The solidarity  mission to Israel is officially “over.” The past four days have felt like four weeks. I know my life shifted on Oct 7th. A nightmare unfolding. Boundaries that always seemed certain are no longer certain. My boundaries were transformed from the safety to the possibility of personal danger or danger for “my people.”

At the Western Wall in Jerusalem
Just so you know, this is the site of the HolyTemple, the center of Jewish worship through the ages. It was destroyed by the Romans and later occupied by Muslim Arab invaders, who built Dome of the Rock mosque on top of it. Jews have always prayed at this site until 1948 when the Jordanians rendered the West Bank “Judenrein,” forbidding Jewish prayer or presence at this site, and occupying East Jerusalem and many ancient Jewish communities. Israel reclaimed this site in the 1967 Six Day War. It is now open to all religions.

 

Only now “my people” now extends far beyond my personal sphere of safety. By attacking Otef ‘Aza (the region surrounding Gaza), Hamas attacked me personally. Hamas attacked all of us who do not share their extremist religious outlook. Anyone who thinks this will stop with the Jews or the Israelis does not grasp that in the Hamas-ISIS world vision Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, as well as non-extremist Muslims have no place.

So I have a personal choice. I can live in a world defined by terrorists. Or I can defy their vision and embrace my mission to communicate truth and understanding. To defy the propaganda machinery that spreads malignant lies. 

I can and must fight for the vision of Israel. I must be part of our world wide mission to keep Israel a safe haven for all Jews, as well as all people who do not seek our annihilation. 

Military leaders Have shared their vision and say the war must achieve safe borders. The families I met from Kibbutz Be’eri, Kibbutz Erez, and Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, as well as all the kibbutzim and moshavim that were forced to evacuate after October 7 say they cannot consider returning to their former “Edens” along in the Gaza border until conditions change. This s much as they yearn for peace and as much as they yearn for their free range children to return to their homes and playgrounds.

I’ve been discussing the south. But meanwhile the members of our P2G partnership, who live north of Tel Aviv, are preparing for expanding danger from the north. I will share their stories in the days to come. Take a look at a map of Israel and you will see how little distance there is between north and south. Or google a map that shows rocket ranges from Gaza or Lebanon. It is sobering.

Stage One of Jewish Federation mission is complete. Now I emerge knowing that the next stage of my mission is just beginning. This is the most important phase. The easy task is to share what I have observed with people in the US who support Israel. I admit it will be harder to share with people who are uninformed, and especially those who have been misinformed, who have “learned” a false narrative, those who have never given very much thought to the history of the Jewish people. In 2024 people are barraged with misrepresentions of Israel and all Jews. It is my responsibility not not be silent. 

Leaving a prayer at the Western Wall

 

I truly felt like I am living in a historic moment. Now that I am in Israel I listen, observe, ask questions. I am witness to truthful accounts of loss and confusion when personally being attacked. I hear the numbing sadness and anger that there can be so much human suffering. I meet women who went into labor while in their safe rooms. I talked to a first time father who lost consciousness for 5 days to wake up to the news his first child was born. This father remains hospitalized for 3 months but was able to have the soldier who rescued him hold the newborn as the bris. I cannot write this with dry eyes. These are people who want to live their lives, to work, to provide for their families. They did not seek to take anything away from Gazans. They want to feel safe 24/7. The turning point has been the terror of Oct 7th. Their loss of safety. Their loss of so much more. I find the candor incredible. They were attacked without warning. There were no leaflets announcing to expect a military action (in contrast with the IDF warnings). Hamas used surprise as a major strategy because their goal is terror and genocide.

At this time most of my group are flying, enroute to our communities in the Southeastern US and Prague. I chose to stay in Israel another week to write about my observations as well as to continue observing.

It is an incredible experience to meet scores of Israelis who have shared their experiences, emotions, hopes, while Israel is living in trauma. 

The enormity of their accounts, their commitment to defending their families and in turn their country is lens on who we are today as the Jewish people. We are all connected. Now my “mission of solidarity “ is only just beginning.  I now am charged with communicating what I have witnessed.