Recently we were privy to a discussion between two young women. It was obvious after the first few seconds of their conversation that they both had children spending the year in Israel.
One lady voiced her concern over the “situation” in Israel now that Donald Trump had declared Yerushalayim the official capital of Israel. Her legitimate worry, especially in the days prior to Chanukah when boys and girls have extra time off from their various gap year programs, was whether or not it was safe for them to be traipsing throughout the country on their own.
The mother to whom this question was directed immediately responded that she was not worried at all. The lady voicing her concern pressed further, slightly astonished that she was not nervous. It was at that moment that we found it necessary to respond with a calm vengeance. Where else should our children be but in Eretz Yisrael? How can we live our lives without total bitachon in HaKadosh Baruch Hu? How proud we should all be of ourselves that we encourage our children to go to Israel with the hope (our hope) that many of these young people will one day decide to return and make what is really their home their real home.
How long will it take for the general public, and in particular the many communities that are filled with shomer Shabbat families, to realize that there is no place safer in the world than Israel.
As we turned on the news this morning and heard of an attempted terrorist attack in the tunnel between the Port Authority terminal and the Times Square subway station, it again jolted us into the true reality.
Tourists leisurely riding their bikes along a bike path in lower Manhattan never would have expected that the celebratory reunion of their college class would turn into such tragedy. Londoners taking a walk on the London Bridge never expected to have a van plow into them, killing eight and injuring 48; those riding the Tube could not anticipate the bucket bomb that injured 22 people at the Parson Green Station.
We could go on and on. There seems to be no dearth of terrorist attacks. At the same time, who is to stop someone from being killed while crossing Cedar Lane, River Road or Newbridge Road? None of us anywhere are out of the reach of danger. It is not for us to understand Hashem’s plan for each of us. Our control is definitely limited.
We should all walk with pride at the number of families that allow their children to visit Eretz Yisrael for a year or two at a time, with the hope in many cases that they will make aliyah.
We remember when our children spent a year in Israel while the SCUD missile attacks were taking place. Call after call asked us when we were bringing them home. No one could understand that they were home.
Today, so many of our friends have children and grandchildren who are serving in the IDF. These young people belong to all of us. It would be shameful for us to allow them to protect our country while we consider encouraging our children to not travel during their “chag days of vacation.” In radical cases there are even families who consider bringing their children home. Instead it would make much more sense for all of those who are overwhelmingly worried about the situation in Israel to fly to Israel as soon as possible and join their children on as many tiyulim as they can, filling the restaurants and hotels.
By Rabbi Mordechai and Nina Glick
Rabbi Mordechai and Nina Glick are living in Bergenfield after many years of service to the Montreal Jewish community. Rabbi Glick was the rav of Congregation Ahavat Yisroel as well as a practicing clinical psychologist in private practice. He also taught at Champlain Regional College. The Glicks were frequent speakers at the OU marriage retreats. Nina coordinated all Yachad activities in Montreal and was a co/founder of Maison Shalom, a group home for young adults with special needs. They can be reached at [email protected].
