It is hard to fathom that almost a year has passed since the horrific terror attack on our people on Oct. 7, 2023.
As we usher in the Jewish New Year 5785, we embark on our yearly trip to the Holy Land to spend the Yomim Noraim hugging our Israeli grandchildren and now great-grandchild too as the cycles of life continue to bloom both here and abroad.
We could never have anticipated last Simchat Torah, Oct. 7, 2023, when we woke up that morning to the sounds of planes flying overhead in Ramat Beit Shemesh. It didn’t take long to realize that we were truly under attack. Our grandchildren, who are more familiar with the routine and what needs to be done, quickly ushered us into the bedroom upstairs that is considered the mamad built with steel wall enclosures. When sirens subsided, we left only to come back to the mamad six more times in reaction to further alarms.
We felt fortunate and thanked Hashem for allowing us the opportunity to provide support to each other during this harrowing experience. The sirens finally subsided by the afternoon and we quickly became aware that the neighboring young soldiers had already left early that morning to their stations. After finding out about the atrocities perpetrated on our people at the Nova Music Festival and southern border kibbutzim, it was all very surreal and frightening.
Sadly, by the very next day, Oct. 8, the Jews were already accused of “genocide.” The world morphed into a “tsunami” of hatred toward us for retaliation of the terrorist group’s horrific rampant act of murder, rape, burning and captivity.
It didn’t take long for dozens of screaming anti-Israel protestors to swarm college campuses like Columbia University and Barnard College with chaotic and violent demonstrations. Over this past year, their protests knew no boundaries. Our once prestigious universities condone antisemitism by claiming hatred incidents are, as former Harvard president Claudine Gay depicted, “contextual” in nature, rather than admitting to blatant discrimination. My question is, isn’t it time for a monetary penalty that might hit home in their pockets?
The travesty was taken to the limits when the protestors chanted that the American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin “deserved” to be murdered by Hamas terrorists. Unfortunately, their actions continue unscathed with their harmful and obnoxious rhetoric under the guise of “free speech.” Where does this end? Where is this going?
While the mob chants “ceasefire” with accusations of humanitarian neglect and “genocide,” our hostages were murdered in cold blood on the cusp of imminent release. Is the world watching?? Where is the outrage for our hostages who were left to wallow in cages and abhorrent conditions?
Tragically, after last week’s pager attack on Hezbollah, AOC voiced her opposition while the U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Turk quickly assumed condemnation of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East. Do they not realize that 9/11, which killed 3,000 civilians and perpetrated by a terrorist group, can happen on American soil all over again? The terrorists clearly admit their goals of death to Israel and America, yet we continue to uphold their innocence with the dangerous denial that their terrorism knows no boundaries.
With the anticipation of the U.S. presidential elections on Nov. 5, which is just around the corner, we truly encourage Israeli citizens with dual citizenship to exercise their power of voting abroad.
It is clear we need new leadership desperately for our nation. The billions of dollars of sanction monies that were withheld from Iran during the Trump administration has since been released and used now to support the reign of terror by its proxies.
Don’t get me wrong. I too cringe when listening to the repetitive verbiage and outlandish inappropriate insults that our Republican candidate spews to self-aggrandize his own position. Yet, I will never forgive our Democratic presidential candidate for snubbing Israel’s prime minister, who spoke so eloquently on our soil to the U.S. Congress. The message was clear! It was an indelible insult with her chosen, poignant absence.
We need to grasp onto “Never Again’” is now. And, as for our power to vote, we Jews are truly left with no choice!
K’tiva V’chatima Tova to all while we continue to pray for the release of our captives, our selfless heroic soldiers defending our country, and for the ultimate safety of Am Yisrael Chai! Hashem Yishmor!
