On the morning when we were informed that Israel had started the attack on Iran, I went to the small shop close by. It opened at 7:00 a.m., and at that time, it was completely packed.
It's one of those small places where you don't do your big shopping, but instead grab a few essential items. On this day, however, many others like me were filling up their baskets and grabbing what we thought was needed, because we didn't know how long this would last.
There was a long line of people waiting to pay, including me, when three soldiers came in. They couldn't have been more than 22 years old, and all three of them just grabbed a few items. Since I was next in line to pay, I said out loud for everybody to hear, "You guys don't wait in line, go before me and pay… and thank you for what you're doing!" This brought a big smile to everybody's faces, because our young boys and girls in uniform truly are our heroes for such a time as this. As they finished up, the soldiers thanked me politely in perfect English.
I have no idea what it's like to have children to care for and protect during these past 12 days, when all of these missiles were flying over my head. I'm a single woman living alone, so it was poignant when I heard the sound of my neighbor's seven children, who live below me, playing out on their balcony in between ballistic missile attacks.
What made it poignant for me was the youthful sounds of Israel's future being attacked when the sudden sound of the sirens started blaring. I could hear them screaming as they were running into their house to their bomb shelter.
One day, as the Red Alerts started blaring while I was out on my balcony, I saw a young Jewish mother walking with two small toddlers on the sidewalk. In my heart, I could sense the evilness of Iran's effort to murder her and her children, as she was frantically running for cover. Across the street from me, I saw a couple of tourists sprinting into a hotel, desperately seeking safety in the nearest bomb shelter.
Following this alert, I learned about the brave Israeli fighter pilots who had dropped some heavy bombs and inflicted great damage to the targeted sites they attacked in Iran. Days later, I would hear about the brave American pilots who went in with their planes and bombed Iran's nuclear sites with weapons that Israel doesn't have, the massive explosions, and the loud "booms" announced the demise of Iran's nuclear program for now.
I woke up at 3 a.m. to see this exciting news, which was something all of us were cheering on. Only a few hours later, everything became quite sobering because of the retaliatory response that came with a massive barrage of rockets fired from Iran into Israel. I just finished getting dressed after my morning shower when my phone blew up with the tones that signaled more Red Alerts. As I heard them chiming, my thoughts were, "Here we go again!"
In the beginning, I was watching and making videos on my balcony, but it became so intense that it was actually terrifying and overwhelming. So, I ran for my life into my bomb shelter while I was reporting on my social media. The interceptions from the missiles were such massive explosions that my whole house was shaking. I literally put my hand on the wall, and I felt the shaking while I just continued praying for God to protect His Holy Land and her people.
I know I witnessed the mighty force of the Israeli Army in their efforts to stop this ballistic carnage coming at us from Iran, but above that force is another force that forever will protect the nation that He chose as His own!
My thoughts and prayers were constantly with our brave fighter pilots who flew back and forth, then back and forth again to Iran, while their families were anxiously waiting for them to come home safely – and they all did – another miracle! I hope one day I will get the chance to speak to one of them and share his or her story.
It's funny when you're in the reality of a situation like we just were for 12 days during Operation Rising Lion, and after everything we already went through; it was difficult to know whether or not you're really thinking rationally. The reason for this is that you never know what's going to happen next, and you never know when you're going to run for your life again to the bomb shelters.
Seeing Iran's evil reflected in Israel's streets
The terror behind this is not knowing if the next missile that is flying above your house could bring harm to your life, loved ones, or property. So, in the midst of all this, you're trying to sleep when you can, grabbing a few fitful hours of anxious rest. Another anxious scenario is trying to shower when you are thinking it's safe.
Yet, it was twice that missiles were flying when I was in the shower, when I was the most vulnerable.
You never know how to be fully prepared for these terrifying moments, and so you go through your cupboards and your closets, making list of what you need to buy. Being in a situation like that, everything you know to be "normal" goes out the window while you're trying to be rational… You doubt yourself, and you argue inside your own mind if any of this even makes any sense to you. It's a sharp contrast between "normal," vs. living moment to moment by contingency situations.
In the midst of this scenario, 28 precious people were murdered by Iran in direct hits from ballistic missiles around Israel, including: Corporal Eitan Zacks, 18, from Beersheba, a soldier in combat training in the Multi-Dimensional Unit (888), together with his girlfriend, Noa Boguslavsky, a beautiful 12th grader at the ORT Arad school. Another victim was Eitan's mother, Michal Zacks, 50. This is just heartbreaking.
They didn't manage to return to the bomb shelter after an initial "all clear" notification was given by the Home Front Command for the city of Beersheba. They were literally killed in a ballistic missile strike less than half an hour before the present ceasefire came into effect.
Another victim was Holocaust survivor Yvette Shmilovitz, 95; she was killed in the Iranian missile strike in Petah Tikva. This is just devastating to comprehend, since she went through the horrors and trauma of the Holocaust, and now she was murdered by the equally heinous regime in Iran, which has promised over and over again to annihilate the Jewish state.
"Is it really over? Did that actually just happen? And are you going on a vacation now?"
These three questions were spoken to me in that order; each one came from a very nice lady who works in the local deli where I had popped in before this last Shabbat. I had come to buy some precooked vegetables, in order to make an easy dinner, because I was simply too tired to cook after everything we had been through.
I have bought food from her a couple of times, and we always talk a bit, but this time, we both looked tired, trying to understand what we had just gone through these past 12 days. I replied, saying that the IDF operation in Iran was something that absolutely needed to happen, in order for Iran not to annihilate all of us, and she agreed with my summation.
I said I was actually supposed to be in America right now, but I was glad I was in Israel. Now, I am hoping that my beloved mother can come visit me for Succot; it has been way too long!
She said that she hopes to be able to visit an elderly aunt in America during Succot, but again, who knows what will happen next?
Living in Israel makes it hard to plan anything, she said. I agreed and said, I need to recover-both emotionally, mentally, and physically before my beloved mother arrives.
The following morning, after the ceasefire came into effect, we woke up to the horrific news that seven precious sons of Israel had been killed in a horrific explosion inside the Gaza Strip; my heart just dropped to the floor, it's just so unbelievably devastating. Knowing that hundreds of precious soldiers have been killed fighting against Hamas in Gaza while defending the Jewish Homeland hurts so deeply.
Following the Shabbat after the ceasefire came into effect, we thought we were hopefully given the chance to sleep in and recover with some rest, but no… Red Alerts are buzzing on our phones because the Houthis in Yemen just fired a ballistic missile at 7:00 a.m. local time, sending 1 million Israelis running for their lives into bomb shelters once again. I could picture moms waking up their toddlers, grabbing them by the hair, and anxiously racing to safety.
I am unbelievably grateful for what the Israeli military accomplished, and it was absolutely needed; otherwise, Iran could have eliminated the Jewish state soon, but the impacts of these 12 days and everything that happened before and after the October 7 massacre cannot be discharged or pushed away. The deep impact of Israel still being at war with Hamas in Gaza, and the precious hostages still held in Gaza, is gut-wrenching.
How we react to everything happening in Israel since October 7, including the last 12 days, is a completely individual experience. It depends on all the things you have been through in life, what trauma you already carry, and naturally, our circumstances are completely different. Are you single and have to go through everything by yourself, or are you blessed to have a family with a spouse, children, and maybe grandchildren? If so, you have the comfort of a family being together that can offer you mutual support.
Are you healthy, or do you happen to have some injury in your body where your emotional trauma naturally affects that area of your body, making it worse? So, how we all react to things is completely different, depending on what life circumstances we have had, and that's why there is no right or wrong in how you are reacting in the midst of all of this.
I was working on a plan that involved intermittent fasting and eating healthy in order to drop some kilos, but that went completely out the window for me, due to being here alone. I shopped and bought what was in the store, and ate what was easy to make. That included too many treats and sweets as "comfort food" in the midst of running to my bomb shelter over and over again.
Another thing I do because of the tossing and turning during sleepless nights, I often change my sheets as something fresh and new in the midst of a stressful time, it's a small treat for me to sleep in clean sheets.
I wish every single person in Israel could get a personal masseuse to loosen up our muscles, and my heart goes out to all the children who have gone through everything since October 7. It really is hard to describe to anyone not living here what we have been through in order for the Jewish people simply just to be in the land that God gave them, while facing so much evil over and over again.
Also, with the horrific terror attacks and brutal murder of Jews that continue to happen, it is difficult, if not impossible, to ever recover, given the air of anxiety of waiting for the next one to happen in the midst of wars and missile attacks.
As Israel is opening up and tourists are coming back, please be patient with all of us, because nothing is the same as when you were here last. All of the people are affected; they are hurting and so traumatized. Still, we need to get everyday life to function the best that we can, so please cut us some slack when you come here, and if things are not working correctly, the bus is late. So, we welcome your patience and understanding.
We are happy to see all the tourists coming back, as the tourist industry has been hit very, very hard. God willing, we hope that during this summer and especially for the upcoming holiday of Succot, we will see thousands of tourists coming back to Israel.
There is no place like God's Holy Land. The Jewish people are chosen for such a time as this, the radical axis of evil in the Middle East will never stop trying to eradicate the Jewish people, and war against the plan that God has for His people and His nation.
So, the Holy Land still needs your encouragement, support, prayers, and again, anyone who can come to Israel, please do. Just bear in mind that we are hurting quite a bit from everything that we have gone through – if not this year, then "Next Year In Jerusalem!"
When I look out my window, I see several Israeli flags that were placed for Independence Day that are still flying in the streets, and there are times when the sight of the Israeli flag grabs my heart extra tight and brings tears to my eyes.
This actually happened every time I was standing on my balcony watching ballistic missiles raining over Jerusalem because I knew that it was not just any nation that was under attack, it was the Land of the Bible, and Israel was not fighting alone. Still, God was watching over His Nation, now and forever!
A reality that the enemies of Israel don't seem to understand, something I will address more in my next blog. Keep an eye out for that!