| Waiting To Exhale: Israel, August 2006 |
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We see each other in the makolet (local grocery), and though we have known one another from the neighborhood for over 30 years, we just nod. We look forlorn and use our hands and eyes, as we look heavenward to express "What-can-one-do-besides-pray?" We can't talk because we are waiting to exhale. _option_option
There is no one here who doesn't have a close family member, relative, neighbor, or someone who knows someone, who is not either "In the North," or "Down there" (Gaza area). "In the North" can mean in the army or just living above Netanya. Rockets hit Hadera Friday night, "lowering the boom" (literally and figuratively) from more northern cities and villages. You hear the collective intake of air when on a bus or just walking around as cell phones beep, buzz or just vibrate with a news update. We just don't exhale, as if by letting out air we will cause more casualties and horror stories in this new Lebanon war. Boaz Ofri's song from 1986 "Shtei Etzbaot Mi'Tzidon - Two Fingers from Sidon" refers to the distance from Israel to Sidon in Lebanon on a map - just two fingers away, but one knows and feels that at the same time, it's so close and so yet so distant. It never seems to stop amazing me that, as places that were considered dangerous (Jerusalem, Ashkelon and the West Bank, for example), are now deemed havens to the new northern refugees. I know of many Israeli inhabitants, who for years would not visit Jerusalem or the Judea and Samaria (Efrat, for example). Today those communities and individual families have taken families into the safety of their homes, are giving them physical shelter, clothing and food, as the "just-for-a-day-or-two" goes into its third week (inhale here)! Heard on the news, a mother tells about how she text-messages (SMS) her son on his cell phone: "We're fine, how are things where you are?" "Fine!" he writes back. They both know that they are lying to each other, but at least they are communicating. As she talks to the news reporter, she gulps in more air. With G-d's help, hopefully she, and the rest of us, will soon live in peace and quiet, so that we'll be able to exhale. Originally published in the Jewish Press on August 30, 2006. |
