Never Again. And Again. And Again.

Never Again.

The words on which I was raised.

The words that once had meaning.

The words that once came to my mind each time I heard the Israeli Airforce in the skies above me.

Tonight and tomorrow are Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. In previous years on Yom HaShoah I have written about the importance of guaranteeing that the Shoah is not forgotten, as fewer and fewer survivors remain to bear witness firsthand. Here in Israel children being learning about the Shoah in elementary school – every school in the country will hold a memorial ceremony tomorrow morning. Outside of Israel, Holocaust education depends very much on where you live, and where you go to school. In the United States less than half of the 50 states (23) have mandatory Holocaust education. Globally, only 13 countries have mandatory Holocaust education. Those countries are: Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Perhaps therefore, we should not be surprised that since October 7th, 2023 when Hamas and Gazans infiltrated Israel and massacred over 1200 Israelis, and took over 200 hostage, that those words “Never Again” seem to have lost all meaning.

Perhaps we should not be surprised that in the woke world of 2024 it is acceptable for antisemitism to have increased globally. The annual antisemitism worldwide for 2023 report from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “…reveals that 2023 saw an increase of dozens of percentage points in the number of antisemitic incidents in Western countries in comparison to 2022. A particularly steep increase was recorded following the October 7 attacks, but the first nine months of 2023, before the war started, also witnessed a relative increase in the number of incidents in most countries with large Jewish minorities, including the United States, France, the UK, Australia, Italy, Brazil, and Mexico.”
https://tinyurl.com/mv6nu3ht for the full report.

Perhaps we should not be surprised that the world holds the State of Israel to a higher moral standard, while asking nothing of our enemies.
Perhaps we should not be surprised when ignorant university students protest against Israel and call for a “global Intifada” – after all, they have no idea what an Intifada is.
Perhaps we should not be surprised when keffiyeh wearing protestors call for an end to the “Occupation” – and have no idea that Gaza has had zero Jews or Israelis living there since 2006.
Perhaps we should not be surprised at the cries of “From the river to the sea” from people who cannot find either the river or the sea on a map, nor can they name them.

Never again we’ve been told.

Never again is now.
Never again was October 8th, when the world had an opportunity to shout out “we said never again! We meant never again!”

But history tells us that never again are empty words.

Never again since 1948 is the State of Israel and the IDF.
This time when the world forgets “Never again” the Jews have somewhere to go.

Never again. Never. Again.

Five Years!

Last week was the fifth anniversary of our family making aliya (and of my return to Israel). A few weeks before we left Florida we made a batmitzvah for my eldest daughter. This weekend, we celebrate the batmitzvah of my youngest daughter, who was 7 when we arrived here. Feels like a full circle!

I asked my now 17 year old daughter if she could write a guest blog post again this year, but she simply doesn’t have the time. How so? It’s still summer vacation, doesn’t she have plenty of time to laze around doing nothing?

Not really, actually. In fact, I have hardly seen her all summer. She finished school towards the end of June,  having taken a number of bagrut (matriculation) exams. She will take the rest of those over the course of next school year, and by next June she will be done with High School. As soon as she was done with her last exam (and I mean, like they went straight from school), she and five of her closest friends took a bus to Jerusalem, and then another bus to Tiberias, and then a third bus to a beach on the Kinneret where they camped for 2 nights. (And for those of you reading this who live here, it was a quiet beach, where loud music and parties are not allowed). 6 girls, camping on the banks of the Sea of Galilee for a couple of nights. They did a little hiking (a very little), spent time in the fresh springs near by, and spent time relaxing by the water.

Once she returned home, relaxed from a couple of days of fresh air, she immediately began work for the Scout summer camp. All this past year, my daughter has been “Head of the storage room” in Scouts, a title which has led us to tease her quite a bit. But there is really no room for teasing, because all year long she has worked extremely hard to maintain a very orderly store room, take stock constantly, and make sure that everything needed for every trip is always where it needs to be. She spent full days, from early in the morning until late at night at the Scout building, along with other active Scouts, including her 15 year old brother.

On the morning that the leadership went up to get the  campground ready, both my teens were dropped off at 5:15am for their 2 hour bus ride north. They spent the next 3 days building the camp area, and then relaxing over Shabbat. The kids start arriving on Sunday morning. You can read all about the amazing, incredible Scout camp here on my friend’s blog. While my son stayed up in camp for a full 10 days, my daughter returned late on Saturday night, because she had a concert to go to on the Tuesday night. She got back at 11pm on Saturday night, but left at 6:30am Sunday morning, to go back up to the Kinneret for another night with the same friends! She returned Monday night, went to her concert Tuesday night, and early Wednesday morning, returned to Scout camp, by hitching a ride with a parent who was driving up for the day to cook. Then she stayed up there until Friday when the leadership take it all down and come home – the kids all return Thursday.

Since her return, she has been no less busy. As she is already in the process of being recruited by the army, she has spent a couple of days at various army events that she was invited to. Lots of testing, and teamwork type exercises, all with complete strangers. Eventually, all the scores from all these things help the army figure out what role she will be most suited for. In addition, she’s been babysitting whenever she can. And even though Zofim (Scouts) is technically over until the beginning of the school year, for the kids in leadership it’s non-stop. She now has her role for next year, and since being told what she will be doing, she has been busy meeting the people who will be directly under her, or directly above her, spending her own hard earned cash on little gifts for everyone, and fun things for the kids. My son has also been busy with Scouts since camp ended, as next year sees his move into being a leader.

So, when she told me she really didn’t have time to write a guest blog, there wasn’t much I could say!

 

Eye on the prize

Pesach is over, the temperature is rising, the sun is shining. Tourism Season has begun. So has Aliyah Season.

With summer fast approaching, so too are the dates of Nefesh B’Nefesh charter flights from the US to Israel for those taking the plunge and making Israel their new home. Summer is aliyah season, especially for families with school aged children, because it makes more sense to come in time for the new school year. Just five years ago, we stood in your shoes. We waited for confirmation from the Jewish Agency and NBN that our status had been approved, and that we could be on the flight of our choice. We waited to hear from our realtor in Rehovot, that he had seen apartment that would work for us. We waited for the shipping companies to give us estimates. We waited for confirmation from schools that our children had where to go on September 1.

Five years in (feels like more), I’m offering advice to those arriving this summer. Keep your eye on the prize. Remember why you’re doing this.

You’re not making aliyah for the paperwork and bureaucracy.
You’re not making aliyah for the socialized medicine.
You’re not making aliyah for the superior education system.
You’re not making aliyah for the bigger house or car.
You’re not making aliyah for the higher salary.
You’re not making aliyah for the premium online shopping.

You are making aliyah because no matter where in country you choose to live, you will be no more than a few hours away from Jerusalem.
You are making aliyah because no matter where you walk, you are walking in the footsteps of your ancestors.
You are making aliyah because you will no longer be a minority, but part of the majority.
You are making aliyah because even in a non-religious school your children will celebrate the Jewish holidays.
You are making aliyah because your children and grandchildren will defend our country on behalf of Jews around the world.
You are making aliyah because you can live the life that previous generations could only dream of.

There will be days when you wonder why you did it.
There will be days when you feel like a complete alien.
There will be days when you cry.
There will be days when you get yelled at.
There will be days when you do all the yelling.
There will be days when your kids tell you they hate you for bringing them here.

But remember this: Keep your eye on the prize.

להיות עם חופשי בארצנו, ארץ ציון וירושלים