For the past few years, the kibbutz has been holding its celebration of the Jewish New Year a day in advance, so allowing everybody to celebrate without inconveniencing those who will usher in the New Year with relatives, either on or off the kibbutz.
So yesterday I finished work just after 4:30 pm, took the dog for a short walk, showered (the day had been overcast but humid) then went down to the dining room to set up equipment and have a short rehearsal. The 'show' was due to start at 6:30 pm; we may have actually started on time (my phone was turned off so I couldn't check). The hall was filled with people of all ages - from new born children (they even got their own dance, whilst being held by one of their parents) to great grandparents.
Although it's very hard to tell, this picture comes from the final song of the evening, entitled with one of those Hebrew words that is very hard to translate; Google Translate says that it means "I wish", which is OK but doesn't go far enough in expressing the wish for a better outcome (or future, as you wish). I can tell, because if I magnify the picture, I can see a capo on the first fret. All the songs went down well and I'm sure that everybody present enjoyed themselves.
We had just finished packing away the equipment when suddenly we were told
- go to the air raid shelters! There are missiles from Iran in the air! I
have to admit that the Iranians were very considerate: had they sent their
missiles fifteen or twenty minutes earlier then our entire evening would
have been ruined. Had they waited another ten minutes, then I would have
been at home in our security room. Of course, the best option would have
been no missiles at all. Not only that, Iran seems to have had a failure in
intelligence: had they wanted to inconvenience the population, it would have
been much better to send the missiles on the eve of the New Year (i.e. this
evening) when half the population is traveling to the other half and so is
out of the shelters, not on the evening before.
There are four (actually five) shelters within easy reach of the dining room so nobody panicked. I went down to the music shelter that I had left a minute or two earlier after having returned equipment; I was accompanied by maybe one hundred people. The air shelter is quite large, but having so many people meant that we had to stand. There is an air conditioner in the shelter so at least we had fresh air, but it was quite humid and I broke out into a sweat for the third time that day. At some stage, one of the teenagers asked if I wanted some water; he came back shortly after with a cup. Later on, the emergency crew came in with about twenty big bottles of water and someone gave me one, not that I drank that much.
Eventually (after maybe an hour) the all clear was given and we piled out of the shelter and into the fresh evening air. I went back into the dining room to pick up my guitar and pedal board and then it was home. There I found a few people in our bedroom that doubles as the security room watching the news. I received a brief update, and as the attack was over, went into the lounge where I could breathe some fresh air.
Here's a video of us accompanying the children who entered first grade a few weeks ago: each child is hold a placard with the name of the Hebrew month on one side and a picture of the season on the other. By chance, my second grand-daughter is standing in front of me.
| Title | Tags | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 409 | Holiday cooking | Cooking | |
| 1341 | Weight at the beginning of October | Health |
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