This week, instead of a story, I’m sharing with you a note that I wrote on my phone almost two years ago, right after my first meeting with survivors of the October 7 attacks. Back then, the war seemed like something that would be over in a few weeks. And now it feels as if the more time goes by, the hazier the signs of life around us grow. They’re still there, but having experienced over 700 days of captivity, starvation, displacement and death, we notice them less and less.
Now close your eyes and try to stop being angry. Try to stop raging at all those who deserve your righteous fury. Close your eyes and allow yourself, just for a moment, to simply feel the pain. To hesitate. To be confused. To feel sorrow. Remorse. You still have your whole life to spend persecuting, avenging, reckoning. But for now, just close your eyes and look inward, like a satellite hovering over a disaster zone, searching for signs of life. A lot has been taken away from you—but you’re still a human being. Wounded, bloodied, angry, hurting, frightened, drowning in sorrow, but still: human. Take a deep breath and try to remember the feeling. Because you know that a minute from now, when you open your eyes again, it’ll be gone.
