I don't know.
Something strange is happening here.
Every edition and every conversation begins and ends at the same point.
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It doesn't matter whether it happens on a street corner, after prayer, or between launches (a WhatsApp message, not a rocket...) we will always return to the same point.
There is a chance that we will start with something else. We will talk about Da and Ha. But somehow we will not be able to escape. Any tzedekchi will not help. Even if we arrive prepared for the task, the final chord will be the same. And that is what is amazing about us. We suffer from an interesting phenomenon that does not distinguish between race and gender. All Jews have been infected with it. Hasidim. Lithuanians. Schantuzim and Raberalech.
We count ourselves as knowing.
Sigmar? What are you studying today? But tell me, how many missiles fell today?
Dude! Do you have any idea how many interceptions there were? Six? Tell me, are you stoned?! My cousin lives near the dome and texted me that he saw eight from there alone. Yes?
Hello? Hello? Did you hear? There's a charity sale. Four diapers for five NIS (conditional on the purchase of 6 live carp weighing exactly 265 grams) Wait! Don't hang up! Did you get an update on how many targets the Air Force attacked in Sajaiya? No. One thousand two hundred is the total number from the start of the operation until the sixth day. Check. Check for me urgently and get back to me. Bye.
What is it that has stuck with us that the numbers speak to us so much? What difference does it make whether 38 rockets fell in an open area, or 41. Is the miracle smaller? The fear greater?
And by contrast, and I know it hurts, we are also failing writers.
When a day passes with "seven people", morale drops to half-mast and the radio stations switch to broadcasting songs and songs. Songs that don't last long and songs into the night. But when a day passes with "only two people". The news immediately switches to the summary of a report on 36 tunnel shafts that came from accurate intelligence information that came from 13 detainees who were interrogated by 2 officers.
And one is our God in heaven and on earth....
After consideration, he added that they were from Golani, why not?
My dear and beloved friends,
2 of my nephews were jumped deep into the strip.
One is back. The other is still inside. Fighting face to face with the scum of the human race who are just looking for another way to get another Jew underground. (And not in a tunnel. In a grave).
And speaking of numbers, my nephew is one of tens of thousands. 46,000 to be exact. Some of whom are far beyond the perimeter fence. And they have been sacrificing their lives for days. For all of us.
It is very important to send them food and sweets. It is also very important to read a chapter of Psalms for them or call (at a cost of 50 ag per minute....) the Haredi radio station, and tell them what a good reception you received (the radio station should write you a receipt for the nice income, but that is a topic for discussion in itself).
This is important. Very important.
But it's equally important to remember that if we have 46,000 soldiers "out there," we have about 80,000 parents waiting in existential anxiety by their phones and cell phones. Jumping at every beep or ringtone of a message, hoping to hear a sign of life from their loved ones.
And they read every WhatsApp message, because they have no other information.
And they have no way of knowing whether "Hezki" who passed on the message was just a copy-paster and nothing more, who saw a message from a "just" who even watched the news and heard the end of the article from the security commentator who said "There are three." And immediately typed (to be first. But what) "Three killed in Gaza" and to make it look credible and 'fly' immediately he added "There are Z.A.P." By the way, after some consideration he also added that these were Golani fighters. Why not? He remembers for sure that the IDF waves said yesterday that Golani entered Gaza. Well? So it's clear that the dead are from there.
And it really flies.
Flying to worried parents. To siblings who don't sleep at night out of fear. To grandparents who bite their nails for the safety of their grandchildren.
I copied it, it's not shameful.
Maybe, if we can't eradicate the WhatsApp phenomenon, maybe we can try to adopt a minimal ethical code for ourselves.
Did you receive a message that you have no idea where it came from? Do you urgently need to forward it to 3 more groups to be first and come out "manly" in the eyes of the guys? At the beginning of the message, state, "I received and forwarded." Or simply, "I copied and pasted.".
This way we can somewhat filter out the flood of nonsense, inaccuracies, and desperate requests, "Who can approach the Gate of the Valley? There is a priest stuck with 3 children, may you be granted the mitzvot," when this is a message that has been circulating for a whole year?
And a final point: If everyone gives themselves an 8th commandment and acts fiercely for the sake and benefit of the other, I am sure this war will end in a huge victory.
One is our God. In heaven. And on earth.
May it be for the repose of the souls of all the fallen. (Not counting!) And for the healing of all the wounded. (No. I will not state their number as of 24:32), and for the success of all the soldiers, in the air, at sea and on land.
Yours, Micah Sholem.
Uncle of one of the soldiers currently in Gaza.
And the one whose heart skips a beat with every WhatsApp message.
