Abandoned? |
Leaving Israel at this time of war, with family in Israel and the United States, is not an easy feeling to describe. We feel as though we have abandoned our people in Israel in their eternal struggle to survive in a sea of hatred. Not only is our daughter, her family, and my mother’s family, the heirs of Holocaust survivors, in this land but so are the other remnants of the Jewish people. Although Israel, tiny as it is, contains 10 million people, less than 8 million are Jewish. The others are Muslim Arabs, Christians, and various other minorities.
Leaving Israel raises the question as to whether we are abandoning family and friends in the greatest ally that the United States has. That was not always the case. In 1948, Harry Truman recognized Israel’s right to exist in what was Jewish Palestine since the Roman era, but then when the Arabs attacked, using the weapons that England had left them, the United States embargoed arms to the nascent state. Israel barely survived that 1948 war, leaving it with indefensible temporary borders.
In 1967, the Arabs attempted to finish the job, but Israel succeeded not only in surviving but also in establishing defensible borders. The world was not happy about that. Israel was supposed to die or go back to the 1948 Armistice Lines.
In 1973, when there was a surprise attack from Egypt, also attempting to destroy the land of Israel, Richard Nixon did little to help after Israel repelled the savage attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
Fast forward to October 7, 2023. The world agreed that Israel had a right to defend itself from the surprise attack targeting civilians and utilizing, unfortunately not for the first time in world history, rape as a weapon. The Administration was mostly helpful to Israel but was restrained in its response to Israel’s decision to eliminate terror once and for all.
Israel is now engaged in a fight for its life. The people here understand that they cannot live in a perpetual state of attack, attack, and more attacks. When Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and others brag that they will destroy the state and the Jewish blood will run in the streets, they are not kidding. They are not joking around when they declare the Christian West to be the great Satan that will eventually be Muslim or die. This is no joke to Jihadist warriors.
Democracies, and in part this is a good thing, do not like to fight wars. They tend to stick their head in the sand until they become victims of despotic decision making. At that point, the great liberal governments of the world awake and find themselves fighting an enemy in a war that could have been prevented by a more timely and realistic view as to why totalitarian leaders hate freedom.
Leaving Israel at this time, when it needs the support, encouragement, and moral courage of the West is difficult to do.
It is not as though I am in the Army in Israel or that I am really doing anything other than existing, enjoying the people, and imbibing in the lovely weather. Seeing kids and family is great, but I also have kids and family in New York and Philadelphia, not to mention Chicago.
There is no question that the average citizen is safer in Israel than in any major American city.
There are people who spend their lives complaining that no one needs them. Fortunately, we are not victims of that destressing syndrome. Our twin grandsons in Philadelphia, about to be Bar Mitzvahed, need us, at least according to their parents. Will the Bar Mitzvah be the beginning or the end of their Jewish education? For too many American Jews, the Bar Mitzvah is a ceremony and a nice party followed by the tidal wave of assimilation. It is hard to be 2 1/2 % of the population in the big melting pot of America. While marvelous Jewish educational opportunities have cropped up in America, they are too often underfunded or reach those who have become isolated from Judaism. Chabad has made a difference in America, but how much of a difference in the long term is not known at this point.
We can only hope that our grandsons and their parents understand that for the American Jew there is no path other than identification with the spiritual, religious, and national components of Judaism. All the males in my American family proudly served in the American military, and yet they managed to remain a cohesive part of the Jewish community. They did this through knowledge, education, and commitment.
Then there is the baby of the family. Hardly is he a baby, about to graduate from law school and engaged to marry a lovely young woman. The two of them will be a power couple. Being a power couple says a lot about financial and social success, but will theirs be a home adorned by tradition, based upon Jewish values, and in which education will be not isolated from practice? I have complete confidence that this couple will be practicing Jews, whose growth as members of the nationality will only grow with time and experience.
As to the three grandchildren in Israel, Noam, Liel, and Yahuda, the assumption is that they will be just fine from a Jewish point of view. However, even in Israel there are those who become assimilated into the great amalgam of Western culture. Western values have become adulterated by forces and factors that do not contribute positively to emotional or spiritual growth. Nevertheless, the parents of these grandchildren are prepared for the challenge and will make sure that they live as Dati Leumi. While nothing is guaranteed, these children have a headstart and all the resources available to them which are necessary to live a meaningful Jewish life.
As for us? Traveling back and forth to Israel is not easy or inexpensive. It is a sacrifice, but one well worth making. Spending time in Be’er Yaakov has been one of the highlights of our lives and will always provide positive memories.
There is nothing like going into the Chabad of Be’er Yaakov which on Friday night is packed to the walls, so that people have to stand outside and look through the windows to participate in the service. Saturday morning is usually the same. The enthusiasm, the ruach, is undeniable and, to an American, remarkable. The spirit of Israel and the future of Judaism cannot be denied in this small, growing community of Israelis. To an American, Be’er Yaakov is a transfusion of hope, joy and spiritual fulfillment that cannot be denied.
Returning back to America is, perhaps, a necessity. Living in two worlds is confusing at times but is also liberating and unique in the most positive way.