Sometimes I write nonsense – just to let you know I’ve checked, and all my limbs are intact. Ezi too. The kids are keeping safe, but of course, we’re crazy battle-fatigued. The neighbor upstairs dropped a book just now and I jumped. not surprising – the whole building jumped this morning.
this is just to say -6.19.25 Read Post »
I realize that Khoumeni is trying to get back at us for what we did to Haman, but at 7 in the morning? I mean there were operations going on in the hospital he bombed. Haim called to tell me he was home and had postponed his treatment. But i don’t know what happened to most of my friends.
No wonder we’ve been overeating – we need those extra layers of fat to keep the pieces of rockets from hitting our vital parts!
I just wrote so you can know we’re okay so far.
what a mess – 6.19.25 Read Post »
but it looks real to me
https://danielgordis.substack.com/p/exhausted-but-hopeful-israelis-are?utm_source=podcast-email&publication_id=296307&post_id=166226879&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack&utm_content=watch_now_button&r=a7sj7&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
can’t vouch for the authenticity of this – 6.18.25 Read Post »
this is a silly detail. I have been so looking forward to a haircut today that I went there yesterday. And the hairdresser was standing at the entrance of his temporary salon, looking sad. “Come back tomorrow,” he said, with a hairdresser’s kiss.
But just as I was about to dance out of the door, Ezi reminded me that there was a missile yesterday at this time and I’d better stay home.
I remembered suddenly that my mother once told me that my father was coming down the street on Fountayne Road in London and she was walking up the road, and a rocket fell between them, leaving a big hole in the street. I looked it up and it was recorded.
so i cancelled. curses.
I would have much more strength to face this war with short hair.
the unkind cut – 6.18.25 Read Post »
i’m not sure of the source of this list – but it is incredibly good advice for people in Israel – and maybe Iran as well:
good advice – 6.16.25 Read Post »
Last night Iran’s targets were population centers in Israel. Eight people died and countless families lost their homes. Ballistic rockets to an apartment building are certain to do damage to human beings as well as their dwellings, and it’s anybody’s guess who will wake up in the morning. Of course we all spent the night trying to keep safe, so of course most of us are sleepless. I’ve never been one of those ducks in a shooting range before. This is a new experience and it tops the previous 4 years of uncertainty.
shooting range -6.16.25 Read Post »
it’s 5 in the morning and we’ve been up all night – in and out of shelter – and checking on neighbors and friends. will we get some sleep now or will the adrenaline keep us checking on loved ones ? let’s see.
In the meantime, thanks to all of you for your care and support. We will be needing it for a long while, even if a miracle happens and it stops tonight.
This is my personal experience:
We live in a building of 18 apartments with a shelter in the basement. The original tenants are Jewish people who bought their apartments here in the ‘70s and are now quite old. The ones who died left their apartments to their children who rent them out. Most of those tenants are young and Arab, and on weekends usually go back to their villages.
We are in charge of the building. That means Ezi is not only responsible for the maintenance of the shelter, for providing a chemical toilet, water, electricity, etc. And for knowing where the tenants are and who needs help. There is no internet, but we’re now working on getting the lines down there so that people can be updated on the situation during an attack, and find out about the situation of their loved ones.
My kids and grandkids live in buildings that are not as safe, and we try to connect after each attack to find out how they are.
These preparations have not been necessary in the past because attacks were never this long and this destructive. Standing in the staircase was usually sufficient preparation for a rocket attack.
Last night dozens of houses all around the country were destroyed. One case: a thousand-pound rocket attack in Tamra, a quiet Moslem village, killed a family of four, and there have been other victims all over the country.
I knew one of the tenants in our building comes from a village not far from there, and was relieved to see her enter the shelter. “Where were you last night?” I exclaimed. “We were worried.” She smiled. She is Bedouin and very calm and practical (except when someone takes her parking space).
Iran is 80 times the size of Israel and has been promising our destruction since the Ayatollahs took over their country.
The old people (including me) sit together and reminisce about meeting in the shelter in previous wars. “Yes, Desert Storm – that was when we wore masks.” “Oh, in the ’73 war we only came down here once.” This seems to comfort us…
One of the younger families sleeps in the shelter and ask us to be quieter.
Some of the people from visiting buildings or people caught in the street at the time of the attack sit in another corner and chatter. They try to be considerate, but they are a bit hysterical as well.
I hope this gives a little microcosm.
a little personal detail – 6.15.25 Read Post »
