Last night, lying beside my sleeping children in our safe room, I found myself asking a question that the peoples of our region have likely asked over the past 19 months: “What will I do if a missile strikes our home?”

It’s not the first time I’ve asked myself this question. The Iranian missile barrage on June 13, 2025, wasn’t the first assault I’ve lived through since October 7—and it won’t be the last. Normally, I’d recite chapter and verse about the low statistical probability of being hit by an unguided projectile, calmly explaining why there’s no reason for hysteria.

But people are dying. And with my wife and eldest daughter out of the country, I felt the weight of the moment as I lay next to my younger children.

So I began running through a list of scenarios—each one a grim calculus of loss and survival—that went something like this:

If the war rages on but our city is spared - it would have been enough.

If our city is in ruins but our building still stands - it would have been enough.

If our home is destroyed but my family is spared - it would have been enough.

If I die and my daughters are only moderately wounded - it would have been enough.

If I am moderately wounded and they are only lightly injured - it would have been enough.

If I am lightly hurt and they are only shell-shocked - it would have been enough.

If my family is unharmed but my daughters no longer smile — it would have been enough.

If their smiles return but they no longer dream…then what was it all for?