The Short Vort by Rabbi Eisenman

Yesterday, after I had just completed davening Maariv at a local Shul, suddenly, the world was filled with the sound of a blaring siren.

Although I have had the Zechus to be here many times, this was my first time hearing the air-raid siren, or as its referred to in Hebrew: an Azakah, (literally: “A Scream”)

I was walking in the street and had no idea what to do or where to go.

The area around me was mostly empty as it was night and all I noticed were men about 200 feet from me running towards “something”- yet, they were too far from me to know where and to what they were running.

Not knowing what to do or where to go, I stood silently davening to Hashem.

Thankfully after sixty or so seconds, the siren stopped and life returned to “normal”.

Later I found out that two of my younger grandchildren were frightened as they have still never gotten used to the siren and I am sure they are not alone in these feelings.

Thankfully, the Houthi missile from Yemen was neutralized and no one was injured.

The next time you walk home from Maariv, think about your brethren here in Eretz Yisroel.

Think about living in a state of not knowing when and if there will be another siren.

And by thinking about your brothers and sisters who are here, you are doing something great, even and perhaps especially for yourself- as by feeling their pain, even for a moment and even from six thousand miles away, you connect yourself to something much greater than yourself- as you become connected to Klal Yisroel and that is something special.

May we share in Simchos soon!