We had rented a 3rd-floor BnB for our first month in the Baka neighborhood of Jerusalem in Emek Refaim (Valley of Rephaim) about 1.5 miles south of the the Old City. There were shops and restaurants within two blocks with the large and modern Hadar Mall shopping center just a few blocks away in the Talpiot shopping neighborhood. There was a nice grassy park for Scout to sniff around just across the street. It couldn’t be more convenient!
We spent the entire month of September connecting with Israeli governmental offices to get our Israeli citizenship and residency documentation, Olim (immigrant) benefits, enroll in the healthcare system, open a bank account, and looking for an apartment to rent. It was crazy busy, but exciting. We had to hustle to get all of this done before the 2023 Jewish High Holiday season (Sept 15-Oct 7): Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah.
On our fourth day in Israel we found a nearby apartment that was just perfect for us. It was in a new high-rise community on a hillside overlooking the entire valley in which Jerusalem nestled. From our view on the 21st floor we would experience Jerusalem as the sun arose and set each day. Just across the street there was a beautiful park with a large playground, picnic tables , fenced dog park, and a primary school which also served as a synagogue for morning prayers and Shabbat services.
Our attention now turned to purchasing and arranging the delivery of furniture and appliances—that meant it was time to go shopping! After all, the one thing we Jews enjoy other than worshipping HaShem is . . . shopping!
Taking a break while shoppingfor appliances in Jerusalem
We began moving in to our new apartment on Sunday, Oct 1st. In Israel, Sunday is the first day of the work week. By Friday afternoon on Oct 6th all of our furniture and appliances had been installed, we were unpacked and settled, and ready to enjoy our first Shabbat that evening and the Simchat Torah holiday in our Jerusalem home.
On Shabbat morning (Saturday, Oct 7, 2023) we watched the quiet valley that was home to a million people as the sun awakened this day of rest. We were in our home in the place that has been the home of the Jewish people for 3000 years.
As we gazed out at Jerusalem (city of peace) early that Shabbat morning and as Scout lounged on our terrace, the peace was shattered with the wail of sirens and a notification on our phones that we should take shelter from imminent rocket attack. One of our two bedrooms was a mamad ממייד) “protected space”(—our 2nd bedroom fortified against projectiles and chemical weapons. Pegi, Scout and I moved from the living room to the mamad until the all clear signal was given 10 minutes later.
We checked our phones for news and discovered that at 6:30 that morning, Hamas terrorists had attacked the Israeli communities bordering Gaza. There were a few posts on X and WhatsApp with videos of Hamas terrorists in white pickup trucks infiltrating and attacking civilian communities. Since it was the Shabbat day of rest, most Israelis had silenced the distractions of weekday “busyness” including social media, TV, radio and especially that king of distraction—the smartphone. Our technological connections to the busy world were silenced too as we enjoyed our Shabbat rest.
But after we heard sirens and heard the booms of rocket interceptions overhead, we decided that it was time to turn on our brand new TV to see if we could find some news reporting. Of course, the news was on, but the discussions were in excited Hebrew which was too rapid-fire for us to decipher. We could only see the pictures and hear the urgency in the voices. Before we could get an idea of the scope of the emergency, the sirens sounded again and we headed back to our mamad. I think we ended up in our shelter four times that morning, but by noon we had found English-language news programming.
As each hour passed, the news got worse. 6,000 Gazans spearheaded by 3,800 elite Hamas terrorists had broken through the security fence and attacked 119 locations all along the northern part of the Gaza/Israel border—just 50 miles from us in Jerusalem. Over 1200 men, women and children were killed—many massacred in their homes that morning, including 364 cut down at the Nova music festival. Another 254 men, women and children had been kidnapped and taken back to Gaza as hostages. Over 4,000 rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel. We heard the booms as the Iron Dome anti-missile system destroyed them over our heads. The next day (Sunday, Oct 8), Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones at us from Lebanon in the north with the Houthis in Yemen launching their own missiles at us from 1300 miles to the south on Oct 19th. You probably know the story.
We weren’t frightened and it wasn’t a surprise that Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies wanted to kill us all. They had been promising this for a generation. I really can’t describe what we felt. We were still happy and fulfilled that we were home, but we were stunned.
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