A Day at War
- Leon Mazin
- Apr 1
- 3 min read
Shavei Tzyon | Return to Zion Congregation
Haifa, Israel
Shalom, dear friends. So many of you have been reaching out lately, asking how we are doing. You’ve asked what it’s like to live under simultaneous missile fire from Iran and Hezbollah…
For decades there have been negotiations with Iran – threats, protests, ups and downs. But now, within several weeks, God is changing things. It feels like an earthquake. “Praise be to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others...” (Daniel 2)
We live in northern Israel, about 20 miles from the Lebanese border. When missiles are launched from Iran, we have 10 minutes to reach a bomb shelter; but if they come from Lebanon/Hezbollah, we have 2 minutes at most. Some members of our congregation and our friends live further north; and for them, the time is a minute or less. Obviously, it’s very difficult to get anywhere in that amount of time. Even if you make it and you’re sitting inside the bomb shelter – that’s when the interception “booms” start, and the nerves can set in.
Everyone reacts to the explosions in their own way. Some are in shock. Others handle it easily; and then there are those who seem fine at first, but feel trauma later. You never really know which category you belong to until you’ve lived through a rocket attack. It reminds me of Yeshua’s Parable of the Sower. People react differently not only to the Word of God but also to rocket fire.
We slept without interruptions the day I wrote this. But the night before, we had to go down to the shelter three times. We are mostly at home with our family, and my eldest daughter’s family is staying with us. We both have German Shepherds and when the siren sounds, humans and dogs head down together fast!
Today, my youngest daughter and I were in the nearby town of Yokneam when the siren went off. We headed into a public bomb shelter inside a supermarket. The bombs began. There were about 30 of us in there. Some turned pale. Some remained composed. Others couldn't even wait for the required 10 minutes in the shelter; they started heading out just 4 or 5 minutes after the “booms.” It’s not exactly the right thing to do, but sometimes you reach a point where you’ve had enough and just want to go about your business. It’s fascinating how a bomb shelter turns into a place of friendship. You see every kind of Israeli gathered there. And usually, there are no disagreements – no politics, no ethnic tensions, no economic status barriers.
Of course, everyone has an app installed on their phone with “pinned locations” for where our loved ones are. Sometimes you may be in a place with no bombs, but your phone still goes off because an attack is happening where your family is. Then come those long minutes of waiting and redialing, trying to get through just to hear that everyone is okay.
Then there is the saga of what to do if you are driving when the siren sounds. According to the rules, you are supposed to stop and lie on the ground away from the vehicle; but I’ve noticed that many drivers have started to ignore this. People are tired of being under fire for over two years.
In short, this is how we live for now. We are grateful for bomb shelters and the Iron Dome, but we put our ultimate hope in our Heavenly Father!
