To our Beth El community,

Good morning, all, it is Tuesday at 8:48am and guess where we are? Yup, we are in our bomb shelter again. We had a fairly quiet night- only one visit to our shelter around midnight. The thing about the nighttime alerts is that it is difficult to get back to sleep after; all that adrenaline pumping. So, let me catch you up on the past few days and how we have spent them.

Sunday, Father’s Day, isn’t really celebrated in Israel, but being a transplanted American Israeli, Sarah King made some delicious French toast for Thom with the leftover challah from Shabbos. Sunday is a regular work day in Israel so Sarah went into her home office to do some work remotely. We FaceTimed with our daughter, Rachel and her two daughters, Shira and Abby, who were very excited about starting Beth El camp on Monday and proudly displayed their new backpacks and lunchboxes. Then we FaceTimed with our daughter, Gittel and her three children, Ovadia, Adira and Hadas. Unfortunately, during our FaceTime, an alert went off- the first daytime alert we had received. So, off to the shelter. Our upstairs neighbor didn’t join us so at first we were a bit concerned. Luckily, Sarah was able to contact her and make certain she was in a safe area. When the alert was over, we returned to the apartment. 

Things are still pretty quiet today, but you can hear and see the beginnings of people trying to return to a normal routine. In the later afternoon, Thom and Sarah went down the street to the local bodega for some supplies. Most stores and businesses are closed except for grocery stores, pharmacies etc. The one thing that stands out most to me, is that when preparing for bed at night, one also prepares for a trip to the bomb shelter; go bag at the ready, shoes close by and easy to put on. Not to let our preparations be in vain, we were back in the shelter at 12:45am. with one other alert a few hours later. If I were to describe the atmosphere of our little area right now, it’s “sleep deprived.“

However, Monday has seen more normal activity. Sarah went and helped move the set for a Gilbert & Sullivan performance that is supposed to take place. Then she and Thom and a friend of ours met for coffee. Not every restaurant and coffee shop is open, but this particular one in the neighborhood was. Some buses are running, but from what I hear the trains are not. The Old City of Jerusalem is on lockdown and is only open to residents and people who work there. There are also many foreign visitors who are stranded here; students who were on their graduation trips to Israel, seminary students and people who were here as tourists. In other words, we feel very lucky that despite some inconveniences and sleep deprivation, we have a place to stay and food to eat and of course, a bomb shelter to go to, if necessary. 

We know you are all thinking and praying for us and all of Israel. So many of you have reached out to us and for that, we are truly grateful. While we never anticipated that we would be in this situation, we feel a certain gratitude to experience firsthand what Israelis have lived through on a daily basis. How resilient are our people. Am Yisroel Chai.

- Cantor and Mrs. King