Falling back from the brink...again...

Yesterday, Israelis returned to normal...or what we imagine normal would be. You get up on time. You get your kids up, feed them, help them pack their bags. Rush them off to catch the bus, or drop them off on the way to work.

It was a hint of air, of a void of sound. No sirens, no booms in the distance.

And then we awakened to news that Vance was heading home. The talks have failed...Israel is bracing, yet again.

We are back on that damn brink...but something is wrong. The terrain is different than the last time. It's slippier and crumbles before our feet. We try to step back but the rocks are sliding over the edge.

We hear them tumbling, bouncing as they fall.

We are falling off the brink, off the edge into that horrible state of war. We were so close to maybe, finally pulling back.

No, not really. Lebanon is exploding to our north. Our citizens are clinging to their homes. They don't want to be evacuated again and yet nearly every hour, Lebanon is either firing at us or sending explosive drones. One hit a home in Shlomi today.

No, it's not Lebanon, it's Hezbollah. Lebanon is sinking in the mud and Hezbollah is dancing on its head. They are at the bottom of the abyss trying to pull us down.

Yes, we are back on the brink. The damn brink. But for once, we are not alone. The US is with us, their amazing and brave pilots who fly as brothers (and sisters) with our pilots, their president and more. And whether they want to be here with us or not, so too is much of Europe, pulled screaming and crying to the edge of the brink with us.

And many of the Arab countries - Oman, Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan...they too are on the brink.

What makes a world war, my daughter asked me recently. I answered what I believe - China or Russia...if they join, I think this would be called World War III. In the last 50 years, the Jewish population of Europe has declined by 60% and now stands between 1.3 and 1.4 million Jews - in ALL of Europe. In 1939, there were over 16.5 million Jews in Europe.

If there is anything good about this horrible brink, it is that there are so few Jews caught between us and our enemies. Very few Jews left in the Arab countries (and in most there are none). With our backs to the sea, our sons and daughters stand above us, in front of us. It isn't what we wanted, it never was...but again and again, the brink comes and they rise to meet it.

What tomorrow will bring, we do not know. But what we do know is that a thousand years from now, all those who surround us will be gone while the Jew will still rise in the morning and say, Modeh ani lefancha...I offer thanks to You, living and eternal King.