Amnon sits behind me at work. He doesn't speak English very well and works quietly, hunched over his bench. He is very tall, and I get a stiff neck when speaking to him. He, his wife, and two boys have been in the US for 2 years now and are counting the days until they can go back home.
A few weeks ago, before I went on vacation, Amnon and his wife were celebrating her new job - it's a job she has been trying to get for years. She was eager to start. They began planning her move back along with their two children. Amnon was going to stay behind for a few months to finish up his work here before joining them. She needed to get back to Israel in plenty of time to set up her lab and get ready for the academic year, when she'd be working as a professor at Haifa University.
Then all hell broke loose. Now, their mood has changed to a much less celebratory and much more somber one. She is angry that Amnon never took out insurance on their two apartments in Haifa. They are worried about the fact that- you know- there are bombs falling on Haifa- and they might not have a place to go back too.
She and the boys are still going back to Israel but will be staying in Tel Aviv until the academic year begins. Amnon has taken the past two weeks off to spend with his family, but when he calls in he jokes... three more days until I send my boys off to be soldiers. Three more days until they go off to war. His boys are in elementary and middle school. I don't find it funny. I can't imagine the thoughts, the worry, the anguish, the mindset you must be in, as a parent, to bring your children into that kind of situation. They have both served their time in the Israeli army. Did I mention that he is missing several fingers on one hand? Because of their backround and experience, they have a different definition of acceptable risk then I do, I think.
They are supposed to fly out today. Poor Amnon and his family. It's bad enough that they are flying to a country at war; but today the UK just happens to announce they've foiled another terrorist plot targeting US flights.
They have made their choice. I'm not sure if I understand it. All I know is this... it makes my problems seem so small and insignificant.
Please put Amnon and his family in your prayers.
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