A Double Life

So, this started as a cheerful little post about the crazy weather we experienced last week. I mean, this desert country had SNOW! And lots of it! A foot and a half in Jerusalem, and—more importantly for me—even boring, temperate Modiin got snow! Modiin, so the tales go, hadn’t seen snow since the days when people were getting the “Rachel” haircut and using AOL CDs. So it was a Big Deal!

 

The snow consumed us and paralyzed us. It was all we could talk about (and there was plenty to say between school and street closures, power outages and the sheer OMG-ness of it all). And it did, quite literally, paralyze parts of the country. Residents of Jerusalem and some northern communities, which were hardest hit, still can’t get to school and work.

 

So it was crazy, and definitely blog-worthy. I mean a snowman! In Modiin! But then, on the news two nights ago night, came the devastating report of a soldier shot to death on the Israel-Lebanon border. Shlomi Cohen was traveling in a non-military vehicle when a member of the Lebanese Armed Forces (who has since turned himself in) fired several shots. The soldier was evacuated to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his wounds.

 

And so I thought, geeze, remember when I was going to write something meaningless and cute about snow? And now we have another soldier, murdered. Another young man, violently taken from us. Another mother, burying her son too soon.

 

But that’s what it’s like, this double life we lead here. Enjoying making a once-in-a-decade snow angel but also knowing that we are always living under the very real threat of terrorism. It is astounding and at times depressing how quickly we move, as a country, from excitement to mourning.

 

And what happened sadly underscores the naiveté of those who so blithely chirped during the storm, “Isn’t it nice Israel that all Israel has to deal with right now is snow?” As if overnight, our enemies exchanged their rockets for a bunch of flowers and said “Guys, who even remembers why we were fighting? Let’s be friends. Pass the hummus!” Yes, the “other” news was quiet for a few days, but wet precipitation is never “all” we have to deal with. And we were reminded of that in such a devastating way when the pictures of Shlomi overtook those of snowmen.

 

And of course we carry on, living our lives, this layered life, experiencing the wonderful moments to their fullest while always being prepared for the other kind of moments.

 

So today, my thoughts are not on snow but on Shlomi Cohen and his family. May his memory be a blessing.