Guns and Coffee

This photo perfectly sums up the vitality, determination and resilience of the people of Israel post October 7.  My son Ethan took this photo in Tel Aviv at the conclusion of  his 10 day Birthright trip.  I, too, was in Israel in mid-May on a Birthright Israel Foundation trip for donors.  Joy is what I felt from the moment we arrived.  Volleyball games, runners and surfers lined the beaches of Tel Aviv.  Up north in the Golan Heights near the Syrian and Lebanese borders, we saw the evidence of war but also the evidence of rebuilding. We visited the Nova Music Festival site and the kibbutzim where the brutal and savage murders took place. Each individual soul whose life was senselessly taken is immortalized and remembered.  A healthy kibbutz absorbed the residents of a kibbutz that was attacked; new homes, play areas, and gardens were built out of the sand in 5 months for these families in need.  Life goes on. The determination to return to normalcy reigns.  The delight of simply enjoying a cup of coffee (even while you wear your M16 on your back just in case you need to defend your fellow citizens) is a reality once again in beautiful Israel.  Please, go see for yourself.