CBI Blogs

Shalom Chaverim.

What a whirlwind these past two weeks have been. As my husband and I recover from our travels and resettle back into Central time we are a mixture of so many feelings. While, of course, the focus has been the blessing of being back home safely and the safety of our children and loved ones in Israel, sadness for cancelled get-togethers and plans made that couldn’t happen inevitably rises to the surface.

To catch those of you up who might not have been aware since January of this year we had been planning a trip to Israel to see our children. We had similar plans this past October, but Iran destroyed those when they attacked Israel for a second time and all airlines paused their flight schedules. This time we were smart. We booked with El Al with a promise in our minds that we would easily get to and from Israel on schedule depending on the actions of our Houthi neighbors. Maybe a small delay, but otherwise, all should be good. So confident were we in our plans that we invited a long-time, adventurous friend to join us and she said yes!

Everything fell into place. Our favorite Airbnb in Ra’anana was available. A rental car was acquired. Our son was able to negotiate a week off work for the second half of our stay. Our daughter was continuing her negotiations with her commander and had come to an agreeable conclusion for a few days here and there.

We landed at 7 in the evening Israel time on Monday, June 9^th. Rebekah surprised us when she met us at dinner and announced plans to spend Tuesday with us as we settled in. Wednesday morning, she went back to base, and we drove up to Jerusalem to spend the day with a tour guide. With tired legs and brains exploding with all we had learned we settled into a cute hotel and acquired dinner. Thursday, we drove to Masada and the Dead Sea then back to Ra’anana where Jacob joined us for a fun evening ending with him crashing into one of the extra beds in our apartment.

At 3:15 a.m. we were awoken by alarms from the Homefront Command telling us to stay close to our shelters. Of course, having only been in bed for a couple of hours we only heard the alarm as a “go to your shelters” moment. It took some time in the stairwell for all of us and some groggy neighbors to come to the same conclusion at the same time: we can go back to our beds. As one family passed, the dad looked at us and said, “welcome to Israel.”

Friday looked and sounded like a day during COVID. Everyone had slept in after the rude awakening and were taking in the reality of the war with Iran that was started as we slept. The government had issued closures of all non-essential businesses and large gatherings so the Pride Parade in Tel Aviv that we had planned on attending was cancelled. We walked over to the grocery store to acquire items for breakfast and sat in our new reality. The mountain-biking Jon and Jacob had planned to do would have to wait. It seemed like we could probably still make our plans to join family friends for dinner. Off to the big grocery store in Hod Hasharon we go to get the items Jacob was planning on making.

The first sirens came at 8 p.m. as we were just about to walk out the door to make our way to Shabbat dinner. More came quickly after so the safer decision was to stay in Jacob’s apartment to welcome Shabbat.

Our guest began researching how best to get out of the country. Reasonably, war with Iran was her line in the sand for not being in country. Her research found that Jordanian airspace was still open despite the missiles and crossing into Jordan from Eilat then flying to Amman and to the rest of the world from there was the best choice. By Monday afternoon she was visiting family in Switzerland.

We stayed a few days longer before also deciding to leave. Tuesday afternoon we were waiting at the Aqaba airport for our flight to Amman. Once settled we found flights home on Saudia Airlines through Riyadh. On Saturday, June 21^st at 8 p.m. we walked into our house after 36 long hours of travel.

Before leaving Israel, I had removed the silver necklace I had been wearing that reads ‘Ima’ in Hebrew letters and put it into one of the empty compartments of my travel medicine case. When I retrieved it from this safe place on Sunday morning it was a tangled mess. I was quite sure that I wasn’t going to be able to untangle it as there were just too many knots. Over the next two days I worked at it slowly and, by Monday afternoon, it was knot free, clean and back around my neck.

I keep thinking of that necklace as a symbol of the past two and a half weeks. Of the challenging moments and experiences. Deciding to end our time in the country, spending four days as Americans – quieting our Jewishness, and continuously praying for the lives and safety of all Israeli citizens as Iran attacked cities, apartments, and hospitals. While I have managed to get the necklace untangled and am proudly wearing it again, I know that my soul will take a little bit longer as it continues to process this moment.

In the meantime, I am grateful to be home. Grateful the ceasefire seems to be holding. Grateful for the relationship between Israel and Jordan that allowed us safe and easy passage. To the Jordanian people who were so kind as they cared for us whether in the hotel or as Uber drivers, flight attendants, gym staff, store clerks, and restaurant staff. Finally, to our CBI community – both coworkers and congregants – for the many notes, texts, and emails of concern for our safety. We needed and appreciated all the love we were shown.

As we enter this coming Shabbat, I pray that the ceasefire with Iran holds and a path towards ending the war in Gaza and a return of all of the hostages come speedily.

Kein y’hi ratzon – may this be God’s will.