Day Nine from Netivot

Last night was a sleepless one, but for good reason. We heard the noise of the IDF in action. Our boys, may Hashem watch over each and every one of them, went in to the hornets' nest trying to clear out the scum who've made our lives untenable. My heart goes out to Dvir Amnoalof's Mother, z'l. (He was our first casualty from the incursion into Gaza.) Hearing that she also lost her husband this year, I feel she must indeed be a remarkable woman to allow her son to join the Golani brigade, instead of taking a desk job in the IDF.

When his friend described Dvir's last phone call on the eve of his first mission in active combat, I was so moved. For Dvir had said he was sad that he had to go fight and perhaps kill, but felt the need to do so to protect those living in the south under continual rocket fire. I compare this gentle soldier's words with the coarse bravado I've read on websites quoting American soldiers (may G-d bless them as well,) often mouthing phrases such as, "Gonna go there and kick some (&*%^*&%*& !!"

My youngest daughter was home for Shabbat from her college and was calm and happy until 5:50 last night despite several sirens and rockets throughout the day. My husband had just went to shul, and as I wrote in my last post here, when the rocket that caused a home nearby to collapse passed very near our home. This morning she awoke with horrendous nausea, and was sick. She was unable to swallow a thing and said she will not come home for Shabbat again until the rocketing ceases. So, we've found an empty apartment for this coming weekend. All my married children are thrilled, since during the week they can call throughout the day to inquire about our safety. Shabbat poses a 24 tense period when they are torn, trying to enjoy the calm Sabbath atmosphere while knowing we are on the front.

I tell this for one reason alone: Here is a healthy happy well-adjusted 18 year old in the prime of her young life. One week of worry about her family and two Shabbatot in Netivot changed her into a poorly functioning individual. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? So quickly? How in heavens name have my pupils in Sederot been living with this horror for close to eight years??? How have the adults there been coping with large families of small children under the continual stress of "colour red" sirens blaring? How come the world is so hypocritical? Isn't a nation allowed to protect its citizens?

Apparently not. A short flip through web sites such as the NY Times; CNN; BBC and of course we see the poor child crying at her aunt's funeral in Gaza and read about the family in Gaza City living in the hallway of their apartment eating cold food. Are we in a much better situation? Every siren heralds our buildings' residents rushing into the stairway in the freezing cold in the middle of the night as we have no concrete walled "mamad" room that is capable of sustaining a direct hit. Thank goodness G-d is on our side! Witness the blatant miracles crying out to be named such instead of just "luck" the word often mouthed by our media. So, what is the difference between Gazans and Sederot's citizens, so close to one another geographically?

The difference is that THEIR leaders have wrought the destruction. The Talmud clearly says that if a mouse eats food, it is blameless. Rather the HOLE that allowed the mouse inside is guilty. Well dear Gazan citizens, I do not jump for joy when your women and children are killed. I abhor the sterile term "collateral damage." Every human being is created by G-d. However YOU chose to elect a radical Islamic party to rule you. THEY are using you as human shields. THEY do not recognize the right of Israel to exist as a sovereign state. THEY are pleased to show your suffering to the cameras of the world. Perhaps those of you not well versed in the English language (unlike the many fluent lawyers we hear interviewed adnauseam) do not recognize the saying: "If you lie down with dogs you are apt to get fleas." As the song says,"Don't cry to me Argentina!"