
Leah’s Blog – Reflections on the disengagement
My Blog- The hot Summer of 2014
It is almost a decade ago that our family took an unforgettable bus ride into what was soon to be the demolished Gush Katif. It was a last opportunity to ride as a civilian into that area of Israel, a collage of splendid greenhouses of celery, lettuce and I remember tasting the sweet tomatoes that were too good to be true. There were songbirds, cows, roosters and the steady slushy sound of the waves filling out the quiet, the peace. The beautiful villas that decorated that flourishing oasis facing the blue Mediterranean Sea made me wonder why we hadn’t spent more time in the salty sandy dunes of Gaza in all the years we had lived in Israel.
That tranquility ended abruptly as only a week after our visit, the residents of that paradise that they made in the sand piles were dragged from their homes by our army. Killing factories, bases for Chamas and missiles replace the synagoges and on top of the broken debris of hothouses, training camps for terrorists have been set up. When we passed Ashkelon on that day in the hot glaring blaze before the disengagement I remember seeing signs of doves and slogans for peace, banners rippling in the hot dusty wind of summer. People said, “If we only give it to them- we can have peace!” Something that reminded me of throwing Yosef into the pit, for after that was done the torah tells us the brothers sat down to eat bread.
Today houses in Tel Aviv have sandbags on their windows. There is no eating bread in peace, as the missiles launched from the surf in Gush Katif destroy those Tel Aviv dreams.
This summer has had us praying more. We believe our prayers were offerings that were accepted and are accepted now. As this Shabbat comes in and enters our hearts we thank Hashem for the open miracles He in His goodness has shown us here in Israel as hundreds of deadly rockets have fallen all over. In His mercy we have seen little damage. We also ask to pray for the refuah shelayma of our dear soldier of Itamar, Mordechay Chay Ben Bracha Yehudit who was wounded yesterday. We ask him to protect our soldiers going in to operate and that they all return safely (our two sons included!)We ask Hashem to give clarity of decision to our leaders to preserve the entire Israel at this time of great blessing as the rocks give wine and the prophesy of our Land coming to life returns. We as an entire country have experienced the result of folly, of the mistake of ripping away a limb from the body of Israel in leaving Gaza and pray that all of Israel remains forever in our hands. Hashem promised it to us, an everlasting legacy. To all of our friends out there, a friend brings a friend- please spread the word about our mission here and we need you now more than ever.
Shabbat Shalom, a Shabbat of Shalom in the true sense of the word
Leah Goldsmith
Itamar
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