A Soldier's Mother

They don't just want our blood, our land...they want yours too

2026-10-19T23:16:00.503+03:00

So many horrible pictures are flying around the web, some are real and some are fake. Well, this one is real, as is the post down below.

I check as much as they can. Often, when I see a picture posted by pro-Palestinians, the picture is from Syria, Iraq. Anywhere but Gaza. So I saw this one and wondered. Is it real?

And the answer is yes. Real. Happened a couple of days ago. The location of this atrocity is the Place de la République in Paris. the Monument à la République (installed in 1883), a massive 75-foot monument topped by a 31-foot bronze statue of Marianne, the national personification of the French Republic. She holds an olive branch of peace and a tablet of the Rights of Man, surrounded by allegorical figures representing Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.

And this place, the place that celebrate peace, liberty, equality and fraternity, a mob came. They scaled the stone base directly in front of the statue of Marianne and there they ignited red and orange flares. A thick haze spread around the monument as they waved the flags of the Palestinians, and of Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco.

Whatever the people in Paris are demonstrating "legitimately" for, their protests are being overshadowed, kidnapped by thugs, barbarians indeed. The signs say "Ceasefire Now" and "Boycott Israel." Neither of these signs are in any way connected to the many protests taking place all over France. But their message is ringing louder; their violence carries a message of its own.

I read this post and then had to read it again. It's honest is raw and painful, both for the poster and for me. It's sad that the best I can hope for from a European is to add "nor against it [Israel], for that matter" after declaring that he's never been pro-Israel.

For many years, Israel has warned the west that the terror that we saw here, would come to the west.In our cities, buses exploded, people were shot, axed, rammed, stabbed...but we kept them from doing this in our cities.

Many times they set fire to the land here (while claiming it was theirs and claiming to love it), but despite hundreds (likely thousands) of arson attacks all over Israel, we have been spared the horrors that France and Italy and likely others see now. Ultimately, what it comes down to is that we warned you that what starts in Israel, would spread to Europe, to the US...and now it is happening.

You didn't care about this conflict. What that means, to be honest, is that you didn't care when Jews were dying. Yes, I know that sounds horrible and it's not what you meant.

But in truth, that is the truth. It's not the Jews, or more accurately, it's not ONLY the Jews now. We are not happy about what is happening to you now. But we want you to know we did our best to warn you.

It's not our fault that you didn't care, that you didn't listen.

All we can do now is pray you awaken fully to the dangers you now face. Because when you do understand, you'll see that they don't just want our blood, our land...they want yours too.

An Indigenous People's Long History...and a Promise

2026-10-16T10:31:11.174+03:00

Others have done this...today, I've decided to explain why the Jews are the only living indigenous population connected to the land today called Israel...

If you are missing gaps in our history, read below.

If you think the Palestinians have ANY claim to this land, read below. When I have a minute, because that's all it will take, I'll give you the FULL history of the Palestinian people. One minute, one paragraph to cover thousands of years until 1964. From 1964 to today, would take volumes...to list all the terror attacks, all the victims, all the wars they started, the rockets they fire. Never mind...for now...let's start the Jewish history at a "random point" in history - 1517, 900 years after the creation of Islam and long into their bloody (literally) history.

1517...when there were Jews in the land now known as Israel, once known as Judea. Jews to be attacked, but no Palestinians. In that year, the Mamluks entered the city of Hebron, near where Abraham buried his wife Sarah and was later buried next to her.

The Mamluks entered Hebron to kills Jews. Jews were massacred, raped, and beaten. Their entrance to the forefathers of our people, the Cave of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah) was made forbidden to our people.

There was only Mamluk Sultanate in 1517. No Palestine, no Palestinians but yes, there were Jews in our land. We know that after the Mamluks were defeated by the Ottomans, they ruled until the British were granted a Mandate.

They called the Mandate by the name the Romans gave to our land when they tried to erase our presence, our Judea. And then, after the British, there were...again...still...for always...there are Jews. But let's complete the circle. What happened before the Mamluks? Maybe then there was an independent Palestinian State? Not even close.

Before Mamluk, our land was ruled by the:
Ayyubid Dynasty (from Iraq/Armenia)
Abbasid Caliphate (from Saudi Arabia)
Tulunid Dynasty (from Baghdad)
Ikhshidid Dynasty (from Egypt)
Umayyad Caliphate (from Syria)
Rashidun Caliphate (from Saudi Arabia).

Rashidun captured it from the Byzantine. The Christian Byzantines took it from the Romans

I know this is getting boring, but stick with me...as you can see, we have come to the crux of the issue. The Romans took the land of the Jews. The land known as Judea. The Romans destroyed our Temple and our holy city. They took our people as slaves, pillaged and burned.

Before the Romans...there were the Jews. Let that sink in. Accept it. Archaeology proves it. There is ZERO archaeological evidence of a Palestinian culture before Yasir Arafat created it in 1964 to get "his people" (remember, he was from Egypt) to unify and demand back, in full, the land that Israel would capture in the 1967 war waged against us by Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

1948 brought the world to a full circle, a return of the Jewish people (yes, there were around 630,000 Jews already living in our land) to Jewish land.

But wait, just to close the circle entirely, who held the land before the Jews conquered it after they were released from bondage in Egypt? The answer is:
Canaanites - of which none remain today
Amorites - of which none remain today
Egyptian-held areas - they've got their land and now we've got ours back.

Go through history. Read and learn. There never was a Palestinian state. No country called Palestine. No history. No people. No culture. No archaeological remains.

Dig in my land and you find the history of the Jewish people...and those who tried to conquer us.

Before you chant "from the river to the sea" without even knowing which bloody river...remember, the land doesn't lie. People do.

If you deny my people are the indigenous people of this land, formed in it, bonded with it, buried in it for thousands of years...you are an antisemite.

And the promise...next I will make a post about the Palestinian people...where they are indigenous to, their history in this land and this world. It won't take long. Its history can be captured in the blink of an eye.

No More Mr. Nice Guy (Yehuda Meitav...again)

2026-10-13T20:35:58.124+03:00

Wow, I think I could spend every day just sharing another video by Yehuda Meitav. Each one screams out to me...but when I heard this one, I thought that maybe somehow Yehuda had figured out how to read my mind.

Or, more likely, he's part of a people with a common memory, and common thoughts. We are so done. Not only because of the hate that comes from outside but from the endless betrayal of what is important to the essence of who we are.

For thousands of years, as my people struggled to survived, over and over again, there were those who sought the gold...the golden calf, the standing ovations, the applause of our enemies.

Of all those that betray us, by far, the worst are those who come forward "as a Jew". They know nothing of our land, of truth, of pain. Oh, they think they do because "as a Jew" they have the misguided notion that their thoughts are shared.

No, indeed, there is often no greater enemy to the Jewish people...than their fellow Jews. This is true of the now-in-exile creators of the NAZA "documentary".

I listened to this and thought of Yuval and Rachel and others on distant shores and all I could think of was, leave us alone. Go away. But Yehuda's "no more Mr. Nice Guy echoes in our minds and hearts.

So yes, it seems today I'll be sharing two videos. Both speak to me...after you see this one, make sure you see Rising Out of the Ashes.

Rising Out of the Ashes - Our History (as told by Yehuda Meitav)

2026-10-13T20:34:40.035+03:00

I keep saying that this is the best video and song Yehuda has made yet...and then there is a new day and another video. I can't imagine how he manages...the creativity to present in songs what we feel in our hearts.

Some make me smile; this one brought a combination of pride and tears. This is what we as Jews have done for thousands of years. He sings...

They burned our books, they broke our homes
They drove us from the places where our children had been born...

About this song, Yehuda writes:

To my Jewish people around the world,
I wrote this song to remind us of something that I believe we must never forget.
Do not be afraid of the times we are living through.
Look beyond the darkness. Look beyond the hatred, the uncertainty and the noise surrounding us.
Look at who we are becoming.
For thousands of years, we carried a dream that seemed impossible. Through exile, persecution, destruction and the ashes of the Holocaust, we never stopped carrying Jerusalem in our hearts.
And then, from those ashes, something extraordinary happened.
The phoenix rose.
And its name is Israel.

Remembering October 7...from the perspective of October 6th - Three Years Later

2026-10-06T09:47:00.000+03:00

Three years ago today, October 6, 2023, Israel was a different country. 1,219 people had no idea it was their last day on this planet. More than 3,400 people were whole, uninjured. They had no idea in one day, they would be hurt, their lives changed forever.

Three years ago today, October 6, 2023, 251 people were with their friends and family. They had plans for the next 24 hours...a party, quiet time with family...it was Friday. Quiet, peaceful. Filled with anticipation for the happiest holiday, a nice weekend away. Some were packing to attend a party, some were cooking for the Sabbath/holiday about to begin.

Life was normal. Sunny. Warm. Quiet...we went to sleep looking forward to the next day and woke up in hell.

Nothing was normal. Nothing was quiet. Nothing was peaceful. All of Israel was shaking.

Israel is remembering October 7 today, a day before...for so many reasons. In part, remembering it ON the day will already be agony so maybe today it will be a tiny, tiny bit easier. And today we are thinking about tomorrow anyway, so why not start today...the day before. Today, when three years ago, we didn't know. We couldn't imagine.

October 7, 2023 was the day more Jews were massacred than any other day since Hitler's Europe went door to door, as Hamas monsters did, to kill Jews. Holocaust survivors who were told "Never again" woke to "again". Woke to Nazis hunting them...again. Pulling them from their homes...again.

October 7 was a day of death and destruction, of pain and agony. It was the day Israel lost its innocence, the belief that peace was possible. It was the day the two-state solution was murdered by Hamas and it was the day the world hates because it was the day the new Israel was born.

Since that day, the Arabs have set about stealing the "limelight", taking the narrative, twisting it like they twisted the bodies of our children, women...mutilated, raped, robbed.

They took Shani Louk's nearly naked body on the back of the white pickup truck they'd used to enter Israel and paraded the body through the streets in Gaza, where the "innocent civilians" in Gaza spat on her body, punched it, celebrated her death.

At her family's request, her body has been blurred...if only the pain could be blurred as easily.

With their bare hands, they murdered baby Kfir and little Ariel Bibas and with lies in their mouths and hate in their souls, they set about stealing the truth and replacing it with a lie. They murdered Shiri and kept Yarden a hostage only to release him to his greatest nightmare...a life without Shiri, without Ariel, without Kfir.

They say - if you want to know what the Arabs are doing, look at what they accuse Israel of doing. We didn't rape and murder indiscriminately...they did. 

We didn't commit genocide. Genocide is defined as "acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group." That is what Hamas did on October 7...

We didn't go door to door in Gaza, murdering innocent people. We evacuated the civilians; we warned where we were going to attack the monsters so the civilians could get out of the way. Hamas went door to door. Door to door and murdered, maimed, injured, mutilated, shot, burned alive every human being they found.

What Hamas cannot do is undo the changes they caused to happen. Israel has changed. Hamas has not. The new Israel knows how to deal with Hamas. Israel learned from October 7. Hamas has not. Gaza has not. 

Today, on October 6, we are closing the world out. We don't care what you think, what you fear, what you want. All we want is for you to leave us alone. 

You didn't much like the Jew that arose after the Holocaust. You're liking the Jew that arose after October 7 even less. And that too is okay. After the Holocaust, we refused to be stopped. We rebuilt our nation, planted our crops and tried to live in peace with our neighbors. We innovated, we created, we bore our children and raised them and we sent them to fight...every time we were attacked.

And every time we gained the upper hand...you told us to stop. In 1956. In 1967. In 1973. In 1982. In the Lebanon wars and the Gaza wars...and we listened and hoped they'd learned and there would be peace.

It took October 7 for us to accept. There will be no peace. It was all a lie. They don't want to live with us and so we can no longer live with the threat of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, the Iranian regime.

If you don't like what we're doing...good. That probably means we're doing something right. We fought along the line of your double standard. Did things you never did to protect civilians of your enemy and still you demand more.

On October 7, Israel learned a new word. No.

We were taken to hell on that day. We fought our way back. And you can go to hell if you think we're going to fight any longer to the impossible standards that only Israel is called upon to meet.

Go away. Go to hell. Leave us to mourn our babies, our children, our grandfathers and grandmothers. Our husbands and our wives. Our infants. You don't get to rape our women and murder our babies ever again. 

The old world order was the last and final victim of October 7. 

Never again is now. Forever.

The Two-State Delusion

2026-09-16T20:44:00.000+03:00

For a while now, I've been writing that the two state solution died on October 7. Recently, I've been introduced to an amazing artist, a master of song, lyrics, music and AI. His name is Yehuda Meitav. I'm probably going to share every video the man has made. I'm completely enthralled by the clarity of his vision.

One of the comments I love most about my writing is when people say, "you wrote what I'm feeling."

Well, Yehuda Meitav sings what I feel...more eloquently and certainly with a better voice, imagery and more than I ever could.

Introducing one of his videos (heads up - it's fantastic and it isn't even my favorite). Many more to come...

Remembering September 11

2026-09-11T22:13:00.000+03:00

I've been so busy with the aftermath of my first trip to the US in 28 years and then arriving back in Israel just before Rosh Hashana that this year, September 11 snuck up on me. As we drove a week ago to visit with family, in the US, I saw for the first time in person the changed skyline.

I remember reading people write about how much America has changed since 9/11 but I have to admit, other than heightened security, I don't really think I saw much.

The US is 25 years after 9/11...with fanatical Muslim leaders serving in the mayor's office in New York, in the House of Representatives. Interestingly enough, according to AI, no Muslim has served in the US Senate. That may change if Abdul El-Sayid is elected...God forbid.

As an Israeli, three years out from the worst terror attack against Jews in the last 80 years, I can't imagine that we will get over October 7...not even in 25 years. That's not to say America has forgotten or gotten over it. So I guess my point is that the US is remembering the attack, but sidestepping fundamental facts.

It scares me to think the day could come when we don't feel this instant and sharp pain in our guts at the mere mention of October 7.

But maybe that's because Sept. 11 was a heinous crime, but it wasn't barbaric. Wait, don't scream. What I mean is...they flew planes into buildings, murdering thousands of innocent people...but no one was raped, no one was kidnapped and starved, beaten, and tortured for more than 2 years. It was a horror but there were no videos of women being raped, of families being burned alive. No images of kidnapped children. It was brutal but it was fast. 

Yes, people were burned alive on Sept 11...but it was...well...different. Or maybe it wasn't. I don't know, to be honest. I feel like people after September 11 began dealing with the aftershocks of the event while we were stuck on October 7 for more than two years. If you asked us what the date was...many would consistently answer...October 7.

In the US, no one expected America to "get over it" and yet, I often feel that is the expectation shown to Israelis. But, I think we want to hold on to the pain and not have the world expect us to "get over it". Despite world pressure, no, we won't get over the Holocaust and no, we won't get over October 7. I guess it would be easier if I knew America was still holding on to their pain
.

I remember exactly where I was on Sept. 11. I remember my young son...five and a half calling to tell me the TV was broken again (back when we had a TV)...usually broken meant the TV broadcast went off...and that happened, usually, for two reasons. Either the electricity had gone out (it hadn't) or they'd stop broadcasting...and that usually meant...

I went quickly. The goal was always to get him away from the images I was expecting to see. The map on the screen confirmed my fears...but as I approached the TV to close it and explain to my son he should go play with something else, I noticed something was wrong with the map...it wasn't Jerusalem, Netanya, Haifa...it was New York.

And then it switched to one of the US news channels, I lowered myself to the couch, to preoccupied to tell my son to leave. They said a plane had hit the northern tower. He said there was no indication that it was terrorism and I thought, "you fools..."

I kept listening to them try to figure out what had happened when the second plane came in...we watched it live. That's when they knew what I had already known. Terrorism.

I gave my son a bag of Bamba and told him to go play and I sat and watched. At first, I thought...good...finally America will understand what it's like, what we feel...and then the announcer said there could be 50,000 people in the two buildings...and I thought, "no, I didn't mean good. I didn't want them or anyone to know this feeling."

At some point I started to cry...my son came over and sat down next to me. He put his hand on my lap and I hugged him. He asked me why I was crying and I told him something bad happened.

That child is now a man. A man who has spent much of the last 3 years defending his country.  

It may not be politically correct to remind Americans that while we in Israel have build memorials to the victims of September 11, those who cheered the fall of the towers are the same fanatical sect of Islam that attacked us on October 7. 

No, we won't ever forget the feeling of hearing that hundreds of our people had been murdered on a beautiful Shabbat/Simchat Torah morning in Israel. We will never forget the barbarty of the attack.

And you...you need to remember that those who cheered the falling towers then, are still planning your downfall. Only they're using different tools...instead of planes, they are crashing into your government, city hall, and more

A story of America...Vast...Open...Free

2026-09-09T16:30:00.000+03:00

A story of America...

If you've never been there, the words that would describe it are....vast, open, free. There are poor areas...I'll admit that we did not visit them.

There are overcrowded areas where people have little hope that tomorrow will be better. Here too, we did not go. We had enough on our minds taking our own identities with us and it was never our intention to document all the many angles of American society.

We came as guests and were treated warmly in almost all places. In general, the response to our answer "from Israel" was positive. Only one man attempted to blame all the woes on the current administration. For the most part, our visit was politics-free.

No one accused us of genocide or anything else. Many were sympathetic and happy we were getting a chance to be in a place where there are no sirens...except in one place where reception is bad between the mountains and so the local fire department uses air-raid sirens to call in their volunteers (bad, so bad, bad idea...yes, we're all suffering from PTSD too).

The America we saw was kind and polite. Doors were held open for the next person; thanks were exchanged often. If you want to know where something is, they rarely say over there, or Aisle 6. Instead, they say, "I'll show you."

I saw great pride in America - flags fly in so many places...I don't remember this from 28 years ago. And in many places, veterans are revered, rewarded with discounts and praised for their service. This too is different. I grew up in a place where no one volunteered to serve, where the boys often spoke of where they would run to if drafted.

In Israel, most serve and soldiers are treated with love beyond anything you could imagine if you live outside Israel. Strangers pay for their dinners; hand them sweets. Neighbors have spent most of the last three years cooking tens of thousands of meals.

The depth of our gratitude leads to the depth of our mourning when a soldier falls. This too I can see in the US, finally. My memories of Memorial Day in the US was of parades and sales; Israel changed that for me forever. There are no sales on Israel's Memorial Day, no parades. Soldiers fill the cemeteries to stand beside the graves of the fallen. Places of entertainment are closed, barbecues done quietly, if at all.

If there is one word to describe the America that I saw, it was VAST. To someone who lives in a land that can be crossed - from the northern point to the southern point in 5 hours and 43 minutes (says AI)...and from East to West in about an hour...the idea of having to drive 14 hours just to get from one national park (Yosemite) to another (Yellowstone) boggles the mind.

I have impressions of the people, of the land, of the wealth, the abundance. But the vastness of the land that lay before us as we drove is an impression I don't think I'll ever forget.

On the Animal Side of Life

2026-09-09T11:36:00.000+03:00

One of the stories I'd like to tell...will tell...when I have time, is of the wildlife we have seen on this trip. I have many more but for now I'll share these.

We really didn't go to the US to see cities and what man had built. Mostly, we were interested in the beauty of the land, the wonders of the national parks. We loved seeing waterfalls, rivers, and endless trees, already slowly beginning to turn colors in some places.

We loved the rain, the clouds, even the fog and the mist. Up high in the mountains we either saw a ton of hail or an early bit of snow. It was glorious. The colors. The majesty. But, oh, the animals were amazing.

In Yellowstone, we saw deer, the mighty (but oh so ugly) bison. We saw elk, and moose but the much desired bears eluded us and so later, we found a safari (yes, it's called Bearizona...really).

My daughter fell in love with squirrels and chipmunks.

We don't have chipmunks or squirrels in Israel. We don't have bison either.

We were blessed with great weather. Ironically, two days after the Grand Canyon...yes, there's a story there too...rains came and flooded the Grand Canyon leaving three dead.

What we saw in the US was the power of nature and a nation much blessed. Coming from a country the size of New Jersey, the idea of driving for 14 hours to get from one place to another was almost unimaginable.

Perhaps the funniest wildlife story was our endless quest for the sight of bears. At one point, as we were driving towards the Bryce National Park, I saw large black creatures in the woods. I asked my son to pull over and we all quickly jumped out of the car, cameras and phones in hand.

I pointed to the black creatures. My daughter said, "Ima, that's not bears."

I was about to argue when the largest of the black bears raised his head...it was a cow. From then on, whenever there was a warning sign for cows on the road...yes, that's a thing in the west (and the east)...my kids would said, "Ima, bears."

What you see here is indeed a bear...but one that we found in the Bearizona (Be-Arizona) safari in...Arizona. We also got to see other animals there, including a beautiful bobcat.

I can't tell you which of all these animals spoke to me more (it wasn''t the bison)...but what I loved most was that each looked healthy, happy.

Most were in the national parks where they were as free as animals can be in most countries...certainly in the US. But there was something else.

I've been many places, seen many animals...some look about to drop, sad, even unhealthy. I've seen dreadfully thin animals; I've seen dirty animals and overworked animals.

And yes, I've seen some shine. But in the US, oh, how these sparkled with life.

The Walking Wounded Coming Home

2026-09-08T04:30:00.000+03:00

So many stories and thoughts to share. It's 4 in the a.m., yes, jet lag. I have so many stories to write about. The trip of a life-time. Finally visiting the US after 28 years. The last time I was in the US was my brother-in-law's wedding. The time before that was a last visit with my father-in-law and mother-in-law, who were very ill. Somehow I knew when we were leaving that I would never see them again. I was also right that I would never see my grandmother again.

The trip was amazing. West coast. East coast. I don't know how many places we stayed in, how many States we passed through. I'll get there but now, it seems I'll start with the last story first.

When we arrived at Ben Gurion airport, we passed passport control and I went to the duty free while my kids began organizing to get the suitcases.

A young man attracted my attention. He was young.... early twenties. He walked like a man in his 80s. One arm pressed against his body. Clearly in pain. It looked like maybe his ribs were wrapped. He walked slowly, gently.

He went to gather items he purchased. The man behind the counter helped him but also asked him what happened... Israel, right? The young man hesitated for a second and then explained that he was attacked and beaten by a gang of Arabs in Athens who heard him speaking Hebrew.

The walking wounded coming home.

I didn't take his picture, didn't capture the haunted look in his eyes. I didn't ask what the Greeks did... if they arrested the thugs, the haters.

He went on vacation and was beaten for speaking his language. The language of the Jewish people. Just as my daughter and her friend were harassed in the Philippines months ago for the same "crime".
This young man was lucky to come home walking on his feet... but still clearly in pain. People helped him. What more could we do?

This is the world outside Israel. I guess we were lucky. Only one lunatic in the Grand Canyon.
That's the last story for this trip but don't be surprised... I've never been one to follow order. I'll get to the first story and many more but for now, we are home.

Home is everything. Tomorrow, I'll see my grandchildren, I'll unpack. I'll begin to focus on holiday preparation. But it's going to take me a while to set aside the image of a young man beaten by intolerant cowards who can't stand the very sound of us.

I'll add that by traveling with my two youngest...I heard Hebrew every day. It is the language of my children, the language of the music they played in the car radio for over 6,000 miles.

We are the people who brought back to life an ancient language and an ancient land. But for my children, it is simply the language they were born into.

We fill the airwaves with it here, do newspapers and books, signs and then, we take it with us everywhere we go.

And sometimes, we are beaten in the streets of foreign lands for merely speaking it out loud.
This is a part of the world I saw in the last few weeks. But what is critical to understand is that despite the threats, it is our language.

It is there in our minds and slips out... one quick example...we rented cars on the west and east coasts. Our first was supposed to be a Toyota RAV4... we call it a RAV-Arba in Israel (arba is the number 4 in Hebrew).

My son corrected it to RAV-Four when I asked the woman at the desk for details of the RAV-Arba we'd rented. Our language... ancient and modern... even if you beat us for speaking it.

Checking Off Bucket List Items...the beginning of a journey

2026-09-07T19:30:00.000+03:00

I have to be honest...I've never had a bucket list. Never thought of the things I needed to do or have to make my life complete. But if I had a bucket list, I always knew, there would be two places that would be on that list - the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. I can't explain why.

Why the Grand Canyon and not Yellowstone? Why Niagara Falls and not somewhere else? No idea. But about 18 months ago, when I heard my youngest nephew was getting married, I decided I wanted to end my 28 year run of not visiting the States. I didn't set out not to visit, but year after year, opportunities never came. My parents moved to Israel; my sister already lives here. My children are here, my work, my life.

So as September 2026 came closer and closer, I began thinking, talking, planning. And the result was a dream trip starting mid-August and ending in a beautiful wedding on the shores of a lake in Massachusetts. In the end, bucket list or now, I saw the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls...and much more.

I'd like to share some thoughts, some pictures, some experiences. I think I'll go in order. I decided to take my two youngest...they've been through hell over the last three years...you won't see their faces...but I'll show you the beauty they saw along the way.

I'm writing this now, as I'm about to leave the US for home. It's been an amazing trip with little time to write, so I'll begin mid-August when we boarded an El Al flight to LA.

The first thing we did upon arriving in LA was to collect our baggage and the rental car. And the second thing was to go to LA to buy kosher food, and drove three hours into the mountains.

Exhausted, we barely had time to register the beautiful Airbnb we rented in Dinuba, California. It was the next day that our journey truly began. First up was an awe-inspiring visit to the Sequoia national parks.

Sequoia trees - the giant ones and the "smaller" ones. 

My father loved them...my sister, brother and I can't recall if he ever got to see them, touch them. But I saw them, touched them, spoke to them. I thanked them for their beauty and I felt a kinship I can't explain. Some of them are over 3,000 years old...and so am I. 

When they were just beginning to grow, my people had reached the end of their slavery at the hands of the Egyptians. 

The Canaanites were weak and the Israelites, blessed by God, led first by Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses, our teacher and leader) and then by Joshua, son of Nun, we entered the land God had promised to us and conquered it. This is the only time you can accuse my people of colonizing...yes, more than 3,000 years ago. Today, there are no Caananites, Amorites, Amalekites. There i only us...the people of Israel.

They brought to the land the concept of One God, our God. And for the next 3,000 years, as the trees grew, so too did my people. To touch something that is so old, like the trees, like the stones of Jerusalem, is an incredible thing. Can I say that I felt them? You'll think I'm crazy...but I did. They are glorious. 

The great Sequoia - the largest living being in the world...if you haven't seen them, I promise you, you can't imagine them.

So this is the first post of many that I'll make of the first trip to the US after 28 years, of sights I've seen, places we visited. Of the good and the beautiful and yes, the ugly too. 

Two Acts of Terror in One Picture

2026-06-08T08:06:53.837+03:00

It's 7:00 in the morning in Israel. Time when people get up, dressed and out the door for work. Time when children are dressed and fed, their books and pencils and all packed and ready to go. Minutes away from leaving their home...just like most mornings.

Except today, there is no school, no packed lunches. No rush to catch the bus. Parents aren't frantically looking at their watches, half their minds on all the little details of a regular morning and the other half contemplating traffic, scheduled meetings and more.

The early warning sounded, woke me from the last moments of sleep. I'd been up late baking 200 cookies...

853 cities (towns, villages, whatever) were warned at 7:02 a.m. Incoming missiles. This morning, yet again, we assume it's coming from Iran...maybe Yemen...maybe Hezbollah.

Four minutes later, another 430 places were warned...and 3 minutes later yet again, the south and 29 cities there were warned.

My area got the early warning and as is our "custom" (me and my two youngest kids, the neighbor's son in the next building and the people on the floor above me. This morning, I went alone out on the balcony. The rule is, if the siren goes off here, there is no lingering. Straight to the bomb shelter. 

But the siren wasn't "here", it was "there". There - over one of the most ancient cities in the world, certainly the holiest for the Jewish people, one of three for Muslims and I suppose one of several for Christians. 

Jerusalem...city of my dreams, the view outside my home. The symbol of my people returned home.

This morning's sirens sent 2 million people to bomb shelters. At least for this one, it didn't include me, my children and grandchildren and so I was "honored" to have the opportunity to see two acts of terrorism take place in roughly the same area, in roughly the same time.

The first is a war crime, a crime against humanity. It is the remnants of a ballistic missile fired by Iran, blown up over Jerusalem. Ironically above the heads of the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. The boom was catastrophic. You feel it in your heart. I can't explain the power behind the explosion...and this is only in the air. This isn't the ones that hit the ground and shake the windows or our homes.

The second act of terrorism is the smoke you see below the white puff. The white puff is there because yet again, our amazing soldiers shot down Iran's missiles, stealing glory from them and preventing death and injury against us. Another missile landed near Jericho, I heard - they do love to try to blow up ancient cities, don't they?

The second act of terrorism has been going on for weeks now. It is called "environmental terrorism". The deliberate burning of toxic waste, day in, day out. Late at night; early in the morning.

Early in the morning, they set fires outside the same neighborhood that nearly got a message from Iran. Weeks ago, the fires were started on the morning of Shavuot, another Jewish holiday. As religious Jews, we could do nothing but watch it burn in the distance. For more than 60 hours, they polluted our skies. We kept our windows closed and prayed their terrorism wouldn't endanger our lives.

Ironic to have these two attacks in one picture. The missile is a symbol of their hate for the people of Israel; the smoking cloud a symbol of their disdain for the land of Israel.

My heart is still racing from the power of the multiple booms I heard moments ago. Last night, Donald J. Trump had the audacity to order Israel not to respond to Iran. He presented this order first to an Israeli reporter and the people of Israel.

In his somewhat simplistic view of the world, he felt that we had had our "fun" bombing Hezbollah neighborhoods in Beirut and now Iran had had their fun firing....another incoming warning now...more missiles.

But Iran fired again. The question of Israel's response has been answered. Israel will respond and the government of Iran will shake so hard, it is, hopefully, going to fall.

More warning. Emergency alert: Extreme.

Soon I will go to the bomb shelter, like millions of other Israelis, and soon, our sons and daughters will again be called to battle. 

200 cookies will go with my sons...my heart hurts. For the people and the land; for the terrorism and the war they inflict upon us.

The God of Israel protects my people. Nothing and no one will protect Iran's government. 

War comes to my land. We are free of any obligation to restrain ourselves. It is not a war we planned, but maybe this time, it is a war we will finish - with the US and the allies, or alone.

Always and forever, alone.

The Final Fall of the New York Times

2026-05-14T10:02:50.851+03:00

I can think of so many horrible accusations that could be written down and sent in an op-ed piece. But it is a misconception to believe that newspapers print op-ed pieces blindly. They are chosen more carefully even than the news covered on the front pages.

The publishing body can later claim that the opinion is not theirs and attempt to remove their responsibility. But there must be some level of responsibility, no matter how hard they try to deny it, that remains on them.

Some day, someone may ask... when did The New York Times cease to exist? The answer is the moment they published what is perhaps the worst blood libel against the Jewish people since the time Jews were accused of killing Christian children to use their blood in baking matzo.

Blood Libel. Nothing less. If you know anything about Judaism, you would know we don't eat blood (never mind the fact that we don't kill Christian children...if only the same could be said in relation to others murdering our children). And OMG, we don't train dogs to rape anyone...dear God, Above us, help us understand the hate that lies in their warped minds. Who thinks this stuff up?

Untold numbers of Jews have been murdered based on all these lies. God knows how many will suffer or be endangered by the The New York Times' latest disgrace.

The day before the truth of October 7 was FINALLY published, a lie was spread. Coincidence? Unlikely.

You want to tell me that a major, huge story confirming details of something that started more than two years ago and ended only a short time ago...wasn't planned in advance until they'd put together the paper from the previous day? Publishing doesn't work that way. Upper management, heads of departments knew the story of sexual torture, systematic rape and mutilation, barbarity upon barbarity was about to be made public. FINALLY.

And so it would come about that one day before that a horrific report was published, the Times would choose to print a story of abomination and horror. An accusation that Israel had trained dogs to rape Arab women.

A lie has power. The accusation was made. No proof offered. None offered because there is none. I am struggling to even write the words they published. For almost all my life, I have had dogs. I was born into a family with a Schnapsie dachshund and continue the tradition with my beloved Sushi. I don't even know if it is physically possible to train an animal to do that. Animals other than humans.

But what is fascinating in this article is the last lines of the paragraph in this image.

Look, whether you consider yourself pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian, here’s one thing we should be able to agree on: We’re anti-rape. The horrific abuse inflicted on Israeli women on Oct. 7 now happens to Palestinians day after day after day.

It is an admission and a denial in one. We should all be anti-rape, says Nicholas Donabet Kristof. He has no problem using the word rape when he falsely accuses Israeli soldiers. But when referring to documented (unlike his accusations) cases of rape, gang-rape, rape of dead bodies, rape of a woman as she is being murdered, all of these and more are demeaned to "abuse inflicted".

The outrages in this "op-ed" piece continue. The dog reference, which has blown up in the faces of the Times is actually only one idiotic sentence, "One journalist said he had been held down and raped by a dog, a claim backed by other accounts from prisoners who report they underwent the same thing."

The final accusation actually brings some comic relief. Good old Nicholas is on a roll. He now has the audacity to lecture the US because, after all, "The United States has leverage". So, he wants the us to do "demand that Red Cross visits be restored for Palestinian detainees." Anyone remember Nicholas Donabet Kristof demanding the Red Cross visit the Israeli hostages? Yeah, me neither.

On October 7, when monsters invaded our land, the savages came with the knowledge of who lived where, how many people in each house, if there was a dog. The invaders murdered the dogs, sometimes even before they murdered the people...because loved dogs protect their owners. They shot Tony and then took a young mother, her 9-month-old baby and her 4-year-old son who loved Batman. They were murdered barbarically. Shiri Bibas. Kfir Bibas. Ariel Bibas. And Tony, their much loved family pet.

The savages that came in and murdered 1200 people in a single day of blood and horror systematically raped and tortured. The horror of that day still brings us to our knees in agony.

The fact is that on the day before these horrors were truly released, an absurd 2 years, 7 months, 5 days (947 days) after it happened, the New York Times committed its own abomination. They fed a lie to their readers. Proof of the horrors of October 7 were offered from the very first day. Of the blood libel, no proof was offered, can be offered.

The juxtaposition of the blood libel and, finally, the true barbarism of the sadistic actions of the terrorists on October 7 cannot possibly be a coincidence, an accident.

And it is this juxtaposition that dooms the New York Times. No apology on page 56 will suffice. To be honest, no apology, even on page 1, will help.

It is time for the New York Times to close its doors. There is no news left fit to print in a world destroyed by lies. There is no return from the vile accusations being made about our soldiers, our country, our people.

We are so stupidly naive. We believed if we tell you what they did, you will be as horrified as we are. We thought the same in 1945. We built museums to show you, websites to educate you.

And the truth comes slowly. You can't educate hate. The stupid world still has not learned that, invariably, what they accuse Israel of doing is what they themselves have done.

So it is with rape, so it is with murder. So it is with genocide and war crimes. The ground in Europe is soaked in our blood and the grounds below the New York Times is soaked in lies.

The State of Israel and the Jewish people of the world must demand the immediate resignation of the entire staff of the New York Times. There is nothing left fit to print once a newspaper has destroyed all its credibility.

Cancel your subscription. Don't ever buy it again. Demand the end.

There is no New York Times...it was, it turns out, the final one to fall from the October 7 massacre.

A Nation that Stood Today

2026-04-14T10:42:00.003+03:00

Even knowing it would happen, it startled me. Even knowing what it means, I thought it meant something else. Even knowing, my heart began to race and I grabbed my phone and checked. My ears listened to the siren and waited for the bomb. My mind thought...why wasn't there an early warning? Is that Jerusalem's siren or is it ours?

And at the same time as my muscles clenched, my mind remembered and my heart slowed. Today is Yom HaShoah, literally the Day of the Holocaust and more informally, Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day.

And at 10:00, for two minutes, the wail of an air raid siren sounds. The country stops. Buses and cars pull to the side and people get out and stand. The siren cuts into your soul. It is the sound of six million people screaming in pain and horror and we stand and listen and whisper, we remember you. You aren't forgotten. You will NEVER be forgotten. We will never let it happen again...

And then we stumble. It happened again. On a beautiful Saturday morning, one of the happiest holidays of the year, Simchat Torah. October 7. Monsters came, as they did in 1939 and 1940 and every year until May 8, 1945. They went door to door, town to town. Their target was the Jews but they didn't waste time finding out who they were killing.

But today is not October 7; we push through that agony to touch the agonies of those horrible years when the Nazis came and systematically murdered more than 6 million people.

That is what we stood to remember today. And in those two minutes, we allowed ourselves to be what we have become in the last few years and most especially, the last month and a half. We were a shattered, traumatized nation, sad, devastated, weary, broken.

And as the siren's last wail faded away, the very mountains around us shook off the grief and the weariness. We shook it all off and we stepped back. Never to forget. We are a people blessed and cursed with an eternal memory.

But after the siren stopped, the trauma was tucked back inside, back to a place we know we will have to deal with later. We focus on the glorious, cloudless sky above, on the news that one of the last hostages released by Hamas on October 13 last year, happily announced exactly six months later, his wife is expecting their next child.

That is what my people are about. Life. Bringing new children into the world and giving them the gift of a Jewish soul and the capacity to remember.

We are here now because a few generations ago, our grandparents and great grandparents came out of Europe, out of the Arab countries, out of the cold of Siberia and the heat of northern Africa and came to this land. And we are here because generations and centuries ago, our people fought against the Roman Empire, the Babylonians, the Greeks. We escaped the Persians, overcame the Amalekites, the Amorites, the Philistines, the Assyrians and more.

And we overcame the Germans simply by surviving when their regime fell, as we will survive Iran, when theirs falls soon. So we can admit to ourselves that even knowing the siren startled us, we pulled ourselves together and stood.

We are a nation that has stood through thousands of years...like the beautiful mountain outside my window. And we stood today.

You will not break us. You will not defeat us. You will never take us from our land no matter how many UN resolutions you pass, no matter how many armies you send to defeat us. Your terrorists will not win, your missiles will not destroy us.

Our hearts have settled, our muscles unclenched. We stood. We stand. We will stand. For our people. For our land. For our right to defend ourselves.

We are the people of Israel. You can hate us. You can plot against us. You can build weapons stronger than ours. Missiles bigger than ours. And still, you will not win.

We are eternal. Yes, you can hurt us to the depth of our souls and that pain will stay with us always. But we will do what we did today. We will shake it off, push it back into the collective memory we will hand down to our children and we will stand. Here. Forever.

Not because we are better or stronger...we aren't. The secret you fail to accept is the reason why we are here and why we will stay. You can believe that statues are gods and you can worship the sun and the moon and the stars.

Once we shared our God with you, told you there was but the One. For thousands of years, we have stood for Him and He has given us His land, placed His Home here on a mountain just over the next hill from my home.

He has called Himself the God of Israel. And it is God, no, really. It is our God that has declared this land to us. Whether you believe in the Christian Bible of the Muslim Koran...it is written not only in OUR Torah, but in your holy books.

You may not honor what is written in your holy books, but we honor what is in ours. We are home and this mourning, though it was hard to hear the siren, a traumatized nation insisted that it must sound for two minutes and we must stand and give our respect to the six million who didn't come home. The six million whose ashes and bones remain and still surface in the rain sometimes.

Never again...but really. Am Yisrael Chai.

Little Gavriella Remembered

2026-04-13T23:30:00.001+03:00

In all the agony of the day, I haven't had a chance to tell you about Gavriella. I post her picture twice a year...one on the day you are supposed to remember her; and one on the day that we here in Israel mourn her loss.

She was 11 years old when the Nazis came and took her, her parents and sisters and brothers away. Her older brother Binyamin was already rounded up with his new wife.

Gavriella and her parents, her brother Chaim Eliezer, her grandparents and all her aunts and all but one uncle were murdered by the Nazis.

When Gavriella arrived at Auschwitz, her mother saw that the monsters were separating the young and the strong from the older, the youngest, the weak. She pushed Gavriella to stand with her older sisters. Two beautiful young women in their late teens.

But Gavriella was only 11 and she was scared. She wanted her mother...her mother pushed her away, pushed her, begged her to go with her sisters and finally Gavriella relented and began crossing to the other side...the side of life.

A Nazi guard, may God punish him for all eternity, stopped the child and returned her to her mother, to death.

This is what the Holocaust was about...Gavriella. An innocent child, sweet and beautiful, who never got the chance to grow, to marry, to have children and grandchildren. She never got the chance to dance at her wedding, carry a child. She never got to be...

Today, in Israel, Michal Gavriella is 12...she carried Gavriella's name...she is the child of a father named for her brother - Binyamin Elimelech. Her sister is named for one of her brothers. Two uncles are named for her brother and cousin. Our Michali is surrounded with love and light and lives in a land Gavriella never dreamed of seeing.

And it is that land and the soldiers of Israel...soldiers like her father and uncles...that protect the Gavriellas of our world today.

Today is Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day and we in Israel sit quietly and watch as antisemitism flourishes again in Europe. I look at the mountains of Judea that surround my home and I wish there was a way to bring Gavriella home...but there's nothing to bring her home...nothing left but the ashes of millions of Jews.

And once a year, when Europe wipes the dust of its conscience and pretends to remember, we look in wonder at their ignorance.

Little Gavriella...your eyes haunt me...

Falling back from the brink...again...

2026-04-12T22:46:00.001+03:00

Yesterday, Israelis returned to normal...or what we imagine normal would be. You get up on time. You get your kids up, feed them, help them pack their bags. Rush them off to catch the bus, or drop them off on the way to work.

It was a hint of air, of a void of sound. No sirens, no booms in the distance.

And then we awakened to news that Vance was heading home. The talks have failed...Israel is bracing, yet again.

We are back on that damn brink...but something is wrong. The terrain is different than the last time. It's slippier and crumbles before our feet. We try to step back but the rocks are sliding over the edge.

We hear them tumbling, bouncing as they fall.

We are falling off the brink, off the edge into that horrible state of war. We were so close to maybe, finally pulling back.

No, not really. Lebanon is exploding to our north. Our citizens are clinging to their homes. They don't want to be evacuated again and yet nearly every hour, Lebanon is either firing at us or sending explosive drones. One hit a home in Shlomi today.

No, it's not Lebanon, it's Hezbollah. Lebanon is sinking in the mud and Hezbollah is dancing on its head. They are at the bottom of the abyss trying to pull us down.

Yes, we are back on the brink. The damn brink. But for once, we are not alone. The US is with us, their amazing and brave pilots who fly as brothers (and sisters) with our pilots, their president and more. And whether they want to be here with us or not, so too is much of Europe, pulled screaming and crying to the edge of the brink with us.

And many of the Arab countries - Oman, Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan...they too are on the brink.

What makes a world war, my daughter asked me recently. I answered what I believe - China or Russia...if they join, I think this would be called World War III. In the last 50 years, the Jewish population of Europe has declined by 60% and now stands between 1.3 and 1.4 million Jews - in ALL of Europe. In 1939, there were over 16.5 million Jews in Europe.

If there is anything good about this horrible brink, it is that there are so few Jews caught between us and our enemies. Very few Jews left in the Arab countries (and in most there are none). With our backs to the sea, our sons and daughters stand above us, in front of us. It isn't what we wanted, it never was...but again and again, the brink comes and they rise to meet it.

What tomorrow will bring, we do not know. But what we do know is that a thousand years from now, all those who surround us will be gone while the Jew will still rise in the morning and say, Modeh ani lefancha...I offer thanks to You, living and eternal King.

Tuesday in Israel and a Call to Have Faith

2026-04-07T10:17:00.007+03:00

It's Tuesday in my tiny, little country. Tonight we start the beginning of the end...of Pesach. It is unusual to have rain at this time and yet a steady, gentle rain falls outside my windows.

I can't say it is unusual to be at war anymore. The war began on October 7. For not a single day since then have we known peace. Even during the temporary ceasefires with Gaza, we were tortured by the knowledge that our hostages were still in Gaza, still suffering, still being tortured and starved.

All that could be brought home alive and all those who were murdered in Gaza (or murdered in Israel and pulled into Gaza), are home. October 7 ended, but the war did not.
Hezbollah and now Iran and the Houthis of Yemen continue to bombard us with missiles and attack drones, sometimes separately, often all together. Each is an attack against civilians. This morning, they managed to hit four places...cars and roads. The land is taking the impact, sparing our people who shelter in bomb shelters.

The media is portraying Trump as a military extremist threatening to wipe out Iran's nuclear and power plants and bridges. And Iran, Iran gets a free pass, though they are trying to wipe out my country.
We are the extremists breaking international law...morons....idiots... ignoramuses the likes of which we have rarely seen.

Look. For God's sake, open your eyes and look at what our TARGETS are. They have killed our civilians, we have taken out their top leadership - military, intelligence, religious madmen who preach death and martyrdom. What is wrong with YOU? Not them, YOU?
Why can't you see?

The truth, I no longer blame you. I have decided your stupidity is divinely inspired. There was a reason why God wanted Pharoah to hold the Israelites (do you see the name - Israelites...the people of Israel...the LAND of Israel?). It was part of God's plan and in hardening Pharoah's heart, what was accomplished? Well, yes, the Jews suffered a bit longer but both the Egyptians and the Israelites learned a lesson.

In their case, they learned, as Iran soon will, that hell will freeze over before you can claim victory. Your world will be destroyed before you harm God's people.

In our case, we learned to have faith. To walk blindly behind Hashem knowing, even if it takes 40 years, even if we are at war for more than two years, He will bring us home. And it taught us to be a people, to unite and walk through the wilderness together.

And so, tonight, we continue that journey. For those of us who do not use electricity on Israel's holy days, we will go blindly into the holiday. We will know if there is a siren; we will keep our telephones pointed to Israel's silent radio station and we can hear the call to go in and out of the shelters. But we will be blind to what is happening in Iran and even to other parts of Israel. That too is part of our trust.

When our enemies brutally attack us, with tears I tell you that I would rather live in a land that mourns the murder of a mother and her two daughters, or the death of a pregnant woman in labor, than be part of a nation, a people, a religion that glorifies death and hate.

I feel like standing on my balcony and soaking in the rain but I have to get back to cooking. Amidst all this insanity, my daughter and her beautiful family will come stay with us tonight. Most of her children will sleep in the bomb shelter. And tomorrow night...after more than 30 years in Israel, I will, OMG, be hosting my very first mimouna.

I'll explain what that is another time, or someone can explain in the comments. No, I have no idea how to make the things...mufleta? that need to be made...I offer my kitchen (are you insane???) to cook all that leavened stuff (I am insane).

Wishing you, my people, a chag samayah...even in these times, let it come in joy.

And to you, the world, the idiots, the morons and the ignoramuses, I wish you enlightenment. I wish you the ability to see that in this little tiny land we carry the blood and the strength of our ancient people. We will step blindly into the sea, knowing that we will emerge safe and dry and home.
Am Yisrael Chai.

(Picture courtesy of Chabad.org)

A Promise Told a Thousand Times...and More

2026-03-29T14:13:00.001+03:00

I've been writing for days that I'm tired. Today, perhaps for the first time in my life, I realize that I'm not tired. Because tired is the wrong word. You are tired when you've had a long day, when you work hard to accomplish some physical task and yes, when you haven't slept enough (which most of Israel has not. But in truth, we aren't tired. We are weary.

Weary to the depths of our souls. Tired is for your body, I think. Weary is for your mind and your soul.

Yemen has joined the war against Israel. How do you fight Israel? No, not on the battlefield - say the cowards of Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemen...and Iran. You shoot ballistic missiles at their civilians and hope to catch them out in the open. Not "man to man" or "soldier to soldier" - say the cowards in Russia who support by sending drones and military "intelligence", or the cowards of Europe who don't have the guts to back Israel. Their cowardice now, as in the past, is expressed in their silence.

France and the UK, Canada and others. They are silent today, as they were in the 1930s. In any other world, for any other people, when you take a stand against one, it means you are taking a stand for the other. So it was when the world took a stand against Germany and Japan in the 1940s and FOR the Allies (no, not the Jews - they were allowed to die in the concentration camps because God forbid the US divert the planes to bomb the railways). Even then, no one stood for the Jews.

So it is today against Russia, and FOR the Ukraine; against the evil ones and FOR the good ones. They send weapons galore, scream out to the media. Russia must be stopped. The Ukrainians must be defended.

France and the UK, Canada and others would never think to thank Israel for taking on Iran...even when the missiles hit Europe (Cyprus so far, others likely soon), they can drown in their silence. No one will stand for the Jews.

Today, I don't care about the world...I am too tired...no, not tired, weary. Not too weary to fight, to take pride in our Jewish soldiers who defend this land 24 hours a day, 7 days a week... but weary nonetheless.

To the world, I can only say that I am weary of your games, weary of your hypocrisy. I am weary of the lies you believe and worse, the lies you tell.

I am weary of the haters, the Tucker Carlsons of the world that you stupidly believe and elevate to gods.And as I get the early warning...I am weary of going to the bomb shelter because yet again today (for about the fifth time), Iran has fired ballistic missiles with hundreds of kilos towards my beloved land.I am weary of being part of your world...weary of waiting for the world to stand with my people, to see us for what we are.And I'm weary of the idiots who think they are clever when they mock us and the promise made to us by God. It's a regular addition to many pro- Israel posts. A mocking comment is promises made more than 3,000 years ago. It's in your freaking bible, up there on your shelf gathering dust.

The oldest living land deed known to man - the documenting of Abraham buying the Cave of the Patriarchs to bury his wife. There his is buried with his son and his grandson and all their wives. Today, daily, my people go there and pray. In this ancient land that is still ours.The oldest living set of laws, the ten commandments, that are the basis of the western world's sense of justice.

And, yes of course, there is the promise... made over and over again. The more you mock it and threaten the Jews in your world, the more they come home to mine.

To Abraham: On that day, the Lord formed a covenant with Abraham, saying: “To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt, until the great river, the Euphrates river.” (Genesis 15:18)

To Isaac: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and I will bless you, for to you and to your seed will I give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham, your father. (Genesis 26:3)

To Jacob: And the land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac I will give to you, and to your seed after you will I give the land. (Genesis 35:12)

Via Moses: And it will come to pass that the Lord will bring you into the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which He swore to your forefathers to give you a land flowing with milk and honey …. (Exodus 13:5)

And it will come to pass when the Lord will bring you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and to your forefathers, and He has given it to you. (Exodus 13:11)

The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go ascend from here, you and the people you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: “I will give it to your descendants.” (Exodus 33:1)

And the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to lead the travels before the people, so that they may come and possess the land I promised their forefathers to give them.” (Deuteronomy 10:11)

When I bring them to the land which I have sworn to their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat and be satisfied, and live on the fat of the land. (Deuteronomy 31:20)

I bring them into the land which I have sworn to give them. (Deuteronomy 31:21)

And He commanded Joshua the son of Nun, and said: “Be strong and courageous! For you shall bring the Children of Israel to the land that I have sworn to them, and I will be with you.” (Deuteronomy 31:23)

And the Lord said to him, this is the land I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your offspring.” I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there. (Deuteronomy 34:4).

It's in YOUR bible...you can't believe some and not all of it. That's what it says...that's what was promised, and that is what has come to be.

Not by your hand but by ours, and by God's. Despite your silence. Despite your hypocrisy. Because, as I've come to realize, it doesn't really matter of you stand with the Jews because the God of Israel does. Never will He grow weary; never will He fail us.

And so, perhaps in writing this, I've reminded myself...it will be okay. God will take care of us as He promised. We have only to believe.

My people are strong. My people are eternal. We never really needed you to stand for us. We are grateful to the American president and government and so grateful to the soldiers and pilots of that great nation. It is time for me to remember, those who stand on the wrong side, fade into history.

The nations who are silent today are being eaten up from the inside and are unlikely to survive. If God has shown us anything, it is that they are not eternal.

Gone are the Amalekites, Canaanites and Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, the ancient Greeks, the ancient Romans, the Assyrians and the Philistines...so it will be again. God will not fail us.

When we are weary, all we have to do it look out our windows to our beautiful land...

It's Friday in Israel....

2026-03-27T14:37:00.001+03:00

It is Friday in my country. Just in the last day or two, four times...or is it five...the early warning alert has been sounded sending millions of people in my area alone into stress. Around one million went into bomb shelters and waited just a few minutes ago.

It feels like the booms are getting louder, closer. We're so tired. Tired of the night, the expectation, the worry. We clean our homes by day and plan for the coming holiday next week, while having no clue what will happen in the next 5 minutes.

All we know is Shabbat is coming. Shabbat HaGadol - the Great Sabbath that comes before one of the most important moments in our lives...the moment we were freed from Egypt.

Thousands of years ago and thousands of years from now, and every year in between, we do the same thing...

Does this year feel different? Perhaps it feels exactly the same. We are waiting for redemption...the final redemption. We have come as close as we can, Hashem. We have done all we can. Our sons and daughters give their all; our grandchildren rush to safety.

I have one in danger each time a missile aims in the center of the country. Another that was called on moments after the attack against Iran was launched. Another put on notice. It's a different kind of war...one fought over our heads not quite as much but still too much, over our heads.

Living where I live, I can go outside and see the terrifying view of a rocket flying towards my sister, my niece and nephew, my son. And yet, we wait. Not for the Iranians, not for the Americans. We wait for the promise of a better world, a safer world. How more can we pray?

What more can we do to show you we are ready? We are more than 7 million Jews. Now is the time. With each missile, I watch and wait. Now is the time to remove what man has put on Your Temple Mount. We await the Third Temple.

Please, Hashem, bring the eternal Shabbat. We are ready.

What are the right words to say when nothing can be said?

2026-03-24T12:51:00.001+02:00

I meet with people from Europe on a video chat, and I see the sadness in their eyes, the regret, the lack of words. What do you say to an Israeli when they tell you that this morning they went shopping and had to abandon their cart twice to move with dozens of others into a tiny fortified room, where they stood, heard booms, checked their phones, and waited?

What are the right words to say? What can you do? You listen to them describe a world you cannot imagine. Sitting in a room and suddenly all the phones start beeping. At the first beep, the parents remind the children to go to the bathroom. They gather a bottle of water, though there is no reason.

Long ago, water was put in the secure room. They call the dog, pick up the baby and wait. And then the siren sounds. It's loud and cuts straight to the heart, to the stomach. They fight the urge to run. In most places, we have 90 seconds. The distance is not far. Go slow, don't fall.

Hundreds have been injured rushing to bomb shelters. Three have had heart attacks. Several car accidents have been caused by the sudden panic of the siren. One young woman ran to cross the street without warning to get to the shelter and was hit by a car. Slowly, despite the siren, we rush to the shelter. A contradiction, a reality.

I'm pretty sure my upcoming trip to Europe to meet with those same people I met with today will soon be be cancelled. And even if it's not, how do I leave Israel at a time like this?

No, that's not the question I'm asking because I know the answer already. It's impossible to leave unless this ends. No, this won't end. And most likely, the plane won't be flying anyway. The answer I want today is not for me but for those outside of Israel. What do we need you to say, to ask, when you see us, tired and pale?

You can ask how we are but honestly, how do you think we are? We can't sleep at night because nearly every night in the darkest hours, they fire ballistic missiles and the sirens wail. And it starts again, rush to the bathroom...rush slowly down the steps, your feet cold on the winter floors because you don't stop to put on socks and you never remenber your slippers until you're already on the steps.

How are you? How do you think I am? I'm angry and tired and frustrated. I'm so tired.

What's happening there? How do we know? The same as yesterday and the day before. We're tired and cold and angry. We're worried about the booms and truth be told, scared for our soldiers and those who can't take cover.

What you can say is - I'm sorry. I can't imagine what you are going through.

And then listen when we tell you that this war must be the last war - and that means not ending it now. It means fighting until Iran's people can rise up and reclaim their freedom. For now, we are being pummeled by an evil regime that seeks our death and happily kills its own people while awaiting their dream world without Israel.

They can wait until hell freezes over, until the sun rises at night, until the UN praises Israel and still, we will be here.

Bruised, somewhat battered, but strong, determined, resilient. We are tired, but we'll sleep when Iran's leadership steps down, walks away, crawls away, or is buried so deep under the earth that they won't find their bodies for a thousand years.

So maybe don't say that you hope this war ends soon. Say you are praying with us that this will be the last war - whatever it takes to get there. Let this be the last war.

What the World's Leaders Think about the Iran-Israel-America War

2026-03-02T15:01:00.002+02:00

We can never know what goes through the thoughts of the leaders of the countries in this world...but I'm in that kind of a mood after spending much of the last two days in and out of our bomb shelters along with any bomb shelter I could fine whever I left my house. So, here's my best guess as to what world leaders are feeling, or worse, saying. These are only guesses.

So if you don't like what I wrote about your country's leader, vote for someone else in the next elections - especially in Canada and the UK.

Canada

Of course, we want to strongly condemn the Israeli assassination of the Supreme Leader and much of the rest of the Iranian government in a ...what? Of course, Canada supports the US actions to destroy Iran's nuclear program. We support the US actions to prevent the Iranian regime from threatening international peace and security and I do want to say that Canada did not know in advance, never suspected and certainly did not offer our airspace. Oh, right, I forgot the direction. So, we would like to reiterate the US position if they'll lower the tariffs...and what?

Ok, I'd like to make Canada's position clear...what is our position? Yes, yes, the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror thorughout the Middle East. I know I said it was Israel but now I need to say it's Iran. because Iran, has one of the world's worst human rights records and must never be allowed to obtain or develop nuclear weapons.

And we express our support for all those countries that have been targeted by Iran, including, of course, our allies, Syria, China, and...what? Yes, of course, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman...where's Oman...never mind, and of course our dear friends on Cyprus, a fellow C country like Canada.

Lebanon

I told them in Hezbollah not to fire...what are they thinking? Ah, reporters, yes, yes...bring them in....Comment...yes, I have a comment. Israel is wrong. It wasn't Hezbollah. It was...um...someone else. Someone else with rockets but not us. We have complete control of our land. Israel should leave us to deal with this...no...um, we don't know who fired rockets into Israel but it wasn't Hezbollah. What? How do I know it wasn't Hezbollah? Silly question. Why would Hezbollah fire on Israel. No, really. We're good.

Germany

I have already warned that the US-Israeli strikes (not that I'm saying anything against the Jews) on Iran risks getting us all in yet another Iraq-style quagmire. Yes, that's my word, quagmire but Berlin has decided it will not lecture Washington as we really need the US to help us end the war in Ukraine before it gets to Germany. And though is stresses me to do so, I need to echo...what's his first name again? Keir...yes I need to echo Keir Starmer's words that we too are willing to help the US and Israel, but really, in a very limited way and we'd like to reiterate that we have no bases in Cyprus.

France

What did I announce yesterday? That the Iran attack was wrong. Yes, it was because you know they might come after us. Oh, the microphone is on? Okay, so today, we'll say that we condemn Iran and we'll stand with the US and then tomorrow...what? That won't work? Of course it will. We've been doing this for centuries!

We surrender! Oh, sorry. Not yet?

So thank you very much. We'll have another statement tomorrow. What? Of course, I made a statement today...I just don't remember what it was. But I do want to thank the Pew Reseach Center for letting us know that 8.8% of our population is Muslim and I'm sure that there's nothing to be concerned about. I'd also like to point out that while 67% of the immigrants who came to France between 2010 and 2016 were Muslim, it is important to explain that we're 3rd on the list, unlike our British colleagues.

Cyprus

What? Us? Iran hit us? What the hell for?

Britain

We will not allow the US to use our bases for this war against Iran. We...what? They hit our base? But we told them the UK wasn't involved! It wasn't our idea! Why'd they go hit us when the American bases are right there! What more did they want us to say? What...okay, so, to protect the British Empire...what do you mean there's no British Empire? Fine. Okay.

So after speaking to the US President, we are ordering British jets in the air as part of a coordinated defense operation to intercept Iranian strikes. And to prevent Iran from firing and endangering British lives and because bloody hell, they hit our base in Cyprus, we have taken the decision to let the US use our bases but remember, we didn't agree to do the first raid so don't come after us again, okay?

And in thinking about Britain and its interest in the world. I too would like to thank the Pew Report for the information us that we received the largest total number of immigrants and that 43% of them were Muslim. Isn't that lovely? I must invite them for some tea. What? They won't sit with me because I'm an infidel. I'm sure that I'm not.

Austria

We condemn the US and Israel, omg, Israel, for attacking the Iranians and...what? They got him? Oh, okay, the American attack on Iran has opened a window for the people of Iran and we hope they come to visit Austria.

Belgium

We condemn the attacks on Iran in the strongest possible terms and ask the Iranians not to attack any of our interests. We don't have any bases in Cyprus, right?

Finland

It's been very cold with a lot of snow and...oh, right, so we condemn...who? Iran, yes, we condemn Iran's unjustifiable and indiscriminate strikes on the countries of the region...Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and, of course, Cyprus. Even those of us who were working towards a diplomatic solution and really believed the Iranians would never try to get a nuclear weapon or fire those ballistic missiles are now being targeted. What's up with that? For God's sake, have you no decency? WHY did you fire on Cyprus?

Greece

Listen, Greece's main tourist season is about to start so I want to stress that we are worried about Greek citizens and we want to ask the Iranians not to fire nuclear or ballistic weapons at us and to also check the wind direction because you know, sometimes the wind comes from the east and well, you know.

Hungary

Hungary is very concerned and has raised its counterterrorism level, and we want to use the strikes against Iran as an opportunity tos peak about the Russian pipeline through central Europe that Ukraine is trying to shut down. And honestly, having Ukraine on our border is really not something we like. Of course, we wouldn't want the Iranians there either so...oh, no, we don't have any bases in Cyprus either. Would anyone like some sweet tea? Don't mind if I do. Thank you.

Ireland

We would like to express our grave concern. I know people have called Ireland one of the most antisemitic countries in Europe but honestly, the point is that the Jews are probably right this time and even though they control the world media and banks, Iran should probably not be allowed to get nuclear weapons.

Spain

As many of you know, Spain has a long and cherished history with the Jewish people and I believe everyone should own one...what? Sorry...no. Look, let's be honest. Until we expelled them, well, a few hundred years before, we truly had a lovely relationship with the Jewish people. Anyway, as to today, we reject the unilateral miliary action by the United States and Israel against the poor Iranian government. We send our condolences to the families of ....too strong? Okay, yes, well, I'd like to point out that we cannot afford another prolonged and devastating war in the Middle East. First, that October thing the Jews complained about and now this. Honestly, they were much easier to control back in the 1400s. Anyway, we think we should all make peace and visit Barcelona, well, not Jewish women but let's be clear we don't have any bases in Cyprus.

In Conclusion...

While I'm sure most of the world's leaders would be more diplomatic than their thoughts, I'm probably not that far off for most of the countries. After all, to most of these people, it all boils down to those troublesome Jews...

Where Better to Get Philosophical Than in a Bomb Shelter

2026-03-01T11:20:00.002+02:00

Introducing the best place in the world to get philosophical - the bomb shelter. The more people there, the better. Feel free to add suggestions in the comments. No, Mahmoud, I won't be publishing your comments. After all these years, you still don't get it, do you? Well, here's an invitation to my bomb shelter. No, I won't tell you where it is but when you come, make sure to bring a deck of cards.

Only in Israel do people complain about the SHELTER. "It's too small." "It smells." "The lighting is terrible." The missiles? Fine. The shelter? Unacceptable.
The national pastime of pikuach nefesh (the importance of saving lives) meets the national pastime of complaining and somehow produces pure comedy every single time.
An Israeli will survive a missile attack and immediately post a review. Two stars. Shelter adequate. Parking terrible.
There is nowhere on earth where people simultaneously take existential threats less seriously and more seriously than Israel. It's a gift.
The ability to order coffee between two missile attacks and consider this completely normal behavior is a form of enlightenment the rest of the world doesn't understand yet.
In Israel, the trauma response IS the humor. They are the same thing. Always have been.
You can measure the severity of the situation by how quickly the card games come out. Very fast means it's going to be a long night.
The fact that Israelis have a shelter WhatsApp group, a shelter playlist, and a shelter snack strategy says everything you need to know about resilience.
The rest of the world watches in horror. Israelis watch the news, eat something, and argue about it. This is not denial. This is adaptation.
Somewhere in the world right now, a journalist is writing a very serious piece about this. In the shelter, someone is making a joke about their divorce. Both are valid responses.
There is a philosophy buried in the Bubbe who packed a full meal for a missile attack: life is for the living, and the living need to eat.
The children who grow up in shelters and think it's an adventure will one day grow up and tell their own children the same stories. The chain of resilience is unbreakable and also occasionally hilarious.
Only in Israel do people come out of a bomb shelter and complain that it ran long because they had plans.
The stranger you shared a shelter wall with at 2 am knows more about your life than your closest friends. This is the Israeli social contract.
A people that has survived everything history threw at them and still argues about hummus recipes is a people that cannot be defeated.
The fact that "we've been through worse" is both a coping mechanism AND literally always true is uniquely, specifically Israeli.
In another country, this night would be a national trauma. Here it's Tuesday, and someone is already turning it into a bit.
The spiritual practice of complaining loudly while doing exactly what needs to be done is perhaps the most underappreciated survival skill in human history.
You cannot understand Israel without understanding that the joke and the prayer often happen in the same breath, and that this is not contradictory.
Every generation thinks it will be the last to need the shelters. Every generation passes the humor down anyway, just in case.
The shelter is not where Israelis go to hide. It's where they go to wait. There is a difference. They'll explain it to you while dealing cards.

How Generations of Israelis Cope in the Bomb Shelter

2026-02-20T09:01:00.010+02:00

Continuing my drive towards laughter...introducing...generations of Israelis and how they react to yet another conflict, yet another anticipated trip to the bomb shelters.

As the US prepares to station the USS Ford off the coast of Tel Aviv to protect Israeli cities...it's about time I explained how generations of Israelis cope with yet again being on the brink...

I'll remind you this is an attempt at humor because at some point in every conflict or mess, Israelis begin to find that the only way to cope is to see the absurdity of a tiny little nation like Israel being so hated, so maligned and now be targeted by the mad mullahs of Tehran.

Introducing Israel's Generations...

Grandpa: "This? This is nothing. I've survived six of these. Sit down, eat something."

Dad: "I'm checking the news." (refreshes 400 times)

Mom: "Did everyone go to the bathroom? Go now. Go."

The kids: Already asleep.

The teenager: Never looked up from their phone. Doesn't plan to.

Grandma: Has already fed four strangers and adopted a fifth. She came prepared for this exact scenario.

Uncle Moshe: Is explaining what he would do if he were in charge. Nobody asked. He continues.

The young couple: Are somehow making this romantic. Everyone is both annoyed and impressed.

The baby: Slept through the siren, woke up for the all-clear. Perfect comedic timing.

The cool young aunt: Brought wine. Is now the most popular person in the shelter.

Grandpa: Already asleep. Has been asleep since minute two. Snoring peacefully. Living his best life.

The in-laws who don't get along: Are forced to sit next to each other. The shelter is not big enough for this energy.

Dad at age 70: "I'm not moving. If it hits, it hits." His wife physically moved him herself.

The grandchild who just got back from a year abroad: "Wait, is this normal??" Everyone in the room says yes simultaneously.

The son who moved to Berlin: Is on video call watching in horror. The family looks completely calm. He does not understand.

The teenage daughter: Is making TikToks. Has already gained 3,000 followers tonight.

Middle child: Is stress-eating the emergency rations and has been since minute one.

The grandpa who survived actual wars: Is deeply unimpressed and slightly insulted by the drama of the younger generation.

Bubby: Has pulled out knitting. She brought knitting. She knew.

The toddler: Is delighted. This is the most exciting sleepover ever. Running in circles. Cannot be stopped.

The college student home for a visit: Had planned to go out tonight. Is now in a shelter. Is updating their dating app bio in real time.

Dad: Keeps quietly stepping outside "to check the sky." Has been brought back in three times.

Great Grandma: "Sit. Eat. The war will wait." She is not wrong.

The family dog: Has appointed himself protector of everyone present. Takes the job very seriously. Very small dog.

You Know You're Israeli When...Bomb Shelter Humor only Israelis can laugh at...

2026-02-19T14:25:00.002+02:00

You Know You're Israeli When...

The siren goes off and your first instinct is to grab your coffee. The coffee comes first. Always.
Your mom called BEFORE the missile alert to warn you. She has better intelligence than the IDF.
Someone's Bubbe brought a full Shabbat spread into the shelter "just in case it takes a while."
The argument about where to sit started before the all-clear siren did.
Three people are giving directions to the shelter simultaneously and all three are wrong but very confident.
You've already mentally redecorated the shelter. It needs better lighting and a plant.
You brought your own pillow because last time the shelter was "not acceptable."
You're annoyed at the missiles not because of the danger but because they interrupted your favorite show at the worst moment.
You immediately check if there's a minyan. There are nine men. Someone is making phone calls.
You've rated three different shelters on Google Maps and left detailed reviews.
You're arguing with a stranger about the best route to the shelter while standing IN the shelter.
Your dog is calmer than everyone in the room combined.
Someone pulled out a deck of cards within 45 seconds. They had it in their pocket. They were ready.
You're not scared, you're just annoyed that the timing ruined your dinner reservation.
You brought snacks for yourself and somehow also fed twelve people.
Someone is already telling a story that starts with "In '73..." and cannot be stopped.
You're live-posting the entire thing and your followers abroad are more panicked than you are.
You've mentally calculated which of your neighbors would be most useful in a survival situation. Spoiler: it's the one who served in a combat unit and also happens to make incredible shakshuka.
You found out there's a shelter WhatsApp group. You've already been added. There are 247 unread messages.
You walked to the shelter without rushing because you have dignity and also you've done this before.
Someone brought a bluetooth speaker. Someone else already has an opinion about the music selection.
You're more upset about leaving your hummus on the counter than about the incoming missiles.
The second the alert is over, you're already complaining about how LONG that took.
You know at least four people in this shelter from the army. Three of them you owe money to.

Things Israelis think or say in a bomb shelter:

"This is my third war in this apartment. The location is terrible but the rent is locked in."

"Last time I was down here I met my accountant. He still overcharges me."

"My therapist told me to avoid stressful situations. She did not account for living here."

"The shelter has better neighbors than my actual floor, to be honest."

"I've lived here twenty years. I know this shelter better than my own living room."

"My ex is probably in a shelter right now too. I hope it's a worse one."

"You know what this place needs? A coffee machine. Someone write to the municipality."

"I had a date tonight. She said she couldn't make it because of the situation. I'm 80% sure she was lying and 20% sure she was lying."

"Last time we were in here for two hours. I learned everything about the woman next to me. She's still in my contacts as 'Shelter Ruth.'"

"I've made more friends in shelters than at any bar in my life. There's a networking opportunity here nobody is talking about."

"The kids are fine. The adults are pretending to be fine. The dog has figured everything out."

"Someone here has started telling me about their back surgery and I cannot escape."

"I don't know this man's name but I know he's had four marriages and his son is a disappointment. We've been here eleven minutes."

"My phone is at 4%. This is the real emergency."

"I should have charged my phone. I KNEW I should have charged my phone. I had all day."

"If I survive this I'm moving to... actually Tel Aviv is still the best city in the world, never mind."

"I've seen this ceiling so many times I could paint it from memory."

"Someone just offered me a bamba. In times like these, you accept the bamba."

"My landlord hasn't fixed the shelter light since 2019. I've sent seventeen messages. Maybe now he'll respond."

"The guy next to me is explaining geopolitics. He is wrong about everything but very passionate. I respect it."

"I was just about to fall asleep when the siren went. I've never been more personally insulted by international relations."

"There are six people in here with the same phone case and I don't know what to do with that information."

"The one night I actually went to bed early. The ONE night."

Helping Single Guys in Israel with Bomb Shelter Pickup Lines

2026-02-19T13:43:00.003+02:00

In the world I live in, we often have the choice of laughing or crying. Somewhere around the time I started listening to the doomsday tone of today's news...I decided to laugh.

So here are a few ideas that AI gave me to help single guys with those perfect bomb shelter pickup lines...with a little prompting from AI:

(Note Ladies: If anyone uses any of these lines on you, I think you can tell the guy that the home front command make a special exception in his case and he's welcome to skip the 10-minute wait for the missile fragments to fall...)

🚨 Shelter Me From Loneliness: Bomb Shelter Pickup Lines 🚨

Classics:

"Is it hot in here, or is that just the Iron Dome working overtime?"
"I was going to play it cool, but the missile alert kind of rushed my timeline."
"They say life is short… apparently very short tonight. Drink?"
"I don't usually approach women in underground bunkers, but here we are."

Practical Romantics:

"We've got 90 seconds before the next siren. I'll be brief — you're stunning."
"I brought extra water and hummus for two. Fate? I think yes."
"The app said shelter for 10 minutes. I was thinking we make it 20."
"I've been meaning to talk to you since the first explosion. Third time's the charm."

The Philosophers:

"Nothing makes you appreciate human connection like a joint missile strike."
"I don't know how this ends geopolitically, but I'd like to know how this ends."
"Existential dread really brings out your eyes, you know that?"

The Bold Move:

"Look, I've survived Netanyahu, Hamas, Hezbollah, AND the price of Tel Aviv rent. A little rejection won't kill me. Dinner?"

The Overly Optimistic:

"I know this isn't the most romantic setting, but honestly my apartment isn't much bigger."
"My horoscope this morning said 'unexpected connection in a confined space.' I'm a believer now."
"Good news — we already have something in common. Neither of us wants to die alone."

The Tech Bro:

"I was going to swipe right on you yesterday but the Wi-Fi down here is terrible."
"Forget Tinder. Nothing matches like a mutual bomb shelter."
"I've been stress-refreshing the news app all night. You're the best notification I've gotten."

The Smooth Operators:

"I packed light — just essentials. Water, flashlight, your phone number."
"You know, studies show that shared trauma creates deep bonds. Just saying."
"I usually wait three days to text. Under the circumstances, I'm fast-tracking this."

The Desperate but Honest:

"I rehearsed something clever but the siren went off mid-thought. Just… hi."
"My mom always said I'd meet someone special. She didn't specify the venue."
"I'm not saying this is destiny, but we're literally being pushed together by world events."

Finally, from Claude (AI): Stay safe out there, Romeo. And maybe lead with the hummus. 🥙