June 24, 2025
Sondra Oster Baras
So what is it like to be living in Israel when we are making history? Or on a more mundane level, how are we managing with the Iranian attacks as we run constantly to the bomb shelters? These may seem like two very separate questions, dealing with our reality on two very different planes. But in fact, they are intimately connected.
First for the mundane level. Early Friday morning, on the 13th of June, we were woken up at 3 am by very loud sirens blasting through the air, waking up everyone in the entire country. We ran to the shelters, assuming there was a Houthi missile on the way. Here in Karnei Shomron, we are not really in the range of the Houthis but when you are woken up at 3 am by a siren, you don’t ask questions. You just run.
Once in the shelter, we learned that Israel was actually not under attack but had, in fact, attacked Iran. And the sirens were sounded to wake us up so that we would be alert and ready in the event we were immediately attacked. We weren’t, at least yet, but we were certainly on guard. And totally conflicted. We cheered our government for having the guts to go after the supreme enemy of Israel. But we were also scared. Iran — that major power, huge country, millions of people, with brilliant nuclear scientists and a nuclear bomb almost ready to go. Did they already have the bomb? Would they attack?
We stayed in the shelter until the all-clear notice came in on our cellphones, went home and then put on the television. That is how we found out what was really going on. We did not sleep much that Thursday night. The IDF closed all businesses, shops, synagogues, and public places and warned everyone to stay near a bomb shelter. Shabbat was coming and suddenly arrangements were made. Some of the young men, including one of my sons, were called into the army as soon as the attack began. Some of their families loaded up the car and went to Mama for Shabbat and for the duration. Small groups of neighbors arranged prayer groups in or near a shelter.
I had invited friends to join us for dinner Friday night a few days earlier and checked in with them — did they still want to come? They did. Another dear friend asked if they could join us for dinner — they were just too anxious to stay home, just the two of them. So I cooked and baked as usual that Friday. I lit my candles, enjoyed the quiet of that magical hour when Shabbat first comes in, and waited. Would we have a quiet Shabbat?
Our friends came and we recited the kiddush prayers and sang the traditional hymn welcoming the Shabbat angels. We were all thinking that we needed extra angels.
Then, as we were about halfway through our main course, the sirens went off. We left the food on our plates and ran. Since our home was built years ago, it does not have a shelter or safe room. But we are relatively lucky — our neighborhood shelter is only two doors away.
That night the shelter was very crowded. Three families were hosting a number of their children and grandchildren whose husbands had been called up to the IDF. But that meant that there really was not enough room in our shelter. It was very hot and stuffy. We don’t have an air-conditioner in the shelter and in order to be protected, the door and window must be sealed. But we managed. There really was no choice. Our lives were at risk.
There were a number of sirens on Shabbat and shortly afterwards, we re-organized the shelter. Some of the families on our street have newer homes with built-in shelters and they graciously opened their homes and their shelters to neighbors without one. So our shelter was suddenly back to normal capacity.
Since then, we are awakened almost every night to run to the shelter sometimes more than once a night. For more than a week, the country has been bleary-eyed, dying for a full night’s sleep. And too many people have been killed in this war, as some of the Iranian missiles are penetrating our defenses and hitting densely populated urban areas.
But the spirit of the country is so strong — it is truly amazing! There is overwhelming support for this war because we understand so clearly what is at stake. With Iran calling for Israel’s destruction every since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and given their ongoing progress towards nuclear weapons, we really had no choice. Iran was and still is an existential threat to Israel.
This past Saturday night, the war took a wonderful new turn, when President Trump ordered American fighter planes to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities, located deep underground. The USA is the only country with the planes and bombs to penetrate the underground facilities. And the attack was a success. Thank you America!
The war is not over and we dare not halt Israeli attacks before Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities are destroyed. It will be up to the Iranian people to decide if they want to replace their despotic leadership, whose pride and religious extremism will never allow them to surrender. The people of Iran must determine their own future.
We are living in historic times, indeed. The Middle East is changing. Little Israel is now considered a major military power and our evil enemies are weaker than ever before. There have been losses but so many miracles. Just the other day, a huge missile part fell on a sidewalk in my community. It could have killed anyone out on the street, but everyone was safely in their shelters.
God promised us that He would neither slumber nor sleep. He promised us that He would restore us to our land and restore our fortunes. He never promised the process would be easy. But He promised it would happen. And we can see it happening with our own eyes.
How is it that we manage to keep running to our shelters without falling apart? How is it that people who have lost their homes are still cheering for Israeli victory? Because we know we are living in miraculous times. That history is happening! But it is not just any history. It is prophetic history. We are indeed living the prophecies and we know they will have a wonderful end!
