I got a great lesson on perspective (very late) last night that I'd like to share with you.
Last night, we came to Nachal Oz Base (Yes, that Nachal Oz Base) to barbecue for some of our heroes (It was a great barbecue, please donate generously: https://www.grillingforisrael.com/help-sponsor-idf-bbq). We got a tour showing both the horrors and the heroism of our brothers and sisters, a little over nine months ago. The barbecue itself was really great - many soldiers came for seconds and thirds, eating delicious burgers, steaks, and brisket that our volunteers had cooked for them.
After the soldiers were well fed and getting ready to watch the Euro soccer game, it was time to pack up and leave. Only one problem - The car keys weren't working. We could not turn the car on or even open the back of the van to put the things away. We had a similar thing earlier when trying to get the things out of the van in the first place, but were able to solve it within 15 minutes. Due to some of the "Shibushim" (frequency/GPS messiness) in the area, the car did not detect the key that was in, no matter what we tried, including pressing the button with the key, changing the car key battery, unplugging the car battery, taking the back off, putting aluminum foil around it.
It was 11:30 at night, and it had a already been over an hour of being stuck, with no end in sight. All of the Grilling for Israel equipment and leftover food was spread out next to the van. Lots of soldiers tried to help us, but to no avail.
But then I took a second and looked around me. On my right, was the famous Migunit (shelter) where the Tatzpitaniyot hostages were gathered. On my left, the Chamal (Command Center) which our heroes managed to keep sterile from terrorists for many hours until they got onto the roof and threw flammable liquid down, burning 15 out of the 22 soldiers alive. 55 people had been killed on the base overall, plus 10 hostages taken. And the soldiers we had fed yesterday had been so grateful that we came to give them love and meat. And all of a sudden, our problems seemed pretty small.
We don't have to go to the sites of the atrocities to feel this perspective, the feelings of October 7th and every day the hostages are still there are still plenty fresh in our minds. Often there is something bothering us in our personal/professional lives, or even making us sad, frustrated, and/or angry. It is worth taking that pause, to think about the perspective, how big of a deal is this in the grand picture of things.
(End of story is that a little bit past midnight, after 2+ hours of trying, we were able to finally turn the car on, pack up (once we were brave enough to turn the car off since the back of the van doesn't open when the van is on), drive to Kfar Aza to drop off leftovers to the Kitat Konenut (first response unit) there, and then drive home to Modiin, getting into bed around 3 AM. Thank you to my partner in crime yesterday Ariel Werblowsky.
