Altered state in the holy land
Someone asked me today, as people often do, if I am worried about Israel current situation, and I responded as I usually do - not really. And I can tell you some stories to illustrate that. But let me be reflective for a moment and reflect upon the historical fact that the destruction of the first and second temples where a result of a moral weakening and conflict from within and then an outside force took an advantage of it, a bit like when a person get weak and then a virus takes advantage of it. Likewise in our days, it seems to me, that the more surreptitious danger is of corruption from within which will weaken the moral fiber of the whole social and national strength, not unlike what we have here in the state, the unholy trinity of big money, political power and media, but that is a long story and only my humble opinion.
But I promised stories..
It was the end of 1990 and I was still living in Israel during the 1st golf war and was working 12 hours night shifts as a guard at the famous Teva incorporation in Kfar Saba when the war begun and missiles where coming our way. It was not so scary as it was eerie. When the alarm sounded we had to put gas masks on just in case, which made us look like aligns from outer space. The amazing thing was that the moment the war started it was like someone turned on a light switch and everyone was now like brothers and a sisters, we were all equals now before that unfamiliar situation, we all felt united in some mysterious way, even though just a day earlier we may have felt really irritated by that very person.
while the war was still going on one day I was driving back from work and was caught by an alarm which meant I had to put my gas mask on while driving. Can you imagine that, driving home on darkened streets, wearing a gas mask, one of the more surrealistic moments of my life for sure.
That's the way a person looks wearing a gas mask
The impending war was very scary to my soon to be parents in law in Chicago, so they promptly called their daughter back to the US just before it all begun, but for us in Israel it was not really scary, it was a situation to reckon with.
The amazing thing was that when the war was over, it was like someone turned a switch off and we turn back to be the people we were before the war, with all the little pity things of life. So, who are we??? (You do not have to answer that..)
The point I am trying to make is, it is much scarier being here in the US and hearing the news than actually being in Israel and taking care of business. And it is the same today, I rest my case your honor.
Shabbat Shalom,
Boaz Pnini
Bridges 2 Israel
PS. Disclaimer: I am not totally clear on the historical facts, so correct me if I am wrong.
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