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Sherwin Pomerantz

An Unpleasant Anniversary  

Today, October 7th, marks the completion of one full year of war since the dastardly attack on Israel by Hamas on this day last year.

It was, as has been noted so often, the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, sadly occurring even within the lifetime of some shoah survivors.  Many of them had warned over the years that it could happen again, and while many of us didn’t believe it possible, they knew and lived to see the hatred again with their own eyes.

What has the “cost” been of this past year?

  • 2,000+ Jewish lives lost, including some entire families.
  • 25 Jewish villages on the border with Gaza destroyed, including some that may never be rebuilt.
  • 40 phantom communities in the north, including some that may never be safe again.
  • Thousands of Jewish homes and communities, with unknown futures
  • A combined total of 700 Jewish soldiers either killed in action or murdered on October 7th.
  • 70,000 Israelis injured according to data issued by the National Insurance Institute.
  • 250 hostages taken by Hamas to Gaza, with 101 still in captivity, some of whom are no longer alive.
  • Tens of thousands of Israelis displaced with over 60,000 from the North still unable to return to their homes.

In addition, because of the stubbornness of Hamas and their unwillingness to admit defeat, or to lay down their weapons, or to release the hostages and guilty, as well, for using their own citizens as human shields by victimizing them further by selling them food at inflated prices, food that was provided free as humanitarian aid, we recognize the following tragedy as well:

  • 40,000+ Palestinian lives lost, according to numbers provided by Hamas which, of course, includes terrorists as the numbers do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
  • Tens of thousands of Gazan homes destroyed.
  • A territory destroyed to mostly rubble, now with rampant disease as well.

Of course, that’s only the human cost.  There is also the fracture of our society that was caused by the government’s inability to do the one thing that every government must do to retain the trust of its citizens, and that is to protect us.   October 7th was a massive security failure responsibility for which sits squarely on the shoulders of the top military and political leadership.  In many other countries the entire higher echelon of leadership would have acknowledged that responsibility and resigned.  Here, with the exception of some individual military leaders who did exactly that, pretty much everyone else is still in place.  Shame on them for not owning up to their failures!!!

We also learned, although many people suspected it, that we are alone in this battle.  We are alone as a country and as a people.  While there have been individual countries who have been of assistance, there is no coalition of countries supporting us in our fight against Iran and its proxies, a fight which, if we lose, will result in both the elimination of Israel and, ultimately, the total destruction of western values.   One would have thought that after the sordid history of the 20th century, that western countries would understand the threat we all face and coalesce around their total commitment to squash the head of the octopus before it multiplies further. Sadly, that did not happen.

Given the west’s failure to stop Russia’s incursion into Ukraine, whose express purpose seems to have been to stop Ukraine from being seen as part of Europe, we should probably not have expected anything different here.  Here, Iran’s actions and the support of their proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and the West Bank, are driven by a desire of their religious leadership to take over this region and, eventually, the rest of the world as well, destroying everything that is good about western democracy and values. The fact that this has not been reason enough for the west to join with us, without limits, in this fight for our survival, sends a clear message to a Iran that the west will not go to war to save their societies and will not support us fully as we fight to save ours.  While we appreciate the limited support we did receive, shame on them as well for their nearsighted vision.

Historically, there have been philosophers who have said that finding ourselves alone is what the good Lord predicted.  But we were not destined to live alone.  Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory has written: “There is no suggestion in the Torah that Jews will live alone. God says to Abraham, ‘Through you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ Abraham was different from his neighbors, but he fought for them and prayed for them. He was apart but not alone.”

It is this insight into our destiny taken from the source, as it were, that gives us hope for the future of our country and our people.  While for centuries we have been attacked, persecuted, expelled, demeaned, incinerated, and demeaned, it is through us that all the families of the earth will be blessed.  Our return to this land after 2,000 years of exile was followed by a burst of inventiveness and creativity that made it possible for us to create technology that has blessed the entire world, including our enemies.

It was our return to this land after 2,000 years of exile that created the possibility for there to be more people studying Jewish texts than at any time in world history, even more than studied in the great religious academies and yeshivot in Europe.

And it was that return after 2,000 years of exile that enabled us to inculcate a sense of pride and loyalty in our country that when war did break out, Israelis wherever they were around the world made their way back here in record numbers so they could be part of the battle for our survival.

This is a sad anniversary, one that we wished we would never mark.  Nevertheless, we dare not forget who we are, what we have achieved and how, in spite of all of the attempts to eliminate us form this earth, we remain.  And we remain strong, resilient and, truth be told, the envy of those western nations too afraid to stand erect for what they believe.  While it is a day of sadness, it is also one of pride earned the hard way, with the lives of our friends and loved ones whose memories we will hold close forever.   Yechi Zichronam Bruchim.

About the Author
Sherwin Pomerantz is a native New Yorker, who lived and worked in Chicago for 20 years before coming to Israel in 1984. An industrial engineer with advanced degrees in mechanical engineering and business, he is President of Atid EDI Ltd., a 32 year old Jerusalem-based economic development consulting firm which, among other things, represents the regional trade and investment interests of a number of US states, regional entities and Invest Hong Kong. A past national president of the Association of Americans & Canadians in Israel, he is also Former Chairperson of the Board of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and a Board Member of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce. His articles have appeared in various publications in Israel and the US.
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