Margaritas for peace

Hi, My name is Tova Goldman.

I am not a social media influencer; I am not a political activist. I am not a military strategist. I am not a religious zealot, nor am I a right-wing fanatic.

I am a regular person. I am part of the Jewish nation and I happen to live in Israel.

As a regular Jewish person living in Israel during these times, I disagree with my husband, just like everyone else. I can scream at my kids just as well (if not better than others), I am praying, worrying, and trying to stop the panic and trying to focus on the good just like everyone else.

During these last few weeks, I have felt the support coming from all over the world. And it is for so needed and so appreciated. I thank you all. Please continue. In addition to the support, empathy, and sympathy I have also felt, seen, and heard the upsurge in antisemitism all over the world. People I do not even know are responding in antisemitic ways about things that are not even relevant to the given topic at hand.

Just an ex: In a creative writing group that I am in, a person posted a pic of herself and her baby with the caption: “You don’t have to be Muslim to support Hamas”

What is the connection to creative writing?

But the other more disturbing question is who would want to support Hamas?  Why would anyone actively want to support a known terrorist group.?

Further claims that Israel is acting, reacting, and retaliating in ways that are inhumane, and against international rules and regulations. Only after numerous claims and proof is Israel allowed to be let off the hook… until the next time.  Allow me to address the hospital in Gaza that Israel supposedly bombed. Yes, I know. WE did not do it.  and now the world knows that we did not do it either yay!

Now as a regular Jewish person who is living in Israel, I want to make one claim. We don’t want this war. We hate war. We don’t want to be here. We would rather be anywhere than be at war. Do you know where we really want to be? We want to be on a beach sipping margaritas. (For those of us who don’t like margaritas we can drink something else and for those of us who don’t like the beach we can think of other places to be), but the very last place that we want to be is at war. The very last thing that we want to do is go to war.

Don’t believe me?  Look at our prayers. we pray for peace 3 times a day, multiple times in our prayers.

The ultimate wish is what is written in the second chapter of Yeshyiahu in the fourth verse.

“No Nation shall not lift a sword against a nation, nor shall they learn war any more”

Isaiah chapter 2 verse 4

Meaning we don’t just want to be on the beach drinking margaritas.  We pray to be drinking those margaritas with Ahmed and Yussuf and Ibrahamim and Fatma.

And here lies the fundamental difference between us and hamas. Even if we did attack that hospital, (which the world has now agreed that we didn’t) WE HAVE NO JOY IN SUCH ACTIONS. WE HAVE NO JOY IN GOING TO WAR. WE TAKE NO PLEASURE IN SEEING AND CREATING DEATH AND DESTRUCTION.

WE WANT TO LIVE IN PEACE. TO LIVE IN PEACE WITH OURSELVES, TO LIVE IN PEACE WITH OUR NEIGHBORS, AND TO LIVE IN PEACE IN THE WORLD.

Our not-so-friendly neighbors Hamas on the other hand take immense joy, pleasure, and pride in death, destruction, and war. Again, if you don’t believe me, go back and look at the pictures from that horrible day. Go and see what was happening in Gaza. People were in the streets giving out candies and sweets, and people were celebrating Israel’s potential destruction and annihilation. Hamas was sharing videos of such horror and destruction with such glee and pleasure.  An organization that shares in horror and destruction with such joy, can such an organization really want peace? Can such people who affiliate with such an organization really understand the desire and work towards peace?

I think not.

Now we must go to war because we are not living in peace and if the truth be known we have not been living in peace for a long time. We have been living in fear.  And when you live in fear, you can not live in peace. The world holds the Jewish people to a very high standard, but the truth of the matter is, is that we hold ourselves to an even higher standard.

I just wanted to clear that up.

Praying for the return of all of our hostages, praying for our soldiers to come home safely with no harm done to them, praying for comfort for our fallen and lonely people, praying for our sick and all our lonely people, and above all praying for a true and everlasting peace.

Waiting to drink my margarita with you all.

Tova