Friends, After a sweet and celebratory Shabbat in Tel Aviv for my cousin Libby's Bat Mitzvah, we wandered over to the protests, which were much more subdued than normal, and then returned to my friend's house in the lovely Nevei Tzedek neighborhood for what turned out to be a long and frightening night. Iran launched over 300 missiles headed for Israel, with 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles. Glued to the TV news and frustrated that my Hebrew is still not good enough to grasp all of the details of this unfolding horror, we watched the images of these rockets in the sky heading straight for us. We got the ma'amd (the safe room) ready and stocked with water and snacks anticpating that we may well have to take shelter there for a while. I was supposed to be on a 5am flight to London and it was impossible to get through to the airport or to El Al, but the IDF were saying all air space was going to be closed from 12.30am until 7am, so it all seemed very unlikely. I couldn't sleep as all of the worst case scenarios filled my imagination. Hearing that there were over 100 ballistic missiles was so scary. What does that mean? Could there ven be nuclear warhead on one of them? Who and what were the targets? It seemed inevitable that some would come over Tel Aviv, but even though there were sirens in Jerusalem, Beer Sheva and many other places, the siren did not sound in Tel Aviv and we did not go to our place of refuge and safety.
The El Al app for a long while said the the flight was on time, then it moved to 7.30am and then 9am and I started to doubt that I was going to even be able to get to the airport, let alone on a plane! The special taxi app in Israel is called Gett and when I tried to order one, it thought my pickup location was in Beirut. This has been happening a lot as the army blocks GPS at various times during war. I did eventually manage to get to the airport around 6.30 without too much trouble and, miraculously, my flight did take off at 9 and I am now back in London exhausted and grateful. The real miracle though is how few of these deadly weapons hit the ground with only slight damage to a base and several injuries, including a 7 year old Arab Bedouin girl who sustained some serious injuries - may she be healed fully and quickly! Iron Dome, David's Sling, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 are all very effective defense systems and, along with vital support from US, UK, France and Jordan, almost every one of the missiles was destroyed in the air.
There is, of course, lots of anxiety in the air about this major escalation and what might happen next. I got a little taste last night of what so many have been living with for decades and certainly for these last six months. It was a scary and very surreal night for sure. I'm certain that very few people slept in Israel last night. Thanks to all of you who have reached out to me. I am shaken and tired for sure, but fine and grateful. I am scheduled to return to Colorado on Tuesday. As we say, B'sorot tovot, let's hope for good news soon! blessings of peace Rabbi Marc
Congregation Bonai Shalom 1527 Cherryvale Rd Boulder, CO 80303
