What Diaspora Jews CAN Do for Israel
"We are not 'in it' as they are in it, but we are with them, recognizing their suffering. We are supporting the mourners, who in a sea of pain are battling to keep their heads above water."
By Allison Task
One hundred and forty-three days in, I'm ashamed to say that Israel isn't at the forefront of my mind every day like it used to be.
In October, as the weeks went on, we learned more about the grisly and gruesome (truly, there are no words) massacre that Hamas perpetrated against Israeli women. Our sisters. When this happened, I felt a death inside me. A death of hope and a vision of unimaginable cruelty. A type of cruelty that was literally unthinkable to me until vivid pictures were placed in my mind. Then I could see it with excruciating clarity.
October 7 reminded me of all of those barbaric Holocaust images I have seen in my life; unique acts of cruelty committed against pregnant women and young mothers. It takes a singular brand of barbarism to assault women and children.
Now, Hamas was doing it again. Actually recording murder and torture in real-time. And in our imagination, they were also doing it to the hostages. For the last 143 days. And counting.
Much has happened since that horrifying day. Too many Palestinian lives have been lost; The New York Times has counted 17,000 orphans, and this recent video posted by the paper about a young Palestinian girl, Dareen al-Bayaa, who lost her whole family, broke me.
All is unfair in love and war and this has gone on too long without positive forward motion. Yet that is exactly why we need to still keep it top of mind, hold Israelis in our hearts, and take action as much as it can be useful.
A friend who was traveling to Israel invited my kids to write letters to Israeli soldiers. My children approached this writing assignment in a way I hadn’t seen before. They were thoughtful, wrote long, and asked for help to get the words spelled just right. I saw enthusiasm, gratitude and purpose. Their Morahs (Hebrew school teachers) who are Israeli and have family members who are fighting, cautioned me that it wasn’t really of help: “Israeli soldiers need a lot more than letters from children.”
I get that.
And I also get that my kids needed to write those letters. It was an action they could take.
Letters of gratitude are akin to prayer. In fact, according to some, it is prayer. It’s not scientifically proven that there’s an impact, but when your loved one is hospitalized and people are holding them in their hearts, it matters. And sometimes it even works.
I see an increase in people traveling to Israel to help. People are going there to bear witness, to invest tourism dollars and meet with families of victims who are being held hostage.These travelers are carrying letters from small children to soldiers. They’re bringing money and resources. But more than anything...
They are showing up. We are showing up. We are showing up as allies. To connect, to hold space. We cannot take away the pain, but we can do our best to see it and sit with it while you are enduring it. We can let you know you are not alone.
We are acknowledging the acute pain of families who lived through Oct 7, whose children run to shelters on a regular basis, and have been dealing with political chaos and strife in Israel for many months.
We are not “in it” as they are in it, but we are with them, recognizing their suffering. We are not the wicked child asking “what God did for you” in Passover storytelling. We are supporting the mourners, and recognizing that they are closer to the pain.
It matters. And it is wanted. Whether you send a pizza, pester your young adult to take a Birthright trip, or hop on a plane yourself, you have options. The following is just a short list adapted from UJA Federation New York:
Hashomer Hachadash Food Rescue Program
The Emergency Volunteer Project (EVP)Leket IsraelLivnot and One Front
Bring Them Home Fast - Fasting for Hostages
In clicking through these links, I found Second Line, an initiative that mobilizes volunteers to provide mental health services to those who’ve been traumatized – something I can do given my occupation. I also discovered Bring Them Home FAST – a continuous chain of calendar dates on which individuals do daily fasts. I can do both of these things.
My kids can write letters.
And we can support our broader mishpocha.
The next logical step is to become more political. There was clear unrest (too soft a word) in Israel with Benjamin Netanhayu prior to October. Hamas and those funding Hamas knew this, and they called the bluff of the government’s conservative flank.
Too many people have been harmed in gut-wrenching ways. Too many children and parents taken. And it feels like the power of terrorism continues to grow.
We can pray, and we can act. Children can write letters, and the rest of us can help in a dozen other ways. Let us all do the things that we can.
Jewish history and tradition obligates us to help repair the world – and to never forget. Again. And as always, we welcome and encourage everyone on this earth to learn the real history – and lend a hand.
Allison Task is a Life & Career Coach and the bestselling Author of Personal (R)evolution.
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