What has drawn me back to have extended visits to the Land of Israel for the last 18 years when I feel it was an “accident” that I went there in the first place? The Land calls to me. The sights, sounds, and smells are imprinted on my soul.  Why?  I have no physical explanation. In the natural, there is nothing that would call us to this tiny stretch of earth.  And yet, there is something very special about this place.  There is a reason that it is called the Holy Land.

When Kim and Sondra invited me to join them for one of the final evenings of the CFOIC Spring 2019 tour, I hesitated. The tour was staying at a kibbutz on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and it was a long drive up from Karnei Shomron. It would be a long night, and I was already tired. But what harm could come from a few hours of missed sleep? I’m sure I’ll gain something from it, I thought. So I went.

The terrorists came on Shabbat night. Wind whispered through the quiet streets of Rechalim. The rustle of trees and the occasional hum of a passing car on the nearby highway were the only sounds in the small Samarian community.

last week, at 5 in the morning, the people of Mishmoret, a small moshav located near Kfar Saba, were woken by a siren as a Gaza rocket was about to land in their community.  No one expected this.  There was no Iron Dome protecting this community.  Some of the residents of Mishmoret were not even sure what they were hearing and many did not have safe rooms in their homes.  They were not prepared.