יש לך כלי נשק

Today I walked with the boys to the post office to pick up a package from a friend (Thanks Patricia) and as usual, when we got to the door of the post office I was asked by the security guard if I was carrying a gun. You must understand something about Israel. When you are asked this it is not because you will be in trouble if you say you are, it is just so the guard knows and in some cases so he can hold it for you when you go inside. This is the case in every restaurant, the mall, school, and every museum that you visit in Jerusalem.

It is strange how these things seem so normal to me now. Give me 5 minutes on any street in Jerusalem and I will show you at least one person that has a gun tucked into his/her pants. Give me 30 seconds and I will show you an Israeli soldier carrying a gun and a backpack as he/she returns home or head back out to active duty. Many security guards carry Uzzis (like the security at Hebrew University) and every school field trip requires that an armed guard accompany the students.

Before coming here I looked in the Hebrew phrase book and laughed when I saw phrases like "Could you please move your gun" (For when someone's rifle is blocking your way), or "Where is the bomb shelter" (shelters are also required of every building). Now I realize that it is possible to use those phrases in normal life.

All of this to say, this is life in Jerusalem. The metal detectors and the "bag-searches" that we must undergo to enter public buildings are not inconvenient, they are re-assuring. The soldier sitting next to me with his gun is not intimidating, it is comforting. The person asking me if I have a weapon is not strange, it is routine. The question is how quickly will all of this feel like it is world's apart once we return to America?