Northern Winds

Jerusalem July 30th 2006

A cataclysmic wind is blowing in from the north these days, and its leaving my soul unsettled. It goes deeper then the news. With each passing report I feel a strange connection to my ancestors who had to survive against the Romans, the Babylonians, the Crusaders, The Inquisitioners, The Nazis (to name a few), who all worked so vigilantly to destroy the Jewish people.
Today, as I write, my old neighbors in Tsfat are getting explosive missiles that burst into searing shards of shrapnel dropped on their houses from people who dont want them to exist. Most of them have been living underground now for several weeks with there families, and there is work to be done.
Cars with goods and supplies need to be driven up north. Food needs to be made and delivered. Dilapidated bomb shelters (now homes) need fixing. The elderly need tending and touching. The kids gotto sing. Hospitals need visiting.
So I'm heading back up North, into the tempest, ten miles from the line, back to the smokey little town I once ran from like a refugee. I go with my guitar and (Native American) flute as my weapons of choice as I'm a lover not a fighter. And when the sirens ring Ill run for cover.
The organization that's running the relief efforts in Tsfat is Livnot (http://www.livnot.com/), the same non-profit organization that I've been working with for the last two months running spiritual adventure trips. The campus, whose space is usually home to rampant singing, heart and mind expanding conversations, has been turned into a civilian command center. There are even a few officers on campus to assist.
Check out the web page if you wish to help out.
Also, feel free to add questions or comments to this blog.
I'm OK. Just doing what I feel needs to be done. And if not me who?
I'll be as safe as I can up there, you have my word.
Please try not to worry, just send me up as much of the positive energy you can muster.
I leave tonight.
Love you
Jeremy/Pesach (my Hebrew name)