Payback

 On the nightmare of this past Simchat Torah my daughter and her family were spending the holiday with us. The call-up of her husband only added to the trauma. I, in a typical Jewish mother fashion, gathered up every chocolate chip cookie in the house and sent him off to war with those treats.

I knew those cookies were not going to protect him. Hopefully, my prayers would do that. However, the baked goods were my way of sending love. Once he was inside Gaza, though, it became impossible to send him any goodies.

There’s a scene from the classic movie, Gone with the Wind, where Melanie is handing out food to soldiers making their way home after the end of the war. Scarlett complains about the drain on their resources and Melanie’s answer is beautiful.

Maybe if he’s (Ashley) alive he’s on some northern road right now and maybe some northern woman is giving him a share of her dinner and helping my beloved come back home.

I know no Gazan mothers are giving any food to our troops in Gaza. Instead, I rely on the good-hearted Jewish people who travel south to feed our soldiers whenever those soldiers get leave to cross the border. Meanwhile, I try to do my payback by sending in treats from my kitchen to the soldiers stationed nearby.

May they all come back home. Safe in body and safe in spirit along with the hostages, the injured, and evacuees.

Shabbat shalom