When the intifada started, we experienced the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. We were glued to the radio and we painfully followed each and every attack in every part of the Shomron. As my children studied in Yeshivot in the Tel Aviv region, we traveled from the Shomron to Tel Aviv every day. Sometimes, we drove by as soldiers were crouched in a shooting position, shooting back at snipers from Kalkilya or Azun. While driving to Tel Aviv, I learned a new type of defensive driving than what is taught in driving school. Instead of keeping my eyes on the road, I scanned the sides of the road for anywhere that a shooter could ambush us and gauged the 700 meters that I would need to stop and turn around before being in range of the sniper.
Sometimes roads were closed and the children had to undergo the abuse of uncaring teachers and principals who felt that there was no excuse for lateness. In fact, the principal of my daughter's Beis Yaakov refused her re-enrollment in the school despite my daughter?s grades being close to 100 in every single subject. My children learned the true meaning of Torah being acquired only by those that kill themselves over it. They acquired the knowledge that learning Torah is worth risking your life for, and when they said Krias Shma, they could claim that they love Hashem with all their hearts, all their life, and all their material possessions.
Looking back, it seems that my children have become inoculated to fear. Now that the war in Iraq is imminent, they are a bit surprised that people are so frightened.
So let them give you some advice. Fear grows on you as long as you run away from it. When you stop running and look it in the eye, then the ghost evaporates. When you find meaning in the danger, then you are proud that you didn't take the cowardly track.
We believe that every square inch of Biblical Israel has a holiness that Hashem loves as much as he loves every single Jew. Two years ago, we were certain that both the Golan and Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha) were going to be given away, but it was going to be over my dead body. I was not going to stand idly by while my fellow Jews were being killed. As an American, I had been there, done that.
A Jew that is killed before his time has fulfilled his purpose in this world and is ready for his portion in the World to Come. Even when the world shuns us and our own people are ashamed of us, Heaven awaits us. In retrospect, I put myself in Boruch Goldstein's shoes. If I had overheard Osama bin Laden planning the attack on America, would I have sacrificed my life to save thousands of Americans? If I had overheard a plan for an imminent attack by Hamas or another terrorist group and I didn't have time to inform the army before it was executed, would I have ?gone Boruch Goldstein?? I believe that millions of Jews should go to Goldstein?s grave and ask forgiveness for our harsh, unthinking criticism.
Similarly, Jewish apologists that criticized Pollard should get on their hands and knees and beg forgiveness. He saved millions of lives. It is those who buried this information who should be sitting in jail, as well as the US presidents that did not right this horrible wrong.
The left-wing politicians who elicited this intifada had the hidden agenda of forcing the evacuation of Jews from Yesha. I am proud that we are stubborn, and not only did we not move out, but we are bringing new groups of ?Anglo? olim into Yesha to create new ?Anglo? neighborhoods.
I believe now that those who were killed in the intifada died in kiddush Hashem and all have a place in Heaven, as they were killed only because they were Jews. Despite the tears and anger in each funeral I went to, there was a sense of pride that this is a stiff-necked people. Because of that trait, Hashem forgave us the Golden Calf, seeing in the future that our stubbornness will permit us to stand up to our executioners for two thousand years without losing our Jewishness. There is a deep pride in surviving our persecution.
Whatever happens to us is just. If a bullet or a missile has our name on it, it is time for us to leave this life and there is nowhere to hide. Only after making peace with death, can you begin to live. Surviving the intifada, I greet each new day as a gift. It is a gift that I savor and try to make the most of.
The alienated Tel Aviv youth that has to pierce their bodies to feel anything, has purpose in life in times like this. They could easily hop on a plane to northern Canada or Australia and cop out, but they don't. They wait to be called up into the army to serve or to help in emergency services. We are a holy nation and we are given this test in order to reap the rewards, as Abraham was rewarded for passing his tests.
Our suffering has meaning and while there is cause to fear, we can be proud of our bravery.
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Shmuel Neumann, Ph.D., is actively involved in creating communities for English-speaking olim, and in an emigration program for Palestinians. He currently resides in the Shomron.
Sometimes roads were closed and the children had to undergo the abuse of uncaring teachers and principals who felt that there was no excuse for lateness. In fact, the principal of my daughter's Beis Yaakov refused her re-enrollment in the school despite my daughter?s grades being close to 100 in every single subject. My children learned the true meaning of Torah being acquired only by those that kill themselves over it. They acquired the knowledge that learning Torah is worth risking your life for, and when they said Krias Shma, they could claim that they love Hashem with all their hearts, all their life, and all their material possessions.
Looking back, it seems that my children have become inoculated to fear. Now that the war in Iraq is imminent, they are a bit surprised that people are so frightened.
So let them give you some advice. Fear grows on you as long as you run away from it. When you stop running and look it in the eye, then the ghost evaporates. When you find meaning in the danger, then you are proud that you didn't take the cowardly track.
We believe that every square inch of Biblical Israel has a holiness that Hashem loves as much as he loves every single Jew. Two years ago, we were certain that both the Golan and Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha) were going to be given away, but it was going to be over my dead body. I was not going to stand idly by while my fellow Jews were being killed. As an American, I had been there, done that.
A Jew that is killed before his time has fulfilled his purpose in this world and is ready for his portion in the World to Come. Even when the world shuns us and our own people are ashamed of us, Heaven awaits us. In retrospect, I put myself in Boruch Goldstein's shoes. If I had overheard Osama bin Laden planning the attack on America, would I have sacrificed my life to save thousands of Americans? If I had overheard a plan for an imminent attack by Hamas or another terrorist group and I didn't have time to inform the army before it was executed, would I have ?gone Boruch Goldstein?? I believe that millions of Jews should go to Goldstein?s grave and ask forgiveness for our harsh, unthinking criticism.
Similarly, Jewish apologists that criticized Pollard should get on their hands and knees and beg forgiveness. He saved millions of lives. It is those who buried this information who should be sitting in jail, as well as the US presidents that did not right this horrible wrong.
The left-wing politicians who elicited this intifada had the hidden agenda of forcing the evacuation of Jews from Yesha. I am proud that we are stubborn, and not only did we not move out, but we are bringing new groups of ?Anglo? olim into Yesha to create new ?Anglo? neighborhoods.
I believe now that those who were killed in the intifada died in kiddush Hashem and all have a place in Heaven, as they were killed only because they were Jews. Despite the tears and anger in each funeral I went to, there was a sense of pride that this is a stiff-necked people. Because of that trait, Hashem forgave us the Golden Calf, seeing in the future that our stubbornness will permit us to stand up to our executioners for two thousand years without losing our Jewishness. There is a deep pride in surviving our persecution.
Whatever happens to us is just. If a bullet or a missile has our name on it, it is time for us to leave this life and there is nowhere to hide. Only after making peace with death, can you begin to live. Surviving the intifada, I greet each new day as a gift. It is a gift that I savor and try to make the most of.
The alienated Tel Aviv youth that has to pierce their bodies to feel anything, has purpose in life in times like this. They could easily hop on a plane to northern Canada or Australia and cop out, but they don't. They wait to be called up into the army to serve or to help in emergency services. We are a holy nation and we are given this test in order to reap the rewards, as Abraham was rewarded for passing his tests.
Our suffering has meaning and while there is cause to fear, we can be proud of our bravery.
--------------------------------------------------------
Shmuel Neumann, Ph.D., is actively involved in creating communities for English-speaking olim, and in an emigration program for Palestinians. He currently resides in the Shomron.