Stress

 

Last week, on the day following taking my youngest son back to Gaza and visiting the memorial site of the Nova festival, I found myself tied up in knots. I seriously considered going for counseling until I did a mental checklist. Despite my tension, I was fulfilling my obligations, relating well to my family and friends, and generally coping, albeit constantly tired.  I decided there was no point spending time and money to hear that I am dealing with stress. The whole country is dealing with stress. What I need to know is how to handle the stress. All this was on my mind as I made my way to the Kotel. Once there I had an excellent therapy session with The Master Analyst. It calmed me down and I plan to return for an additional session this week. That's how I plan to handle the stress.

Praying

 

When I first moved to Shilo we were a village of seventy families, and we all knew each other. As we’ve quadrupled in size that is no longer true, however we are all connected. Since the war began four of our Shilo boys were injured, all sons of old-timers. Thankfully all have recovered or are well on their way to recovery. And then on Shabbat another of our young men was seriously injured in a ramming attack and we’re praying for Ophir Ben Shoshana Zipporah.

Meanwhile the miracles continue. Thursday night my son’s tank ran over an incendiary device in Gaza. It exploded but somehow neither my son nor his comrades were injured.

Along with my prayers for Ophir are ones of thankfulness for my son. I pray that he and all the other soldiers remain safe. I pray for the hostages, the evacuees, and the injured to come home safe and whole. Please HaShem make it happen. Please make the most major miracle of all and defeat the evil.   

Sharing:

Yesterday was a hard day for me emotionally. Among other things, two of my sons returned to duty, one to Gaza, the other to the border. It’s nothing new. For fourteen months thousands of mothers, including myself, have had their children fighting in Gaza, Lebanon, and other hot spots. Why was I having a difficult time yesterday? Because we’re tired. The soldiers are tired. Their wives are tired. Their children are tired. Their parents are tired. Yet, we have no choice but to overcome our exhaustion and fight until we have total victory over evil and bring everyone home-the soldiers, the captives, the evacuees, and the injured. It’s not easy. Yesterday I turned to my faith, remembered all the good that I do have, and decided to move forward. Am Yisroel Chai. We want to stay alive!

We're Special

 

My middle child is back in the army stationed near Kissufim, one of the villages that was overrun and nearly destroyed by Arab terrorists on Simchat Torah last year. Friday he sent out this translated message on our family group: Anyone who needs challahs, cakes, bags of snacks, drinks, or toothpaste is happily invited to come here. The amount of donations doesn’t stop.

How heartwarming to read that even after 405 days of war, our soldiers are not being forgotten. What is even more heartwarming is that since many of the residents of Kissufim and other nearby towns have not yet returned home, most of those donations came from places as far as 60-80 miles away.

Of course, we’re a country full of Jewish mothers who kvell to feed our children in uniform. If only a chocolate chip cookie could win the war, we would have had total victory months ago.

On another note, that same son informed me that his unit enabled the transfer of truckload after truckload full of flour to Gaza last week. The transfer was supervised by both European and American observers. Is any other country in the world expected to feed its enemy? I don’t think so. Apparently the world knows that the Jewish People are special.

Lala Land

 Yesterday I took a break from reality and strolled along the Mediterranean beach for a couple of hours. It was so peaceful and serene, except for the army helicopters on patrol flying overhead.

How relaxed I felt until the evening, when I saw that we lost six more precious soldiers. Such heart ache.

We do not want to be at war. We just want everyone to come home-Kfir Bibas, his family, and all the other hostages, all the evacuees whose homes are being targeted by missiles, the injured, and the soldiers. That can only happen once we win this war. We cannot give up because surrender will mean our annihilation. Anyone who does not understand is living in Lala Land. I'd like to live there too but I can't.

The United Nations

 

When I was almost nine years old, my parents and I took a vacation to the east coast. While there we visited the United Nations and I was totally enchanted. How wonderful for all the nations of the world to get along. That enchantment motivated me a few years later when my cousin and I decided to go treat-or-treating on Halloween, not for candy, but for UNICEF. One of the first houses we approached had a huge flagpole in the middle of the front yard and an American flag hung from it daily. We were expecting a nice donation from the owner and were totally blindsided when he gruffly refused to give us anything. To the children behind us he became more affable. “I give the American way,” he announced as he handed them treats.

That was close to sixty years ago and through the years as the UN passed numerous anti-Israel resolutions, I came to understand that gruff neighbor more and more. An organization that enchanted a young child has become a bastion of antisemitism. The crowning insult was when their employees participated in the October 7^th massacre.

Now that UNRWA and other UN organizations are nominated for the Noble Peace Prize I imagine my gruff neighbor is turning over in his grave. As for me, well, I’m horrified, but then the world seems to have lost its moral compass.

As I write this, we’re less than thirty-six hours until the beginning of Yom Kippur, our day of atonement. Let’s do good deeds, give generous donations, repent, and pray with all our heart for the Almighty to nullify His harsh decrees and bring the world back to sanity.  

More Than Eleven Months

 

More than eleven months of lighting an extra candle for the hostages every Shabbat eve. More than eleven months of leaving our phones one over Shabbat according to security instructions. More than eleven months of reciting Avinu Malkanu day in and day out, even on Shabbat. More than eleven months of preparing cakes and other goodies for our soldiers and their families More than eleven months of war.

Soon my sons will be going back to active duty. I am no different than thousands of other mothers. We’re concerned for all the soldiers, but it becomes sharper when our children are fighting for our very survival.

In less than two weeks we will begin a new year. What will it hold? Will HaShem answer our pleas for true peace and the return home of all? Could this be the year of true redemption? It’s in His hands but we have to help Him.

Shabbat shalom