Today is six months. Six months of war, of sadness, of fear. "I'm stepping on the pain and creating something new."
To remember how this war started, and what we are fighting for, we meet Daniel Weiss, who sings and tells his story of October 7th. And he does it in his parents' destroyed home.
At synagogue a week or two ago, someone I know sat down next to me. We looked at each other, and sighed. What, really, is there to say?
Then he turned to me again and said, “The Second War of Attrition, that’s what we should call this war.”
Israel had a War of Attrition along the Suez Canal at the end of the 1960s, after the Six Day War and before the Yom Kippur War. Some 1,424 Israeli soldiers were killed in action between June 15, 1967 (when the Six Day War had ended) and August 8, 1970, when the War of Attrition ended.
But my friend didn’t mean that kind of attrition. He was referring to us, the population.
Today is six months.
Hamas is bruised but still fighting. Evacuees have been out of their homes for far longer than we ever imagined. At this moment, we’re waiting to see what Iran will do, how bad things will get with the US.
Which is why we return to the melody. We’ll do that below.
First, the Yisrael Hayom dashboard from early Sunday morning…..
184 days of war.
133 hostages still being held (the body of one, murdered by Islamic Jihad, was recovered last night)
604 soldiers killed in total, 260 in combat since the war began (four more were killed yesterday)
3.193 soldiers wounded in total, 1,552 in combat since the war began.
And as of Friday, 183 interminable days of captivity that we cannot imagine.
The Hebrew on this one doesn’t matter. It’s an advertisement that was all over the press, in lots of the papers, this weekend. The name of the chain is “Electronics Warehouse,” kind of (sort of) like an Israeli “Best Buy.”
Usually, the ads are for washing machines and dryers, computers, TV’s and all that. Not this week. All they were advertising here is …. generators.
We bought ours a month or two ago. So did many of our friends. I’d heard that generators went out of stock, but it seems more have arrived. With war on the north looming, people are worried about the power grid going out due to Hezbollah precision rockets: no phones, no computers, etc. So generators are the item of the moment.
The black humor going around town is “Well, now that we bought it, I really hope we get to use it.”
We shall see.
It’s hard to know exactly what we’re going to cover this week, as there are so many variables that could change: the US is pressuring Israel for an immediate cease fire, heads are already rolling in the army over the WCK disaster (IDF Chief of Staff was apparently enraged and has started firing people), we have to see what Iran has in store for us, if anything. And who knows what else?
But with all those caveats, here’s our tentative plan:
SUNDAY (today): We usually do something lighter on Sundays. Daniel Weiss, a gifted musician, returns to his Kibbutz and tells his story in the agonizing setting of a burnt out house, and sings.
MONDAY (04/08): Ehud Banai is one of Israel’s most influential and popular musicians. His family tree, which we’ll share, is so filled with talent and musical success that it almost seems funny. Long known for combining Jewish tradition, spirituality and political critique, he has a new song for this moment in Israel’s life. We’ll hear it, along with subtitles we’ve added. PLUS, a column by Yair Sheleg, worried about the increasing violence, horrified for the families of the hostages. PLUS, a kids get-together that you really wish never happened.
TUESDAY (04/09): What makes a hero in today’s Israel? Omri Glikman has a new video out about that question, and we’ll see it. We’ll also cover a group of women, now married and mothers, who have set out for basic training, doing the army service they wish they’d done earlier. And we’ll talk about the protests, what they have become, what they must not be, and what heroism there looks like.
WEDNESDAY (04/10): Esty Shushan is a Haredi woman, a film maker, and the founder of an organization that seeks to get Haredi women into politics. She is clearly not your “average” Haredi woman. She is fascinating, and we will hear her on the issue of drafting Haredim.
THURSDAY (04/11): Holiday celebrations, at their best, are things that we plan for. Jerusalem, as we’ll see, has already announced much subdued celebrations for this year’s Independence Day. But long before Independence Day, we have Passover. I’ll share some thoughts about how to make this year’s Seder tied to today’s events, but filled with meaning and even optimism.
Daniel Weiss is a profoundly talented musician, born and raised in Kibbutz Be’eri. His musical journey began when he was only 6 years old and throughout his teenage years he would perform with friends from the kibbutz. After completing his army service, Daniel studied at the Rimon School of Music.
Daniel survived the October 7th massacre with his girlfriend and his brothers. His father, Shmulik, was murdered and his mother, Yehudit, was abducted to Gaza and later murdered.
After October 7 and after the death of his parents, Daniel returned to Kibbutz Be’eri, to his parent’s home and held a performance there in memory of them. He played on the first guitar his father bought him.
Daniel performs all over Israel. For those who are interested, you can listen to more of Daniel’s music here.
The video below takes place inside the house of Daniel’s parents.
To watch the YouTube video below with generated English subtitles, go to your settings “gear,” turn on “closed captioning” or CC as it appears on the screen, then click the gear/settings icon and click “auto translate.” The translation is far from perfect, but it will more than give you the idea.
Impossible Takes Longer is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and at other booksellers.
Auto-translate option was never available. Only able to see Hebrew captions and Hebrew transcript
You don’t need a translation. The emotions coupled with the visual hell and the magnificent shir translate it all.
Ruth Riemer