It's rough around here, everyone getting beyond panicky.... I drove alone to Hashmonaim for Shabbos and had the children lay down on the seats during long, isolated stretches.

It was totally surreal, thinking that my own life was expendable as long as my children remained unharmed in case of sniper attack. Crazy. I took a long detour on the way back, a way with which I was totally unfamiliar but certain to be safer. It was quite winding and dark, but increasingly congested as I got closer to Jerusalem. Absolutely NO ONE drives the Modi’in highway after sunset.

... Everyone seems to be in the same boat. Where is it safe?  People gasp when they hear that I have children learning in Pisgat Ze’ev and the Rova Yehudi. Can we therefore explain the slaughter in Hadera, Givat zev and Tel Aviv?

... With each murder, many of us forget the names of the previous victims. This, alone, is a foreign feeling for most Israelis. Knowing that each nefesh is a world unto itself, I grow ashamed at not remembering the name of a slain schoolteacher or a father of six from the shtachim. Are we becoming inured to the carnage or, worse, fickle? Maybe we are becoming as base as the rest of the world, detached from our neighbors and only momentarily involved. “There but for the grace of God go I” becomes a Warhol moment.  Our enemies, rightfully, scare me.  Far more frightening, however, is what is happening to us as a nation.

Very hard today to keep my students focused today.  Every 'lull in the action' became another opportunity to vent frustration, rage and anti-Arab sentiment.  Felt ill-equipped and silly as I steered the venom in the direction of horrific 'behavior' versus blanket condemnation of a people.... Great debates ensued between my students regarding the 'effectiveness' of public protest. These girls are so young but there is a world-weary tone to their talk.  Today I noticed that my son, Netanel, spoke about the government in a manner way beyond his years.  It's at times like this that I question my decision to live here and wonder what price my children will be asked to pay. 

Please, please include Am Yisrael in all of your prayers.  If any of you have become derelict in your tefilot, now is the time to reconnect if only for the sake of our precious home. We are on the front lines, all of us! If you have ever told your children that Eretz Yisrael is the Jewish homeland, if you have ever sung the words, 'leshanah habaah b'yerushalayim' at the end of the seder, don't forget us in your tefilot!  if you thought you believed in it before, believe in it harder now . . .  

Andrea Siman-tov
Ramot, Jerusalem

In this time of crisis for Klal Yisrael, Jews around the world turn in prayer to the Master of the Universe. Although Tehillim are recited daily in most synagogues on behalf of our besieged brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael, we may gloss over many meaningful parts of the basic davening that relate to shalom and protection against our enemies. While we should attempt to pray with Kavanah (intent) throughout the entire service, clearly, those passages that resonate with special significance at this time of peril should be recited with intense fervor and feeling. In order to focus attention to those parts of davening, I have collected some inspiring passages below. You may wish to highlight these phrases in your own siddur to serve as a special reminder.

May we be zocheh to witness the salvation of the Jewish people and the rebuilding of the Bet Hamikdash speedily in our days.

Rabbi Yaakov Luban
Rabbi Luban is the Executive Rabbinic Coordinator of the Kashruth Department at the Orthodox Union. He is the Rabbi of Congregation Ohr Torah in Edison, NJ.

"Please, Please Include Am Yisrael in All of Your Prayers"

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The translation which appears in the PDF is posted with the permission of Metsudah Publications - Rabbi Avraham Davis.