Posted on Facebook on June 18, 2025
I’m on my way back from distributing coolers for bomb shelters. On one hand, it’s shocking how many people in Israel don’t have a safe room in their homes. On the other hand, it’s also crazy to think that we are a country where neighborhoods have been built around public bomb shelters for years. There’s no other place in the world like this.
“Zbang ve-gamarnu” a Hebrew phrase coined by Israeli renowned satirist, playwright, and filmmaker whose sharp wit and humor captured the complexities of Israeli society and politics. It translates to “one blow and it’s over” or “quick and done” and was used used in security rhetoric to describe the desire for a swift, clear and decisive victory. Usually unrealistic as mentioned by Prime Minster Rabin “There are no quick-fix solutions or ‘bang and it’s over’” (Yitzhak Rabin regarding the First Intifada, Maariv, March 22, 1989). “Zbang ve-gamarnu” also used more broadly across the Israeli society and culture – “let’s just get the job done”.
How we wish this was the case with our wars, specially now with the war against the Iranian regime. But reality tells us things need time, need process. Skipping the process directly to the result risks the threat of not going through all the required steps to make sure the end result is the desired one.
Our rabbis teach us this lesson through the story of Honi (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ta’anit 23a). Honi, who falls asleep for 70 years, wakes up to find a man harvesting a carob tree that had been planted by his ancestors decades earlier — a powerful reminder of the enduring responsibility we hold across generations.
But the story doesn’t end there. Honi, once a respected scholar, makes his way to a study hall where Jewish law is being discussed. When one of the scholars quotes a teaching in his name, Honi reveals his identity. Yet no one recognizes him. Isolated and unseen, he prays for death, saying that a person without a study partner is better off dead.
Honi’s story reminds us of the danger in trying to skip the process. He wasn’t there to witness the tree take root, grow, and bear fruit. As important as the end result may be, there are no shortcuts. This is a lesson Honi had to learn after demanding that God send rain instantly, while standing inside the famous circle he drew in the dust.
We may hope for a “Zbang ve-gamarnu” from the U.S., but we can’t count on it — maybe on the military front, but certainly not on our internal civil front.
Israel is facing a war on many fronts — a long, difficult battle that is taking a toll on our soldiers, civil society, and economy. But it is a just war, fought to secure the future of the Jewish and democratic State of Israel — for ourselves and for generations to come. We are in the midst of it now, and we must make sure every step we take leads us toward a stronger, more prosperous future.
Yesterday, I finally had a moment to check in with friends. The reaction was universal: we are tired.
It’s a physical exhaustion — from sleepless nights, running to shelters, sleeping in shelters, keeping kids occupied at home, worrying about family and friends serving in the army, all while trying to keep up with work.
And it’s an emotional exhaustion — this war has been dragging on in different forms for almost two years. We still have hostages. Soldiers are being wounded and killed in battle. Civilians remain displaced. The media is in full emergency mode around the clock.
So what keeps us going?
A deep conviction, and our incredible society.
The conviction: “Am ha’netzach lo mefached mi’derech aruka” — The Eternal People are not afraid of a long journey.
And our society: despite the length and hardship of this war, people continue to show up for one another.
Thousands of citizens are cooking meals for soldiers and reservists, helping families whose homes were damaged, cleaning and preparing bomb shelters, assisting the elderly, and keeping children engaged while parents try to maintain some kind of work routine.
A special shoutout is due to our teachers. School doesn’t end until June 30, and teachers are still checking in with their students — even while many of them have their own children at home, or spouses serving in the reserves. Teachers often go unnoticed, but they deserve recognition now more than ever. Educating our children is the real investment in the future.
This is the spirit of our people. And it is with this spirit that we overcome both personal and national exhaustion — and keep moving forward.
The fruits of this generation’s resilience will be harvested for many, many years to come.
