I'll start off by saying that I really don't understand where some of these titles come from - but what can I do...I'm just the typist here. My brain says to the fingers - type it and they do...so don't blame them, please.

I didn't walk among kings last week, but I certainly walked among presidents, ministers, generals, former generals, and ambassadors. They walked somehow above the rest of us, occasionally stopping to speak to someone here or there. They were hustled in, hustled out. We were the audience, the children - told to stand (as if we did not know); told not to leave our seats for security reasons. We were a bit awed, a bit nervous. They are but men, flesh and blood but when someone like Gabi Ashkenazi stands a short distance away, you hesitate to approach. When Peres comes into the room, your mind fills with questions and you wonder if you should ask. I did approach; I did ask. I pushed myself by reminding myself that I have as much right to share in the sunshine of this world as they do, to question what my country is doing and where it is going. It is the future of my children; I am their mother.

After two full days, I was ready for the quiet that is my home. I woke Friday morning to the task of making challah and as I kneaded the dough, I thought about the week. My success of the day was not measured in international agreements brokered among diplomats and journalists, but on whether my dough would rise and if the bread that would be baked would be sweet enough.

Hours later, the table set, two of my children received their father's blessings and we watched as he cut the bread and gave each of us a piece. It was delicious - this fantastic recipe I got from Lauren months ago. I've changed it a bit - added mostly whole wheat flour, increased the honey by a bit. I braided six strands, which makes a lovely loaf - and we enjoyed it and it was as I was kneading and later as I was eating it that I thought about how we are grounded, as kings and presidents are not.

More than the simple task of making bread is the concept here. We can walk among presidents and kings all week long, but it is only as we ground ourselves on Friday and enter the Sabbath do we approach the True King. These men who spoke have voice but no real power. They do not determine the present and future of Israel, nor do the rockets that hit our land, even on Shabbat. As we entwine the strands of dough, we are entwined with our land, our people, our faith and most of all, with God. It is this act, of preparing the challah and caring for our families that Jewish women have done for centuries, millennium.

All week long, we can forget that. We can listen to politicians suggest that Israel can make peace if is surrenders this, concedes this, gives up that, forgets that. We can listen to academics play with lines on a map wondering if they notice, perhaps, that the line just happens to go through someone's living room, and we can wonder about whether this man's perceived crisis is really more about him than about us. And then we can come home, add yeast and flour, eggs and water and honey and salt, We can watch the dough rise, a promise that Shabbat is coming soon.

And we can bake it, letting the house fill with the most amazing scents. We can thank our married children as they stop by to bring a salad for us, or as they call and wish us a peaceful Shabbat. We put the freshly baked bread on the table, light the Shabbat candles as we close our eyes and pray for peace. No, not the peace of these kings and politicians, but true peace that comes from the heart and in the heart.

And then, as the candles burn and we sit around, we have that first taste of the challah and know we have been truly blessed, truly grounded and truly honored to walk with the King.

Shortly after I picked Elie up from the Gaza War, after weeks of not seeing him and barely talking to him, I was anxious to finally get to talk to him, to hug him, and to listen. On the long drive home, we began to discuss the war and the war's ending. Obama had been elected and Israel was clearing the field for his entry into office on January 20, 2009. Israel didn't want Obama's first words to be condemning Israel for the war and Washington had made it clear they wanted the war over.

For the last 5 days, Israel has been hit by 150 rockets. People have been injured. The ignorant and often anti-Israel commenters ask how many people in Israel have been injured or killed. This is the numbers game they play. I can answer them or ignore them. The answer, as far as I know, is that at least 6 people have been injured: one critical, one moderate, the rest lightly. This doesn't, of course, include dozens treated for shock, doesn't include the physical damage and worse, the mental terror each resident feels when the siren wails.

If civilians are lucky (or smart), they will not be in the area (or they will flee quickly). The honest ones will call you a martyr, which is a synonym for a terrorist firing the rocket, the bomb maker, and the one who supplied the missiles. These are our targets.

The deceitful will speak of a 2-year-old Palestinian child killed by Israel, while the medic will privately admit to a BBC reporter that the child was killed by a Gaza rocket that misfired and landed on their side. A picture will be posted - and the picture will be a lie - taken from another time, another place, sometimes even another conflict. And those who want to believe, those who don't understand, those who are ready to ignore and those who never really liked those Israelis, those Jews...will believe.

They won't see that the numbers are meaningless if, within the 15 "people" - (or whatever the number is currently), 14 of them were firing rockets, Hamas trainees, etc. No country, no organization, no people have the right to shoot rockets at 1 million people - and this is what Hamas has done...150 times in the last few days.

Elie's words come back to me - a bit naive, a bit like a young man thinking he can solve the problems of the world. I don't remember now what I said to him, how I answered. No, Israel did not "finish" the job in the Cast Lead Gaza war of 2008/2009. Hamas was left with the potential to continue firing. We all knew it was a matter of time.

In this latest round, as in the past, a school was hit, a home. People have been injured, property damaged. If Gaza is upset about the number of innocent casualties on their side, they have but to do one of two things:

Stop shooting rockets from within civilian areas - this may lessen the small number of innocents that may be injured accidentally. No, Hamas will never do this because they know that if we can identify a target within a crowded area and we aren't sure we can take it out, we won't. And so they use their mosques, their homes, their hospitals, their wives and even their children to protect their weapons and their fighters.

• Stop shooting rockets - this will stop this latest round until the next time they start again because in January, 2009, Elie and the soldiers of Israel were not allowed to finish what had been started.

At some point, Israel has to do more than just stop them until the next time. At some point, we will have to finish the job and eliminate Hamas' ability to fire on our people...or perhaps, just eliminate Hamas.

Once again, the Palestinians are spreading their lies and once again, it is so easy to prove them wrong. They seem to not understand that pictures printed 4 years ago are traceable...So here's the latest - @occpal posted her tweet accusing Israel.

Of course, sadly, there are people stupid enough to believe anything. Here's @yoqmeam thanking @occpal for the picture and saying that I'm the idiot for believing what the "Zionist" regime tells me. Well, I'm wondering who the idiot is now. 

So, I did a little research. Here's the link that @occpal wants to share about the supposed injury of a Gaza baby and a massive explosion identified - look at the date - yup, that does say today...Look at the picture very carefully - do you see those straight lines?

Here, let me help - let me zoom in on the picture. I've left the date in the top corner so you can see it:

Now do you see those lines to the left and right? Now look at the picture below from December, 2011 - no, not Gaza - a Colombia oil pipeline - no, not Israel, and not an Israel air craft strike...same buildings to the left, same lights to the right. Same explosion...the only truth here is that this explosion happened 4 years ago and the Palestinians have once again been busted for trying, yet again, to fool you. Don't let them! Here's the picture - note the date...location, etc.

No matter where the picture is from - it is very clear that once again "The Voice of Palestine" is trying to delude you into thinking the picture was from June 3rd 2012 - it clearly is not, as it appears on the Internet dating back at least 6 months - if not more. What is also clear is that there are people, even fools and perhaps idiots - who want to believe what they want and will not only believe whatever they want, but have the nerve to call others idiots. 

So, @yoqmeam - who is the idiot now?

For now, I'm in a place that years ago I never imagined I would be - safe on the other side, looking back. Now, with my two older sons out of the army, with Yaakov safely married in the States and Chaim in his studies, I can be glad they were in. I can say that they grew as people, as Jews, as Israelis, as men, as sons. Now, when it is safe.