I made aliyah in July 2024, in the middle of war. There was no gentle entry into Israeli life, no gradual acclimation to normalcy. Within months, I experienced the Iranian missile barrage on October 1, 2024, and by June 2025, the confrontation with Iran had escalated into open warfare. I learned quickly what it means to live with sirens. I downloaded the Home Front Command app, along with Red Alert and Tzofar, like everyone else. I located the protected space in my apartment. I counted the seconds it would take to reach it. These were not theoretical exercises. They were part of daily life.

This year, I left Israel temporarily for a personal emergency in Montreal. It was not a departure from Israel as a commitment, but a necessary interruption. My apartment remained there, my books on the shelves, my neighbors in place. Israel was still home.

The Siren in Montreal

Then, on a Shabbat morning in Montreal, I woke before dawn to the sound of sirens emanating not from the street but from my phone. I had forgotten to close it before Shabbat. The alerts came in rapid succession from the Home Front Command app, Red Alert, and Tzofar. Iran had launched missiles toward Israel.

For a moment I was disoriented. Montreal was silent. The street outside my window was calm. However, I knew exactly what was happening thousands of miles away. I could picture the sequence with unsettling precision. The seconds ticking down in Jerusalem. The rush into stairwells and safe rooms. Parents gathering children. The distant thud of interceptions overhead. The waiting for the all clear. The checking of phones once it came.

There is a profound difference between following a war from a distance and having lived through it. Before July 2024, I understood Israel’s security situation intellectually,........

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