A few days ago, in between trips to the bomb shelter, my eldest daughter got engaged. This Shabbat we were glad to host her and her fiancé, Noah, even if the circumstances were anything but normal.

We began Shabbat praying Kabbalat Shabbat in the synagogue’s bomb shelter. As we finished dinner Friday night, the first missile alert sounded. After that we were up every few hours, heading back and forth to the shelter. By the 6:20 siren, our seventh, it was already clear it would be a long day.

Since we were already awake, Noah and I went to the early 7:00 am minyan. Soon after Noah was called for an aliyah to the Torah, an alert for shortness of breath was broadcast over United Hatzalah’s responder dispatch system. On our local channel, I heard that the other responder on Shabbat duty was already on the way with equipment, so I ran straight there. I arrived just after them and was able to point out that the patient was in the separate basement apartment and not at the main entrance.

As we were leaving that call, I received a different alert, this time for a possible heart attack. I flagged down the other on-call Shabbat responder and we drove together to the call. We were able to administer aspirin before the patient’s condition deteriorated further.

On my walk home I joined a second minyan and caught the end of Torah reading, but instead of finishing the service there I went to the public bomb shelter near my home, where I found Noah resting, since he didn’t have the key to the house. I let him in and then went to a third minyan, arriving just in time for musaf.

I got home just before 10:00, made a quick kiddush, and tried to catch a little sleep on the couch, but at 11:30 another siren woke us and we ran back to the shelter. After that we enjoyed a delicious Shabbat lunch, though the afternoon included a few more trips to the shelter. I managed a few minutes of rest before again heading out as a first responder, this time to help a child with anaphylaxis.

Between rocket alerts and emergency calls it was a long Shabbat. Even so, I was grateful to be able to enjoy Shabbat while doing my small part as a United Hatzalah volunteer helping neighbors in need during a stressful time. Praying for a more peaceful week ahead.