I admit that my phone is often—always?—buzzing with news alerts out of Israel. Earlier this summer, of course, I was getting the same alerts as my Israeli friends of missiles overhead—only I did not need to run to a shelter. Far too often, we are still seeing the words: Permitted to announce, which always precedes the name of a young soldier killed, usually in Gaza. Sometimes, the alerts are more lighthearted, a quick weather update, news of a reality star, or—of course—soccer scores.

But, I did not have these apps in 2016, and so I missed this bit of archaeological news. The headlines read: Archaeologists find battle site where Romans breached Jerusalem wallsfollowed by the subheader: “Discovery confirms Josephus’s account of the conflict that saw destruction of Second Temple nearly 2,000 years ago,” says Israeli Antiquities Authority.

On Sunday (July 13), Jews around the world will observe the minor fast day of 17 Tammuz. Commemorating the very event captured in that headline, the 17th of Tammuz also ushers in the Three Weeks—the days between the 17th of Tammuz, when the wall was breached, and Tisha B’Av, when the Temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was sacked. Last year, we marked these days for the first time since October 7. This year, we mark them in the shadow of the Iranian attacks, with buildings in the very center of Tel Aviv still in rubble.

The traditional focus of 17 Tammuz and its ensuing days is on spiritual repair; it is seen as the “soft open” for the High Holy Day practice of cheshbon hanefesh, taking a spiritual accounting of our year and of our deeds. It is meant to help us focus on our behaviors, individual and collective, and to reflect on Jewish history and our place in it.

This year, I want to suggest that—contrary to the tradition—we also add an element of gratitude into the day. Gratitude for our homeland and the people who defend it, and gratitude for Iron Dome and our other modern day defense systems, which protected millions of Israeli lives. We know, certainly, that there are still dark days ahead—our tradition calls these weeks bein hametzarim, between the straits—but as I watch my Israeli friends send their kids to camp and return to the rhythms of daily lives—I am grateful for all the ways in which the “walls of Jerusalem” held, and continue to hold us.

—Rabbi Sari Laufer