"Welcome. Hashem is With You" reads a spray-painted wooden sign posted at the entrance to the army base at Gaza's southernmost tip.

We made aliyah only a little more than a year ago. And tomorrow our son comes home from his first war.

I have a friend, an underground playwright, who hates Obama. He's convinced that, six months after Inauguration, nothing will have changed. But he was one of the first Philadelphians in the poll booths, voting for Obama.

US Airways Flight 1549 restores faith in good. And gives us great tools for life - Brace for impact, stay calm, think of others, help the weak and vulnerable first, take responsibility, believe in miracles - and yourself.

Taken by a soldier, photos of the war in Gaza.

The volunteer activity was giving out food, hot coffee, goodies, thermal vests, neck warmers, underwear, deodorant, toothpaste, socks etc. etc. to front line troops. The two units we visited were an Artillery Battery of Regular Army troops and the front line command of the southern sector of the Gaza Strip. You can see how appreciative the soldiers were and it made us feel very happy being able to add a little comfort to their field conditions. These are the images from the war - these are the faces of war.

“Hamas leader killed, Arabs vow revenge.” ... They are threats of another intifada, about an escalation of the terror the Arabs have been unleashing for over a decade... For a moment I contemplate working from home for the next few days... And should I cancel my lunch date with my sister-in-law?

War. Such a horrible word. Born and bred in the U.S.A., I had never experienced War... But since making aliyah... I can count a succession of wars which are my "own"... I should be an experienced war trooper by now, right? Wrong. War is never what you expect it to be.