Our People Are Murdered & We Stand Alone

My Facebook feed is filled with comments and posts about the terrorist attack in Israel. There are posts in which we share information on how to help and stories about people that were murdered or kidnapped.

It is not uncommon to see people mention they know one of the victims. It is not uncommon for us to know someone who knows someone, it is difficult six degrees of separation.

Most of the comments of support and or people checking in come from other Jews while there is virtual silence from everyone else.

There are a few that aren’t members of the tribe who offer support, but not many. It is easy to say our people are murdered and we stand alone.

Especially when there are so many online who justify the attacks. People who blame Israel for the situation and offer excuses for those who murder families, rape women and or have kidnapped hundreds.

They think that is to murder hundreds who were at a music festival because they disagree with the actions of the Israeli government.

They boil down a complex situation and decide oftentimes based upon factually incorrect reasons that kidnapping children is ok because someone is angry.

Meanwhile we remember the importance of having a place to go because a few generations ago there wasn’t one and our people were loaded into cattle cars and sent to camps.

We think about it because Iran sponsors the terrorists and actively acts to destroy the state and murder us. We think about it because the Hamas charter calls for the genocide of Jews and the destruction of Israel.

We think about it because we are acutely aware of the loud voices of those who say our blood is cheap and the limited number of voices of support.

It makes us wonder what if…

What Comes Next

The right things are being said by various government officials from most of the right places but there is a question of how long and what that support truly means.

There are more than a 100 people who have been kidnapped and who will absolutely be used by the terrorists as bargaining chips.

Many of them are being abused and are in bad situations. We know this because the terrorists publish videos of our loved ones being mistreated.

Perhaps they think that will lead to fear of action instead of rage. Perhaps they are unaware that we have a history of overcoming horrific situations.

I think I wrote in a previous post about how this is impacting my family and friends. Think I shared the story of one friend who said he along with four of his boys, daughter-in-law and son-in-law are fighting.

Or maybe I shared a story about the cousin who said that many rockets have fallen near them, but they are ok.

I know I didn’t mention the cousin who shared the story of a friend who was murdered or stories about parents trying to work out how to help their children pack for war.

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I could share thoughts about how Saudi Arabia and Israel were coming close to normalizing relations and why Iran wouldn’t want this. Could say this was a political move on their part to advance their interests, but that is what all countries do, try to advance their interests.

Most don’t pay for terrorist attacks.

But this post isn’t supposed to provide you with geopolitical insight you can use to impress your friends and neighbors.

It is just me venting and letting you know that some of your Jewish friends are uncomfortable, worried and distracted right now.

We are holding our breath waiting for the next steps and events to unfold. We expect it to get uglier.

Some of us are preparing our children for another round of antisemitic hate to be rolled out. Some of that will come disguised as antizionism, but not all.

Either way it is coming and some will be dispersed by people we think of as friends.

Built For The Storm

I have told my children more than once we are built for the storm because we are. Taught them to rely upon history and experience along with judgment to figure out how to sail through rough seas.

We talked about the silence and I reminded them that even if we don’t hear from any of our non Jewish friends we are not alone because our Jewish friends are there.

Still I reminded them of several things that I think are important.

We have the benefit of living in America and while we are very aware of antisemitism we don’t spend our days actively worrying about.

Even though we live in America there will be some people that hold us accountable for what happens in Israel.

None of us hold Israeli passports or vote in their elections yet there are always people who ask questions as if we were involved.

This is tied to yet separate from Klal Yisrael, but we’ll save that for a different time.

Bottom line, we still don’t know how many are dead or kidnapped but we know these numbers are fluid. We know this is not going to be solved overnight and that it may get uglier.

The nasty messages in which people attack us for supporting Israel and the whatboutism justifying the attacks aren’t going to end any time soon either.

So remember, some of your Jewish friends are not ok. We’ll manage because there is no alternative, but it is going to be a minute before we can begin to truly relax again.