Hi All-

Baruch Hashem, our little family is OK. Klal Yisrael on a whole - please G-d we will be OK and will pull through. And really- please G-d, B’ezrat Hashem Yitbarach. Of course the new “matzav” is an unavoidable topic to be talking about here. A good amount of families are moving southward to places that are considered more safe. There are ads out including on the radio that I heard today that if you have room to host a family from the North, to call in to the radio station….B’H there is some increasing achdut (unity) and love here. “strangers” calling in to offer a bedroom or an empty apartment- to another brother or sister in need. There are some things throughout Israel that I read about that summer camps and different parks or recreation centers are offering special discounts or free passes to people from up North who came southward for some reprieve.

I hear people on the streets and buses asking each other if they have family in Haifa or in Tzfat or another city up North-because even if I didn’t personally know someone up there- if the lady next to me on the bus has a great aunt in Haifa- then now I do to. Ya know? We are all connected. Period. Achenu kol beit Yisrael. It’s just the way it is.

B’ezrat Hashem we will get through this. Even though we may not be deserving…may our captured soldiers - our boys in uniforms - be returned alive and well, and we should not know any more the terror of our enemies.

What else is there to say? We are in the period of the 3 weeks, a scary time as is for us, and now this year especially so. B’ezrat Hashem these days and the day of the 9th of Av will turn from being a day of mourning, to a day of great rejoicing with the coming of Mashiach!

B’ahava Rabbah and L’hitraot!
Adina