1-2 Paragraphs
Last week, one of the rabbis at my parents' Reform synagogue has a request from me. Here's how my reply went:
You wrote: "For my Rosh HaShanah sermon, I'm speaking about supporting Israel and the difference that each individual can make. Would you mind, in 1-2 paragraphs, telling me about your childhood, what made you decide on aliyah, and what you're doing now? Anything else that I could include about you that might inspire others to speak up and act out in support of Israel would be greatly appreciated."
You're hilarious. I'll probably write an entire book about these things... maybe two or three... and you want it in 1-2 paragraphs? HA!
The highlights, I guess...
Even though I didn't grow up with religion in my house, I did grow up hearing stories about my dad's Aunt Esther selling latkes in the park, to raise money for Palestine. I saw pictures of my grandma and grandpa from their trip here. I knew my family supported Israel from before its existence.
My first trip to Israel was the Michigan Unity Mission in January, 2001. It was toward the beginning of the intifada, and we spent a lot of time listening to speakers, meeting Israelis, etc.
I went to home hospitality when we were in our partnership region in the north. While everyone talked about how much food there would be, and how the families would stuff us, I ended up in a place where we had a little fish, some hummus and other salads, and bread. There might have been something for dessert -- I don't remember.
Long story short, I realized later that the family was very poor... and they had shared the little they had with the visitors from their partnership region. That was my "real" introduction to Israelis.
I came back, and lived here during the height of the "intifada," although most of us were bluntly calling it "war" by then.
And somewhere in there, I fell in love with the land; with the people; and with the ideology of Jews coming back to the land we were given thousands of years ago and making it a real place to live.
When I came back to the U.S. at the time for three reasons:
1. Finish my degree
2. Get my apartment and other things settled
3. Share my passion for Israel with as many people as possible
And that's what I did. Now, I work in a company where we are the largest employer of olim in Jerusalem. We're about 1,000 people, having grown from around 40 in 2002. I work in recruiting, which means I actually get to give people jobs. And when work is hard, as it gets pretty regularly, I remind myself that I am a piece of the process of the highest level of tzdaka -- giving a person a way to support him/herself. As well, because we are an outsource company for businesses in America and Europe, we're bringing much-needed money from outside Israel, to be used inside Israel.
I could go on and on about how important it is to support Israel, but until people actually *COME* here, they are not going to have even the beginnings of a real understanding of what that means.
Can it be dangerous here? Yep. No doubt. I had several friends who were refugees a few weeks ago, because they live in the north. At least once a month, the terror alert level in Jerusalem is raised to the extent that there's a security guard at nearly every bus stop in the city center. And there's regular crime, too, unfortunately.
Yet when I get to go on a bus and see a woman hand her baby to a complete stranger, so she can walk up and pay the busdriver, I remember why I'm here.
When I see someone fall down on the street, and I see 10 people run, not walk, to help the person who fell down, I remember why Israel is my home.
People don't have to agree with Israel's policies, but they need to understand that as Jews, they are going to be seen as representatives of Israel, no matter what they do. As much as the antisemites who say they're "not anti-Jewish, but just anti-Israel" want to convince people it's that, the fact is that they ARE anti-Jewish.
Israel is the only country, and the Jews are the only groups of people, who are held to a higher standard than the rest of the world. Millions of people are being murdered in Africa, and we get blamed for defending ourselves after being attacked by rockets. Thousands of baby girls are murdered or given up for adoption in China, but boycotts are organized against academics from Israel. If that's not because we're Jewish, why is it?
Anyway, before I start ranting even more...
What can each individual do to support Israel?
Among other things:
VISIT!
Donate money directly to Israeli charities
Write letters to the newspapers when they see the blatant unfairness of the worldview toward Israel
Be verbally supportive of those who choose to visit and make aliyah. It used to drive me crazy when Jews would freak out at my visits, or when I made it public that I was making aliyah. X-ians didn't do it. Non-religous people didn't do it. Only the Jews... and usually the Jews who hadn't been here yet. If they're afraid -- I can't be the one who says "come anyway," but I can at least be the one who says "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
You wrote: "For my Rosh HaShanah sermon, I'm speaking about supporting Israel and the difference that each individual can make. Would you mind, in 1-2 paragraphs, telling me about your childhood, what made you decide on aliyah, and what you're doing now? Anything else that I could include about you that might inspire others to speak up and act out in support of Israel would be greatly appreciated."
You're hilarious. I'll probably write an entire book about these things... maybe two or three... and you want it in 1-2 paragraphs? HA!
The highlights, I guess...
Even though I didn't grow up with religion in my house, I did grow up hearing stories about my dad's Aunt Esther selling latkes in the park, to raise money for Palestine. I saw pictures of my grandma and grandpa from their trip here. I knew my family supported Israel from before its existence.
My first trip to Israel was the Michigan Unity Mission in January, 2001. It was toward the beginning of the intifada, and we spent a lot of time listening to speakers, meeting Israelis, etc.
I went to home hospitality when we were in our partnership region in the north. While everyone talked about how much food there would be, and how the families would stuff us, I ended up in a place where we had a little fish, some hummus and other salads, and bread. There might have been something for dessert -- I don't remember.
Long story short, I realized later that the family was very poor... and they had shared the little they had with the visitors from their partnership region. That was my "real" introduction to Israelis.
I came back, and lived here during the height of the "intifada," although most of us were bluntly calling it "war" by then.
And somewhere in there, I fell in love with the land; with the people; and with the ideology of Jews coming back to the land we were given thousands of years ago and making it a real place to live.
When I came back to the U.S. at the time for three reasons:
1. Finish my degree
2. Get my apartment and other things settled
3. Share my passion for Israel with as many people as possible
And that's what I did. Now, I work in a company where we are the largest employer of olim in Jerusalem. We're about 1,000 people, having grown from around 40 in 2002. I work in recruiting, which means I actually get to give people jobs. And when work is hard, as it gets pretty regularly, I remind myself that I am a piece of the process of the highest level of tzdaka -- giving a person a way to support him/herself. As well, because we are an outsource company for businesses in America and Europe, we're bringing much-needed money from outside Israel, to be used inside Israel.
I could go on and on about how important it is to support Israel, but until people actually *COME* here, they are not going to have even the beginnings of a real understanding of what that means.
Can it be dangerous here? Yep. No doubt. I had several friends who were refugees a few weeks ago, because they live in the north. At least once a month, the terror alert level in Jerusalem is raised to the extent that there's a security guard at nearly every bus stop in the city center. And there's regular crime, too, unfortunately.
Yet when I get to go on a bus and see a woman hand her baby to a complete stranger, so she can walk up and pay the busdriver, I remember why I'm here.
When I see someone fall down on the street, and I see 10 people run, not walk, to help the person who fell down, I remember why Israel is my home.
People don't have to agree with Israel's policies, but they need to understand that as Jews, they are going to be seen as representatives of Israel, no matter what they do. As much as the antisemites who say they're "not anti-Jewish, but just anti-Israel" want to convince people it's that, the fact is that they ARE anti-Jewish.
Israel is the only country, and the Jews are the only groups of people, who are held to a higher standard than the rest of the world. Millions of people are being murdered in Africa, and we get blamed for defending ourselves after being attacked by rockets. Thousands of baby girls are murdered or given up for adoption in China, but boycotts are organized against academics from Israel. If that's not because we're Jewish, why is it?
Anyway, before I start ranting even more...
What can each individual do to support Israel?
Among other things:
VISIT!
Donate money directly to Israeli charities
Write letters to the newspapers when they see the blatant unfairness of the worldview toward Israel
Be verbally supportive of those who choose to visit and make aliyah. It used to drive me crazy when Jews would freak out at my visits, or when I made it public that I was making aliyah. X-ians didn't do it. Non-religous people didn't do it. Only the Jews... and usually the Jews who hadn't been here yet. If they're afraid -- I can't be the one who says "come anyway," but I can at least be the one who says "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
posted by M at 08:01
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