TIMES OF ISRAEL BLOG
by Rob Rubin
August 7, 2014
They say when times are tough you find out who are your true friends. My wife and I, as the parents of two sons currently serving in IDF combat units, are probably more connected to the Gaza war than are most Americans. So I guess it’s natural that in recent days, I have felt a bit disappointed that a few of our close friends seem totally disconnected from the reality we live every minute.
My wife, daughter, and I returned from Tel Aviv last week, where we had been since the rockets started flying. While there, we were lucky enough to spend one Shabbat with our family together, for the first time in almost a year. You can imagine that one of the highlights of our trip was giving our sons the Parental Blessings in person.
This past Shabbat, from the safety of our home in Chicago, I gave the same blessing from a distance, with a special prayer for their safety (and the safety of all IDF soldiers). While I struggled to convert the biblical blessing from the second to third person (watch over THEM instead of YOU), one of the guests at the table flippantly muttered “blah blah blah” as I was finishing the prayer. Not wanting a contentious shabbos table, I let the moment pass, but both my wife and I felt it like a slap.
Throughout dinner I couldn’t get my mind off the comment. I knew it slipped out in a moment of thoughtlessness, almost halfway between a joke and contempt. (Never mind the rudeness of remarking on religion at a friend’s table- perhaps familiarity breeds neglect?) But as with other careless acts in the company of others, the odor lingered, noxious and overwhelming.
After dinner, I took the guest aside…….
ArchitectGuy on Israel 