From Rona in Modiin:

When my father-in-law died, we sat shiva and there was an all-pervasive sadness that seemed to enfold us. Since then, the sadness has not lifted and it is everywhere-- we are sitting and watching ourselves battered and beaten and killed-- people sitting in their homes in Psagot and in Jerusalem being fired upon.-- people walking on the street being blown up-- people wanting to get from their home to work or to visit a friend having their cars stopped by angry crowds or pelted with rocks... and for all this, we are the cruel aggressors.

Our "peace partners" have their map. It includes ALL of Israel. They tell each other and the world that their goal is to obliterate Israel and THEY are seen as the victims. No wonder there is a pervading sadness. Our lives are expendable. Maybe if all the Jews would just leave, the world wouldn't have to worry about the "conflict in the Middle East." They haven't heard... Jews everywhere are targets...

But were all the Jews everywhere to disappear off the face of the earth, the Christians are next. The radical militant Islamists who are those who are inciting their people to violence want all of the infidels to be killed-- not just Jews.

These people are a threat to all civilized society. They strike at the US-- targets having nothing to do with Jews and Israel-- a boat in the Persian Gulf, the World Trade Center... and yet, when Jews are the target, the world thinks it is Israel's fault. A group that teaches children that dying for the cause is praiseworthy, that feels proud of 4 year olds who tell their mothers "one day you will dig my grave" is one that needs to be stopped. The world let Hitler go on because they didn't believe in evil. Have we not learned anything?

Last Friday, a day after the horrific bombing in Jerusalem that killed two innocent people and injured 10 more and traumatized untold numbers, which came a day after another bombing, the one near the Jerusalem theater-- a bombing that no one remembers already because there were no fatalities... Leah and I went to Jerusalem. I had an errand to run there, but I would like to think that I would have gone anyway. We went to the midrachov and sat ouside at a cafe and had a delicious lunch and did what I always like to do there-- played fashion cop (and believe me, we had a Hall of Fame winner!!) and we talked about how it was important that we not abandon Jerusalem. We need to keep coming and keep spending our time and money there so that they will not win by their terrorism. It was a beautiful day and the people were there. There were fewer tourists, but people were out and strolling and no one seemed afraid. There are patrols, but no more than usual, as far as I could tell.

This is a very hard time but we are determined. We need to pull together here and we need our relatives and friends throughout the world to make their voices heard and to give us the support we need. Make no mistake. Our future is in the balance. Here's the scary part... that "our" means not just the country of Israel, not just my family- my children and grandchildren, but it also means every Jew in the world and every civilized person. The madness can be stopped now before it its appetite grows even greater and now is the time.

Rona