Naama Verter ’23

Posted on January 5, 2024

From the start of the war on the seventh of October, my home, like many homes in Israel, went through a change. Both my parents were enlisted to reserve service in the army, and at home remained the small group of just my two young brothers and I, who were not enlisted. We are very proud of our parents, and we appreciate their investment and their willingness to contribute to the army and to the country during this time of crisis. We do our best to support them from afar and to be a strong home front for them.

There are moments that we break down, but our belief that this war is just and our pride in their important contribution makes up for everything. We have a supportive family and community. It is nice to feel that people are looking out for us, and that we are loved and taken care of from every direction.

These two photos were taken two weeks apart. When I looked at them next to each other, I saw that they represent two opposing poles. One represents routine, and everything that is normal and expected, and the other represents everything that is not.

In the first photo, which looks like it was staged but was taken completely by chance, my father is breaking into the window of my older brother’s room. The situation itself is strange; why would someone enter his house through the window rather than the door? His face is not visible in the picture. In a certain way, this picture represents the atmosphere in my house during this period. Nothing is conventional. My parents are at home only part of the time, and even when they are physically present, their thoughts sometimes wander to other, far-off places. So their minds are not really present. Their presence itself is not routine or consistent, hence entering the house through the window and not the door.

The second picture is taken at a café where I sat together with my friends. For a moment, everything was normal again. We sat together on a Jerusalem autumn morning, we drank coffee, and we ate breakfast, while having a pleasant conversation about next year and our experiences over the past week. Escapism from this crazy time. Breakfast was once again just breakfast, and coffee was once again just coffee. For a moment, everything seemed to be normal again. May we return to many more moments like this, when this becomes the routine once again.