It is an absolutely gorgeous day as we approach spring, here in Israel. I am sitting on my (fake) grass as I write this under a bright blue sky, listening to birds and watching my daughter who is a budding amateur photographer take pictures of our bright yellow flowers (while listening to Zoom classes). This Thursday, we will make the Birkat ha’Ilanot – on the buds of the fruit trees which always magically appear on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, an only in Israel phenomenon (just as when the flower buds start to appear after Tu B’Shvat). We are starting the best season in Israel and this is still true even as my friends and family were woken several times last night to run to their mamads. Even as we start to question what Pesach break will look like when we have had three weeks of being home and are so eager to embark on our Chol HaMoed tiyulim.
I think many of us in Israel struggle with multiple feelings and ways that we want Jews in the Diaspora to understand what we are going through.
We are at war. We hear sirens, booms, planes, interceptions and even hits. For many of us, our kids are home, there is major disruption and even danger in our lives (although we don’t always think of it that way). We want you to think about us, to post about us, to acknowledge the reality that Am Yisrael b’Eretz Yisrael is experiencing while you are cleaning your homes, planning your Pesach vacations or just living everyday lives without sirens, Zoom school or fear for family members and friends whose kids are on the front lines. To those who have reached out, your thoughts are so appreciated, even when we don’t always respond due to the busyness of everyone being home – and the brain fog that comes with being out of routine and exhaustion.
At the same time, we want you to understand that Israel is not only a war zone. It is the same beautiful country you love. Despite the desperation of seminary kids and tourists to get out of the country in time for Pesach, those of us who have chosen to build our lives here wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I would imagine I speak for many of us when I share that we identify with those who are desperate to get on “rescue flights” to get in, rather than those who are desperate to find ways to get out. We are part of the most amazing and resilient nation, we are part of history, we are on the front lines to geulah.
Even during war, we attempt to live life normally and joyfully. The pictures attached here do not hide or negate the reality that we also spend time in mamads, that we question before we drive somewhere further than where we need to go, that I can use a hike more than I can express but think to myself that I would rather not be a casualty of “they let the missile fall there because it’s an open field” and that many of us are losing our minds from being out of routine for so long.
And yet, with all of that, there is nowhere better to be than Eretz Yisrael.