Joseph Zitt's [as if in dreams] 2025-06-18
Hi. I'm Joseph Zitt. I moved from the US to Israel in 2017. This is my newsletter about more-or-less daily life in my city in the shadow of war. You can select these links to subscribe or unsubscribe. There are more links at the bottom. You can also read this email online here. Here we go...
I've been wrong about the hallways.
I had been told, when I moved in to the House of a Hundred Grandmothers, that the hallways were every bit as safe as the large shelters downstairs. I had been trying to convince neighbors that this was so, and was concerned that they were not believing it.
I spoke to a member of the senior staff today about it. It turns out that I'm wrong. The hallways had been sufficient for the improvised tin cans that Hamas had been throwing at us. Apparently, that's not true for the bigger missiles from Iran.
It would have been nice if someone had bothered to communicate this.
So now, if I hear the pre-alert, I have to head down three stories to the shelters on the ground floor.
I recognize that too many people across the country have to go greater distances. Media is showing the tent cities that are forming in large parking basements and within the new light rail stations.
We did have a couple of alarms last night, at about 12:30 and 1:30 AM. I hadn't spoken to senior staff yet, so I stayed in the hallway and encouraged neighbors to do so, too. I was wrong.
I also woke up at about 3:30 AM and set my coffee to decant.
I'm exhausted. I'm feeling a bit broken by this latest information failure.
I have been developing a bad cough since before all this started. The doctor here prescribed an over-the-counter medication. Apparently some pharmacies are open. I don't know whether the buses are running. I'm wary of walking downtown. I haven't been outdoors in a week.
As I type this, the municipal WhatsApp channel announces that some public transportation is running "on a limited basis in accordance with the Ministry of Transportation's guidelines." Whatever those are at the moment.
The channel also sends out a link to a survey where people can let them know of elderly people or of those who have difficulty with technology, so they can help them in an emergency.
I catch the tail end of a TV report that restrictions on what can be open have changed. But I haven't seen that reflected in other media or official announcements.
At about 5 PM today, one of the nurses calls my room. I have forgotten to go down to her office to swap out my daily medications. She hears me stammer as I try to answer her. She says it's OK, and that she will come up with the new set later on.
There's an alert at about 7:30 PM. I sigh and head to the downstairs shelter. Once there, I smile and greet people. No one sits next to me. People leave after ten minutes (not understanding that that rule has ended) or when we get official word from Home Front Command. News later announces that the attack was just a single missile, which was intercepted.
I stop in to Continual Care to swap my medicines (since the nurse never did show up) and check in with family.
I get in the elevator and slump, but stand and smile again when a resident with a walker and her caregiver get in. They get off on the second floor.
The resident looks at me and says, "Have a good night... and a quiet one."
I nod.
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Here’s an archive of past newsletters.
You can find me via email, Bluesky, Mastodon, Facebook, and, just out of inertia, X/Twitter. There's more about me and my books, music, and films at josephzitt.com.
The newsletter’s official mailing address is 304 S. Jones Blvd #3567, Las Vegas NV 89107. (I’m in Israel, but if physical mail comes to me at that Las Vegas address, it’ll get scanned and emailed. I don’t expect that to happen much. If you want to send me physical mail, ask me for a real address.)
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L'hitraot.