(long but LIFE AFFIRMING 👍)
This week we are supposed to celebrate Yom Haatsmaut.
A national day of independence.
A celebration of the achievement and the miracle that was the creation of this state, and what it means for the people of Israel who have marched down this road for millenia.
A recognition of what it means to go from being herded into the gas chambers to flying one of the world’s greatest air forces.
To be one step – one huge and meaningful step – closer to the ultimate freedom we’ve prayed and fought for throughout the longest exile.
A day to look forward to, every year.
And so we’re getting ready.
Meanwhile… the ceasefire with Lebanon didn’t include Hezbollah and the “ceasefire” with the IRGC wasn’t based on any points of agreement, didn’t translate into anything permanent, and expires on… Yom Haatsmaut.
Meanwhile POTUS said Hormuz will never be closed again hours before the IRGC closed it and fired on ships, and said Iran will transfer all its uranium to the USA only for the IRGC to flatly deny anything of the sort minutes later. Sounds like someone’s looking to sell renewed hostilities (“a civilization will die tonight”?) to his base as the necessary response to the IRGC breaking the aforementioned “ceasefire.”
Meanwhile the IRGC has been digging out launchers, manufacturing new launchers and missiles, and repositioning all the assets it conserved and recovered during the 40 days of missiles fired at just the right pace to keep us running to shelters and to deplete our interceptors, escalating at will in response to coalition strikes and political developments.
Meanwhile we are running lower than ever before on interceptors and we can’t cover all the missiles and launchers the IRGC currently has, let alone resupply the interceptors as quickly as the IRGC can make new missiles and launchers.
Meanwhile Hezbollah is repositioning, resupplying, and still under the complete control of the IRGC. Waiting for the signal to resume the rockets that keep half the country running for cover.
Meanwhile the Israeli government lifted all restrictions on Friday and so all of us are grabbing the opportunity to party and are busy planning barbecues with our friends on balconies and in parks and on the beaches and just want to feel fcking normal for a change after weeks/years of war, like we actually have something to celebrate and live for, just to be free of the shelters for just a little bit.
Just a little bit.
And the “ceasefire” expires on Yom Haatsmaut…
I have no idea what to expect this week.
A couple of weeks ago we were staring down the barrel of radically escalated hostilities with possibly devasting consequences for Israelis, and then like 45 minutes before it was bombs and missiles everywhere, the Pakistani government jumped in and we got some kind of pause in the bombs and missiles instead of a lot more of them.
I had stocked our shelter, stayed up reading the news, studying, and waiting for the sirens, and was never so happy to have my concerns prove fruitless if not unfounded.
This Yom Haatsmaut might be the day of normalcy and joy and fun we’ve been collectively craving for over a month.
It might be a day of missiles.
Landing.
Most of the signs I’m seeing as of today are pointing in a clear direction – but everything is in flux, perpetually and rapidly shifting, ever-changing détentes between multiple belligerent and corrupt parties.
Nothing is certain. Nothing is fixed. Nothing is guaranteed.
And always, throughout history and across the world but especially in this place at this time – Divine love, compassion, and grace have accompanied us, even in the darkest hour of night.
Anything can happen, especially the miraculous, especially here, in the land of providential love.
Whatever happens, though, we WILL celebrate our independence. Our freedom. Our autonomy. Our democracy.
The inalienable rights our ancestors fought to assert and defend and exercise in our ancestral land.
They are worth celebrating this year and every year, with thanks and gratitude to the Highest.
Maybe especially this year.
(Yes, the war and the history and everything was complicated and multifaceted – hard won independence for some came at a catastrophic price for others. I will share some thoughts on what independence means, and should mean, and can mean, in a few days. But for this moment I just want to say:)
Whether in the parks or in the shelters… we will celebrate.
We will find a way.
We will have our Yom Haatsmaut.
So, my friends…. I’m praying for normalcy.
I’m praying for barbecues and loud music and the joy of being alive together under the open sky.
I’m praying for another miracle.
But I’m keeping the shelter stocked.
With beer.