Praying for Israel

We are all together tonight

I was at my cat shelter shift when I got a text from a good friend who is Jewish, my fellow traveler in these crazy times since October 7.

“Should Israel bomb Iran?” he asked.

“Yes,” I wrote back, and continued feeding starving cats.

My cat shelter partner and I joked about how funny it is to ask my opinion, since it’s not like I have Netanyahu’s cell phone number.

There’s a line from the old classic The Rules that says when a man says he isn’t ready for a relationship, that means he doesn’t want a relationship with you. Believe him, and walk away. I think something similar can be said about nations with nuclear capabilities that say they can build a bomb. Believe them, act accordingly.

While Americans go to bed feeling safe tonight, Israel is defending us all. It’s not like Iran likes us either. We are just farther away. I got a wonderful text from one of my good friends who is a reader. We are praying together.

Another friend texted, “Are you sure you don’t want to go back to being a Christian? Might be safer. Nah, the world needs all the Jews it can get.”

It’s back to feeling like there is nothing I can do but pray. Probably because there is nothing I can do but pray. I sent a tweet to Gadi, just saying that I am praying for him and all of Israel. I thought about not doing it but I thought that if I woke up in the morning and something terrible had happened, I would always wish I had, whether he reads it or not.

I’m not going to send a message to Ari because I’m sure his What’s App is blowing up. Hmmm… poor choice of words. Very busy, his What’s App is, very busy is what I meant. He will be managing a million contacts, keeping people informed, keeping people calm. He’s amazing at that. An Ari Ben Canaan for today, minus the ship and plus being a restaurant critic. I don’t really see Ari Ben Canaan as a restaurant critic. But perhaps I lack imagination.

I have to sleep or else I won’t be well… I’ve missed too much sleep lately already. I want to live another week to see what happens. There is so much amazing going on for me right now that I don’t want to miss a thing.

But I must pray for Israel. And I wanted to let you all know that I am praying with you. We’re in this together… some of us for a long time, some of us are newer friends. I’d love to meet you all. Maybe we’ll meet in Jerusalem?