The Disengagement: Baptism by fire

I've started this new job smack in the beginning of the Gaza Disengagement. My knowledge of Hebrew and other things Jewy made me feel useful this morning during all of the breaking news from Gaza. (I actually have to pay attention to the news for this new job).

I don't pretend to understand the complexities and nuances of Israeli politics, but I do know that the images I've seen in the past few days are heartbreaking. It was odd this morning to see the action at the shul in Neve Dekalim start to slow down. People began to wonder why and all of a sudden I realized that it was around 5pm in Israel- time for Maariv (evening prayers)- and soldiers and settles began to pray-not quite the most organized prayer service ever, but it did cause things to calm down a tiny bit.

From Haaretz:

Female soldiers and police officers broke into the adjacent Ashkenazic synagogue where the women protesters were located and removed those who had barricaded themselves in the building. The women soldiers had agreed to wait until the end of prayers before entering the synagogue.

I find this an interesting contrast between the sexes- that the women agreed ahead of time to wait until after the prayer service while the men....well...I'm sure you all the footage.