Another day that will live in infamy
Thoughts on the fragility of peace and happiness, in the wake of the devastating attack on Israel
Hi friends,
The usual “Happy Sunday” doesn’t seem to cut it this weekend, after the horrors that happened in Israel yesterday. Ellie and I were with friends in Gabrovo all day, to celebrate the opening of the brilliant Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center project, and we weren’t following the news at all. When I saw posts with Israeli flags on my social feeds, I thought it’s probably just another missile attack, and I’ll read more about it in the evening or tomorrow.
The attack on Israel is brutal, heartbreaking, and it will affect the balance in the Middle East for a very long time. When I finally got to scrolling the news last night, I experienced the same gut-wrenching feeling that I felt twice before: on 9/11 in 2001, and on February 24 of last year, as well as in the days that followed. War has come to yet another country that I know well and where I have many friends and family.
This realization, that the suffering you just watched isn’t the end, but only the beginning, is truly terrifying. I have no doubt that Israel will get its act together and will deal an unprecedented blow to the terrorist organizations, but I also know that many innocent people will suffer greatly, on both sides.
As we were driving back to Sofia this morning with Ellie, through the gorgeous foliage of the Balkan mountain range basking in the sun, we talked about the situation and called our relatives in Israel. Thankfully, everyone we know is ok. Maybe it was this contrast, between the horrible news from Israel, and the sunny and happy Bulgarian mountain landscape, that made me realize once again, how fragile peace and happiness are. And how fortunate all of us are that weren’t in New York on 9/11, in Ukraine in February of 2022, or in Israel this weekend. Ours is a very feeble, fragile luck. May it remain with us as long as we are here.
Am Yisrael Chai 🇮🇱🙏🏼