Bitter Sweet Days

Today was a bitter sweet day. Today marks the day that Gilad Shalit returned home to his family and to the State of Israel. I wrote about it yesterday and I don't really feel like getting political again. It was great to see him walk, talk, and reunite with his family but it was disturbing watching so many Palestinians rejoice in all the murderers that returned to them. This showed me that we love our children MORE than we hate our enemies. We'll let people go who will likely try to kill us again. But if you save one life, you save a nation. This young man, who looks like he was just released from a concentration camp circa 1945, is a symbol of hope for the Israeli population. He may not want to be a symbol for anything but he's Israel's son. He represents every murdered person in Israel because he got to return home. We welcome him with open arms and warm hearts - he has a long road ahead of him.

I don't think any Israeli wasn't glued to the news today. My boss walked around with his iPad on full blast watching the live stream of Gilad Shalit's return. When I spoke to my grandmother tonight, she asked me about a million questions regarding his return. It humbled me a bit. She's over 80 years old and hasn't been to Israel in at least 20 years yet she was overcome with emotion upon the return of a kid she's never met. It was sweet.

If Gilad Shalit's return was the sweet part of the day, the bitter part came when I had a root canal. G-d bless socialized medicine and great dentists. I hate the dentist... full on terrified of going. I have been since I was a kid. Today's experience wasn't as bad as it could have been. The price for getting a root canal was still more than it should have been ($150 for a half hour's work) but I'm not in any pain right now... the whole thing was basically painless. Yet, I had heart palpitations and some anxiety issues.

It was a bitter sweet day and one I'll likely never forget.

Am Yisrael Chi! There's no place on earth like the State of Israel and I am proud to be an Israeli. We take the notion of "no man left behind" very seriously.