This week, I had an out of body experience. My body was in Holon with my husband, as my daughter and son-in-law were at a hospital where my daughter was in active labor. But my heart was with them. We had been awaiting the arrival of our newest granddaughter with excited anticipation.
As we waited for news, a different sound interrupted our reverie. It was not the buzzing of a cell phone with information or pictures. Instead, it was the sounds of sirens as the Houthis sent another ballistic missile towards Israel.
As we ran to the mamad, I panicked. I have lived through sirens in Israel before. But now my thoughts were on my daughter delivering a new life into the world. Was the birthing room in a safe place? My son-in-law reassured me. At the same time my cousins also starting texting to make sure we were okay. They also let me know that the birthing rooms were safe from rockets.
My granddaughter was born later the night, in the early morning hours of the next day.
But her arrival being heralded by air raid sirens led my mind to wander. What will it be like for her to grow up in a country where there are air raid sirens weekly? Where you never know who will attack next. I honestly believe that all residents of Israel have a little PTSD. And I m sad that my granddaughter will have to live with the sounds of sirens in her life.
But at the same time, I have to think pregnant mothers in other areas of the world that are not safe. I cannot imagine how a pregnant mother feels who lives in Yemen, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, the Druze community of Syria, and Iran.
How do those women cope?
Here in Israel, there is the security that the sirens will alert us of a missile. That the mamad or bomb shelter will keep us safe. In these other places there are no shelters to protect them. There are not birthing rooms built to keep missiles out. What goes through their minds when bombs fall?
The world is not a pretty place right now. Jew Hatred has an intensity that has not been so bad since the Nazis. There is gun violence in the US. Hundreds of mass murders each year. There is conflict throughout the world. There are storms of unusual intensity. There are major earthquakes all around the Pacific rim. Today there are tsunami warnings in countries that border the Pacific. There is political unrest and uncertainty and regional and international tensions.
As a grandmother, I want that new generation to know a little of the peace that my children and I had. But with social media and the biased narratives of the news and bots that twist reality and challenge what is the truth, I am not sure the world will return to an equilibrium for decades.
What I believe is that women should not have to give birth in a bomb shelter. Sirens should not disturb the concentration and focus of labor. No woman should have to give birth in fear of war. You would think by now people would realize that we really are one world. And that major events that happen anywhere in the world impacts everyone. Just like the earthquake in Russia is impacting the world right now as countries sound their tsunami warnings and volcanoes erupt throughout the world.
I believe we are getting a message from nature. We are one. We need to work together to give the next generation a safe place to live.
zicharonot 