A Scary, Tragic Weekend

No no, not me. We had a great Shabbos in Far Rockaway, then I drove with a few friends yesterday morning for a bris (circumcision) in Baltimore. The only rough part was the traffic on the way back to New York. Ugh.

Two people that had crazy weekends are Jameel & Tall Latte. Jameel volunteered in Northern Israel for Magen David Adom (Israel's emergency services), and even before he took pictures of a too-close rocket, he was scared:

I do alot of scary things...being a Hatzala and MDA EMT volunteer, who's on call around the clock -- I unfortunately see all sorts of pretty gory scenes. Mass casualty attacks, terror attacks, horrendous car accidents, or just something ordinary -- like a heart attack victim who needs CPR -- all of these situations have a "scariness" factor to them.

Running after terrorists is another situation with a high scariness factor -- getting a message in the middle of the night that the fence has been cut, and there may be a terrorist running around means I grab my M-16 rifle and run out the door. Maybe it's easier because there isn't any time to contemplate the danger involved -- you just act based on your training and try to do what needs to be done.

But this was completely different.

Meanwhile, Tall Latte thankfully may not have been in the Federation building in Seattle where a terrorist killed one and wounded five, but she is still awfully close to the story:

It was one of those crazy afternoons. DH, child #1 and I were just at my office ready to collect child #2 from daycare across the street. We were heading out of town to go 200 miles to the south to be with family for Shabbat and the weekend.

And then DH – the Jewish professional – got the call. He swore and paled. I heard the words "shooting" and "Federation." And I just assumed it was in some other city.

It was in my town.

Of course we headed back to his office, our phones immediately ringing off the hook. The press, both local and national, other community leaders, rabbis and more. He fought to keep up and keep abreast of the developing tragedy. The person was still at large and the scene was unfolding.

Read the whole thing.

A few other good links:

Life-of-Rubin has some war humor.

Meryl comments on the Seattle shootings.

EU Refereundum notes how pictures are not telling stories, but propaganda (warning: gory photos). [via Muqata]

Charles Krauthammer has a great piece in Jewish World Review: Life in an Orwellian Universe. (Hat tip: SIL)

Read them all.