In the Eyes of a Survivor, We Already Won

As Avram looks up at the stars, God tells him that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. It’s a beautiful promise, yet it’s also a bit mysterious. Why stars?

Why compare the future Jewish people to lights so distant and unreachable?

There’s something unique about stars – they’re incredibly far from us, yet their light reaches us across impossible distances. God is hinting to Avraham that while his descendants might feel distant or even alone, they’ll be seen for endless generations and throughout the world, casting a shining light in a sometimes-dark world. This promise is not only about numbers; it’s also about endurance.

Maddie Harrell tells a story of an old man who walked into Starbucks; “Halfway through struggling to understand this old man’s order through his thick accent, he noticed my necklace. He stopped and said “your star is beautiful, and I thanked him. There was a long pause before he spoke again. When he did, he said “it is beautiful, but I am having a hard time looking at it. The last time I wore one, it was mandatory”. We then spoke to each other in Hebrew for a bit. But soon enough he stopped again and looked back at my star. With one hand he held mine and used his other hand to touch the sapphires on my necklace. His lips shook and tears rolled down his cheeks. In a heavily accented German voice, he said “I am so happy you are here. Your generation is here. We won” and kissed my hand.”

Those words, “We won,” still echo in my mind, as did we really win?

Do we feel that way today?

Winning feels distant from our everyday reality.

In a time where our conversations revolve around October 7th, regional tensions and rising inflation, it can feel like we are constantly losing ground. We may not feel the victory he spoke of. Maybe it’s because we weren’t there – we didn’t live through the horrors of the Holocaust, where merely surviving was the ultimate victory.

For him, seeing another Jew wearing the Star of David, freely and proudly, was enough to feel victorious. He experienced a time when our very existence was at stake, and the fact that we are here, still standing as a Jewish people, felt like the ultimate triumph. For him, survival was the priority.

But for us?

We live in an era where the existential threats aren’t as apparent – at least not in the same way. Our struggles are more political, more economic, more about the internal battles we fight within our society. It’s easy to feel frustrated, to feel like we are losing. We are weighed down by the complexities of the world today, losing sight of the bigger picture.

Yet, we have won, in the most profound way possible.

We are here.

We are thriving.

I am free to walk around in the holiest city in the world, free to speak the language of my ancestors and free to live life proudly and outwardly as a Jew. His generation didn’t have that luxury, and for them, our presence today is a victory in itself.

So yes, while we may feel like we’re constantly battling new challenges, sometimes we need to take a step back and see the larger picture. The fact that we are here, part of the Jewish story, is miraculous and only through the God’s promises to Avraham.

As we continue to fight for stability, let’s not forget that, for some, our mere existence is proof that we’ve already won.