search
Heddy Abramowitz
Artist Living in the Eye of the Storm

Blood, Sweat and Tears for the Long Haul

It is a sad day when the bond between America and Israel is a shared experience like senseless hate and violence.

_15_0016
“Sole Flag Waver” © 2013 by Heddy Abramowitz

We in Jerusalem know too well the fear, pain, anxiety and loss that come with an apparent act of terror like that which Boston just experienced in the marathon. Our thoughts and prayers go to the dead and injured and their families whose lives will never again be the same.

I say apparent, because this is still being investigated. But the Israeli in me, by now hardened with a certain cynicism regarding random very public acts of violence, senses what many would recognize as an eerie familiarity with the event.

And, perhaps not so coincidentally, it is Independence Day in Israel. We will celebrate our survival against all odds, if subdued by this event. Unlike others, according to the press after other attacks of terror, we will not be passing out candy and shooting from the rooftops in celebration of violence.

Perhaps unwittingly, whoever is responsible for this tragedy could not have picked a more symbolic event than the Boston Marathon: the birthplace of the American Revolution, the test of stamina, endurance, dedication and personal achievement. Whatever twisted goals may have existed in the mind(s?) of the perpetrator(s?), it will be these qualities that will persevere.

We are with you Boston, in pain, in loss, and in getting back up and dusting yourself off. We know.

Blood, sweat and tears. Another year on the frontlines. Chag Sameach, 65th Yom Ha’atzmaut.

"Israeli Flag and Flowering Garden with Hydrant" ©2013 by Heddy Abramowitz
“Israeli Flag and Flowering Garden with Hydrant” ©2013 by Heddy Abramowitz

 

 

About the Author
Heddy Abramowitz is a Jerusalem artist. Born in Brooklyn, NY to Holocaust survivors, raised in the southern Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., she shelved her career as an Israeli lawyer in favor of her first love, painting, and exhibits her art in Israel and abroad. Some say she is a lawyer in recovery, others just shake their heads. Believing that art communicates when words fail, she reviews Jerusalem art exhibits in English to broaden audiences for art made in this unique city. She also occasionally weighs in on current events. Living many years in the Jewish Quarter in the Old City significantly affected her outlook on living here, a work in progress. Good dark chocolate is her one true vice.