I was just talking on the phone with our friend Shai, who my wife Tova is visiting in the hospital. Suicide bombers pack nails and screws into their bombs to make them more deadly. On Tuesday night Shai was hit with two pieces of the "shrapnel": one went straight through his leg; the other broke his collarbone (?) and lodged near a major artery in his chest - making it dangerous and tricky to remove. And the boom of the blast has impaired his hearing. His surgery has been postponed as the doctors figure out the best way to remove the debris.

Shai is otherwise in OK shape and sounds like his regular self. Tova printed out the global "get well" wishes from the comments below, which he appreciated.

He wasn't reluctant to tell me details. He was sitting in the middle of the cafe with his back to the door when the Jihadi blew up, so he heard the boom and saw people opposite him panicking. When he was hit in the leg and shoulder he fell to the floor, and consciously avoided looking behind him. Someone shouted a people to stay down because there might be another bomb. After someone smashed a glass pane near the back of the restaurant (which was walled with glass on 2 sides), Shai managed to pull himself out with the help of his dinner companion. They distanced themselves from the restaurant (again consciously to avoid trauma) and then returned and got ensconced into an ambulance.

The governor of Oklahoma visited Shai in the hospital, and he was interviewed by a newspaper called "The New Mexican"[?].

A Norwegian TV network filmed and interviewed him for 20 minutes and intends to juxtapose him with a Palestinian terrorist. But why would they choose to focus on a mildly-wounded, not-so-traumatized unmarried well-off guy in his 30s? Why not describe the story of Dr. David Applebaum and his daughter who would have been married last night? Why not speak to their families? Wouldn't it make a better human interest story?

24 hrs. afterward

Sh. - one of my wife's old friends - was hurt by shrapnel in last night's bombing. Doctors say there is a screw lodged near a major artery, which requires removal via a delicate procedure. He's been moved to a different hospital and will be undergoing surgery tomorrow. Get better soon Sh.

Currently they're saying 4 dead and many injured. Our friends in the neighborhood all seem to be OK. Report in Haaretz, Jpost.

I'm signing off for the night.

Hamas are evil, but it's hard to think much differently about the people in the PA and abroad who demand that we just accept this and give the Palis more and more in the hopes that someday they won't dislike us anymore.

Right now I heard 2 dead. There's a security guard at the door of the cafe, so my guess is the guy blew himself up in the sidewalk cafe.

All of our friends are calling us to make sure we're OK.

Apparently it's on CNN. That's quick.

Radio says bombing at Cafe Hillel - just down the block from me. Sounds like lots of casualties.

Hillel is usually crowded even at night. It has a lot of tables set up in the alley next to it.

Lots of sirens now.

I'm in the Emek Refaim area of Jerusalem.

Nothing on the radio yet. But sirens from every direction.

Big bang outside 15 seconds ago.

Now a siren.