We have a lot to be grateful for. We have been witnessing many miracles of late. Police and military sappers neutralized a car bomb near Ateret in the Binyamin region on Monday morning. It is believed that the car bomb, containing 49 kilos (over 108 pounds) of explosive material, was intended to be used against a school bus filled with children heading to school. Baruch Hashem, police and military sappers detonated the vehicle in time, and tragedy was averted.

In another incident, on Friday night a Palestinian rammed a car through the entrance to Karmei Tzur in the Judean Hills north of Chevron. Our niece and nephew who live in Karmei Tzur describe the miracle they experienced last Friday night. A terrorist speedily drove into their yishuv when the gate opened to let out visitors. A guard shot at the terrorist. The gunfire woke many residents. The terrorist continued driving to the center of the yishuv where teens were socializing. The teens immediately ran to the shul, which was the closest protected area. The rav of the yishuv, who always has his phone with him, joined them in the protected room and called the girl’s parents to tell them they were okay.

The terrorist continued driving and turned back towards the entrance of the yishuv. One of the guards rammed his own car into the terrorist’s car, stopping him in his tracks. He shot at him and the car exploded. The explosion lit up the sky and shook the houses. The terrorist was killed, baruch Hashem.

The residents of the yishuv were instructed over the loudspeaker to stay in their homes. They were in lockdown while the army checked if there were other terrorists. The yishuv is well versed in what to do in these situations. They have a head count system to make sure everyone is accounted for. Our nephew wanted to check on his parents who live nearby, but the army wouldn’t allow it. Anyone found outside who is not on the First Response Team can be mistaken for a terrorist and is at risk of being shot by friendly fire. Our nephew insisted, so the army escorted him to his parents. They were thankfully sound asleep. The army also escorted all residents who had not been home at the time of the attack back to their homes. The next morning in shul, the rav was motzi everyone in Birkas HaGomel. Everyone realized that things could have ended very differently. It was nothing short of a miracle. A seudas hodaah is planned.

But now, this is all old news. On Motza’ei Shabbos, we heard that Staff Sgt. Elkana Navon H”yd was killed in Jenin, and there were rumors of dead hostages. Sunday morning, we woke up to the tragic news of the murder of six beautiful souls. As if that wasn’t enough, three police officers were shot dead near Hebron that same morning. One was the father of a police officer killed on October 7.

It is impossible to absorb so many tragic circumstances. There is also no time to process it all. There’s too much going on. People are horrified. The murder of the hostages struck a chord in every citizen in this country. But not everyone was touched in the same way. Some are terribly sad. Some are furious. Others are afraid. People took to the streets to express their emotions and to promote their agendas. Demonstrations and counter-demonstrations were the activities of the day.

Arnon Bar-David, chairman of the General Organization of Workers (Histadrut) in Israel, announced a general strike in the country that would begin at 6:00 a.m. in protest against the government and in an attempt to force Prime Minister Netanyahu to agree to a hostage release deal.

Some major bus companies and the Tel Aviv Light Rail participated in the strike. Flights at Ben Gurion International Airport did not take off for two hours in the morning. Some health funds (kupot cholim) and hospitals operated in an emergency framework and weekend capacity. Some universities, banks, and post offices joined the strike. The electric company and the Mekorot water company worked at weekend capacity. This is in addition to the unrelated strike of high schools that have not yet opened schools due to an ongoing dispute.

In addition to closing down the country, thousands protested throughout the country blocking intersections and roads. Protesters briefly blocked the heavily trafficked Ayalon South highway.

All of this was meant to wreak havoc in the country. Some got stuck on the roads. Some, including a wounded soldier, didn’t get medical treatment if it wasn’t considered an emergency. However, many cities did not participate in the strike. The Gvura Forum, representing families of fallen soldiers, filed an injunction request to the Labor Court to end the strike. The court ruled in favor of the Forum and ordered the Histadrut to call off the strike by 2:30 p.m. It also seems that the computer system of the National Labor Federation in Eretz-Israel, another worker’s union, crashed due to the large number of inquiries looking to switch from the Histadrut.

Citizens had a broad range of demonstrations to choose from throughout the day. In contrast to the demonstrations demanding a hostage release deal, the Gvura and Tikvah Forums led a march in Yerushalayim calling the strike a victory for Sinwar. There were protests outside the Prime Minister’s home and others outside Bar-David’s home on Sunday morning protesting his strike.

Besides demonstrations, there were the heartbreaking funerals of the murdered hostages. The singing that took place at the start of Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s funeral reminded me of the singing at the funeral of the three abducted teens back in 2014. Here we are again. At the same time as the funeral, there was a mass t’filah at the Kosel for the unity of the nation and the safe return of the remaining hostages, organized by Tzfat’s Chief Rabbi, Rav Shmuel Eliyahu.

I cannot end this article without citing some of the beautiful initiatives despite the difficult times in which we are living. The Amitzim organization, which supports orphans and young widows, sent dozens of medical clowns to lift the spirits of orphaned children before the first day of school. The first wedding in Be’eri since October 7 took place in the shul at the end of August. Mika Meisner and Elad Dubnov got married and will join the Be’eri community.

We have seen better times. We hope to see better times soon when the challenge will be keeping track of the good news.

Please continue to daven for achdus, the recovery of the wounded, the release of the remaining hostages, and the success and safe return of all soldiers and security personnel.


Suzie Steinberg, (nee Schapiro), CSW, is a native of Kew Gardens Hills and resident of Ramat Beit Shemesh who publishes articles regularly in various newspapers and magazines about life in general, and about life in Israel in particular. Her recently published children’s book titled Hashem is Always With Me can be purchased in local Judaica stores as well as online. Suzie can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  and would love to hear from you.