Last night it occurred to me that I might die. I suppose we all know our time will come. It’s hard not to feel like the walls are closing in on you here. Remember the scene in Star Wars where Princess Leia, Hans Solo, Chewbacca and Luke Skywalker are stuck in a garbage chute as it narrows. Between Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and the Iranian threat I looked up at the heavens last night and asked G-d to keep us safe. It wasn’t the fist time I made that request, but a missile landed three hundred meters from our house last night, which was a lot closer than the one I encountered in Haifa the other day. My wife refused to come out of the Mamad (bomb shelter) even after 30 minutes. She had been visiting our deceased son earlier in the day at the cemetery and while she was there, the air raid siren went off. Can we not visit our dead son in peace? Twice within a short period of time is a lot for anyone, but when you are in the cemetery there are no bomb shelters. I suppose our morbid humor would state that there is no need for a bomb shelter because if you die, you’re where you need to be. The reality is there were four newly dug graves from funerals the same day. Too many deaths, too many funerals, too many missiles. It’s not that I’m scared. We all will go at some point, but I’m not ready to die just yet, and if this war escalates, I don’t have high hopes for a happy ending. It’s almost amusing that some of the loudest anti-Israel voices (apart from the Arab world) are coming from Russia and China, two countries with impeccable human rights records.
War is cruel. Are we all not G-d’s children? Many of my friends (of all faiths) tell me everything is “according to G-d’s will.” They may be right. I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Yet it seems to me that we – as a civilization – take the Lord for granted. If evil exists on Earth – which clearly it does – must the Lord always intervene? My guess is He probably looks upon us and says, “This is so very sad.” Posters were put up all over Union Square in NYC and in Michigan and in other places that say “Kidnapped” and show pictures of babies and infants taken as hostages into Gaza. Then Professor Erik Gordon from the University of Michigan came along and tore them down. https://twitter.com/StopAntisemites/status/1712855649699115099. Who does that? These are children. These are babies! An 84 year old woman is amongst the hostages in Gaza https://www.majorcadailybulletin.com/news/local/2023/10/13/117967/mallorca-israel-mallorca-based-american-jew-aunt-kidnapped-hamas-snatched-from-her-home-israel.html?utm_source=Limud+Mallorca&utm_campaign=bda8d995b5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_09_26_08_47_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_84570e2a9b-bda8d995b5-73435933. You can have any political beliefs you like but when you have no compassion for children and the elderly, you have no value to society.
My eldest son, a rather wise fellow – if I may say so myself – wrote this yesterday:
“The situation is horrific. My wife just returned from the home next door to the one in which she grew up. Their recently married son – a boy whom my wife was close with growing up – was shot in the head while protecting cititzens during the initial attack nine days ago. Due to the sheer number of bodies, his parents only learned of his death three days after the fact.
A rocket fell today about five miles from my mother while she was outdoors and unprotected visiting her son’s grave. My three-year-old daughter sobs to me every time there is a rocket siren.
We are in a national state of shock. Businesses are barely operating, schools cannot open. 200 of our beloved brethren are being held captive by vicious sadists who only nine days ago raped our girls and lopped heads off babies. As a nation, it is our responsibility to make sure this cannot happen again. The words that we uttered as Jews – and the world at large joined in – in 1945 were more than just a mantra or an empty slogan. Never Again was an oath, a commitment, a promise we made to ourselves and to each other. We can never again just allow those who despise us to lead us to slaughter. If we are to back down and allow the cruel murders of 1,350 without retaliating in full force, the road to 6,000,000 will not appear so far in hindsight. We seem strong, but we are surrounded by a pack of wolves who pray for our demise and hold their own citizens hostage so as to accuse us of cruelty. Ultimately, we hope and pray for nothing more than peace. This is beyond our ability to comprehend.”
What am I to tell my grandchildren? Why are sweets given out in Gaza every time a Jew or an Israeli is killed? It matters not which. One and the same in the eyes of Hamas.
How are we responding? Yes, Israel has gone on the offensive. We are left with no choice and we cry for the children on both sides of the border. This is how my friends and I have responded during the past week: 300 mattresses, more than 1,800 meals, 600 jackets, over 500 pairs of socks, medicines being donated and neighbors helping neighbors.
Today I am very proud to share with you the formation of People for Israel. People for Israel is a nonsectarian organization born out of this war. It was started in my living room. Like many projects that arise from a crisis, my wife and I put this together in between hysterical tears and a wide range of emotions. We didn’t want to have an organization and it’s not as if we have a lot of free time. However, we felt a need for people of different faiths to come together and say, “We stand with Israel. We support Israel. What happened here is wrong and we will work together to ensure families are provided for, vulnerable communities are protected and security is enhanced.” Moreover, we will do it in a spirit of “achdut” which is a Hebrew word for a “common purpose that fosters harmony.”
People for Israel is run by volunteers. We are setting up our tiny organization which is made up on neighbors and friends supporting one another. Many of us are strangers unknown to each other but we are working together to make a difference. If you’d like to support our efforts, please use this link here: https://secure.cardknox.com/peopleforisrael. If you’d like to visit our website which will go up today, please click here: https://www.peopleforisrael.com. We are getting in more requests than we can assist with. Community efforts, rebuilding, security, therapy, food and every hour the phone rings with another request. We have no paid staff, and we have only been in operation for one week. I don’t know where or how this will end, but what I do know is if we don’t step up now, when will we have the opportunity to make a difference? I fear that if we do not make a difference now when so many are without, what would motivate me at some other time?
We have seen such unfathomable cruelty in the last ten days. It is now or never. I don’t know how to raise money, but I do know how to run a business and our hearts will guide is to help. We cannot ignore their pain, our pain and if tomorrow does not come, G-d in heaven will know we did everything we could to fix the unfixable. To solve the unsolvable. To make a difference in a life or two in this land we love called The Holy Land.
May G-d bless you.
David at People for Israel
david@peopleforisrael.com
www.peopleforisrael.com
