A corona moment of silence
A corona moment of silence

Tuesday was Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. At 10:00 am the siren was sounded to signal a moment of silence commemorating the 6 million victims of the Shoah.

Each year busy traffic comes to a standstill for one sacred, eerie moment, as a  Nation remembers and meditates on what was, is and will be.

Yesterday morning was different. Due to Corona guidelines, like so many things these days, this experience was ostensibly a  private matter.

As I stood on my porch listening to the wail of the siren, I was wrapped in my thoughts as were millions of others in their own isolation. Knowing that we shared many of the same feelings and thoughts, I felt connected despite Corona.

Staring up at the Jerusalem sky and the surrounding buildings made of Jerusalem stone, I knew I had to be very thankful that I can call Jerusalem my home; a  turn of events that was not at all self-understood when I grew up in Brooklyn.

Listening t the siren, I  discovered once again the amazing ability of the human brain and its capacity for a flood of thoughts in just seconds.

Besides the reminder not to forget, there was room in my brain to give thought to a phenomenon that rubs painful salt into a wound that will never heal.

The fact that Jew-hatred, Holocaust denial and nations openly declaring their aim of destroying the Jewish state. is alive and growing in the world today is a scary fact that makes me that much appreciative of where I live.

The fact that there is a rise in antisemitism even in my old home - the USA is also scary and again I am happy with the choice I made to come home.

The fact that amongst the shrill voices in the USA attacking with great hatred the only  Jewish state and calling any Jew that would support it as akin to Nazis is scary.

The fact that some of these shrillest voices ...are Jews themselves makes me very sad but again, I am thankful that I live in the Jewish homeland where Jewish self-haters, obsessed with "fitting in and being accepted" need not exist.

Need not indeed.

While my mind processed these thoughts at an incredible speed as the siren was about to lose its powerful blast, the last thought entered.

Of all the dangers, and disappointments listed above, the one that is most difficult to explain or accept is what I call Israeli /Jewish self-hatred.

Hello! You are home! Who's approval do you still crave? What moves you to join your enemies?

The list is unfortunately long; probably too long for even our amazing brains to enumerate in the few seconds left of the siren wail.

A few of the better-known ones came to mind:

The late Professor Yishayahu Leibowitz, Israel Prize laureate, philosphy of science thinker at the Hebrew University, who actually coined the phrase "Judeo - Nazis " in describing Jewish soldiers.

His temerity in the use of this term broke a taboo and was the green light for others to follow suit.

Many did so, eagerly.

Professor Moshe Zimmerman, Holocaust expert at Hebrew University observed,, "Look at the Jewish children in Hevron; they are exactly like the "Hitler Jugend".

He too basked in the warmth of adulation from the Left for his courage.

Hebrew University professor Amiram Goldblum called students, active in the grassroots Zionist organization, Im Tirtzu, "Nazi dogs".

Another "brave" thinker.

Former deputy chief of staff and current Knesset member (Meretz), Yair Golan at a Holocaust memorial,  compared Israel's Right to the Nazis of pre-war Germany.

That "brave" assessment and warning helped launch his current radical left political career. (And the then CoS Moshe "Bogie" Yaalon's refusal to castigate Golan for that statement is one reason Yaalon's term as CoS was not extended, leading to his overt hatred for PM Binyamin Netanyahu).

The list is indeed long and ended with the falling off of the siren wail.

What conclusion shall I draw from all this?

One; thank G-d, that my body is where it should be.

Two; unlike some poor tortured Jewish souls, mine seems to feel what all healthy Jewish souls naturally should. 

Baruch Hashem. Baruch Hashem