Sunday, Day 2

Rob drove from Tel Aviv to be with us in Jerusalem. His job is remote, so he is able to work anywhere. I am relieved for the three of us to be together.

There were no sirens here in Jerusalem overnight, but Hamas is still sending missiles and there is fighting going on in several southern locations. Today some of the shops are open and people are going about their business. It's sad that this conflict has no end, and it is in some ways a proxy war between Iran and the west. Israel is going to have a fierce response once they secure the area around the Gaza Strip, they are evacuating all the border towns that have been infiltrated in order to get the terrorists. 

One of the worst things is that there was a music festival in the Negev desert with mostly young people and Hamas has killed many of the kids that were there. Hamas has taken hostages and bodies back to Gaza so Israel is going to have to get to them. We learned that the son of a family that made aliyah from Berkeley years ago is missing after going to the festival. We learned that the 19-year-old nephew of our rabbi in Berkeley was killed in action. 

The number of Israelis killed is staggering. Everyone is in shock. My friends are trying to be strong in front of their kids and grandkids, and then go into the bathroom to cry. 

The two sons and son-in-law of my closest friend here have been called up. The husbands of three of the Israeli "girls" that lived with us during their year of national service have been called up. Cousins of Naama, David's wife, have been called up. The news says the troops number 300,000, many of them married with children. 

I stayed in all day. Watched the news on the hour for updates, checking NY Times website, and Times of Israel website. To get my mind off the war news, I reorganized the kitchen pantry which had become quite a mess and got a lot of satisfaction from that. Trying to do normal things in a very not normal situation.


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