On Alert

I am speaking, fundraising, and visiting with family in North America while the “Red Alert” app on my phone continually announced incoming missiles raining down on Israel. I disabled the siren sound and placed it on vibrate. The constant buzzing is heard and felt day and night….and now, thank G-d, goes silent.

How do we go about our daily lives in the Diaspora when rockets are pouring down on Israel, and our people huddle with their elderly parents and children in bomb shelters?

Finding ourselves in the United States these past weeks has been a mixed blessing. Some have said to us, “Thank G-d you got out just in time.” That is true, as missiles over the airport have caused airport closures, and a few days more may have canceled our flights.

I comfort myself by saying that this trip abroad was important– I am speaking and fundraising for the Momentum movement, I am visiting my elderly mother, my kids who live in the U.S., and of course, meeting our new yummy granddaughter.

But as I navigated through airports, juggling a Starbucks, and babysit our granddaughter to give our kids a break, the Red Alert app did not stop.
I find myself looking at the locations not with the constant fear and heart-stopping dread I had when it all began, as it is clear that our three kids and two grandchildren who live in Jerusalem are far from the trajectory of the incoming rockets.

And that feeling made me sick.

I decided that each day I must turn on the siren that accompanies the app alerts, even for a few minutes. We cannot become numb to what is happening now to our Israeli brothers and sisters. We need to imagine that we are in Ashkelon, Gvaram, Mishan, Beit Shkima, Yad Mordechai, Sderot, and more…. Their Alarms are not on vibrate as they quickly gathered up their children and headed for the bomb shelters.

I hope we never, ever have to use this app again, but just in case, no matter where you live, please download “Red Alert” on your phones. Be there with our people, pray for their safety, and, like us, make plans to return and stand with them in solidarity very, very soon.