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Wrestling with Independence
It’s mid-morning in Jerusalem, just a few hours before Israel’s Independence Day celebration begins.
The 60th birthday of Medinat Yisrael (the State of Israel). The year’s best party. In the shuk, the stands that normally hold cucumbers, dates and figs will become tabletops for dancing. The streets will become the setting for an all night concert series.
This celebration is not easy. Situated in a region in which many “un-celebrate” another year of Israel’s life, it is impossible to forget those who have given their lives so that Israel can exist, on all sides.
In a few hours the celebration will begin, but not just yet. In this moment, the air raid sirens ring out. Cars and conversations stop suddenly. All stand at attention as they recall the dead. From service or terrorism, they remember. The air becomes crowded. Time stops. Then the sirens stop. Honking horns wake-up. Sentences that were short circuited are alive again. The streets are busy once again.
It is no coincidence that memory bleeds into celebration. Nor is it right to say that while the sun sets and Yom HaZikaron/ Memorial Day becomes Yom Ha’atzmaut/Independence Day that there is an instant shift from sadness to joy.
The essence of Israel’s existence is to wrestle. Its very name was given to Jacob after his dream when he wrestled with God’s angel. Jewish tradition teaches the value of wrestle. Lovers. Siblings. Believers. To wrestle implies engaging in tension and not walking away from it.
Israel was already a reality when I was born. But the generations before me share tales of a world without a Jewish state. Stories of hatred, discrimination and targeted terrorism. I remind myself not to be jaded by assumptions that because Israel existed before I did that she will exist long after me.
I love her, and because I do, I wrestle with her. In 1948, Dr. Chaim Weitzmann said “a state is not given to a people on a silver platter.” People on all sides of the tensions in the Middle East have lost their lives. I hope that all will be honored in the next 60 years as we take steps together. As lovers and siblings wrestle, I hope differences can be reconciled and respected creating a stronger Middle East family.
I don’t judge people by who they pray to; Allah, Christ, YHWH, Buddha or Jimi Hendrix. I just care that you ask for the strength. To see the good in each other. To identify your role in making space for all who inhabit this land.
Israel is my happy place and I pray she always will be. Just like a lover or a sibling, I will always stand by her. But not idly giving in to her in complacency. Rather, I will stand strong alongside her and question her where I think she can continue to grow and change for the better. I will do it because as an American Jew I learned that sometimes “dissent is the highest form of Patriotism.” I want her to be the best that she can be. I will let Israel be who she is as she is doing everything in her power to allow others to do the same. I will not question her for standing up for herself when she needs to but I will always ask her, and those she wrestles with, if a different approach is possible.
At 60, Israel is no child, but she is young. May the first 60 years of bumps and bruises, joys and milestones, inspire her as she moves into the next chapter of life. One filled with a working community that meets the needs of her inhabitants. A community of inspiration to the human race for it is here that so many of us believe should be a light unto the nations.
Jessy Gross is entering her third year of the Hebrew Union College Rabbinic Program in Los Angeles. She grew up outside of Washington D.C. and received a B.A. in History and Jewish Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2002. She has worked in Jewish communities in Fairfax, Va., Washington D.C, Baltimore and San Francisco.
By Jessy Gross |
May 14, 2008; 2:09 PM ET
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Posted by: dvdpt | May 15, 2008 12:54 AM
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The Israeli flag again today.
Wouldn't it be refreshing to have the American
Flag around "On Faith" once or twice a year?
The Israeli flag is all we ever get, and for days at a time.
And the constant stories that go with that omnipresent banner usually, mostly, get a primarily hostile resonse from the posters who read them. Is that progress?
As an exercise in truthfulness, or decency, or whatever, perhaps call "On Faith" the Zionist Corner, or The Chosen, or Rationale for Land Grabbing, or Genocide, or something descriptive.. Or perhaps Bashing Christians and/or Evangelists, would be good.
Posted by: Randall | May 14, 2008 7:44 PM
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I am american Indian are country is being occupy
by the white american people they have kill off
my people and say this is their country as long
as there is Indian alive this will alway be are country
Now tell me isn't Israel occupying the
Palestinian people home land and you are saying this is a jewish country as a native Indian that country is not yours!
Your god given right is to wonder the desert!