The following comment by a reader struck a chord.
If I may just add a different perspective to the description...
We were also at one of our kids' homes for Chag, and in their community of approximately 100 families, close to 70 of the men were called up to reserve duty over the course of the day.
Almost all our friends have had adult children called up to emergency reserve duty, some with as many as 4 serving at once. Our sons who were called up each have 5 kids, and they were told to expect to be away from home "for a long time".
As annoying as the rockets are, the chances of getting hurt if one follows instructions are probably about 1 in a million.
Among our sons [and daughters] fighting, the danger is much greater, and it is those whose safety we worry about.
Everyone living here already knows of soldiers (not to speak of civilians living in the communities surrounding Gaza) who were killed or wounded...
The situation in Ramat Beit Shemesh or Beitar may be different, but in most non-chareidi cities, the call up of soldiers was massive,
This very worried parent puts me to shame. While everything I have been describing is true, It seems almost trivial compared to what this parent and thousands of other parents like her whose children have been called upon to risk their lives defending our people - are going through.
I cannot emphasize enough the sense of gratitude I have to these brave young soldiers. My heart goes out to all the worried parents whose sons and daughters have been called upon to serve their country by being placed in harm’s way.
Considering the magnitude of what the IDF is about to do, I don’t think there is a better time than now for the Charedi world in Israel (and all over the world for that matter) to not only express gratitude to the young men and women making these sacrifices, but to their families as well who will be spending many sleepless nights worrying about the safety of their children fighting an enemy worthy of the term Nazi.
The atrocities committed by these savages are virtually identical to what my own parents and brothers experienced and witnessed during the Holocaust. Murder, torture, beheadings of children, and rape have been reported . These are the kinds of consequences these young IDF soldiers face if they are captured. That or death! Rachmana L’tzlan!
For those of us that believe in the power of prayer, which obviously includes Religious Jews of all Stripes - from Satmar to Mizrachi (religious Zionists) this would be the time to recite the prayer for the safety of our soldiers. It should be recited at every Torah reading.
We all need to have Bitachon - faith in our Creator. Faith that God will answer our prayers to spare our children fighting in war and that they achieve victory over our evil enemies.
For religious Jews is that includes Hishtadlus - diligent physical effort in achieving that goal before God will help us, He requires first that we go as far as we can to ‘help ourselves’. In the case of Israel’s survival our Hishtadlus is the IDF.
It’s true that a lot of Tehilim is being recited for purposes of God’s mercy for our suffering ‘brothers in all the house of Israel’. But reciting the special prayer composed specifically for our soldiers is more than appropriate. Ignoring it for political reasons is - to my mind - totally unacceptable! Politics should be ‘thrown out the window’.