The South is Burning

Dear good people,

I'm thinking back today to an AIPAC event I went to early on in the Second Intifada/terror war of the early 2000s. The speaker encouraged us to do our part and strengthen our Israeli brothers by dropping them a line during a period when they didn't know whether their bus would arrive at its destination.

With two more sirens and accompanying rockets this afternoon, I am now that Israeli. During both visits to the shelter today, I met a cute kid about my nephew Jake's age, visibly terrified. I patted his head and told him it'd be ok (and his grandmother took it from there).

One of today's rockets damaged an empty school. Empty because Israel adopts preemptive policies like cancelling school. The New York Times wouldn't still be burying the barrage of terrorist rockets way down on their World page and displaying the picture of a dead murderous terrorist at his funeral, and you would all be hearing if those kids, G-d forbid, were in that school.

Good friend Ali posted the Stones' Gimme Shelter, which as she feels was written for the South today. And classmate and good friend Amiram, born and raised here in Beer Sheva, offered me advice on the best shelter in town: "שמע ישראל, ה' אלוקינו, ה' אחד", the most important prayer in Judaism proclaiming that G-d is one. While I appreciate that, I'll stick to the Home Front Command's instructions (anyone in or visiting the South needs to read these and follow them--they save lives). והנה ההנחיות המיוחדות להיום, שלא תורגמו לאנגלית.

What can I say, the New York Times doesn't care about me, that over 120 rockets have been launched towards innocent Israelis since Friday evening, that nursing home residents can't get to shelter in time, that hundreds of thousands of Israeli schoolchildren's school routine (and their parents') was disrupted by a very somber day off. But I know you do.

What you can do is: join AIPAC, join me in contacting your elected officials on their Legislative Agenda page, join me in praying for peace. And let me know if you wanna chat, Skype, whatever. Thanks so much to everyone I've heard from. Nothing but love for you,

אריק/Eric