I just read a letter that Jonathan Pollard wrote to the residents of missile-battered Sderot, two years ago. He speaks to them with love and encouragement; he urges them to keep strong, and to keep fighting for their city, and for their lives. The email that quotes Pollard's letter mentions that his message is uncannily as applicable today as it was two years ago. Sderot is in a terrible condition today, and it seems that the Israeli government couldn't be bothered to do much about it. That's sad.
I sat at my computer, wanting to write out an article for Tzipiyah.com. Sderot, and Jonathan Pollard's letter, and Jonathan Pollard himself, are, unfortunately, issues that have a bitterness to them. These are issues, or, much more importantly, people, who deserve attention, who desperately need help, whose salvation lies potentially in the hands of the Nation of Israel and its leadership, but whose situation seems to deteriorate as time goes on. I feel about these things similar to how I felt just before, and during, the Disengagement: the power and the opportunity are there, but something is tragically missing between potential and action... and we sit back, helpless, in shock and in misery. We have to do whatever we can to help these people. Dan Ilouz mentioned in a previous post how we really have to act to help the people of Sderot. I definitely agree. I think that even talking about them, and raising an awareness of them, is wonderful. But my post was destined to be much deeper than just a list of things that are problematic...
I was flooded with this resentment, this bitterness that unfortunately is inherent in these issues. But I don't want to post an article that just goes on about what's not right. As I began to type, I saw I'd received an email. I looked at it, and saw it was from Tehilla, an organization that works to bring religious Jews to Israel and to settle them in optimal environments, and to enrich their lives in Israel. I glanced over the details of a tour that they're planning (for various reasons, I don't think I'll be on that tour, though). And I was reminded of something so immensely important, something that we who really deeply care about Israel need to keep reminding ourselves: There is so much good happening; there are people doing their utmost to bring good and light into the world; there are organizations that are dedicated to doing beautiful, wonderful things, even as there are people sitting with folded, apathetic or impervious hands...
Our choice is between two options: 1. focus on the negative, and get tangled in its painful sting, becoming gloomy and depressed, or even turned off Israel. Or, 2. get involved in the good. Find out about all the TONS of amazing projects that are happening in Israel (one that we take for granted is Masa; there is Tehilla, and there are many other initiatives and organizations doing great things in Israel), or, even better, get on a plane and get to Israel, and feel the amazingness of life there... The last time I was in Israel was in January 2007. I'm actively planning my Aliyah, to happen, with G-d's help, in the next few months. It's incredible how you can break apart a world of negative perceptions, based almost exclusively on the media, just by stepping off a plane into beautiful Israel, and getting enveloped by the wonderful life there. It's so refreshing; connecting to where we really are supposed to be, and seeing it to be so full of goodness, and a depth that goes way beyond what hits headlines, even Israeli ones...
So, there's really so much good news in Israel, but unfortunately it's mostly only bad news that sells. Let's make it our business to keep informed about all the great things that are happening and building up in our beloved Eretz Yisrael... One great way to keep tuned in to this idea is to keep checking Tzipiyah.com, among other places. One of the awesome things about Tzipiyah.com that I've seen is that its conrtibutors are passionate about Israel, and they have a freshness of approach and a love for Israel that is wonderful to see...
I end with some majestic words from Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohein Kook, from the end of his Orot:
[we must know that] the light will burst forth very soon, filling the breadth of our land,
[and] G-d will be with us"
