Israel, redux

Since October 7th I’ve imagined what kind of future awaits my son once he reaches army age

My happy go lucky 6 year old boy going on… 18

Today he’s chasing butterflies in the wind

But when I close my eyes, there is he is a decade from now fighting the next fight

He’s tall, strong, in uniform, barely recognizable yet somewhat familiar

I’m proud, but also uneasy

As his mother and I wave him goodbye, I’m filled with thoughts

Perhaps we didn’t do enough. Perhaps we could’ve done more

It’s 5am. My bags packed. I’m off once more to Miluim, imbued with a sense of purpose that extends beyond the here and now

I know that the fight not fought today will the fight fought years from now by my son and today’s first-graders

There’s a quiet hum of determination on base

Each person diligently going about their role

Hundreds of thousands of strands simultaneously spinning an intricate web

The break of dawn pierces the horizon and signals a new day

I bump into an old friend

“You served here? I didn’t know you were working on this too”

A modest shrug, a smile, a hug

Brothers reunited

And then back to work

Out on the street these are everyday people

But each of them have a secret alter ego and they all wear capes

If only you could know the incredible things that they’ve done

I have but a small glimpse from the inside

But if only you could see what I see!

We walk amongst heroes and we don’t even feel it

We owe so much to so few.. and here they are among us

Waiting in line at the supermarket, dropping off their kids at kindergarten, filling up gas at the station

We were never blessed with resources, but we were blessed with our people

We never had the numbers but of the few that we do, each is so crucial

The news trudges along with it’s usual narrative about this and that, oblivious to the reality on the ground

Forget the headlines. Forget the petty infighting. Forget the politics

That’s the 1% that makes the news

Not the 99%, quietly humming along and getting stuff done quietly and behind the scenes

There’s an entire reality on the ground that’s imperceptible unless you live it

The reality of tight knit cooperation

The reality of small and big acts of kindness committed openly and in secret all over Israel

The reality of friendships across invisible borders

The reality that you get when brilliant minds meet infinite courage

The reality that a nation so often eulogized throughout history inexplicably comes to life each time anew, filled with vigor and determination

Growing up in Australia I always knew that I wanted to be part of Jewish history

My grandparents mourned over what had been lost in the Holocaust

Today I look at the rebirth with amazement. I look to the future and ask: ‘What’s next to be built?’

Coming to Israel at 18, making my life here, building a family here, and contributing in some small way to the Jewish state has been a fulfillment of that dream

It’s been an actualization of that rebirth

The next pages of the Bible are being written here in Israel, right now

And I’m awed and honored to be in the footnotes

The Jewish people are strong, and they get even stronger when faced with adversity

Each man a finger coming together in perfect unison and tightening into a clenched fist emblazoned with the Star of David

A nation that rises from slumber like a lion

I don’t know what the future awaits, but years from now, I’ll be able to tell my boy that we sure put up a fight and gave it our best effort

The sacrifices and pain weren’t in vain

The pain of today to secure a safer, more prosperous tomorrow

Over and out. Time to go and keep writing that next chapter