Home Spa in the Midst of War  - Courtesy Joe Cox & Family

I live in Modiin, Israel.  Modiin is a bit of a bubble. Thank G-d, we don't tend to have many Azakot (air raid sirens). Our two younger children went back to school today and after school activities are opening back up. No rockets have fallen here - although shortly before the war an infiltrator killed a young soldier from Ukraine. The air defense systems are active in our area and so we regularly hear distant explosions. However, unless the rockets are headed to Jerusalem (over our heads) the explosions aren't that loud. Remarkably, at night, we can hear/feel what I believe are the much larger and more distant explosions at the front. It is a good 58km away.

Beyond that bubble, none of our kids are in the army yet. Modiin as a city has one of the highest levels of military participation in the country - this is due to demographics and the age of the city. There are 150 kids from the closest large synagogue who have been called up. But none of our kids are old enough. Thus, our direct exposure to the war is limited. It is very odd, having life proceed so normally when there is a major war 31 miles away. In fact, one of the reasons I'm analyzing and writing so furiously is that those are my greatest talents - and thus perhaps the best way I can contribute.

If the Northern Front opens this bubble will vanish. The whole country will be blanketed with rockets and many more will penetrate our defenses (and with much greater explosive loads). Modiin won't be a prime target, but it will be a target. That is the nature of aiming well over 100,000 rockets at a country the size of New Jersey. Strangely, I had that in mind when we bought our apartment. We live in essentially a basement with exposure to the southeast. It is great for catching the morning sun and totally missing the afternoon heat. It also faces away from both Gaza and Lebanon - and we're five stories down. We are in a bubble within a bubble. Our neighbors can regularly see the incoming rockets, we can only hear the sounds of the explosions bouncing off the opposite hill.

Nonetheless,  I obviously hope the Northern Front won't open... Our bubble within a bubble may fare better than most, but our nation will suffer terribly.

I don't read the personal stories coming out of the south. Either on our side or theirs. They won't motivate me any more than I am already motivated and the stories are gutting. I don't share posts saying "look at the horrible things they did to us!" because I know they will just respond with the same. This argument isn't about suffering, the Palestinians in Gaza are suffering plenty right now. For me, there isn't really even an argument. They want what they want - a genocide to complete the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Arab Muslim lands in the 20th century. Some argue that genocide is appropriate - given our sins or the goals of decolonization or whatever. 

I'm not here to argue with them. I can't even speak the same language as those who argue for genocide in the name of trendy university concepts like intersectionality or anti-colonialism. I certainly can't speak the same language as those who argue for genocide because of their fundamental hatred of our people. With G-d's help, we are here to stay and we will not be erased.

It is remarkable to see old tropes raising their heads so quickly. Already, I've heard it suggested that the Israeli leadership intentionally allowed the massacre so they could respond with a free hand. Those who believe that don't understand Israel. Almost everybody in the country was affected by these deaths. And unlike the US, senior leadership will all lose their positions, even if they deliver a resounding victory in Gaza. This is quite unlike the US, where nobody lost their jobs over 9/11 (to read more about the distinction, read Preventing the Next Attack). Hamas has already tried to deny they did what they did - just like Nazi revisionists. 

It is only a short step to anti-Jewish people declaring that Israeli soldiers carried out the massacre against their own people to justify violence against the Palestinians. Trust me, it is coming.

So, I'm writing. Not to argue and not to complain - but to explain the actions of our people to those who are willing to listen. I'm also writing because I still believe a better future is possible for everybody involved - and I want to do the best I can to inspire that reality.

If you want to read my writing on the conflict, you can see it here.

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The War to Come
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