This Is Our New Normal

I’m going to begin this week’s podcast by just sharing where I’m at today—because I feel partly non-functional.

This particular leg of the war has already become our new normal. In life, we reach the next level and then we learn to manage it. That’s what’s happening now. And I don’t think it’s normal.

The Iranian missiles are huge. They are no joke.

And the problem is that because it’s now been more than two weeks, going into the shelter several times a day and night has started to feel like background noise—unless, of course, you’re someone who has been directly affected. Unless your house or your car has been destroyed, or God forbid, you’ve been hit by shrapnel falling from the sky.

I believe our bodies are keeping score. And our bodies are tired of the adrenaline.

I’ll speak for myself—the alert sound from my phone that tells us a missile has been launched from either Iran or Hezbollah scares the daylight out of me every single time. It’s because the sound is so shocking.

At night, I lie there with the lights off, waiting to hear the explosion of the interception in the sky. It is scary.

And then, moments later, we return to our beds. And we go back to sleep.

This week, like many Israelis, I am running on very little sleep.

Sometimes I feel irritable.
Sometimes I feel giggly, even a little ecstatic.
Sometimes I’m optimistic that this war will put a stop to the terror at Israel’s borders.
And sometimes I’m just scared—when I actually take a moment to process what’s happening.

I believe that the reason people here are able to keep moving is because no one is fully comprehending that a missile could fly out of the sky and kill us.

This almost happened to me.

I recently shared that a missile hit hundreds of meters from my home back in June. But a listener who lives nearby reached out to tell me that it was actually just 20 meters away.

So it was even closer than I had understood.

The longer these missile attacks continue, the more buildings will be damaged, and the more lives will be disrupted across Israel.

And yet, people are doing what Israelis have always done.

We go into protected spaces when told.
We check on our neighbors.
We help one another.
And we get up each day and go to work.

To me, that is incomprehensible.

After we are cleared to leave the shelters, I notice that the line for coffee at the kiosk near me is very long.

We are living in a new normal.

Even if that seems strange to you—if people outside of this small country of 10 million think it’s strange that the new normal is grabbing a coffee after a morning missile hit—it doesn’t matter.

Because that is what is happening in Israel right now.

Especially in the north, where communities are dealing with heavy Hezbollah fire and often little warning. And in central Israel, where we are facing both Hezbollah and Iranian attacks.

Which brings me to the first hard news story of the day:

The IDF reports that it is preparing for at least three more weeks of war. That means this will likely continue through Passover, which begins on April 1 and runs through April 8.

Knowledge is the best weapon.

-Sincerely  

Shanna Fuld