Letter from Netta Barak

My Dear Canadians,

I guess that you have heard at some of the news. Since Tzuk Eitan (in English it will probably be Steady Cliff) Operation started, I was wondering what it looks like from Toronto. I got many the worried and supporting messages that made me understand that I must take my rusty English out of my I-never-use-it drawer in my head and write.

That’s a good start. But what should I write about? About the facts? About what’s right and what’s wrong? About what’s frightening me on these days? About the soldiers who got injured or killed? About the atmosphere in Israel now?

I’ll start by saying that I’m safe. I still serve in the intelligence, and I’m now preparing to become a commander in the same course that I did when I just joined the army. So safe and useless that it sometimes drives me insane. I wish could do something helpful. And for the worried Jewish moms among you, my family is also safe -- my dad or my older brothers weren’t called for reserve duty, yet.

I’m not afraid of the rockets. Many places, including the apartment in which we live, have bomb shelters. There is also the very efficient Iron Dome that I probably don’t need to explain. There are alarms, which usually catch you in the middle of something -- in the shower, during Shabbat dinner, on the highway, sleeping or just in the middle of a sentence. It’s not fun, but it’s ok. What worries me is when I think about my little brothers who are four, seven and nine years old. I wonder why they have to hear the alarms, go to a bomb shelter or crouch in the ditch on the side of the highway.

I’m afraid that it will hit closer and closer. Some of the soldiers who got killed in Gaza are friends of friends. And a close family friend of ours, a deputy battalion commander in the paratroopers, is now hospitalized in Be’er Sheva with severe head injuries. More than 40 soldiers were killed in this operation, and I’m afraid the numbers will keep on growing.

I’m afraid of the hatred, between Jews and Arabs, and within Israeli society. In the last few weeks there were some demonstrations of right-wing groups against left-wing groups, and people are posting or saying things that shouldn’t be said. In times like these, we must be strong and united, not judge people for their opinions and not act violently towards anyone, no matter who he is or what he believes.

I’m also optimistic and proud. I’m proud to see so many people I know working days and nights to keep us safe, fighting, training the fighters, providing the intelligence needed to hit Hamas efficiently, while trying not to hurt innocent people in Gaza and keep our soldiers safe. I’m extremely proud to see so many civilians across the country doing everything they can to show that Am Israel Chai. I see people collecting food, snacks and other useful things to send in packages to the soldiers at the battlefront, coming to the funerals and Shivas of the lone soldiers whose friends and families live abroad, and just supporting one another, because we all need someone to lean on these days.

And there is one more thing that makes me proud and optimistic: seeing all the support and concern of so many people around the world and especially the Jewish community in Toronto. It makes me feel that we’re not alone, and that there is hope that maybe one day my little brothers will not hear alarms, my friends won’t be at the battlefront, and I’ll have to write about my boring peaceful life in Israel.

Here are some thoughts from me to you. Thank you for reading.

I wish you all shavua tov (a good week for those who didn't listen in Hebrew school) and hope for one here too.

Netta