Just Ask One Jew
I’m in a community called “Just Ask One Jew,” where we giggle at non-Jewish images etc (happy Chanukah messages, products that are supposed to be Jewish, etc.) that totally fail in some way. With Chanukah it is often the Chanukiah having the wrong number of branches and/or people adding in a bunch of things from other Jewish holidays completely unrelated to Chanukah. (Or putting Hebrew words in backwards. A classic.)
We all got into an intense fight/discussion day before yesterday about the war and frightening antisemitism and Zionism and the hostages etc. One person finally said something that was very simple and honest, and it got me to be very simple and honest too:
Bronwyn Grace this was really moving to hear. I think you really voiced what all Zionist Jews are thinking. No jew wants innocent people to die. No jew enjoys being part of the cause of suffering of other people. We all understand what our safety, when we can achieve it, is costing Palestinians. But we also aren’t willing to just let ourselves be killed anymore because non-Jews decide they don’t want us to be where we are.
And the reality is, Hamas is making peace impossible. They will not agree to any sort of compromise, they will not ever stop killing Jews, and the normal Palestinians have no power to stop them (Hamas does not even allow them to vote).
This is a terrible dilemma, and it’s complicated by latent antisemitism that makes people value Jewish lives less.
Like you, I am scared and tired. My son is in college and is essentially in hiding. I don’t feel like there is anything I can do to keep him safe. I imagine my daughter as one of the hostages, and people just… not caring, deliberately not caring, implying that it is WRONG to care, in the name of righteousness. Those parents. What they are going through. It is just emotionally crushing, all of it, and I am so tired of crying.