The Middle East is NOT the Mid-West

There is never a dull moment in the Mid East. Nope. Not for the faint hearted, my part of the world. First of all, we have HOT for most of the year. And when we don't have HOT we have HOTTER...that's when we have a 'hamsin'...one of those desert heat waves that turns the sky all yellow, hurts your eyes and clogs up your sinuses.

I think Jerusalem has the best weather in the entire country...well, we used to have, before all the spray net in the world poked a hole through the ozone layer someplace over Australia and global warming pushed the thermostat up a few notches. But as you round the last bend on your way up to Jerusalem, you can feel the air become cooler and more inviting.

Well, why am I talking about the weather? See, all this hot weather does not make for calm, rational people. It makes for crazies who at any moment may turn out to be you or your relatives.

When I first moved here, I used to hear people shouting in the street 'IDIOT! IDIOT!'(pronounced Idi-ohhhht).

I thought, "How rude!" and kept walking. Until one day I realized that it was the newspaper vendor trying to sell his copies of Idiot Ahronot (roughtly translated as the Latest News, the name of the top newspaper in the country).

A couple of nights ago, once again I found myself sitting in my living room with my husband and our youngest watching the news. Two young men kidnapped, one a soldier and the other a religious boy; the army in full operations in Gaza; and then there was a newsflash...

'The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) has announced that last night our planes buzzed Asad's palace in Syria!

Not only flew over… but in case the yold was asleep in his bed and missed the entire show…we caused a few sonic booms along the way!

My first reaction was to laugh...and punch the air with my fist. Yahoooooooo.

My second reaction was...oy vey! That was my old 'ghetto' reaction that roughly translated means "What are the goyim going to think?"

For generation after generation, we Jews have walked in the shadow of what the gentile community will think. Now, I don't believe we give a damn about what others think, but we care a whole lot about what they are going to do about it. I mean waking up a sleeping bear is an interesting exercise, but you better have a quick getaway planned...just in case.

And why? Why cross over into Syrian airspace and spit in Asad's eye? To warn the head of the Hamas in Syria, who is orchestrating the entire mess we are in now, that no one will be safe from the Lion of Judah.

Two boys kidnapped...one already dead. Yes, they just announced, the bastards executed Eliyhu Asheri, may he rest in peace, who was only eighteen!!! I don’t have the words to fathom what his parents are thinking or feeling. I simply don’t.

I never went into the army. By the time I got here I was twenty-five and too old to be drafted. I thought, thank G-d! I'm too old to pish in a hole in the ground and never mind thinking about anything else - oy.

But our kids are out there trying to find and free Gilad ben Aviva. My heart is in my mouth, as once again I am tuning in to the hourly news reports on the radio.

Before Shabbat comes in I will add my prayer that Gilad and all our boys and girls are safe and come home to sleep in their own beds.

Shabbat shalom.

Have a great day…stay safe…