There is a saying, especially common among Jews of Polish descent: “I will rest only in the grave.”
In other words, there will be no real peace for us in this life, only when we are finally laid to rest in the ground. In Israel, that saying became a kind of joke.
But it turns out that the joke has become reality.
Only a few months have passed, and once again we are at war. This war, too, has produced new/old words and expressions, which we try to turn into jokes, just to get through this war safely as well.
A Dictionary of Iran War II
- “Launches identified from Iran and Lebanon”: An early warning telling residents in the areas mentioned to be ready to enter a protected space.
- Alert: A terrible warning sound that prepares you for the possibility of having to enter a protected space. The preparation time is about six minutes.
- Siren: Immediate entry into a protected space.
- All-clear message: Official permission to leave the protected space.
- Missiles: A new kind of classification.
- From Iran: Ballistic missiles and cluster munitions (a ballistic missile carrying explosive warheads that opens in the air and, upon descent, strikes multiple areas).
- From Lebanon: Long-range missiles.
- Open area: A missile that explodes in an unpopulated area.
- Home Front Command instructions: The official directives given to civilians on how to behave during wartime.
- Red zones: Areas where the education system will not operate and where gatherings are prohibited.
- Yellow zones: Areas where the education system operates partially and gatherings are permitted only for a limited number of people.
- Protective instructions for civilians who are not near a protected space: Anyone who is driving when a siren sounds must bring the car to a full stop, get out of the vehicle, move away from it, lie down by the side of the road, and cover their head with their hands. Those who are in the street must look for a protected space, and if there is none nearby, they must find the nearest possible shelter, lie down, and cover their head with their hands.
- Protected space:
- Mamad: Reinforced safe room inside a private home or apartment.
- Mamak: Reinforced safe room shared by several apartments on the same floor.
- Shelter: Fortified structure located above or below ground.
- Parking garage: A government decision to designate certain parking garages that meet the required standard and convert them into shelters for large groups of people who do not have protected spaces in or near their homes.
Israel: Wartime Routine – A New Vocabulary
An entire generation, including my grandchildren, is growing up with concepts that innocent children should never have to grow up with, should never have to know, and should never have to feel.
An entire generation of school pupils and university students is losing the joy of learning and the desire and thirst for broad, meaningful knowledge in all the different fields of study.
And, worst of all, an entire wonderful generation is disappearing from us, killed in these terrible wars.
And, after everything, it seems we have no choice.
As the Passover Haggadah says:
“In every generation, they rise up against us to destroy us.”
“אלא שבכל דור ודור, עומדים עלינו לכלותנו”
I wish all of you a happy Passover, and I hope that here in Israel we will be able to sit around the Passover table and speak of the extraordinary courage of our sons and daughters who guard the borders of this country.
This post has been contributed by a third party. The opinions, facts and any media content are presented solely by the author, and JewishBoston assumes no responsibility for them. Want to add your voice to the conversation? Publish your own post here. MORE