Short of Breath – Until Election Results
Reading the piece, The Ground Never Stops Moving, by Rabbi David Wolpe, I was drawn to the last two paragraphs, returning to them, a piercing feeling in my heart each time I reread the Naguib Mahfouz quote, “Home is not where you are born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease.” Not that I am attempting to escape Israel, but unlike my feelings through many difficult times over the 47 years since I moved here in 1980, I wonder at times if I shouldn’t be considering it. It’s not really a viable option, and I still naively hope and try to act in some ways to make Israel the place I want it to be, to encourage motion on the track I thought it was supposed to be on. What if the Israel I Believed In is No Longer the Israel Israelis Want, as Gershon Baskin entitled his reflections, captures questions I ask and his inspiring activism is medicinal, just to read.
This evening, Saturday night before our elections on Tuesday, the tremendous anxiety in anticipation of the elections, is almost paralyzing. I literally, physically feel like I am holding my breath. We were going to go to a rally for the Democrats party at Rabin Square and join their march to Hostages’ Square for a demonstration calling for a national inquiry commission. The latter – what’s the point before elections exactly? Maybe support for the bereaved families and former hostages and their families calling for it.
It’s highly likely we will both vote Democrats (with a remote chance that at the polls I will place that piece of paper for the Joint List in my envelope). Under the influence of The Leftist’s Dilemma, by Avrum Burg in which he concludes that he will vote for the Joint List and his wife for Ra’am served to reinforce my inclination towards the Democrats – and not because I disagree with anything in his analysis.
Not sure what the real point tonight was for the Democrats rally except for “feel good” rallying support with the likeminded. The deterrent of driving into Tel Aviv and finding parking discouraged us from attending and continuing to Hostages’ Square. But mostly, to my surprise, Haim felt physically drained by the pre-election anxiety. More like me to articulate that, but he said it. Meanwhile, we are holding our breath.
Harriet Gimpel
October 24, 2026
