7 October. I’m so glad they are putting aside work and family to protect us: may angels escort them throughout their duty. For the past two days we have seen a rise in UAV activity flying in from the East. One was just shot down over Caesaria this morning. We had followed the red alerts from Harish across the country (7 miles wide at that point) until its interception. Thankful, too, that now there is a real front line on the Jordanian front.
For the good news: there was a beautiful wedding at sunset (shortly after the first missile barrage) in the desert near the Dead Sea yesterday evening. Despite the war, there was much singing and dancing and joy. Life goes on.
Yuval Hazut,22 and her husband Yaris, 25. Imagined for months long the birth of their first son. A historic attack by the state of Israel on Iran was not part of the plan, but that is how it turned out. While in the labor room at Rambam. hospital in Haifa, a decision was made to reduce the General activities of the hospital to the protected underground complex. The birth, uncomplicated, was completed an hour ago underground. “It was a quick and easy birth,” stated the new mother,”When the attack started in the morning I didn’t think too much about the consequences, but I felt safe and wrapped in love. Everyone calmed me down. We started upstairs and the whole crew moved me downstairs. It was a little stressful, because it was not at all what we had planned, but it’s better to Ben in the safest place and focus on the birth. What’s important is that we were all healthy and protected.
The tense day that passed in Israel during the missile attacks, was also an especially busy time in the delivery room of Rambam. Eight births that morning alone, paralleled with the move of the entire department to their underground facility. Also at this hour, there is a lot of activity in the delivery rooms with the expectation of 16 more babies soon. – Army War Room News
As a result of the current security situation, it has just been announced that the Macabi Games (International Jewish Olympics…it’s a very big deal ) have been postponed. They have been pushed off until summer of 2026. It will give all the athletes the opportunity to prepare and get even better until next year. You will most definitely find us on the baseball stadium.
There are massive calls out for people to donate blood. All Magen David Adom stations are open as well as sites at local universities and some community centers. Remember no more than 50 people allowed in a public area (other than hospitals, private units, etc).
It has been found out, that while Israel is under direct attack, foreign media outlets like Al Jazeera, Al Arabiye, Memri, and fake ‘journalists’ are actively sharing exact locations of missile falls in real time to be fed back to Iran. This helps the enemy regime better target Israelis. They are not publishing just news, but providing exact coordinates, filming sensitive zones and broadcasting data that would otherwise be classified at that time. This is a security breach. Their credentials need to be revoked and they must be deported or jailed. Pronto. Two have been arrested already-
South Korea is sending pallets of humanitarian aid to Israeli families hit by the war. “We are not making street rallies as often as paid Hamas kids because we have jobs. But we are praying for you every day,” reported one person at a pro-Israel rally. Another shouted,” Thank you Israel for freeing the world from global terrorists.” The multitude amassed in Seoul could be seen waving both Israeli and Korean flags. “Korea stands with Israel,” “Korea condemns terrorists” were some of the slogans chanted before the crowd broke into both ‘Am Yisrael Chai’ and then ‘Hatikvah’ yesterday.
Last night the voices of resistance echoed throughout the streets of Tehran. Residents are shouting anti-regime slogans from the windows and rooftops. “Death to Khameni”. “Come back Pahlavi” “Thank you, Israel.” Freedom is surely near. For those of you still writing me about Israel being the aggressor and starting WWlll or this will make gas and other prices skyrocket, I shall address you tomorrow, G-d willing.
Lastly, I’d like to explain the name of this military operation. You might have heard the name Operation Rising Lion. But that’s not what it’s called in Hebrew. The name האם כלביא (am k’lah-vee) actually translates to a people like a lion. It comes from Numbers 23:24, the story of Balaam and Balak. Balaam, the prophet called upon to curse the Children of Israel, was unable. He said, “Behold, the people shall rise up like a great lion, and lift himself up like a great lion.” The curse becomes a blessing. According to linguist, Elon Gilad, the word “lavi” is a Biblical word for lion like ‘aryeh.’ In Russian and the Slavic languages, the word for lion is ‘lev’ which comes from the Latin word “leo” via the Ancient Greek, “Leon.” This comes from an ancient Semitic source, like Biblical Hebrew. Long story short, the strong Lion of Judah is awake and roaring. Strong. Bold. Courageous.
And now for the video we took early Sunday morning. We were on our way downstairs and I stopped to film out our window. At first notice the one missile, then the numerous Iron Dome anti missile batteries shot up. Wait for the end when you see the Iranian missiles reenter the atmosphere on their way towards the center of the country. As soon as the siren sounded, we ran to our mammad.
Israel Dreams 