During my online Hebrew class last Sunday afternoon, my new teacher had to leave class to go to the safe room in her parents’ house in Haifa. She was given a ten-minute warning on her phone, to let her know that a siren might be coming, and then when the siren actually came her screen went black. She was gone for more than half an hour, waiting in the shelter for the all clear. In the meantime, we kept the class going, reading the article she’d given us and trying to help each other through the Hebrew words we didn’t understand. And when she came back, a little discombobulated (though more worried about her dog, who was very confused), we just went back to reading the article together, which was about the world of doggy fashion, including Dolce and Gabbana, and Versace, and Dolly Parton (according to the article we read, she has a line for dogs called Doggy Parton). It’s not that life continues uninterrupted in a time of war, and under the threat of ballistic missiles, it’s that Israelis have learned that in order to survive you have to find distraction, and joy, wherever you can. And in a way, our class of Hebrew language students from around the world was able to hold the world together for our teacher, so that she had something to come back to when the emergency was over.
There were signs ahead of time that this war (on top of a war on top of a war) was coming. First there was the report from the IAEA (The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog) that declared Iran non-compliant with their inspectors. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has enriched uranium to levels far beyond any civilian application, and the IAEA has repeatedly warned that Iran has enough highly enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs, should it choose to do so. Then there were the warnings to American diplomats and their families to leave the Middle East. But most of us were focused on other things: in Israel, there was the immediate threat that the Haredi parties would bring down the government (for not permanently protecting their men from having to serve in the military); and in Gaza, Israeli soldiers were still dying in booby-trapped buildings and Palestinian civilians were still starving, because neither the UN nor the new Israeli/American aid group have been able to figure out how to get aid to the people without causing panic and without being attacked by Hamas; and in the United States, we were thinking about the coming military parade in Washington, DC, and the planned “No Kings” rallies across the country, and the protests against ICE raids in Los Angeles, and the calling in of the National Guard in response, against the governor’s wishes, and then the calling in of the marines; and Jews in the United States were still reeling from the killing of two Israeli embassy workers in DC, and the firebombing of senior citizens at a small weekly march in Colorado meant to remind people of the hostages trapped in Gaza, both seemingly related to the calls to “Globalize the Intifada” that have become a staple at Pro-Palestinian rallies over the past year and a half.
For myself, I was focused on starting my new online Hebrew class, and mourning the end of my previous class (because most of my classmates went off in different directions after our perfect class ended and I felt like I was starting over from scratch, at least socially), and my boss and I went to a Jewish Education Project conference on Israel education, where we spent half a day discussing the best ways to teach young children about Israel, without whitewashing the conflicts or angering parents.
So that’s where things stood for me on Thursday night, June 12th, when I saw a news item that said a siren had gone out across Israel at 3 AM to let people know that the Israeli Air Force had started an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and return fire was inevitable. I wrote to my high school friend in Isreal on WhatsApp, to let her know I was thinking of her, and then I sat in front of the television and stared at my phone waiting for more details. From what I could understand early on, Israel didn’t pick this exact moment because the nuclear bombs were imminent but because the Israeli military was ready with a plan of attack and saw a small window of opportunity, having degraded the danger of Hezbollah and Hamas as much as possible.
At first, there were denials that the United States was involved, from Marco Rubio, but it became clear quickly that Donald Trump was proud of his role in “greenlighting” the operation. He was going into his sixth round of talks with Iran and frustrated at the unchanging position of the Iranians on nuclear enrichment and okayed the attack that Irael had been planning ever since their success at decapitating Hezbollah last year, but really since October 7th, when they re-learned the lesson that when people say they are going to kill you, believe them.
Israel has been living under the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon for a very long time now, but more than that, Iran has been overtly stating that it’s goal is the destruction of Israel, however possible. While they’ve been steadily building their nuclear program, they have also built a ballistic missile arsenal and put their financial and military support behind proxies surrounding Israel (including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis). There’s a large billboard in Palestine Square in Tehran (where there used to be an Israeli embassy, before the Islamic revolution) that counts down to “the demise of the Zionist regime,” randomly set for 2040.
It’s important to understand that, given the same conditions and opportunities, almost any Israeli government would have greenlit this attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities (as they have done in the past in Iraq and Syria). This is not just about Netanyahu and his quest to stay in power (though, granted, if he could successfully neutralize the Iranian threat, he could sway a lot of voters to his side).
And then, on Saturday, in the midst of everything, came the killing of a Minnesota state representative and her husband, and the shooting of another representative and his wife, plus more protests and more ICE raids and more and more and more. And it seemed as if Trump was taking advantage of the Irael/Iran war to help distract from all of the rest of it, making himself central to the discussion of what would happen next. So now we are waiting for Donald Turmp to decide if the United States will play a more active role in the war, by using the Mother of All Bombs/Bunker Buster to destroy Iran’s nuclear facility in Fordo (or Fordow, I’ve seen it spelled both ways), which is built into a mountain and deep underground. It has been suggested that Israel may have other ways of disabling Fordo, in case America decides not to get involved, but the world seems to be waiting on Trump anyway.
And here I sit in New York, worrying about my friends and teachers in Israel, but also worrying about all of us here in the United States and what will happen with the ICE raids and the national guard and the political violence and the huge bill sitting in the senate right now, that, if passed, will take money and care away from the poorest of us to give more money to the wealthiest. And I have no control. All I can do is continue to educate myself, and try to understand what’s happening, and why, if possible. And then I have to go back to my own life and the things that are actually within my own power, like practicing Hebrew, and writing, and lesson planning for next fall, and reaching out to friends and family, and doing my best to find some solid ground underneath my feet.
Meanwhile, Iran is firing ballistic missiles at Israel, in response to the Israeli attack, and most Israelis are spending their nights in safe rooms and underground shelters, if they have them, or in parking garages, or stairwells. The final week of Israeli school for the year was done on zoom, and parents stayed home and tried to work and watch their kids and function on little to no sleep. And people are dying. While Israel’s stated targets in Iran are military ones (though I’m sure the attack also puts civilians near those targets at risk), Iran is hitting residential areas. Israelis had become used to the rockets coming from Hamas and Hezbollah, but the missiles from Iran are loaded with much more explosive material, and there are so many more missiles being fired at once, so even with a very good rate of interception the missiles that get through are doing a lot more damage, to apartment buildings and schools and even a hospital, and all I can do is watch.
This past Monday evening, in the midst of all of this, I went to my favorite weekly online Hebrew practice group, with an Israeli teacher living in Canada, and he decided that instead of reading an article together (since he couldn’t find any articles in Hebrew online that weren’t about the war), he would play us a song called Yihiye Tov by David Broza (translated roughly it means, “It will be good” or “It will get better”). And we all sat in our little zoom boxes and sang along on mute to the endless refrain of Israeli life: that someday, things will be better. And for now, we just have to keep going until we get there.
For an American perspective: https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/june-19-2025?r=2flv9t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
For an Israeli perspective: https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-close-was-iran-to-the-bomb-and-how-far-has-israel-pushed-it-back/
Yihiye tov, by David Broza: https://youtu.be/qtI7h5A9eEQ?si=kyb4xyOIUltVFUW4
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my novel, Yeshiva Girl, on Amazon. And if you feel called to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
Yeshiva Girl is about a Jewish teenager on Long Island, named Isabel, though her father calls her Jezebel. Her father has been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with one of his students, which he denies, but Izzy implicitly believes it’s true. As a result of his problems, her father sends her to a co-ed Orthodox yeshiva for tenth grade, out of the blue, and Izzy and her mother can’t figure out how to prevent it. At Yeshiva, though, Izzy finds that religious people are much more complicated than she had expected. Some, like her father, may use religion as a place to hide, but others search for and find comfort, and community, and even enlightenment. The question is, what will Izzy find?
rachelmankowitz 
At present, it seems that the main objective of the leaders of the main parties involved in this latest uptick in hostilities is to bamboozle everyone. The main point of the Administration is to expedite plans to usher in a fascist-theocratic regime in Washington DC. These are frightful times, but we must not become overwhelmed, because overwhelm is one of the tools of tyrants. We must stay focused on what we can realistically do or advocate as individual world citizens. Consume social media mindfully and tune out the news when it becomes confusing. We all must stay strong and smart.
Meanwhile, I wonder how Tzipporah would look in Doggy Parton clothes.
I looked up some of the outfits on Amazon and there’s a very pretty pink cowgirl dress that would look wonderful on her!
It’s amazing how creative designers can be.
Sending hugs, Rachel. 🥲
Thank you!
Thank you for this thoughtful and moving reflection. Your ability to interweave personal experience with broader geopolitical events offers a nuanced and humanizing perspective on an incredibly complex situation. The resilience shown by your Hebrew class, and your focus on connection, education, and hope amidst uncertainty, are both powerful and inspiring. This piece is a valuable reminder of the importance of empathy, perspective, and small acts of continuity in turbulent times.
Thank you so much!
I stand with Israel. I have always stood with Israel, now it is personal, my children through their mother, and their grandmother, and her grandmother are Jewish, that is they have Jewish heritage. They would be targeted by people who use terror as their weapon and would unhesitatingly extinguish them. Israel has a right to live where they are and to defend that.
Thank you!
Worrying times.
😑💙
Powerful post Rachel.
And here we sit and anger at little men who’s only care is not the cost, no matter how much, but the self preservation of position (looking at you Netanyahu and you Trump) that only war can bring. Age old shit Rachel. God save us if he’s paying attention and not just leaving us to our own devices, which we deserve.
And I really like that David Broza tune by the way
Soon after you posted, everything changed with the bunker-busters on Fordo – SCARY TIMES!
Your post was was powerful and resonated strongly with me – thank you
V
Thank you!
what a tragic and horrific events I have read. I wish God bless Israel
Rachel, I am amazed at the calm and personal strength you project detailing all that’s happening the world you care about. The politics and policies aside, because there is little we can do about them, how you and your Hebrew class so your teacher would have something to come back to shows the resilience of your spirits. One of the first thoughts I had when I heard of initial Iranian attack was “what will happen to Rachel’s trip.” I don’t doubt and now know better than I had that whatever you decide, you are doing it from a place of love.
Here’s hoping peace, or something like it, comes soon.
i suppose the nuclear scare is over, at least temporarily. Thankful for Iron Dome.
what a great article, doggo fashion!❤️
Dogs make everything better!
Thank you for sharing your perspective! You write eloquently and use both facts and personal experience to create a very good post. Praying for peace…..
Thank you!!!
I started reading this on Saturday when the news of trump ordering bombing of Iran and never finished or commented. I’m reminded of how much I miss having a president who allowed me to sleep at night, to relax, and not worry what we would wake up to.
While this may have been a good thing for Israel in the short term, I fear it’s not a good thing for the US or the diaspora in the near or long term.
Hopefully the ceasefire will lead to something permanent.
Hey Rachel:You are much more embroiled in this war than I thought. It appears that I can obtain highly accurate reports from you of what’s going on in the region rather than depend on the daily “spins” covered in the news. Trump to me is bragging about taking full credit for Israel’s efforts to fight back from Iran attacks for political gain. Stay calm.
I do my best to lower the volume on all of the extremes and the spin and try to hear the facts, if there are any, but it’s hard. The ceasefire, whatever brought it about, is relief.
I have long been critical of what I see as clear decades-long maltreatment of the region’s general Palestinian populace by the Israeli government and security/defense agencies — and, with few exceptions, the Western mainstream news-media’s seemingly intentional tokenistic (non)coverage of it.
Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised at reading the cutline below the large photo accompanying a June 26 story (headlined “UK’s largest Jewish group punishes members who broke silence on Gaza genocide”) posted on the Middle East Monitor’s website: “A young Charedi Orthodox Jew holds a placard during the demonstration. Orthodox Charedi Jews joined many thousands of pro-Palestinian protestors outside Downing Street accusing Israel and Zionists of genocide in Gaza.”
Source: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/nasim/uks-largest-jewish-group-punishes-members-who-broke-silence-on-gaza-genocide/
Seeing those beautiful people and their vocal humanity-first convictions were/are to me encouraging. Apparently applying a stereotype that Orthodox Jews would be the last to demonstrate with pro-Palestinian protestors and seemingly support their cause, I must admit I had negatively prejudged them.
It must be difficult for decent Jews/Semites with such a strong conscience when they publicly denounce Israel’s atrocities and are then denounced and referred to as “self-hating” by the extreme-Zionism powers, likely in large part to try shaming them into self-censoring.
Also, I read that there’s been an increase in the rate of suicide among younger or teenaged Jews/Semites since 10/7. I find it hard not to feel for them. They didn’t ask for what happened and especially the horrors currently happening. This bothers me, even though I have neither Jewish/Semitic or Palestinian/Arabic heritage.
Then there’s the blatant anti-Semitism directed at them from outside their community. Likely due to not having Jewish heritage thus experience, I never expected the level of anti-Semitic assaults in the West since the shocking 10/7 Hamas attack against Israel. It’s plainly blatantly wrong for them to be mistreated and even terrorized, let alone suffering it supposedly for what is committed overseas.
And it should be needless to say that Western-world Palestinians and Muslims similarly must not be collectively blamed and attacked for the acts of Hamas violence in Israel or Islamic extremist attacks outside the Middle East.
Immediately after the 10/7 attack, great insensitivity was publicly shown by some crazy-angry pro-Palestinian activists towards the many who were freshly mourning the Israeli victims, especially when considering that many or most young Israelis and Jews elsewhere likely were not accustomed to such relatively large-scale carnage committed against Israel.
Further concerning about all of the highly publicized two-way partisan exchanges of verbal fury, in particular via social media, is: What will young non-Israeli Jewish, and Palestinian, children living abroad think and feel if/when they hear such misdirected vile hatred towards their fundamental identity? Scary is the real possibility that such public outpour of blind hatred may lead some young children to feel very misplaced shame in their heritage.
I am very uncomfortable with the “decent Jews” phrase. There is a group of ultra Orthodox Jews who are antizionist for religious reasons (having nothing to do with the well-being of Palestinians), and when they show up at rallies their presence doesn’t mean what outsiders assume it to mean. The treatment of Palestinians in the Middle East has been awful, but assuming that the blame falls solely on Israel is part of the problem. Palestinians living in other Middle eastern countries, for example Lebanon, have suffered tremendously, with little to no attention paid to The Who, what, where, when or why of the situation. Western media has covered Israel and the Palestinians very carefully for a very long time, the rest of the Middle East, not so much. It’s important to do the research before accepting characterizations of any group fo people, or any country; and assuming that any group is a monolith is not going to help.
Things are so scary it’s hard to wrap my head around it all and not be overwhelmed by fear. I had one of my grandkids here with my son for a week (the other one was still a bit too young to leave mom who couldn’t come) and we had an amazing time going to the beach, the water park, playing baseball, laughing, eating, and while I can’t forget all the other children who live in fear of bombs, ICE, and now the new auschwitz, these guys are safe for now.
It’s important to invest in joy especially when times are difficult. That’s where our strength and hope will come from.
There is a post by the artist Francisco Cabrera about the war in Israel you might find helpful:
https://paintinginvalencia.com/2025/08/03/opinion-querido-diario-p222-indignacion-justa-4/
If Iran wipes out Israel, it will not stop there. The fundamentalist leaders will wipe out everyone who is not a Shi’ite Muslim. Iran poses a threat to the whole world. That’s why it’s so important to keep them in check. I applaud the IDF.