MRP....how are you doing?

Dov,

Thanks for answering my latest email and telling me about this thread. Since I never come to FT anymore, I wasn't aware.

1st: Thank G-d you, and other FTers are as safe as you can be for now, This is going to be a long and bloody conflict. Stay safe and enjoy your granddaughter and family

2nd: I am so happy that you decided that Corona was safer than staying, like you last told me (you stubborn old man)

Last, but far from least, condolences on the passing of Dementia

As an aside. Our friends and family here in Cincinnati, Cleveland, NYC and NJ are all safe for now. Two of our friends have family in Israel that are in the IDF. Two granddaughters, a son, son-in-law and two

You are in our constant thoughts and prayers

I did not make that decision. The Army made it for me. I had decided to stay on the kibbutz but the Army ordered all civilians to leave it (and about another 27 kibbutzim).

So, you are still old and stubborn, just forced to bow to authority

I'm still glad you did Dov. I hope and pray that your home is still there when you return and this madness ends soon!

I keep hearing fighter jets flying overhead 24/7. I do not know if they are headed south toward Gaza or north to the border with Lebanon.

I imagine that the average Gaza resident, not members of Hamas, and I have to believe that they, like me -- and like BEYFlyer in 2006 -- want to be able to return to their homes and not to worry about being killed.

I hope you and family (and other families ) have the supplies you need. Water, food, meds etcetc........I can't imagine stores of any sort a good idea now even though you said you did go to one last week.....Hope you had time to pack up necessities before you left home.

Your story moved me. Thank you for sharing.

Unlike Sarah Palin, Dov can actually see Lebanon from his porch. I know, I've been to his house.

Shh! That is a secret. If the brunette on the other side of the border finds out how much I can see with my binoculars she may decide to close her window curtains.

Ah Dovster, your sense of humor never ceases to amaze me. Here's hoping that this situation doesn't escalate any further. Fingers crossed...

I live in the heart of Tel Aviv. In the early days of the war, the center of donations for the city and perhaps the country was a 2 minute walk from me in Dizengoff Circle.

Dizengoff Circle (Square - don�t ask why it�s misnamed)

There was no bottled water to be found in my neighborhood for 3 days as people were scooping it up and donating it. Inventory has returned to the shelves, but foreign goods on JIT shipping are starting to disappear. My dogs eat sensitive stomach dog food and our vet is out of stock and doesn�t know when more will arrive. Some produce is out of stock as it is/was grown on kibbutzim in evacuated or attacked areas.

Preschool may start up again soon and I hope it does. My wife is back in the office 2 days a week which makes childcare more difficult. We have a family friend staying with us who would otherwise be alone in the university dorms. Her brother is a lone soldier deployed weeks before he finished basic training. She helps out, but it�s not the same as our dayghter�s previous routine.

Our daughter no longer sleeps in her crib and her nap cycle is off. Our dogs are scared 24/7 as they know something serious is going on. All of these are first world problems as we are still safe in our home.

When my sister visited Israel a few months ago, she met that family and liked them very much. She and her daughter decided, when the war broke out, to help them financially and sent me $2000 to give to them. They live in Kiryat Shemona but are staying with friends in Haifa for the duration. Today, the father and mother drove home to pick up a number of necessities and went into a panic when they saw how much military is in the city and heard repeated explosions (from along the Lebanese border). They now want to return to Russia but cannot afford the airfare. The $2000 is sitting in my US bank account and cannot be used to buy an Aeroflot ticket because of the U.S. sanctions against Russia.

The family does not have a bank account (they can't afford it) they get paid through the Post Office and I have no idea of how to transfer to them, so we are going to meet in the Kiryon tomorrow and I will take out as much as I can from an ATM (I believe it ia 2000 shekels per day) and we will repeat this until they have all the money. After that, it is up to them if they want to use it to fly to Russia or to stay here.

Turkish is flying to Russia.

is TK flying TLV-IST or can they get El Al to IST? Not sure how easy it would be for this family to do a multi leg flight (ie would any connection feel too overwhelming?)

But it is not flying to her home city in Siberia, where she has an apartment she can live in. The question is whether she would buy her ticket from Turkish or from Aeroflot.

The other problem is the 15-year-old daughter. She hates being called "Russian" and everything about Russia. She is completely Israeli. She will not want to return to Russia.

When she was 7-years-old she decided that I am her grandfather and still refers to me as such. Should her parents require her to return with them? If she wants to stay in Israel, should I offer to let her live in my house? Can a 15-year-old girl be comfortable living with a 77-year-old man and (not now, but perhaps in a year or two) have to take care of him?