I had planned to say something nostalgic today, with a great picture I found of Sioux Falls in the '50s, but I can't. I can't ignore this terrible war, & probably "the single worst day in Israel's history," according to Daniel Gordis. His column, Israel from the Inside, begins:
Take a guess as to how many Israeli civilians were killed in the Yom Kippur War?
Zero. Not a single one.
Bludgeoned by the Syrians and the Egyptians, Israel still managed to fulfill the single most basic obligation of any government—to keep its citizens safe.
In the Yom Kippur War, Israel made massive mistakes with intel that it had and waited far too long to call up reserves. But it did have intel. And the top brass did fight over what to do about the intel.
They just got it wrong.
This week, there was no intel to fight about.
Yesterday, in a single day, Israel lost about as many civilians as it did soldiers in the entire Six Day War. And we're far from done counting.
Yesterday may well have been the worst day in Israel's history.
It's just not clear that there isn't worse to come.
[Elinor again] Terrorists are breaking into homes, killing & kidnapping women & children. And the comments I've been reading on articles in the Washington Post almost without exception coldly say, well, that's what they deserve. Facebook a year ago was full of "I stand with Ukraine." I haven't seen a single non-Jew say they stand with Israel today.
Update: I just checked again & yes, one FB friend who isn't Jewish had posted support. It means so much to me & I'll say so as soon as I can breathe.