My Shabbat Prep

With the constant threat of ballistic assault from Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq, life here in Israel is a little tense, to say the least. As it may be hard for those living overseas to conceptualize our situation, I have decided to share what today held at the Reichman University dorms for me and my peers. I had never planned on writing a post about myself for Tzachi, but my day is representative of the lives of my countrymen, a people who don’t often get representation that fully captures their reality.

My day began with the usual hygienic practices, followed by coffee, and then transitioned straight into prep work in anticipation of a massive missile barrage.

I organized the non-perishables in my pantry, took stock of how much emergency water I have, and then checked to make sure my friends were on top of their supplies as well. We made sure our emergency weather radios and walkie-talkies were charged and fully functional, and then made sure everyone’s emergency “bug-out-bags” were adequately packed (passports, IFAKs, etc.). We then discussed our plan for whenever the bombs finally fall and, once everything was covered, moved on to chatting about the Olympics.

I then headed over to my bomb shelter to make sure it was ready for anything.

I am a meditation instructor at my school and have turned my bomb shelter into a relaxing environment full of books on finding inner peace, an arts and crafts station, and a carpeted floor so my students can sit comfortably. It’s a good place to go if the electric grid gets taken down in a Hezbollah barrage, because we have candles and battery-powered fairy lights. Many students have slept in our cozy bomb shelter on nights when our bedrooms were too unsafe.

Then came the usual work stuff, from group efforts with Tzachi to my independent work as a trauma coach, two jobs that unfortunately have more potential customers by the day.

Being a trauma coach isn’t just intense with soldiers, either. Everyone has been affected by both the massive terrorist invasion of October 7th and the ensuing months of war. One civilian client I had lost seven of her friends at the Nova festival, almost her entire friend group. She’s not unique in that regard.

I’m not writing this post because my life stands out in any way. Quite the contrary.

I am writing this because millions of Israelis are preparing for Shabbat the same way I am. The entire country is trying to live normally, all the while a heavy cloud of death is hovering above us. You never know when it’ll rain, but you know that you need to wash your dishes and do the laundry while you still have running water.

It’s traumatic on a national scale.

Tzachi’s mission to treat those suffering from PTSD is more than an endeavor to help a demographic of soldiers. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single home in Israel that isn’t affected. Tzachi’s mission is to provide mental health resources for all Israelis who need it, and by golly, most can use them.

That being said, I wish you all a shabbat shalom. Take care of yourselves and each other.