Yellow Alert

We went to the grocery store yesterday when a sonic boom vibrated the windows. Our clerk turned white, dropped all from her hands, reached for her phone and started to surf to find out if this is a rocket attack. She was shaking and none could calm her down. It took close to 20 minutes before she returned to her post after realizing that no one was upset and the sirens did not sound.

The lady had a post-traumatic stress panic-attack.

Carob Tree

There are many like her in this country. I'm sure that there are many more with such fear in the entire region. She told us later on that during Lebanon War in 2006 she was pregnant and was unable to enter a public shelter during the sounding of the sirens because it was locked. She suffers that fear reaction since then.

Shortly after, when we returned home, I saw in the papers that a Yellow Alert was issued to Northern Israel. Farmers were asked to recede further south from Lebanon, dwellers were told to prepare their safe-rooms, and parents were warned to keep a closer eye on their children. Yellow Alert means that there is a higher level of preparation, just in case the threats from the Hezbollah will turn into reality.

Meanwhile, fear was mounting. We could feel it in the air, in the hunching of the people around us, in the shortness of their sentences.  I did not like that feeling one bit.

We prayed. We prayed for peace and safety as we do daily since we arrived here.

This morning we felt a shift. Sun shined into our window by 6 am; we walked to get our fresh-baked Challahs by 7 am; people were smiling with relaxed shoulders by 9 am. I don't know what happened to the yellow alert, but Shabbat is coming and that takes precedence.

59th Day of Praise

Thank you God for the Shabbat which brings peace in its wings and cancels war alerts.

Shabbat Shalom, 

Orith