Our school has just been put on lockdown, our usual afternoon out for chesed canceled due to security following two consecutive terror attacks in both Ranana and Jerusalem, on top of all of the other piguim (terrorist attacks) of the past weeks. This morning, one of my rebbeim quoted Dr. David Pelcowitz in saying that students are much more emotionally affected by such circumstances in Israel nowadays, because through social media and mass texting, everyone knows exactly what has occurred within just a few hours. We were told that a great rav, when asked what he thought there was to do about a certain situation of terror, said to just keep saying Tehillim, because besides for keeping updated, being cautious and constantly cognizant, that is our hishtadlus. Interestingly, the word for a terror attack in Hebrew, a pigua, has the same shoresh (root) as ויפגע the word used to describe how Yaakov davened to Hashem.

Despite the unending and unfortunate news updates and security text messages which can definitely be frightening, hearing about these terror attacks while living in Israel does not give the same sense of fear and helplessness as does hearing them from a distance in Chutz L’Aretz. It is scarier in the sense that many attacks are occurring close by in places that we all frequently visit, such as Geula and the Central Yerushalayim area, but the fact that we are together with Am Yisrael in our homeland, going through both the suffering and dangerous times together as well as the joys of the month of chagim that we have just completed, has somehow instilled a sense of reassurance and calm amidst the terror.

By Aviva Jacobs