We have all become experts in missiles and weaponry. We have learned new words: shrapnel, cluster munitions, interception. And in Israel, other words that feel etched into the soul like tattoos: dead, wounded, fear, disaster, sirens… The question arises, almost out of nowhere: what meaning is there in continuing with so much ritual in a world that seems to be ruled by madmen—forcing us to choose between being swept away by terrorist attacks, taking lives in order to survive,