Sometimes I wonder if my blog should be renamed “Tears in Israel.” 

Sometimes I write about happy tears. Other times they are sad or angry tears, but I seem to mention tears a great deal in my blogs. 

What can I say.

Last week I was in the grocery store catching up with another mom. She was away for a few weeks and I was describing what the summer has been like for us..the war..the soldiers..the fears…etc. And I started to tear up, as usual.

And she said, “Are you crying?”

And I almost laughed. Um, yeah. Of course I’m crying, I thought to myself. I guess you don’t know me too well. Because if I’m going to talk about our soldiers, and our summer and our war – you bet I’m going to start tearing up. That’s kind of what I do.

So, it should come as no surprise that I’m sitting at my desk at work crying, because I opened up Facebook to check on the recent Nefesh B’Nefesh flight update from this morning. Thought I might catch an update from Josh, or see some pictures of the Olim.

But instead, I saw this.

My tears are flowing. They are flowing because we’ve been feeling quite alone here in our little country that is constantly under attack. And they’re flowing because we’ve been watching the Jews get beaten in Paris, and shot and killed on the way to shul in Florida, and banned from Bradford West in England. 

And then, this morning, 125 kids picked up from their lives in North America and came to join us. And they aren’t just joining us in our towns and cities around Israel (which is awesome in and of itself) but they are filling the ranks in our army. They are planning to help keep us safe and to be on the front line.

Welcome home guys.

You have a place in our house any day of the week. (Seriously. We have a guest room and six boys who would love to hug you.)

We are beyond thrilled to have you. 

Gotta go now and find a tissue….