Rabbi Zalman received this e-mail from a friend in Israel:

1) “From the diary of Rabbi Tiechtel Sr., who is visiting Israel this week.

Friends, I am writing to you to share with you something that I feel is important for all of you in the Diaspora to know and to feel. I was raised in Israel, and always knew about the history, wars and struggles of the Jewish people to have their homeland, but the past two days have given me a new perspective.

I with my wife were in the holy city of Meron, in the north of Israel, a very peaceful city, with a population of a few thousand. It is high up in the mountains, and one can see the Lebanese border from there. We went to visit the graveside of the famed Rashbi, the author of the Zohar, and were to pray for our friends and family. As we concluded our visit, we were invited by friends to stay for the night in Meron at a local hotel they own. Earlier that day we went to visit the border town of Kiryat Arba and Metulah, and were told that the army closed the area as two soldiers were just kidnapped there. We did not understand the severity of the situation as of yet.

Meron is a city that has not been attacked by any missiles for over 30 years, and all felt safe there. That evening as we were falling asleep we heard a rocket hit Mt. Meron, as one of Israel’s top secret army installations is atop of Mt. Meron, and seemingly the Hezbollah were aiming for that. All night long we heard the rockets explode in our area. It was at early in the morning, that we were awoken by the slamming of katusha rocket right near where were staying. The power went out, and the entire population of Meron immediately went down into their shelters.

Friends, it was a scary moment, as the rocket literally landed 1000 feet from where the community and their families were centered. After several hours, we left the shelters and decided to go to the holy city of Tzfat (Safed), as this was more south into Israel, and was supposed to be a safe place. Rockets have never attacked Tzfat ever before. We arrived in Tzfat and went to visit the mountain where the Ari Zal and other famous Kabalists and holy people were buried there. This is a place that people form the world over come and visit, to pray and have their prayers answered there.

As we were standing on the bottom of the mountain, we heard the sound of a powerful boom, and we looked up and saw one, two and then three missiles with a mighty flame, just passing above our heads. We were in an open field, and they could have landed right near us, we prayed for a miracle, and thank G-d they landed in open field a short distance from us. Friends it was a moment of reckoning.

We then went to visit my sister who lives in Tzfat, and as we arrived there, the entire community was leaving to go into their shelters. Just after that several missiles landed literally across the street from my sisters home, and by miracle there were only several light injuries there. Unfortunately there was a woman in another part of the city that was killed from a missile that hit her home.

Friends, these people are regular civilians who want to live in peace, and want peace, and were going about their daily lives, taking care of their families. Many of their lives have been shattered because of the actions of the terrorists in Lebanon, Syria and Iran. When you read the news, or see it on TV, you cannot comprehend what it is to experience this, what we experienced today. True anti Semitism by people who want to wipe the land of Israel off the map.

There are several fronts that can resolve the crisis. One is in the hands of the Israeli government, and that is that they do what they need to do from a military strategic view, and may G-d be with them at all times.

Then there is what we as civilians can do. That is to pray to G-d for a peaceful resolution, and to add in doing actions of goodness and kindness. These things may seem not relevant at all to the crisis on hand, but there is a G-d in heaven, and when He sees that his people are fulfilling his will, He brings about mighty miracles. Please do it for the sake of the men, women and children in the Holy Land”.

Rabbi Zalman and Nechama Tiechtel

Chabad at the University of Kansas

And the Capital District