La’alot – My Descendants Will Be Sabras

It’s true I woke up on Sunday, Oct 8th, 2023, a profoundly changed woman. I went to sleep one person, and as I processed the shocking, horrific news of Oct 7th, I think my brain chemistry or neurons altered, or my soul evolved – I don’t know what. I’m not a neurologist or a scientist or a mystical holy seer.

While most initially signaled empathy and support, overnight a mob of Jew-hatred erupted. Many were silent. I heard that, too.

Two months later a man shot up a synagogue with children inside. Jewish children go to Hebrew school after public school a few days a week, as I did growing up. This was less than 2 miles from my apartment. On the first day of Hanukkah.

A few minutes away from my door were throngs of protesters carrying signs supporting terrorism against Jews, and Islamic flags with swastikas on them. I was made aware that a virulent Jew-hater was living down the hall from us.

By then I had learned that some close friends were frighteningly antisemitic. Those friendships ended quickly. Not before they got their bullying licks in.

Months later more friendships ended. One said, “it’s a shame Israel even exists at all.” Previously, when she was asked why she didn’t say anything after Oct 7th, she claimed she knew nothing at all about the Middle East so didn’t feel she should say anything. A few months later she was amazingly an expert – in Jew-hatred. Believe me, it’s even more terrible than I’m recounting here.

As the year unfolded, it just got worse and worse. I saw clearly that we were in a state eerily similar to 1930’s Germany. Not 1940’s – but the years leading up to the Holocaust. The gas chambers weren’t erected overnight. Societal changes occurred first in the 1930’s: Jewish professors and speakers and eventually students were blackballed. Jewish owned businesses were attacked. Jews were beaten in the streets. Synagogues were firebombed. Jewish doctors and other professionals were ostracized and forced to shut down their practices. Jew-hatred was taught in grade schools and high schools and universities. Nazi Youth, which had formed in the early 1920’s in Germany, had become ubiquitous by the mid-1930’s. Much of this became prevalent in the US and Canada in 2024.

And I haven’t even mentioned the encampments or pro-terrorists, pro-rapists marching in our streets. The unbelievable lies people so readily believed, the lies the media reported. Everyone reads the headlines, no one reads the factual correction. Hamas lied about all of it – which I knew all along. Reality check – The Gaza Ministry of Health IS Hamas. Who the fck believes radical extremist terrorists about anything?! A world gone mad. This is what it must have felt like to live in Germany just before the Holocaust.

We have advocated powerfully for Israel and the hostages and the Jewish people all year. It’s hard to tell if it’s made a dent. But I do hear from appreciative friends and acquaintances. Just as some friendships ended, others blossomed and strengthened as we continued to voice our pride in being Jewish, our strength from being Jewish, our fierce support of Israel. Really, just simple truth-telling. We made new connections around the world.

My daughter reminded me yesterday that we watched We Were the Lucky Ones during Passover. We understood that story viscerally. We held many spiritual discussions throughout our Seders and holiday celebrations.

The day after Passover ended, I woke up further changed again – with the thought that we should make aliyah to Israel! Fortunately, independently, my daughter was thinking about this, too. I felt I was like both my grandmothers, who were visionaries and matriarchs in their own right. I saw a bright future ahead for both of us in Israel, on so many levels.

One week later, exactly 8 months after Oct 7th, we contacted Nefesh b’Nefesh together, just to explore the idea. We received a warm welcome on a lengthy, informative call. In fact, we plan to get together with this woman for coffee, in Jerusalem! Our advisor from NbN and our shliach from The Jewish Agency were phenomenal, too, godsends. Friends and acquaintances in Israel acted as lovely and fabulous cheerleaders, encouraging and helping us. And it’s been a journey – mountains of paperwork and documentation.

Just before Thanksgiving, our last in America, we got our Mazel Tov letter. We booked our aliyah flight this week! We’ll be celebrating Passover in Israel in 2025.

We have so, so many positive reasons why we’re making this move, choosing this adventure of a lifetime. Dayeinu, dayeinu. My heart sings, my neshama sings – my daughter literally sings. Deeply personal reasons. We feel we both have a lot to offer Israel, too, which we intend to do, so it’s a two-way street. We’ll be bringing our infinite  hope and resilience with us. And we feel incredibly, overwhelmingly lucky and grateful and filled with love and joy that Israel exists. We can live out loud, with our people. We’re going home.