Get me to Israel on time

“I don’t care how you get me there, but I have to be in Israel for Pesach,” the woman near me this week at the Norwood Mall shouted down the cellphone. “I know there’s a war on, but my children are there and so I have to be with them for Pesach.” 

I couldn’t help but smile as I got on with my business. That little interaction, or perhaps altercation, was so indicative of everything that we are as Jews. 

Who else would be so eager to get to a country that’s in the middle of a war? Not just at war but that has ballistic missiles being fired at its civilians many times a day. Most of the country is running backwards and forwards from underground shelters every day. I am sure the number of times in the last two weeks people have done the shelter run must feel infinite. Consider that in the past week alone, according to the South African Zionist Federation, Israelis have endured 5 424 red alerts, including 1 274 in a single day, and more than 18 403 over the past month. Granted, each of these doesn’t cover the whole country and can be for isolated areas, but the numbers are astounding, especially when you must seek shelter to ensure your survival. 

And yet, despite that, many Jews are still desperate to get to Israel. And it certainly hasn’t been, nor is it yet, easy to get there. Not at all. The skies are still not open as such as planes are not flying in freely or directly. The skies are opening very slowly because the firing of ballistic missiles isn’t abating. 

To get to Israel, you still need to go via-via-via, and then probably catch a special bus in from Jordan or Egypt. And the cost? Suffice to say, people aren’t talking openly about how much they’re having to pay to get there. One person, I heard, had asked her mother to use her savings to ensure the family was together in Israel for Pesach. Seriously! 

In the SA Jewish Report, you have read only a smidgen of the dramatic stories of people’s travel experiences, which we have managed to attain to write about. There are many more that don’t get past private WhatsApp groups. 

I have to say it’s not lost on me that so many people are making the Great Trek to Israel for Pesach through Egypt. There is something vaguely ironic about the fact that in the year 2026, more than 3 500 years since we left, escaping slavery, people are departing Egypt for Israel. 

The second thing about that Norwood phone confrontation that I marvelled at was that intrinsic Jewish need in most of us to spend the chaggim, especially Pesach, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur, with our family. 

I recall way back in my early adulthood when I was working at the Sunday Times in Cape Town. I was hardly settled when Pesach was upon us and I was nowhere near my family. While I was excited to be working there, I felt very sad knowing I wasn’t going to be with them for Pesach. Fortunately, I was swept up by people around me and it didn’t take long for me to be invited to spend memorable seders with fabulous people. But still, they weren’t my family. I have since done my best to ensure I get to spend the chaggim with my loved ones. So, I understand that woman’s desperation. She is not alone. 

I also recognise that as tough as it is to be in Israel now, and in truth Israelis defy death every day, it’s easier to be with your loved ones there. Let me explain. If you have children living in Israel and you’re there with them, off you all run to the miklatot (bomb shelters). Yes, it’s inconvenient, scary, frustrating, but you’re together experiencing that. And as death-defying as it is, it becomes memories in the making (that is, as long as everyone survives). 

However, once you’re back home in Johannesburg, Cape Town, or Durban, and your children are still running the gauntlet with missiles, it has a different flavour and sense. And it’s not an easy experience. You may keep up to date, as most of us do, with the red alerts and missile launches, but you can’t help your children or ensure they’re safe. I know we’re mostly talking about young or not-so-young adults, but your children are always your babies. 

That constant fear and wondering if they’re still safe. You don’t want to be calling or messaging them all the time. You don’t want to appear overprotective, even though as Jewish parents we generally are. The point is, if there are 20 sirens in one day, can you realistically be in touch that many times? Perhaps, but put yourself in your kids’ position; they might get a little aggravated with you. Just saying. 

And because it’s difficult in South Africa to know exactly where the siren is and what has happened once it’s gone off, we worry. It’s in our genes. 

So, again, I understand why Jewish parents or children want to be with their family in Israel. The problem with getting them out here to South Africa is that they may not be able to be repatriated if necessary for more than 30 days, what with the current security restraints. Not sure how that works or if it would stick but sounds like it makes life difficult. 

The good thing about having family and many friends in Israel is that no matter how realistic artificial intelligence videos of Tel Aviv and Israel being destroyed are, we are not conned. Having said that, it is astonishing how people share these horrific videos with glee. It’s amazing how gullible people can be when something fits their narrative. Isn’t it horrific to think that this is what many people want to see? Am Yisrael Chai! 

Here’s to staying safe and keeping pre-Pesach stress levels down! 

Shabbat Shalom! 

Peta Krost 

Editor