Like all Israelis, Jerusalemites were awoken to a horrifying new reality on October 7. As the onslaught began at 6:30 a.m. in the South, the good people of the capital were jerked from a restful sleep or joyous Simchat Torah prayers with sirens.
Rockets? In Jerusalem?
While much of Israel is, unfortunately, no stranger to rocket attacks, the Holy City – while ravaged by car rammings and the knife intifada – has been “lucky,” with a comparative few in 2014 and 2021.
A shock as rocket sirens hit Jerusalem
That’s why it was such a shock when the air raid siren sounded around 8:15 a.m., on what was supposed to be an exuberant chag (holiday), capping off a magical Sukkot and full Hol Hamoed week. It took many a full minute to shake off the confusion and head for some sort of shelter, doorway, or stairwell. (I actually ran to my building’s stairwell, and then outside to see if others had interpreted the siren in the same way. It wouldn’t become clear to me until the second siren.)
And then we learned how Hamas had unleashed terror on the rest of the Jewish state. And we have been at a loss ever since.
While we can’t wrap our minds around what this unprecedented battle will entail and how we’ll even begin to cope with the fallout, city residents have largely been staying indoors – glued to their TV sets, refreshing social media obsessively, praying, weeping, working from home, and staying away from gatherings in an unpleasant reminder of the COVID years.
Many, too many, have sent off relatives to fight.
These stark images document a reeling city in the first few post-October 7 days.
The echoing streets stand in sharp contrast to the vibrant, massive crowds of locals and tourists spilling out of every corner, celebrating the holiday just days before. ❖