The following words are written with a heavy heart and a great sense of anger and frustration. It is my hope that the famous Jewish saying, "Words that come from the heart will enter into the heart," will hold true in this instance, as well.
A short while ago, five Jews in Israel were killed over two days simply because they were Jews. These Jews committed the crime of fulfilling the eternal dream of the Jewish people; namely, that of living as Jews, as sovereign, in their eternal Homeland of Eretz Yisrael. Recent history has shown that the cold blooded murder of "only" two or three Jews (and many more permanently wounded) will not result in a meaningful response on the part of the government of the Jewish State of Israel. For such a meaningful response, at least 10 Jews, maybe 15, would have to be killed. For the government of Israel to make such a fuss over a few dead Jews would, in the eyes of the world, be "heavy handed". And Lord knows, that's the last thing we want to be.
How it is that today, in Israel, one of the central goals of Zionism has yet to be filled - namely, that of Jewish blood no longer being cheap? With the establishment of the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces, the enemies of the Jewish people were supposed to know that should they continue in their actions to harm the Jewish people, they would pay dearly for it. From that day onwards, the Jews would be able to hold their heads high and once again take their place as the proud Nation of Israel, living as Jews, in their land. No longer would the Jew have to worry about "what the goyim might think", or have need to hide his Jewishness. For the first time in nearly 2,000 years, the Jew would be able to wear his Jewish identity as a badge of pride and create the ideal Jewish society that was impossible for the Jew to create while living in Exile.
Over the short history of the State of Israel, there have been moments when the government of the Jewish State has fulfilled this key tenet of Zionism, but of late, this ideal seems to have been forgotten and replaced with a sense of Jewish weakness. Nearly every governmental decision is made with the question of "what will the goyim think?" running through the heads of our leaders.
Today, I am not writing in favor or against any particular government policy, rather, I am writing against Jewish defeatism and in favor of the Jewish People once again becoming a proud nation living in their land. Every action of the leadership of the Jewish State of Israel should be made with the question of "What is best for the Jewish people?" running through their minds, and all other considerations only coming afterwards.
Today, I ask myself, as a member of the Jewish people and a citizen of the Jewish State of Israel, how will we react to the murder of these Jews? How can we ensure that their blood was not spilled freely? Will we even remember the names of these special Jews come Yom Kippur?
No doubt, the world, including our "friends", will condemn the murder of these Jews, as the world has become so well versed in issuing such lofty (read: empty) lamentations over the Jewish dead. Of course, these kind words of solace from our "friends" come with a single condition: that the Jew must continue to remain weak. For once the Jew stands up to defend himself, our "friends" will revert to the other thing that they do so well - criticizing the Jewish State for her disproportionate response against those who seek to harm the Jewish people, and for contributing to the "cycle of violence".
What should be our response to all this? There are those who say that in response to such unfortunate events (which is a nice way of saying the murder of Jews because they were Jews), we must continue, even as the blood is still fresh on the pavement, to frequent places of leisure and recreation, if only to not allow the terrorists to win, and to show that life goes on - a healing mechanism of sorts. This is an attitude that does not connote Jewish pride, but Jewish defeatism, even if it seems to imply Jewish resilience. There is no reason that Jews in the Land of Israel need to go to places of recreation as an escape or with bowed heads. In the Land of Israel, a Jew should be able to walk uprightly, enjoying all the blessings and bounty that the Land has to offer him. Let him frequent places of recreation and leisure, but b'lev shalem, with a full heart, and not a heavy one.
Again, today, I do not offer opinions on particular government policies, all that I ask is that whatever policies our leaders decide upon, let them first and foremost have the best interests of the Jewish people in heart and mind, and have all other considerations only come afterwards. Should our leaders be up to this challenge, then the Jewish people - the nation of Israel - will reestablish itself as the proud nation it once was; and just as importantly, the blood of the Jews murdered this week will not have been spilled in vain.
A short while ago, five Jews in Israel were killed over two days simply because they were Jews. These Jews committed the crime of fulfilling the eternal dream of the Jewish people; namely, that of living as Jews, as sovereign, in their eternal Homeland of Eretz Yisrael. Recent history has shown that the cold blooded murder of "only" two or three Jews (and many more permanently wounded) will not result in a meaningful response on the part of the government of the Jewish State of Israel. For such a meaningful response, at least 10 Jews, maybe 15, would have to be killed. For the government of Israel to make such a fuss over a few dead Jews would, in the eyes of the world, be "heavy handed". And Lord knows, that's the last thing we want to be.
How it is that today, in Israel, one of the central goals of Zionism has yet to be filled - namely, that of Jewish blood no longer being cheap? With the establishment of the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces, the enemies of the Jewish people were supposed to know that should they continue in their actions to harm the Jewish people, they would pay dearly for it. From that day onwards, the Jews would be able to hold their heads high and once again take their place as the proud Nation of Israel, living as Jews, in their land. No longer would the Jew have to worry about "what the goyim might think", or have need to hide his Jewishness. For the first time in nearly 2,000 years, the Jew would be able to wear his Jewish identity as a badge of pride and create the ideal Jewish society that was impossible for the Jew to create while living in Exile.
Over the short history of the State of Israel, there have been moments when the government of the Jewish State has fulfilled this key tenet of Zionism, but of late, this ideal seems to have been forgotten and replaced with a sense of Jewish weakness. Nearly every governmental decision is made with the question of "what will the goyim think?" running through the heads of our leaders.
Today, I am not writing in favor or against any particular government policy, rather, I am writing against Jewish defeatism and in favor of the Jewish People once again becoming a proud nation living in their land. Every action of the leadership of the Jewish State of Israel should be made with the question of "What is best for the Jewish people?" running through their minds, and all other considerations only coming afterwards.
Today, I ask myself, as a member of the Jewish people and a citizen of the Jewish State of Israel, how will we react to the murder of these Jews? How can we ensure that their blood was not spilled freely? Will we even remember the names of these special Jews come Yom Kippur?
No doubt, the world, including our "friends", will condemn the murder of these Jews, as the world has become so well versed in issuing such lofty (read: empty) lamentations over the Jewish dead. Of course, these kind words of solace from our "friends" come with a single condition: that the Jew must continue to remain weak. For once the Jew stands up to defend himself, our "friends" will revert to the other thing that they do so well - criticizing the Jewish State for her disproportionate response against those who seek to harm the Jewish people, and for contributing to the "cycle of violence".
What should be our response to all this? There are those who say that in response to such unfortunate events (which is a nice way of saying the murder of Jews because they were Jews), we must continue, even as the blood is still fresh on the pavement, to frequent places of leisure and recreation, if only to not allow the terrorists to win, and to show that life goes on - a healing mechanism of sorts. This is an attitude that does not connote Jewish pride, but Jewish defeatism, even if it seems to imply Jewish resilience. There is no reason that Jews in the Land of Israel need to go to places of recreation as an escape or with bowed heads. In the Land of Israel, a Jew should be able to walk uprightly, enjoying all the blessings and bounty that the Land has to offer him. Let him frequent places of recreation and leisure, but b'lev shalem, with a full heart, and not a heavy one.
Again, today, I do not offer opinions on particular government policies, all that I ask is that whatever policies our leaders decide upon, let them first and foremost have the best interests of the Jewish people in heart and mind, and have all other considerations only come afterwards. Should our leaders be up to this challenge, then the Jewish people - the nation of Israel - will reestablish itself as the proud nation it once was; and just as importantly, the blood of the Jews murdered this week will not have been spilled in vain.