By Ann Baker Ronn, YJ Alum, Participant on the YJ Alumni Volunteer Trip in Israel, January 2024
We visited the Bedouin village of Rahat and heard an unbelievable story of Bedouin Police Officer Ramo who saved over 200 lives at the Nova Music Festival. He arrived around 6 AM for his shift (a way to make extra money for his family) and soon after he arrived hundreds of rockets started. He and a colleague took a photo in front of the festival tent saying if they survived the photo would be a memory of their morning.

When the Hamas Terrorists arrived, he witnessed 26 other officers killed, leaving only 10 police officers to assist the 3500 attendees. His regular job is a homicide detective. His car was hit by a RPG so he searched for a car that had gas and keys in it. Once he located a car with keys and gas he drove frantically to gather young people into the car.  He drove them to safety in nearby greenhouses. Each time he dropped a group, he was filled with fear as bullets and RPGs and rockets were going off above him and all around him. When he drove back to get more young festival attendees, he was in tears describing the hundreds of massacred bodies.

He is a homicide detective so he is used to seeing dead bodies. He shared that he was in shock how many dead bodies were on the grounds of the festival as well as littered along the roads. He had to drive through empty fields in order to avoid the bodies and the Hamas terrorists who were blocking the road so people could not escape. At one point he found another police officer (they both only had a handgun with them to protect themselves) & he invited the officer to join him. He said that having someone with him gave him more courage to continue returning to save the festival attendees. Each time he drove back into the chaos he told us he experienced so much fear yet continued to go back in multiple times, putting his life at risk. He showed us some videos and photos that he took during the several hours he rescued young people. There were many photos he could not share with us as they were too graphic. He shared a photo of his destroyed car and the owner of the car he found with keys in it that was full of gas so he could use it to save everyone.

Miraculously, neither Officer Rambo or the car he borrowed were hit by any bullets. After many hours of working non-stop to save Nova festival-goers he was driven home. He asked to be dropped away from his home so he could walk home and try to calm down before arriving home to be with his wife and children. His wife felt his presence and packed the children in to her car to meet him.  Inside the car there was silence other than many tears shed by Officer Ramo, his wife and his children. As you can see from the photos Officer Ramo is a small man.

When we told him he was a hero he disagreed and he said he was just doing “his job.” He has not had 1 day off since October 7 and he said he doesn’t want to take any time off to think about the trauma he experienced that day. Some people on our program tried to give him money to help his family and he told us he cannot accept money as he is a law enforcement officer. We all gathered around him taking photos and hugging him tightly.  When I hugged him, he would not let go. Office Ramo is one of the many brave Israeli citizens we met during our time in Israel.

For more participant reflections click here

By Rachel Plafker Esrig, YJ Alum, Participant on the YJ Alumni Volunteer Trip in Israel, January 2024

Like so many connected Diaspora Jews the day after the Hamas attack,  my husband Dave and I were desperate to go to Israel. We began to throw money at every plea for funds, every letter, every WhatsApp message, quickly maxing out our credit cards, reloading and donating again.  But no amount of clicking on internet links seemed sufficient.

Dave and I were among the lucky ones; we devised a tangible way to help.  Responding to multiple calls to bring duffle bags and necessary equipment to Israel, we bought Dave a ticket to Tel Aviv on October 29th, and enabled the transfer of arms, protective gear, medical equipment and more in a manic 36 hour venture.

Even that didn’t feel like enough.

I decided that my 55th birthday gift would be participating in a volunteer program. I was heartened by the response: my supportive boss said to me, “just let me know how much time you need.” I had already taken two weeks off from work. We signed up to spend a week volunteering with JNF.  I looked for and found a second program with Young Judaea, where my Zionist heart resides.

Those of us who have witnessed and eagerly volunteered in these programs struggle  to find the words that describe our experiences “Transformative, depressing, uplifting and gratifying” all seemed apt, but not sufficient. First night, I found myself in a beautiful hotel in the Negev, living among evacuee families. Not the usual sight in a hotel lobby: strollers, pajamas, guns and exhausted parents.

On our first day with JNF we set out for Kibbutz Gvulot, 11 km from Gaza, and thus particularly vulnerable. The kibbutz was so close to the border that victims from neighboring kibbutzim ran there during the attacks.   Donning gardening gloves, we weeded neglected flower beds, laid water pipes for irrigation, and spruced up the school in anticipation of the return of students some three months after their evacuation. Cleaning and polishing toys only brought home how suddenly these homes had been abandoned; they had been untouched for three months.

Each resident that we met was quick to tell us their individual October 7th story. The entire country was, analogously, like the United States on September 12, 2001. Speaking slowly, with precise diction and obvious emotion, we witnessed Israelis in some yet unspecified stage of shock, but needing to share their experience as a step in their eventual healing. We had meals with many friends and acquaintances during our week. They had all lost count of the many shivas they had attended.  And again, each one needed to share in order to process. They needed us to know about their trauma: their murdered or kidnapped relatives, their newfound lack of trust given that they had believed relations with Gazan had rested on something akin to mutual respect and personal interactions.

The other prevailing message was one of gratitude.  By just stepping on Israeli soil, we had already helped.   They could not believe that middle aged, “comfortable” Americans had taken time out of their daily lives and jobs to pick their weeds, irrigate fields, clean their childrens’ toys, but most of all:  to listen.  They felt seen, heard and understood, to the best of our insufficient abilities.  We felt like human sponges, soaking all their sadness.

Perhaps the most harrowing site we visited was the beautiful grove of trees that housed the Nova festival, where hundreds of young people were mercilessly slaughtered or kidnapped. The Jewish National Fund organized the planting of trees; both as a remembrance of young lives and to honor the holiday of  Tu b’shvat, that commemorates the New Year of the Trees. The field encased in a stunning grove of trees has now become hallowed ground, similar to Gettysburg or Ground Zero NYC.  Each young victim of the Oct 7^th massacre – those murdered and those kidnapped –  has a picture on a stand with candles and personal tributes scattered at their base.

I noticed a dark-skinned man with a white beard sobbing as he decorated  a picture of a beautiful young woman with rhinestone stickers.  I asked if he was a relative and he just shook his head no.  Later, as he walked away still crying, a friend and I offered him hugs.  With Indiana-accented English, this new citizen of Israel  explained that he comes there to pay tribute to those he feels do not get as many visitors.  “It’s just evil that was done here,” he said sobbing. “Pure Evil.

At the music festival site, we spoke to the soldiers currently responsible for collecting the bodies of our fallen.  They spoke with reverence of the opportunity to perform the ultimate mitzvah, one that the recipient can never repay. The other site we visited was no less wrenching: the (temporary) graves of the Kibbutz Be’eri slaughter. How can one describe seeing  whole families buried together? In the North, we stood with the parents of a young victim by her graveside and heard stories of her beautiful, positive soul.  We listened, cried and tried to comprehend the incomprehensible.

And we hugged.  Because words were insufficient.

Earlier in the week we had packed care packages – treats, socks, rations – for soldiers. The evening after the visit to the Nova site, we delivered the packages and danced with soldiers in a volunteer-run ‘staging area’ – complete with a band composed of special-needs soldiers. Also in the tent was a lending library, a haircut station, massage opportunities and tables devoted to backgammon.  I was introduced to heavy metal dancing there, that is, dancing a hora while avoiding bumping into a myriad of M16’s slung over every soldier’s shoulder. We danced with such joy and resolve.  “We will dance tonight, tomorrow we will fight.”

In the evenings, after our agricultural and other volunteer activities had ended for the day, we listened to a host of speakers. Professor Noah Ephron, from Bar Ilan, shared a chilling story of a collective of computer experts helping to find and identify victims, including the suggestion to see if migration patterns of birds of prey had changed. We also heard of Professor Ephron’s new concept of Zionism that emanates from our newfound appreciation for each other as victims of recrudescent anti-Semitism and the recognition we cannot survive in this world without each other.  We heard from many survivors, some who performed incredible heroic acts and now just want their lives back, and that the war no one asked for to end.

At the end of the Young Judaea volunteer week, we were asked to summarize our experience in one word.  The prevailing theme was one of gratitude and hope.  We were all reminded of the ability of Jews and Arabs to live together peacefully, as we saw in the halls of Seroka Medical Center in Beersheva and in the Beduoin  town of Rahat.  Israel will prevail, because she has no choice.   To paraphrase, Golda Meir, we Jews have a secret weapon. .. . we have no where else to go.   And we choose Life.

Am Yisrael Chai.

For more participant reflections click here

By Jonny Jentis, National Mazkir 2023-2024Z

10 years. For 10 years, I spent my Havdalah circled around a singular candle, arms resting on the shoulders of my closest friends. For 10 years, I have learned and grown, discovering my Jewish identity and the world I live in. For 10 years, I have lived and breathed Young Judaea. As I stood at the center of Havdalah this year at National Convention, I began to realize my time as a teen in Young Judaea is coming to an end. Ever since 7-year-old Jonny sat on the basketball courts at Camp Sprout Lake, I have known Young Judaea to be my second home. As I continue to work at TY and watch the movement grow, I cannot help but feel grateful for all that I’ve been given.

National Convention wrapped up a few weeks ago and I cherished every second. As teens from across the country flew in for the weekend, hugs and exclamations filled the air. Teens from Washington, Texas, Chicago, Georgia, Pittsburgh, Israel, and many other places joined us in eastern Pennsylvania with nearly 100 teens in attendance, the largest National Convention in countless years. The YJ atmosphere fell into place immediately, with teens meeting and laughing through the night. A peaceful Kabbalat Shabbat was followed by hilarious Oneg to end the evening.

Throughout the weekend, peulot planned by the National Mazkirut created riveting discussions amongst the teens on what it means to be a Jew in the diaspora, how to examine the Israel-Palestine conflict without bias, and the effect of social media on global conflict. The broad perspectives brought by our teens never failed to blow me away as I led my discussion group. Conversations that should have taken 20 minutes continued into chofesh and beyond as teens beautifully expressed their unique perspectives. Getting to watch and participate in these discussions has always been a highlight of my YJ experience and I was thrilled to see how invested everyone became. 

Further cementing our commitment to the National Initiative of Israel, our wonderful CEO Adina Frydman ran a touching activity discussing the current conflict, the hostage situation, the “Hostages on the Heart” campaign, and what we could do. All the teens at Convention wrote touching cards to the brave IDF soldiers serving in the conflict.

Convention could not have been complete without electing the next National Mazkirut during Asepha. Almost every election had highly contested runnings and candidates won by only a few votes. As the current National Mazkirut begins working on making the transition as smooth as possible, I am sure that the incoming group is going to be wonderful. I wait with anticipation to see the accomplishments they are able to boast throughout their terms.

As people left convention, there seemed to be a singular thought amongst participants: When’s the next one? Teens across the country have taken it upon themselves to work with us to create active groups in their communities. With events being planned in Georgia, Texas and LA, it seems that Young Judaea is only going to continue to grow. I, myself, am extremely excited for Midwest Convention to see all the hard work that they have been putting in over the past few months. 

Before I end, I want to thank all of the people who made Convention possible. Firstly, everyone who came; Convention could not have possibly been as amazing as it was without everyone in attendance. The willingness to try new things, participate, and be happy created the atmosphere of YJ that I have come to know and love. Next I would like to thank Sara, Erica, Allegra, Amit, and all the other people who staffed convention and who worked so hard to make the weekend possible and who made sure the weekend ran smoothly. We wouldn’t have had a location, much less anything else that needed to happen without you all. Even though you may have given me the reins during the weekend, I couldn’t have done any of it without you. A special thanks to Allegra for giving me a Walkie-talkie; even though I didn’t use it much, it made me feel important. Lastly, I want to thank my National Mazkirut: Sari Goodman, Ilan Greenberg, Dora Stodolsky, Leo Wilchfort, and Noah Volkman. These teens ran convention with confidence and ruach that were one hundred times greater than I ever could have dreamed of. Their masterful planning, superb peulot, and boundless creativity and dedication are truly admirable and I could not be prouder of them.

Convention lived up to my dreams of what it would be. It was fun. It was thought-provoking. It was my home. It was YJ. When I looked out at everyone during shira shketa and Havdalah, the young faces of smiling eighth and ninth graders stared back with the same joy and enthusiasm I have had for 10 years. Though my YJ Teens journey is coming to a close after camp this summer, I know YJ is going to keep being YJ for generations to come. I am glad that I was able to experience this with everyone and I can’t wait for what the rest of this year, and years to come hold in store.

An interview with Young Judaean and American-Israeli Trauma Therapist, Lisa Fliegel.

What work are you currently doing for Israel?

I just returned from a month-long deployment at the evacuee hotels in Eilat. Following the Oct. 7th incursion and subsequent missile bombardments, 125,000 Israeli’s evacuated their communities and 60,000 of them evacuated to Eilat.

My Year Course buddy Becky Rowe’s son Lev- is in the leadership of Hashomer Hatzair and their Tzedek Centers which I have been involved with. On October 10th they deployed to 10 evacuee sites throughout Israel to set up educational frameworks and youth development programs. As a trauma specialist I have trained their teams in the past and so they asked me to join their team in Eilat.

I was stationed with Kibbutz Nir Oz which lost 185 people and had 74 kidnapped was in the Red Sea Hotel, as well as with Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak at the Ceasar Hotel. I provided secondary traumatic stress support for their teams, trauma training, clinical supervision and direct services to survivors. Now that I am back, I am doing community programs on my trip, providing stress support to Israeli families in the USA, and continuing to support the teams in Israel virtually.

What, if any, values or skills did you acquire in Young Judaea that led you to the work you are doing today?

I made aliyah to Ketura after Year Course and served in Nahal with Garin Nitzotz. I returned to the USA in 1996 for medical reasons but remain actively connected and go to Israel at least once a year.

In addition to the progressive Zionist values that underline my life’s work, the principles and practices of Positive Youth Development and Community Building are central in my work as a community trauma advocate and consultant. The values of social justice and personal accountability inherent to the learning community of YJ are the foundation of how I do my work. Specifically when I deployed to Israel with Hashomer Hatzair I was no stranger to the Youth Movement Blue Shirt, and fit right in to the Kabbalat Shabbat which were central to the healing and renewal of both the Kibbutzim and youth workers there.

What Young Judaea programs did you attend?

Local Club, New England Region Mazkirut, Tel-Yehudah, Year Course…life on Ketura

What’s one way people can get involved or help in your work?

Contribute to the Tzedek Centers and keep in touch to support my future deployments.

Read about Miriam Schler, Young Judaean and Executive Director of the Tel Aviv Sexual Assault Center.

[Warning: this article contains discussion of sexual violence.]

Growing up, Miriam Schler lived and breathed Young Judaea: each summer, all summer long, from Sprout Lake Kesher to Tel Yehudah MH, while active during the school year in Gesher Shalom and serving as AVP of the region. A daughter of Holocaust survivors, Miriam was raised knowing the importance of fighting for justice and against evil. Her experience at camp and in the YJ movement transformed those ideas into something one could and should actively pursue. Ani v’ata neshaneh et ha’olam became her rallying call and shapes her worldview to this day as Executive Director of the Tel Aviv Sexual Assault Crisis Center.

YJ opened Miriam’s eyes to life being less about scholastic achievement and material gain and more about envisioning and creating a better world. Strong madrichot and Golda Meir as the first woman prime minister of Israel got her thinking about gender roles and equality. When she decided to make aliyah, after graduating from the University of Michigan she knew that simply putting down roots in Israel would not be enough. It was cardinal for her to take an active part in tikkun olam, in making Israel, and the world, a better place.

Upon graduating with a law degree from Tel Aviv University, Miriam actively sought to volunteer. At the sexual assault center, she was excited to work on micro and macro levels: on the micro, impacting individual lives by validating experiences and providing medical, psychological, and legal aid; and on the macro, bringing a hushed-up problem to the forefront and effecting social change. In 2004 Miriam became Executive Director of the Center, and she points to skills such as contemplating problems and planning solutions cultivated in Etgar, creating community as experienced in MH, and the inspiring leadership examples of her madrichot and madrichim as lighting her way for the past two decades.

Under Miriam’s stewardship, the Center transformed from a tiny NGO into a powerhouse bringing the subject of sexual violence into the mainstream collective consciousness; facilitating groundbreaking programming for women, as well as for male survivors and survivors across the spectrum of Israeli society; fielding 12,400 hotline crisis interventions; conducting educational outreach; and managing 250 volunteers.

The horrors of October 7^th have shined an unbearable spotlight on sexual violence and brutality. The Center is dealing with a precipitous rise in interventions for October 7^th survivors, witnesses, citizens exposed to graphic evidence, and especially for rape survivors triggered by evidence that continues to emerge. With Israel’s government in disarray, the Center has become an ER for psychological help and is pioneering resilience training for first responders, ZAKA volunteers, and therapists bearing witness to the unbearable. Miriam’s childhood vision of justice and fighting evil has been brought to bear in the most extreme circumstances.

Special circumstances require special measures. The Center’s annual Weekend Fashion Bazaar fundraiser, which raises 20% of the Center’s annual budget could not be held. And in September 2023 the government inexplicably cut 30% of state funding for all of Israel’s rape crisis center’s, and despite the current strain has not reinstated the cut budget. In these heart wrenching times and in honor of the important role Young Judaea played in inspiring Miriam’s life work, we would like to give readers the opportunity to contribute.

In Miriam’s words, may we all share in rebuilding this broken world.

Lean more and visit the Center’s website here

The Center is not only working hard to aid Israeli survivors, but we are also trying to raise consciousness worldwide regarding the deeply disturbing trend to “question the veracity” or even to justify the rapes that were perpetrated that day. Please read/watch and share:

• Op-ed Times of Israel: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-obscene-betrayal-of-israelis-who-survived-and-didnt-survive-rape/
• November 29, 2023 on I24 News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbxdRLrN3lA
• December 5, 2023 on I24 News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwPtsEvM1bA
• December 29, 2023 on NBC Nightly News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mEjPe6S4Xo&t=85s
• January 7, 2024 on I24 News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b47hRpm5ul4

Dear Students,

Thank you for showing up. 30,000 proud leading the historic march on Washington for Israel with a total of 300,000 strong.

On October 7^th everything changed for us as a people, for your generation and for mine too. But seeing you standing there in Washington on November 14^th, standing with pride, in unity and resolved to act, brought a ray of light to this ever so dark time in humanity’s history. You shared your thoughts and worries about the present and dreams and hopes for the future. The words you used that day gave us all permission to be afraid, while feeling strong; be confused, while having clarity; feel helpless while feeling empowered; feel shame while feeling pride. In your words, “a plurality of opinion and debate is important, it’s also very Jewish.” And I would add, it is quintessentially Young Judaean.

We are sorry.

What a world, what a world that you’ve inherited

Who ever thought that in our lifetime, “never again” would have been forgotten?

Who ever thought that in our beloved country, the one that welcomed your grandparents with open arms and the American dream,

There would be shouting of death to the Jews, from the river to the sea, an actual living nightmare.

This generation is the woke generation, and yet, for all our wokeness, we will never be one of them.

We will always remain other, but somehow, we are still seen as the oppressor and never as the oppressed.

Now, I am not saying we don’t have to check our immense privilege, and we do, it is on us to take responsibility for what we do.

But history is showing us that not even that privilege will protect us when they come for you.

So, you might ask, what is one to do?

Don’t be ashamed.

Stand proud, Shma Israel, for five thousand years our people have proclaimed their faith

Don’t lose your way.

Stand on principles, Am kadosh, we must earn our blessedness with every spoken word and action taken

Don’t be cynical.

Stand with idealism, B’emunah shlemah, and tap into that inner optimist

Don’t despair.

Stand with hope, Hatikvah, it is our secret Jew power

Don’t stand on the sidelines.

Stand ready to act, Na’ase v’nishma, we are a people of action and not just words

Don’t let them divide us.

Stand with open hearts, Am echad im lev echad, one heartbeat, one people

Don’t do this alone.

Stand together , Ani v’ata, Together, You and I will change the world.

As you return to your schools and campuses, we know we have a lot of work to do. But as it has been Jewish tradition for millennia, we refuse to stop celebrating when we’re together, we refuse to pause any practice of Judaism, and despite all the good and the bad, we will never stop choosing life.

Am Israel Chai.

With deepest admiration,

Adina Hocsman Frydman, CEO of Young Judaea Global

 

 

Written by Young Judaean Talia Bodner, spoken at the March for Israel in Washington DC on November 14, 2023

It’s been 38 days, thats 1 month plus a week
Since our lives turned upside down and the world turned their cheek
I wake up each morning wracked with worry, the world feels bleak
As we fall victim everyday to baseless hatred and constant critique

But we are not defenseless and we are not weak
We have an army that will make this a winning streak
We are modern day Maccabees, strong and unique
And we have each other and the power to speak
To speak up about justice and to fight for what’s right
To give voice to the victims swallowed up in the night

Like you – I am a Jew
And I am a proud one too!
there is so much that we have all been through
And now I am here standing in front of all you
So what are we here to do?
What brought you to this place on today of all days?
What is it that you all have to say?
We’re here because we are tired of being quiet.
We have a voice, and now it’s time that we try it.

You see
This is not only about our tiny home across the sea
And the soldiers who fight each day to keep Israel free
This is about all those who feel hurt, sad, and angry
We have lost too many innocent lives it’s hurting everybody
Both Palestinian and Israeli
We all deserve dignity

This is about Jews around the world, in every community
This is about those who make up the rest of our family tree
This is about my friends at Columbia and the Jewish Theological Seminary
This is about students on campuses where they don’t like what they see
This is about day schools, youth groups, gap years, camps, and our chosen family
This is about you and this is about me
This is about all of us who came from around the country
To cry out in the face of insanity

We are Jews proudly
And we will defend Israel loudly
Let us stand up against inhumanity
Let us fight for a land and home we will never have to flee
We are a nation who does not go down so easily
You and me, we stand in unity
We have agency
We write our own history
Let’s make our own destiny.

Thank you for your work, it means more than you know
Though the work that we do feels ever so slow
Steady we work towards a better tomorrow

Here we stand, proudly at the capitol of our nation
We bring the new generation
We are ready to lead
We stand here today to sow the seeds
For a more perfect future that we know this world needs
Today we raise our voices as loud as our deeds

Today we do not need to be quiet with heads bowed
Today we are allowed
We can raise our voices out loud
We stand in a crowd to express our Jewish pride
We say to the world, we will no longer hide
Let our voices ring out, echoing far and traveling wide
We will not be denied
As we stand alongside
Together our voices amplified
And we will be heard

We sing for Israel, our voices sweet like song birds
And we will be heard

Our love for our homeland transcends more than words
And we will be heard

Hear us now, hear our message word for word
Today we raise our voices loud to the world

And we will be heard
We will be heard

 

Get to know Young Judaea’s new Central Shaliach and Director of Israel Education, Amit Castel!

 

By Jonny Jentis, National Mazkir 2023-2024
Spoken at the YJ Community-Wide Havdalah on October 14, 2023

Shalom everyone,

My name is Jonathan Jentis and I am the national Mazkir this year. I am a senior in high school living in New Jersey. Having been in Young Judaea, Zionism and Israel have been major parts of my life. Even this summer I was able to journey to Israel on Gesher where I saw a perfectly peaceful Gazan border and experienced the joys and wonders of Israel. With that in mind, I would like to speak, not about the shocking and disturbing events that we have all heard and seen over the past few days, but about my experience and the whirlwind of contradictions I have faced.

Saturday morning started like any other; I woke up about 2 hours after my alarm, rolled out of bed, and meandered downstairs to my kitchen. There I was greeted by a snapchat message from one of my friends in Israel from the Gesher trip; The message read “I am in a bomb shelter right now. My parents are in the south where Hamas attacked. I haven’t heard from them in 3 hours.” This is how I found out about the attack; not a news article, not an Instagram post, not some random Tiktok. A desperate cry of fear and anxiety from someone I had lived with for almost an entire month over the summer. A cry for help from someone I had no way of helping. I sent thoughts and prayers and tried to help them stay positive, but from what I knew, I was almost certain their parents were dead. That’s how I spent Saturday with contradiction #1; trying to convince her that her parents might still be alive while being almost certain they weren’t.

By some miracle, the IDF did manage to save her parents. This gave me time to process my other emotions and see other reactions. Expecting unilateral Israel support, I found a friend from school posting a Palestinian flag with the caption “Takeover is near”. This led me to another contradiction: What’s the difference between Pro-palestine and Pro-hamas? At the end of the day I advocate for peace, and as I tried to explain how problematic the post was, my classmate seemed to indirectly justify the actions Hamas took. “War is war” and “Israel does it too” were her responses to me. The line between wanting peace in the Middle East and terrorism should not be close; the ideas should not even be considered as alternatives to each other yet Hamas’s heinous actions have pushed the limits so that supporting one has become synonymous with the other. We as Young Judaeans have to be able to call people out when they cross the line; for the safety of ourselves, the Jewish people, and the state of Israel.

It seems that everyday, a new email comes in marking the passing of yet another alum from our Young Judaea community. Friends, counselors, family; everybody knows somebody. It is more important than ever that we stay connected even while separated across the country. We have lived together, we have laughed together, and now we mourn together as a YJ community. But there will come a day when we will celebrate together again.

That brings me to one of my final contradictions: supporting Israel’s right to defend itself from this horrendous act but also a cry for peace in the Middle East. Israel needs to defend itself from this attack but more death will not bring back what we all lost. In support of peace, my Maz (teen board) and I are looking for ways to contribute. Keep on the lookout for more Israel initiatives by following the @yjteens Instagram. Hopefully any teens on this call will join us tomorrow for a community Israel event to learn and digest what is going on right now. Please look out for a link to donate to help fund many of the actions YJ is taking in Israel. Our Year Course teens are already working to do what they can in Israel, and we hope to raise money so YJ can support refugees, package supplies, and give relief and aid to all who need it.

Lastly, we must address Israel. I know in the past I have been critical of Israel’s government and its decisions; just like America, or the UK, or any other country in the world, Israel makes good and bad decisions. But being critical does not mean we have to denounce Israel. Everyone here I’m sure has a variety of opinions on how Israel should handle the coming days and weeks; but the important thing is that the people of Israel need our support. Something one of my Rabbis said to me this past Thursday at a vigil has stuck with me: “In the first 12 hours of Hamas’s attack, we saw what it would be like if Israel didn’t exist”.  Israel is a safe haven for us and needs the support so as to not be destroyed by the many enemies it has. I know for certain, I and many others may still criticize the decisions of the Israeli government, but, no matter what you or I believe, my support (and hopefully yours) will never waver. Israel doesn’t just deserve to exist; its existence is a necessity for the Jewish people and the generations to come.

Shavua tov and good night.

The following statement was released from the 2023-2024 National Mazkirut on October 9, 2023 following the horrific attacks in Israel.