The past few days have been devastating for me and for all the people I know.
Between the recent horrible Terror acts against innocent Israelis, wild violent riots against Arab residents in Israel, the National āDay of Hateā here in the states, and the huge protests (in Israel and the United States) against the Israeli governmentās policies, itās hard to maintain a positive perspective.
I donāt usually remain speechless, it rarely happens. But the past weekend left me overwhelmed. With the background of a mixed family, both in Jewish denomination and in culture, with a variety of political views, I always considered myself to be centered, the mid ground between ideologies. So did a lot of my friends and families, but all of them woke up this morning hurting. Hurting to see Israel being pulled apart.
Coming here to the US and seeing how polarized it is, made me appreciate the ability people have, to see the other side – both here and in Israel. Something that nowadays feels more distant than ever. The best that we can do right now is to offer a helping hand, a comforting word, and a safe space to talk about these issues.
For those of you who want that, I encourage you to reach out, and ask for it. Iām going to start Israel updates discussion sessions, The Israel Connection, here at the J. All are welcome to join us for the conversation about current events and select topics of interest. See details below for the weekly day, time, and location.
Apart from that, you can always reach out to me personally, and we can talk about anything.
Itās never been easy to be Jewish, but when things are most difficult, that is when we need each other most.