Stand-Up Nation: Vital Stories for Generation Z

American Jews who care about Israel have a huge problem:  Recent survey data shows that a majority of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 have an unfavorable opinion of Israel, their favorability ratings are roughly 20 percent lower than their parents’ generation, and the gap between their views and older Americans is growing ever-wider.

Into this breach steps Aviva Klompas, with her new book Stand Up Nation: Israeli Resilience in the Wake of Disaster.  This, her second book, chronicles the often-neglected history of the State of Israel, and of ordinary Israelis, sharing their time, treasure and talents to remediate poverty in the Third World.  The book is a thin volume – scarcely 200 pages – but its sweep is comprehensive.  In page after page, Klompas recounts how Israelis have stood up with innovative solutions to the debilitating problems of their neighbors – everything from combatting famine to improving access to water, hygiene and electricity … even addressing the wounds of sexual violence.

Hers is a volume that needs to be in the hands of every young person who is skeptical of Israel’s role in the world.  It makes accessible to everyday readers the very complicated history of Israel’s founding, and that from the very beginning, Israel has been sharing what it had with poorer countries across Africa and Asia.  And, as Klompas explains with the sometimes heart-pounding punch of an action thriller, Israelis have often risked their lives, in places that are not safe for Jews, to provide what was needed. The selfless and courageous people she profiles in her pages live out an indispensable creed for our world: Helping those in need, without regard to politics, ethnicity, religious background or the promise of something in return. This Middle East history is one that young doubters should hear and know.

My one tiny quibble with her book is that Klompas picks the wrong point of departure for what is truly an epic and important tale. To show that selfless giving to others is part of the firmament of Jews, and redeems both the giver and the receiver alike, she points to a key verse in the Israeli National Anthem, Hatikvah: “Our hope is not yet lost.” Undoubtedly, she chose this particular verse because every Jew living after October 7 wonders whether our hopes for a future of peace and safety are now forfeit. Klompas’s detailed reply to that concern is that our history has featured similar dangers in the past and those who went before us were generous and helpful despite those dangers: Their hope was not lost. Yet, to my mind, the wellspring for that faithful generosity to others is found in one of the earlier, passed-over lines of the anthem: “the Jewish soul sings….”

In that respect, however, Klompas’s book is operatic in how that soul has sung. Her book belongs on the shopping list and bookshelf of every person who cares about others.