Coffee! I had to get coffee鈥 before the second alert. The one that means: NOW enter your protected space. Then: Brush teeth, wet curly and unruly hair. Crunch it up and hope for the best. Clothes come last. Plenty in the safe room.
As beans were pressurized into the all-important caffeine boost, I had time to respond to messages. My brother in California. My cousin near Chicago. A couple we met almost two years ago on a cruise. My husband was already in the mamad, saferoom, watching the reports of ballistic missiles headed to Israel. But we didn鈥檛 care:
The United States had bombed Iran鈥檚 nuclear sites!
This is the moment we had been waiting for. Not only would Iran鈥檚 nuclear capabilities be destroyed, but we鈥檇 be free of endless debates among experts on TV panels: Will the U.S. bomb Iran? When?
My theory has always been: When it happens, we鈥檒l know. Nothing anyone says will clarify the timing.
Coffee in hand, I entered the mamad and my husband pulled the steel door shut and forced the lever into position. Protection.
It鈥檚 been nine days since I wrote about extreme alerts at 3 a.m., since we again stayed near shelters, and since we started to hope that today would come.
I texted one of my soldier granddaughters, hoping she hadn鈥檛 left yet for her base in the south: no protection on the roads. She hadn鈥檛. She was in the mamad with her younger sister, who returns to her base only on Monday, and their high-school-aged brother. 听I knew their cousin was on her base鈥攏ot traveling. To reassure me, they sent a picture from the mamad, family dog included. Their parents are stranded in Europe along with 150,000 other Israelis trying desperately to return.
And yes, despite the destruction suffered in some of our cities by missiles that evaded our attempts at interception, we are relieved. My social media groups, which are distinguished by political considerations: one allows political discussions, one forbids it, and another is for like-minded friends. But this morning, all are united in celebration and in gratitude.
Many of us are former Americans with family in the States from far left to, let鈥檚 say, center-right. We wonder: Are they as united this morning as we are?
When we are released from the saferoom, I eat eggs, lox and leeks and pita bread. Sounds right. A bit of my American upbringing and my Israeli life. All together in one pan. Like today鈥檚 action against Iran.
Stand-up routines, memes and clips from old movies that make fun of our situation, our politicians, our enemies, ourselves fill social media. These posts keep us laughing and somewhat sane. Who has time to come up with all these?
In between passing along these soul-savers to my social media, I respond to relatives, friends, classmates from nursery school through university, who reach out to us. Some I hear from only in wartime, but in Israel, well, that鈥檚 often and appreciated. Yes, staying home is safer, but confining. The treadmill helps. Since the attack last week, my speed has been slower. Today when the reactors exploded, I felt lighter. Refreshed. I added half a mile in the same amount of time. Burned more calories.
Later, kids from our community delivered homemade cookies to the vatikim, seniors. I probably didn鈥檛 burn enough calories for the chocolate chip cookies, but this is war.
Yes, we鈥檙e euphoric today, but also saddened. With the good is always the bad to keep us grounded. The bodies of three victims of October 7 were brought back to Israel in a military operation. Gaza is not forgotten. Now, hopefully, without the tentacles of the Ayatollahs to fund Hamas, we鈥檒l have a better chance of bringing all of our hostages home.
America is waking up. I鈥檓 going to get a cup of coffee鈥攐r maybe I should make that a glass of wine鈥 check my social media, laugh at some new jokes and listen to panels debate a future they can鈥檛 control.
Thank you, America, for taking action. For doing what had to be done.
Galia Miller Sprung moved to Israel from Southern California in 1970 to become a pioneer farmer and today she is a writer and editor.听
Extreme Alert at 8 am
Galia Miller Sprung
Coffee! I had to get coffee鈥 before the second alert. The one that means: NOW enter your protected space. Then: Brush teeth, wet curly and unruly hair. Crunch it up and hope for the best. Clothes come last. Plenty in the safe room.
As beans were pressurized into the all-important caffeine boost, I had time to respond to messages. My brother in California. My cousin near Chicago. A couple we met almost two years ago on a cruise. My husband was already in the mamad, saferoom, watching the reports of ballistic missiles headed to Israel. But we didn鈥檛 care:
The United States had bombed Iran鈥檚 nuclear sites!
This is the moment we had been waiting for. Not only would Iran鈥檚 nuclear capabilities be destroyed, but we鈥檇 be free of endless debates among experts on TV panels: Will the U.S. bomb Iran? When?
My theory has always been: When it happens, we鈥檒l know. Nothing anyone says will clarify the timing.
Coffee in hand, I entered the mamad and my husband pulled the steel door shut and forced the lever into position. Protection.
It鈥檚 been nine days since I wrote about extreme alerts at 3 a.m., since we again stayed near shelters, and since we started to hope that today would come.
I texted one of my soldier granddaughters, hoping she hadn鈥檛 left yet for her base in the south: no protection on the roads. She hadn鈥檛. She was in the mamad with her younger sister, who returns to her base only on Monday, and their high-school-aged brother. 听I knew their cousin was on her base鈥攏ot traveling. To reassure me, they sent a picture from the mamad, family dog included. Their parents are stranded in Europe along with 150,000 other Israelis trying desperately to return.
And yes, despite the destruction suffered in some of our cities by missiles that evaded our attempts at interception, we are relieved. My social media groups, which are distinguished by political considerations: one allows political discussions, one forbids it, and another is for like-minded friends. But this morning, all are united in celebration and in gratitude.
Many of us are former Americans with family in the States from far left to, let鈥檚 say, center-right. We wonder: Are they as united this morning as we are?
When we are released from the saferoom, I eat eggs, lox and leeks and pita bread. Sounds right. A bit of my American upbringing and my Israeli life. All together in one pan. Like today鈥檚 action against Iran.
Stand-up routines, memes and clips from old movies that make fun of our situation, our politicians, our enemies, ourselves fill social media. These posts keep us laughing and somewhat sane. Who has time to come up with all these?
In between passing along these soul-savers to my social media, I respond to relatives, friends, classmates from nursery school through university, who reach out to us. Some I hear from only in wartime, but in Israel, well, that鈥檚 often and appreciated. Yes, staying home is safer, but confining. The treadmill helps. Since the attack last week, my speed has been slower. Today when the reactors exploded, I felt lighter. Refreshed. I added half a mile in the same amount of time. Burned more calories.
Later, kids from our community delivered homemade cookies to the vatikim, seniors. I probably didn鈥檛 burn enough calories for the chocolate chip cookies, but this is war.
Yes, we鈥檙e euphoric today, but also saddened. With the good is always the bad to keep us grounded. The bodies of three victims of October 7 were brought back to Israel in a military operation. Gaza is not forgotten. Now, hopefully, without the tentacles of the Ayatollahs to fund Hamas, we鈥檒l have a better chance of bringing all of our hostages home.
America is waking up. I鈥檓 going to get a cup of coffee鈥攐r maybe I should make that a glass of wine鈥 check my social media, laugh at some new jokes and listen to panels debate a future they can鈥檛 control.
Thank you, America, for taking action. For doing what had to be done.
Galia Miller Sprung moved to Israel from Southern California in 1970 to become a pioneer farmer and today she is a writer and editor.听
Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.
Editor's Picks
Israel and the Internet Wars – A Professional Social Media Review
The Invisible Student: A Tale of Homelessness at UCLA and USC
What Ever Happened to the LA Times?
Who Are the Jews On Joe Biden’s Cabinet?
You鈥檙e Not a Bad 91传媒 Mom If Your Kid Wants Santa Claus to Come to Your House
No Labels: The Group Fighting for the Political Center
Latest Articles
A Rabbi Explains What鈥檚 91传媒 About ‘The Odyssey’
Tu b’Av and Redemption
Mission to the 91传媒 Community of Ethiopia
LA28: Inside the Race to Host One of the World鈥檚 Biggest Sporting Events
The Myth of the Marxist Mishpacha
Professors Should Fight Campus Jew-Hatred as Educators, Not Bureaucrats
Framing the Faith of Maimonides
In this enriching new edition of the classic code of 91传媒 law, readers can delve deeply into the mind of Maimonides, from his analysis of the commandments to the controversies that have accompanied his writings, offering a window into the wisdom of one of our tradition鈥檚 preeminent thinkers.
Hope in Faith, Faith in Hope
Will Americans ever regain trust in our institutions? I think so.
Finding Communal Comfort
In the book of Isaiah, God calls the prophet to comfort the 91传媒 people. But we know this is really something we must do for one another.
Leaving Behind a Better World
The America my generation seems to be leaving our kids and grandkids is not safer nor saner, and it breaks my heart.
Boy George Releases Song Calling Out Israel鈥檚 Critics
The Culture Club singer shared a new song, 鈥淲e Will Dance Again,鈥 while calling out fellow musicians鈥 鈥渟elective memories鈥 and 鈥渕outhing like sheep.鈥
Was Our Golden Age Fool鈥檚 Gold?
We didn鈥檛 think that we were living in a 鈥淕olden Age,鈥 because it did not occur to us that what we were experiencing was only a temporary respite from centuries of animosity and intolerance.
Genocide Shmenocide
Since Israel evacuated Gaza in 2005, the Palestinian population has grown from 1.3 million to 2.1 million. In the West Bank, it has grown from 2.4 million to 3.4 million. If the Israelis were hellbent on committing genocide, it鈥檚 one of the most epic failures in military history.
Bibi鈥檚 Visit: Spin in the Air, Facts on the Ground
From Trump鈥檚 standpoint, the nuclear issue has been overtaken by the bedeviling problem of the Strait of Hormuz. What Trump sees now in Iran is a mess, not a victory.
The Obsession with Israel Is Becoming Creepy
The world鈥檚 fanatical fixation with a group that is less that 0.2 percent of the world鈥檚 population has crossed the boundaries of moral vocabulary and into creepiness.
What Will It Take?
An open revolt for 91传媒 rights and protections is going to have to come from Jews finally making demands and fighting back鈥攐r not at all.
Mamdani Needs to Pay a Price for Harming Jews
It鈥檇 be one thing if Mamdani were a lowly Israelophobe with a few hundred followers. But he鈥檚 not. He鈥檚 mayor of the city with the world鈥檚 largest 91传媒 population.
Rabbis of LA | Rabbi Geller鈥檚 Feminist Education
Third of three parts
Rabbi Artson Honored by WLCJ, Mem Global鈥檚 Embark Names Executive Director
Notable people and events in the 91传媒 LA community.
I Can鈥檛 Always 鈥 A poem for Parsha Va鈥檈tchanan
You Can鈥檛 Always Get What You Want came out the year after I was born.
A Bisl Torah 鈥 Senseless versus Sensible
The 9th of Av is an annual reminder to look inward and ask if any hatred has taken root within our hearts.
Moment in Time: Tisha B鈥橝v – A Time to Comfort
Poussin鈥檚 Menorah Chimes Without Jews at Midnight
Print Issue: Haredim at War | July 24, 2026
The Haredim who break out of their bubbles to join the IDF are often caught between faith, family and country. Here are some of their stories.
The Inversion of History
Molly Crabapple has written a work of great inversion and of ultimate betrayal.
From 鈥楾he Chosen鈥 to 鈥業maging Torah鈥: Jeremy Kagan鈥檚 Journey to Bring Torah to Life
For the director/artist, creating images inspired by Torah is a way of engaging with the stories, ideas and interpretations that have shaped 91传媒 life for thousands of years.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.