Guest blogger: MB

My RL friend MB graciously agreed to write about her recent experiences.

MB, you’re on. Enjoy your 15 minutes of fame!

A Guest Post

by MB

Unaccustomed as I am to guest blogging, I have no catchy titles to start my post. Anyway, I am too overwhelmed by the events of the last few days to be creative.

Wars in Israel were always something for the history book. The first one I ever really experienced here was the Second Lebanon War, and even that seemed far away. This time it feels that much closer.

The first reason is that my son, 18, started his first year of hesder this year. That means next year he will be in the army. Now I know this is hardly an earth-shattering occurrence in these parts, but for me it is. When we made aliya, he was 5 years old and the army was the furthest thing from my mind. Now I think about those soldiers going, and each one seems like my son. I know how those mothers are feeling in a way I didn’t before.

But just not to let things get too dull before the army, the yeshivat hesder he attends is in Sderot. That means he spends his time between the yeshiva, his dorm, and the bomb shelter. Unless you count the times he's up on the roof of his dorm watching Tzahal bomb Gaza. (Although, as my sister so wisely put it: I'm not sure that's the best place to be, in case Gaza decides to bomb back). My mother, of course, has called several times from the US to register her disapproval that we let him go back after Chanukah. But he feels that the best thing he could be doing now is to be learning Torah there, and we are really proud of him. We have also heard that the yeshiva's presence gives a lot of chizuk to the residents of Sderot.

Yesterday the "matzav" hit closest to home. (Mom-you don't read this blog, right?) There was yet another tzeva adom; the boys entered the shelter and came out after hearing the explosion. It seems, however, that the explosion was from our side, and the Kassam had not yet fallen-and it proceeded to do so 10 seconds later, about 20 meters from where they were standing.

And still, I'd rather be living here in Israel than anywhere else. ------ “MB”

Thanks, MB, and I hope you and all our readers have an easy and meaningful fast.

בתפילה לשלום חיילינו ואחינו בדרום