Crossing the Yarden

By Yarden Frankl

Four O'clock, Friday Afternoon

Could there be a more relaxing, pleasant time?

Shabbat food is simmering on stove-tops, letting off the most pleasant aromas. Children are celebrating their week ending "freedom" from the school day, playing soccer in the park. Some of us ride our bikes, others take walks. Everyone anticipating the almost magical quality that Shabbat night takes on here in our community, high atop the Judean hills. In the summer, most of us are finished with work and school, yet still have a few hours to enjoy ourselves. The weather starts to cool down and everyone is enveloped in a relaxing breeze.

Four o'clock, Friday afternoon. Some men have the custom to prepare for the Shabbat by immersing themselves in a mikvah. Throughout the Judean hills, there are many outdoor natural springs which are popular as Mikvaot, especially in the summer time. Especially at four o'clock, Friday afternoon.

I am told that the bomb was a relatively simple device, a cell phone wired to a gas canister that was somehow programmed to go off at a precise time. Cut-up iron bars were placed around the gas can to maximize the damage.

The bombers also knew about four o'clock, Friday afternoon. They had seen how people in Neve Daniel and Sde Boaz like to walk the trail between our communities and stop to rest by the springs.

I wonder what went through their minds as they set the bomb. Did they relish the thought of how many lives they could destroy with this simple device? Did they care if it would be men, women, or children who would be killed? Did they know, or even care, that the government of Israel has embarked on a policy to withdraw from ninety percent of the West Bank and give them their own state?

Perhaps I am attributing too many human characteristics to would-be mass murderers. While we were getting ready for our weekly celebration of the creation of the universe, they were hoping to snuff out someone's personal universe.

Thankfully, they were not as smart as they thought. They did not know that the long awaited men's mikvah in Neve Daniel was completed. This particular Friday afternoon, instead of walking to the spring, everyone was gathered at this new facility in our community.

When the bomb went off, the bombers probably heard the explosion echoing off the hills and thought that their mission of death was successful. The residents and soldiers who ran to the scene thought the same thing. Yet this four o'clock, Friday afternoon, no one was there. It was, in our Rav's words, a true miracle.

I have learned that the transition from Ole Chadash to Israeli includes learning how to stare down horror and move on. It does not mean to ignore danger or to act foolhardy. It does mean to have faith, daven a bit harder, and remain vigilant.

On Shabbat afternoon, we ate the food that smelled so good the day before, the boys played soccer, and we took our walks. We prayed, and ate, and slept, and spoke of the great miracle. And we believe that the next four o'clock, Friday afternoon will be pleasant again.

May we all have a Shabbat Shalom, a peaceful Shabbat, here in our blessed nation.

© 2006 Yarden Frankl