Week 3: Crazy Times of War and Weddings

   Another crazy week trying to keep everything going.

image Golani soldier support

Signs supporting Golani soldiers are appearing

image Israeli flag

and Israeli flags are flying, with more out every day.

Israel is under threat.

Those tunnels from Gaza into Israel have proven deadly,

and last night five young soldiers were killed in Israel

by terrorists emerging from the ground near a kibbutz.

The tunnels have to be destroyed.

Meanwhile, countless missions, private and public,

are driving south to give food and personal items to

reserve soldiers who are on duty.

Family members have gone to visit my son-in-law more than once.

Even an unexpected call from a soldier can take a few minutes to appreciate,

after the ‘what is wrong’  feeling is over.

Everyone wants to do something, give money, bake, cook,

but there was one unusual “war effort” I had to go check out and share.

story teller

Morah Roc is a professional story teller.

She offered to entertain children one afternoon,

with all the donations going to a good cause

to support those affected by the situation.

image sign in Hebrew

Signs are up for the annual International Puppet Festival in August

and we continue to plan for our August wedding.

This evening there is a funeral at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery

for a soldier from our synagogue,

and at the same time, the Great Synagogue is holding

the shloshim (30 days of mourning) observance for Eyal, Gilad and Naftali.

At this roller coaster time, we often think of  words of Golda Meir.

image child sitting on floor

If only they cared for their children as much as we do.

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Two soldiers on reserve duty get engaged,

and there is another wedding to plan.

It’s good to have good news to share,

even as more rockets are fired at southern civilians.

12 Jerusalem Scenes with Israel Under Fire

Israel is under fire.

Southern Israel has been getting hit for over 10 years

and people always said “wait till the rockets hit Tel Aviv!”

Well, rockets from Gaza have hit Tel Aviv.

Again and again people run to bomb shelters after the sirens.

 Operation Protective Edge is going into a third week.

In Jerusalem, Israel we have had “only” a few sirens,

image washing hanging out

so the daily routine like hanging the washing goes on.

image getting ready for school

Fall school supplies are ready in shops, though there are very few shopping for the fall.

Some tourists are cancelling their trips,

 ElAl has room to spread out on their flights and thanks those who fly with them.

people eating out doors

But people are still eating falafel on King George Street.

image light rail and Jaffa Street

 Jaffa Road towards the Old City,

image Jaffa Road

and towards Machane Yehuda Market, the shuk,

looks the same minus lots of Arab women shopping,

but it is the month of Ramadan and they are fasting month and it is hot.

 I did spot one interesting couple,

image Arab girl, photo Muslim couple Palestine

I had to get a good photo of those shoes.

Everyone knows someone who has been called up for duty,

and my son-in-law has been on the Egyptian border

on reserve duty for over two weeks.

Like so many other young mothers, my daughter is trying to manage

with her children out of school, work and appointments…

and how to get to them all to a bomb shelter

when there is a siren warning of incoming rockets.

inside Jerusalem Cinema City

Jerusalem Cinema City is one popular option for an outing,

being that most of it is safely underground.

children doing water play

But the Bloomfield Science Museum and

Israel Museum

 Israel Museum also provide fun and educational activities.

And in this crazy upside down time,

image outdoor party

last week as planes flew over head in Abu Gosh,

a caterer held a tasting for a dozen August weddings.

image party over

We ate it all and keep planning the wedding.

At the same time it is hard to not think about

image Israeli soldiers

and thank all our Israeli soldiers,

as friends went to Ashkelon to be with their wounded son,

and another funeral begins.