On the morning the war began with Iran, a sound question: What’s in your bomb shelter?

By Jonathan Feldstein

My wife came into my home-office which doubles as our guest room, and spare pantry. She wanted to take some snacks from the pantry to put in our bomb shelter. Just in case. There have been warnings that have now begun, that we might find ourselves taking cover in the bomb shelter for hours at a time, and even after the first wave or waves of air raid sirens, we may run out of essentials and be forced to sit waiting, without even a warning to tell us it’s dangerous outside. 

At least if I die at the tip of a warhead of an Iranian ballistic missile, there will be pretzels and peanut butter.

We also have energy bars and water – and empty bottles. Just in case.

We have an old nonelectric analog slimline phone which we had to buy at the beginning of the war, in case power is knocked out but the phones still work. At least we’ll be able to call other people with an old analog phone, and an antiquated land line.

We also have a personal solar panel to charge our phones and small appliances. But who knows if our cellular service will work. There had been lots of questions with news reports and rumors of an imminent Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Every news cycle there was something new. It’s too fast paced to keep up with every new scoop or rumor, and it’s not healthy to do so.

Now that the attack has taken place and I have been up for hours, I have been following the news of the apparent successes of the initial wave of attacks and receiving reports warning of a second wave. This was followed by the loud rumbling of fighter planes overhead, and even seeing what appeared to be surface to air missile defense being fired from over Jordan. We are now waiting for what’s likely to be a significant response from Iran that can send us back to the bomb shelters, maybe for hours.

It’s not just the physical stress and preparations for a war with Iran, coupled with exhaustion of not sleeping, but psychological stress as well. For every Israeli, the stress and anxiety will manifest itself differently.

We are supposed to go away for Shabbat this weekend to see friends.  Under other circumstances, that would be really nice but now that the military operation has begun, schools and places of work closed, along with the airport, and all public gatherings including prayer services, I’m feeling the need to be at home.

None of our kids live at home. We are supposed to be empty nesters except for the weekend every other week when my active-duty military son comes home.  But then again, after the war began 20 months ago, four of our kids have moved back in full-time, while one son and son-in-law were called up to reserves.

While my son-in-law was serving, my daughter and their three kids were in and out of our house pretty regularly, balancing the desire to keep things “normal” in their own home with needing a break and extra hands to occupy my grandchildren, and giving her a break. So much for being empty nesters.

So, who knows what will happen and where my kids would be, or even if it would be considered safe to drive from where they live (in older apartments with no bomb shelter) to our house, but my place is with them. Just in case.

In the coming hours we’ll find out who is coming home!

I think about this every time there’s another Houthi missile fired from Yemen, averaging at least one every two days. It’s become so frequent and regular that scurrying off to bomb shelters is part of our annoying daily routine. I expressed that to my radio-host friend Jake Smith. Jake mentioned it in our interview yesterday, not able to imagine our reality. Here’s this week’s Houthi missile/reality.

Now that the military operation with Iran has started, friends have contacted me from all over the world, praying and asking what they can do. My simple, focused prayer request sent hours earlier hit a nerve because our situation is unimaginable, even for those of us living it.

Many have asked how they can help financially. Since I still maintain my integrity amid the stress, I have told them that I honestly can’t say what might happen or when or what all the needs will be or how they will be fulfilled.  However, as Israel and Israelis are preparing for war, I have told them that the Israel Emergency Campaign will be ready to do what’s necessary, when it is necessary. It has a great track-record, and I know that’s reliable and honest, even if we don’t know what the needs will be yet.

There is a lot I don’t know, but there are a few things that are clear. The Iranian nuclear threat, to Israel and the world, is an existential clear and present danger. If they really didn’t want a nuclear weapon, the negotiations would be easy:

JUST STOP ENRICHING URANIUM TO MILITARY GRADE

However, the negotiations are a farce, a smoke screen for what the IAEA has revealed: that Iran is breaking every standard and well on its way to having the ability to produce a nuclear weapon. Perhaps that’s all a moot point now.  Hopefully.

The best-case scenario of Iran obtaining a nuke is that they will use it to blackmail, not only Israel but globally; the worst case is that they will use it. Those who think otherwise are fooling themselves.

I am not a war monger but the regime that funds global terrorist proxies as they do; lives by the Islamic principle of taqiyya that permits lying to infidels; oppresses and violates the human rights of all Iranians, and threatens US facilities throughout the Middle East if they fail to reach a deal that goes their way, needs to be stopped.

With time running out, despite the severe backlash that will inevitably occur, I told Jake it’s time to take out all Iranian nuclear sites, the IRGC facilities and its leaders, and even the Supreme Leader himself. Sometimes peace comes through treaties. Other times it is achieved through a crushing defeat. Now is the time for the later; not to kick the can down the road.  Thank God it has begun, and initial reports are encouraging. However, it is far from over and prayers are needed for Israel, our leaders, military, and all the citizens.

I have no idea what will be both nationally and personally, but for sure these are days of immense anxiety and stress.

It’s scary but at least:

 I have pretzels and peanut butter; what do you have in your bomb shelter?

About the writer:

Jonathan Feldstein ­­­­- President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Jornal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).