I am reaching out, please take my hand.

 

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash.

 

 

 

I started this blog upon making Aliyah in 2005. I kept writing for close to 15 years, annotating the many enlightening experiences I had in this special land. From golden desert to oak forested mountains, I was inspired by the beautiful landscapes, dazzled by the brilliant sunshine, and fascinated by the rather zesty culture. I wrote about how these places and people impacted me, touched my heart, and swelled my soul. I felt alive and I felt at home. At last.

 

 

And then C_V_D hit. I no longer had anything positive and inspiring to report. I stopped writing when I first felt the fear from a scary and ubiquitous police presence. I saw an iron-fisted government that soon clamped down on personal freedoms. I watched terrifying one-sided newscasts preaching a dogma fueled by propaganda. 

 

I witnessed freedom of speech being shut down as the health ministry and the TV, radio, and social media mocked, then silenced any and all opposition. Rabbis took on the narrative, showing bewildered congregants Torah's solutions to heal in these dark times. This too mirrored the government's narrative, and so most Israelis followed directions with shocking obedience. I had no idea that such a “charif,” confrontational and outspoken people could obediently and unquestioningly stand in line with such innocence and trust.

 

And so I witnessed our society being divided into two camps who have now spun so far from the other, it looks as if there is no rectification. These two sides now live on two planets elbow-to-elbow in a tiny orbit.

 

This country that has always been a tinderbox awaiting the next blaze. But the threat has always been from the outside: be it the anti-Semites, the many enemies that surround every border, or the haters who live within.

 

I have lived here for 16 years and witnessed three wars, plus the recent rocket barrages that incited pogroms from Arab Israelis within our midst. These last acts of hate gave me a sense of hopelessness regarding a peaceful future in Israel. Yet this too subsided, as if a lid were capped on the simmering volcano. All returned to calm, as both Jewish and Arab Israelis went back to living and working side by side. That is, until the next eruption will occur, for the volcano still simmers beneath.

 

The wars that erupted from the north and from Gaza were devastating and terrifying, yet they miraculously strengthened the Jewish people. Jews united in these times; they opened their homes to strangers who fled the rockets; they gave, they cared, they felt as one nation.

 

And here we are in what I will call another “battle.” Yet this war is different as it pitches Jew against Jew in their Jewish homeland. It is a battle without traditional weapons; fear and a one-sided narrative have replaced bullets and rockets. And this non-violent weaponry is proving to be even more powerful as it is forcing Jews to reject other Jews.

 

I feel like I am watching a boxing ring from the sideline. A great, strong and confident boxer is in the ring awaiting the next round. He is punching the air, biting, grinning in anticipation of his next win.

 

And I want to curl up and cry in the corner of this ring because the Jews are failing by setting up such a fight. They are failing each other and are failing in the eyes of Hashem. The Jews lived in exile, and suffered pogroms, and died in millions at the hands of the Nazis. Yet, they were given back their ancient homeland to rebuild and to care for and to respect.

 

The biggest responsibility of Jews, especially those who have the merit to live in Israel, is to be a light to others, to show love, to honor, and to treat one another well. I fear we have gone astray, and this is under the auspices of the first Prime Minister who is an Orthodox Jew.

 

It is a time of confusion, fear and separation. Yet if we are to learn from our errors of the past, we should know that baseless hatred spells the end of the people in this land. This happened in the times of the First Temple, when the Jews were banished to Babylon; and again, with the destruction of the Second Temple, when Jews were enslaved and walked away in chains to Rome and exiled beyond.

 

Some 2,000 years later, it was finally time to come home and set up a nation with both a high conscience and consciousness. Yet 73 years after the establishment of the state, I see fractiousness, disrespect, inequality, indignity, and corruption. I can see this failure as clearly as the radiant, magenta sky that soars above me. And I can see the ticking meter is running out.

 

Data records over 8,000 Israeli deaths from C_V_D, and this is a true tragedy. Yet despite a zealous campaign to restore health, the government’s plan has not brought back any sense of normal. In fact, just the opposite of normal is true.

This week, the government extended their C_R_N_A powers until the end of 2022 and have renewed the “state of emergency” for another two to four months. They increased the fines of violating the so-called Green Pass to 10,000 NIS, and have legislated that they will close businesses which do not enforce their discriminatory measures. Such actions do not restore health.

 

Instead, their tightening muzzle instills a new reality of fear, confusion, and distrust. The worst offense is that the government of the Jewish people is fostering a division among its own people and those on the two sides now find themselves separated by an invisible iron curtain.

 

Old friends are afraid to gather together, families are being split up over the narrative, and marriages are crumbling. Many have lost their livelihood, their hope, and their sanity. Children have lost the innocence of their childhood, while he youth have lost their sense of adventure. Those who believe in sovereignty of the body and a freedom to make their own decisions now find themselves to be pariahs.

The boxer is starting the next round. The punches are coming closer and lower, and I fear those Jews cheering for the strong opponent’s side will jeer and cry in delight upon seeing painful blows inflicted.

I cower in the corner at this “fight.” The Jews are perpetrating injustice upon others in their own society, especially their own children. We, who have been banished and exiled and then fought for freedom, justice, and dignity, should know how to respect others’ rights.

Photo by Bogdan Yukhymchuk on Unsplash.

We should intuit how to hold the two opposing sides in one hand and stay above judgement and hate. We should respect the other, and even if we cannot understand another’s position, let go of the fear and sit with it. 

 

We should be healing ourselves from within, not lashing without. We should be praying to Hashem for the strength to be better people instead of spending energy trying to coerce and enslave the other. We should know better.

 

For truth and peace live between two opposites. The light is there for us to touch and to take and to warm our hearts. We all need to reach out to the other with respect and to unify as one people with a higher consciousness. We need to gracefully bow to the other, step out of the boxing ring, and grow as a people. I am reaching out, please take my hand.