Where's the battle plan? Where's the vision?

I don't think the problem is my nothing-to-brag-about Hebrew. I listened very carefully to the news and all the official spokespersons.

They bragged about how hard they're pounding Lebanon and how they're counter-attacking Gaza. But that's the problem. Our army is reacting. It's letting the enemy set the pace.

Think of a tennis match. Generally the player serving wins that game, since he controls that first ball, how quickly and what angle it goes over the net.

The Arabs know what they want. They want us dead and gone, G-d forbid. They're not shy about saying it, and we have to listen to what they're saying in order to defeat them. And yes, we must defeat them. A friend told me a very disturbing thing. She saw a group of young soldiers and asked them to pose for her, with their finger in the air in the classic international " V for victory sign." As they began with enthusiasm, suddenly their officer told them to stop. "It's forbidden; it's political." Their faces fell, and she could tell by their body language what danger they were in.

How can victory be "political?" What are the soldiers supposed to be? Mannequins? for show? Is this some sort of theatrical farce? Maybe "theatre of the absurd?"

What's the point of endangering themselves if the government is just hoping to turn the clock back a couple of weeks to our former status quo?

At least some people are starting to think. A TV news commentator asked why nothing is going according to the "experts'" predictions. He suggested that the military do a "bedek bayit," a very thorough "spring cleaning" in its entire military concepts and strategy.

Defense Minister Peretz gave a very poorly rehearsed speech that made even less sense. The scenes on the news speak for themselves. Death and destruction. People are confused. Should they stay home or flee and if to flee, to where?

Haifa never thought itself in danger. It's a city where Jews and Arabs live together. Some neighborhoods are more integrated and others less so. No one considered Tzfat to be in danger either. Neither city had shelters ready for use. Some of my neighbors are preparing to receive friends and relatives from the north, and some refugees have already arrived.

We must pray for our survival and we must pray for a new leadership to take over from those holding the strings. And not only must we pray, we must also act. Passively waiting and expecting it all to come from G-d are not enough. Judaism is a religion of action; one that integrates and synthesizes the spiritual and the material. We are in Olam Hazeh, This World. We have a reponsibility to do everything we can. And then HaKodesh Baruch Hu will complete the job. G-d willing.