My Family In A Storm




Everyone has their story about the once-in-a-century storm which hit Israel this past week.

Me too.

On Wednesday, the eve of the storm, my family were dispersed in Kiryat Arba (Shira); Adai Ad (Avital) & Achiya (Raphael) - these are two villages near Shilo; Jerusalem (Yonatan); and Beit Shemesh (rest of family).

Avital decided to stick it out in Adai Ad - and indeed is still there, without electricity or flowing water. All roads are cut off. They have a wood burning fire, and plenty of stocked logs, and sound cheerful enough on the phone. Except their cellphone batteries are dying!

Shira and her husband came down from Kiryat Arba to Beit Shemesh so that they can be within reach of a hospital if needed - Shira's in her ninth month! They're well settled and we're enjoying their company.

Raphael and his wife decided to bolt from their rather flimsy caravan in Achiya to Beit Shemesh - and made it as far as Jerusalem, where they were trapped as the roads closed, from Thursday through till last night (Saturday). They had no electricity in the borrowed flat in Jerusalem, so spent a cold and pretty miserable shabbat in the Jerusalem snow. After shabbat, they managed to get a (free) seat on the evacuation train from Malcha to Beit Shemesh  - they finally rolled in home, cold, hungry and tired around midnight.

My son in Mercaz Harav in Jerusalem ate lots of chollent, as all other food was cancelled - but otherwise seems to have braved the storm happily curled up with a gemorah.

We went away for shabbat for a simcha - and had a hairy trip up there, through storms, snow and hail, arriving by the skin-of-our teeth a few minutes before shabbat.

Everyone else has their tales of grim survival.

I guess it's an unusual luxury in Israel not to worry about the Iranians, Palestinians or Syrians for a few days - and talk solely about the weather.

Talking of the Iranians et al - it should snow heavily on them all!
  

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