As a child growing up in America, I often wondered how Israelis lived with constant terrorism. I would hear about terrorist attack after attack, and I remember thinking, how do they put up with this?

Yet here I am, living in Israel for 16 years now, “putting up with” terrorist attacks, October 7th, an ongoing war, and now a new war with Iran.

And now I see how Israelis do it.

They have no choice. It’s sink or swim, so they swim.

With a black sense of humor and supporting each other like family, we keep going.

Friday, June 13th, we were awoken at 5:00 am by blaring sirens signaling the beginning of the war with Iran and urging us to run for cover to the bomb shelter.

It was Erev Shabbat and we were out of essential groceries, so after things calmed down I went to the makolet at 7:30 am.

As I walked around the store loading my cart with essentials, more and more people started coming in, and it felt like the whole neighborhood was there. People from all spectrums— the elderly to a six-year-old boy; observant and non-observant; Argentinian, Russian, and Moroccan—had come to stock their homes before the war heated up.

People were on edge, but there was also an excited energy in the air because this time we attacked our enemies first. We didn’t wait for them, we took the initiative to defend ourselves, and we knew we had to win. People were making jokes, helping each other pack groceries and carry heavy packs of bottled water to the checkout line.

Friday night we were awoken by four different rocket barrages. Each time the sirens wailed, we ran from our house, across our yard, and down the stairs to the bomb shelter outside our gate.

Saturday night, we were also woken numerous times by sirens.

Sunday night, once again, we were awoken by sirens and the sounds of the Iron Dome exploding rockets above our heads.

So here I am, trying to hold on to normalcy, in between sirens.

Laundry, cooking, and cleaning never felt so essential and so therapeutic. What usually feels like drudgery, is now vital for me and my family to continue functioning and keeping our heads above water.

Making sure we have a clean home, nourishing food, and clothes to wear, are necessary so we can keep up this mentally and physically exhausting reality of having to wake up in the middle of the night and run for our lives.

Appointments, work, school, after-school activities, and the pool opening for summer vacation are all luxuries that have fallen by the wayside.

We’re in survival mode, living in between sirens.

We don’t know how long this will continue, but we’re ready to keep going if we know this will be the war to end all wars here, with G‑d’s help.

We hope that it will bring lasting peace, victory, and Redemption, and restore the Jewish people to living freely in our own land.