Life in Sussia, Israel

Yesterday I was speaking to a friend on the phone in the USA. She asked me about my children, about the situation here, about any updates.

Then she tried to change the subject. She actually started talking about something else. I don’t remember what she said. I could not focus. None of us can really think about anything else.

For us, there is nothing else. Just this situation. This war. Our kidnapped citizens. Our dead friends. Our soldiers fighting.

Each day another announcement of fallen soldiers, listed by age and name, rank, division, unit.

I see the age. All young. 22. 20.

My stomach clenches up.

Dreams

This morning, my teenage daughter told me about her dream. She dreamed terrorists broke into our yishuv and a little neighbor girl was fighting them. She told me she has these dreams every night. Then she asked me:

“Do you have these dreams, Mom?”

Time slows down

We are living in daylight, but it feels like gray and slow-motion. True, it has been 30 days since the Oct. 7th attack. But the time has gone slowly. It is painful time we work through. Just putting one foot in front of the other.

There is no good news.

Don’t ask me what’s new, because the only things that are new are more death.

Ceasefire?

People calling for a ceasefire don’t seem to understand what’s going on. Hamas attacked us, killed 1400 civilians, and took 240 hostages. Who would allow a ceasefire under those circumstances? Hamas started this war. They don’t get to dictate anything. War is war. As to the people in Gaza, why aren’t any of the 22 other Arab countries giving them refuge? It seems so many in the West spew concern about the people in Gaza but nobody is stepping up to take them in, right?

The news isn’t completely black and our situation isn’t completely hopeless

This week we were able to transform a truck into a shower & laundry station. What? What are you talking about?

A special donor from France has allocated funds for this special project to help our IDF soldiers. This week we took our debut tour to the Erez Crossing, where 100 soldiers were able to do their laundry, take a shower, and get a haircut. We have a barber-on-board and he sets up a station on the ground.

We ended the day with a special barbeque.

These boys are all our sons. They are not able to go home and change. They are working 24/7 guarding our boarders, patrolling the communities in the Gaza strip area and at night, they can’t even take off their boots!

Unfortunately, this war will not be a quick one. These soldiers aren’t going home for a while. They are sleeping on dirt, in the same uniform, without a break, staying alert and ready for the next round of missiles.

We get it. This is War. This isn’t practice and it isn’t a game. We know the difficulties of being in the field day in and day out.

Thank you to all who donated for this special project!

Since 2001, Rescuers Without Borders (aka Hatzalah Y”osh) has been the primary supporter of volunteer medics, paramedics and ambulance drivers throughout Judea and Samaria, working in full coordination with Magen David Adom in supplying defibrillators, medical equipment, ambulances and training. Today the organization has over 1,600 volunteers also in the areas around Jerusalem and the Old City. Rescuers Without Borders and is funded completely by private donations and is a registered 501 c 3 charitable organization.

To learn more, visit us at http://www.hatzalah.org.il.