There was once a soap opera called Days of Our Lives, but not even a soap opera could contain as much trauma, intrigue and incident as a single day in Israel. Life in Israel is never boring.


The ceaseless cycle of terror attempts is on the rise. Most are foiled, but even one is too many. Torah says he who saves the life of one man, it is as if he saved the whole world. Could the inverse of this be true?


IDF soldiers have found Syrian anti-personnel mines in the Golan. Burglaries, yet another form of intimidation, have become rampant across the land.


A friend was returning to Tsfat on Purim night. A short distance from her stop, an explosion rocked the bus. Rushing out the door amidst gasoline and smoke, she fled for the safety of her home.


A friend's daughter learns in a midrasha in Migdal Eder. A few weeks ago, the girls were fired upon as they studied. A few days later, they found themselves taking cover on the floor again when firebombs were hurled at the security guards of the community. A five-minute drive away, Ezer Levanon was brutally stabbed to death as he prayed in the forest near his Bat Ayin home.


I once lived in Kfar Eldad, in the eastern Gush Etzion region, and traveled the road to Efrat and Bat Ayin almost daily, admiring the rolling fields, vineyards and olive groves. Now, the construction of a concrete wall blocks the Judean landscape from view - for Jews. Driving home from Tekoa to Kfar Eldad on Purim night, a young person was stoned; not even a seven-minute drive is safe.


Meeting one of Israel's secret service officers recently, I discovered him to be working day and night, on call 24 hours a day, ready to be whisked away by helicopter, if necessary, to conduct yet another interrogation of captured or suspected terrorists. Let's just say the "boys" are busier than ever these days and they don't anticipate the pace letting up.

Fleeing south would not be an option in the next war, because Israel will be under attack from all sides.



A foreboding heaviness lurks behind the fresh smell of spring in the air. Syrian military buildup continues on the northern border. Hizbullah is stronger than before the summer war. Hamas and Fatah are fortifying their arsenal, compliments of Hizbullah and Al-Qaeda, and large quantities of weapons are being smuggled into Samaria. An official of Home Front Command recently warned people in the north that fleeing south would not be an option in the next war, because Israel will be under attack from all sides. Meanwhile, tensions explode in Israeli politics and international "heavyweights" pressure Israel to capitulate to the demands of regimes sworn to our destruction.


All the above is set against the backdrop of a country steeped in history and kedusha, beautiful beyond words, with deserts blooming, Torah flowing, and courageous people clinging to its hilltops and carving communities out of sand and stone. What a study in contrasts! We are constantly slandered in the media; yet, we daily extend community and national services to the very people who kill and maim our own. The tensions and joys of living in Israel collide. Even the strongest here admit to "mood swings" every now and then, but some are not so resilient. Within five days and four blocks of each other, I saw two people struck by cars. I could not help but wonder, "Why?"


The people in Israel's north have not recovered from one trauma and another looms. In the words of a Tsfat resident:


They have been sending out "be prepared" articles hoping that people will become proactive. There are few shelters being worked on and, to the best of our knowledge, no new ones are being built to house the thousands of Tsfat people. There are no shelters in the Old City and only a small one in the Artist's Quarter. There is no one to talk to and no one to complain to.


I look out from my apartment window - there are men here fixing up our local shelter. The shelter was almost unusable during the war last summer. How good of these folks to make certain that at least 30 people in our building - that houses as many as 150 - will have a safe place to be if they can get there. Parents have to grab their children and run down three - or up two - flights of stairs, traverse a long hall, navigate two more flights of broken stairs and cross an open field to get to the shelter. All in 15 seconds. Not likely. I've tried.


Israeli money is fortifying Arab cities with bunkers to protect them from Arab armies and bombs, but it seems that we Jews don't rate that kind of protection. Most families will be left to fend for themselves if war breaks out again, much as they were last time.


Friends, you owe it to yourself, your family and your community to be prepared. It is when we arm ourselves with survival knowledge that we can survive. HaShem has asked us to do this. He has told us that, even though we might see them everywhere, we are not to rely on miracles. It is up to each of us to do what we can to keep ourselves and our families safe.


Just another day in Israel. Another day when young and old, singles and families persevere and press ahead with determination in the face of terror and war. A day when a Jerusalem Jew was stabbed, firebombs and stones were hurled at motorists in Judea and Samaria, and an ambulance in Hevron was attacked by a mob of Arab teenagers. Some days the absurdity of it all seems so outrageous, so blatant, that we wonder how it is that the world seems so blind. But then, so many have been blinded; or is it blindsided?


"Upon what, then, can we lean? Upon our Father in Heaven."(Tractate Sotah 49b)