The Prognosis: The Scars Are Not Expected to Heal

Today is the 9^th day of the Hebrew month of AV- the Jewish national day of mourning for the multitude of tragedies that have befallen our people on this day and seemingly every day throughout our long, distinguished but painful history.

Today we fast and having just returned from lamenting our endless suffering and persecution in synagogue I am just pondering the offensive but possibly insightful words of a former non-Jewish friend (I am proud of having quite a few) who informed me recently that I have an outsized and disproportionate propensity for victimhood. Unfortunately, this antisemitic trope has been employed since the Holocaust if not prior to it. In this scenario I must be solely to blame for any discord whatsoever. Where have I heard that before?! Having previously disagreed with him on the right- indeed the obligation – of a nation to defend its citizens even if they are Jewish, I realized with regret that the more things change- the more they stay the same.

Undoubtedly as the child of Holocaust survivors I do suffer from a condition of generational trauma which was severely inflamed by the atrocities of October 7. The unimaginable became a stark reality as our brothers and sisters- young and old alike were indiscriminately slaughtered, raped, tortured and burned alive in our own homeland by barbaric thug terrorists coming from an area not “occupied” by Israel in almost two decades who have repeatedly threatened unlimited repeat performances! There can be no excuse or justification for such pure evil even in this so-called ‘civilized’ world that has clearly lost its moral compass.

As we bury our dead, we see that the malice of millennia remains alive and well and indeed is thriving. However, the simple fact is that no nation expecting to survive can be expected to abandon its deterrence against destruction merely for acceptance and nor should it have to do so- not even Israel-barely the size of New Jersey with a population in the single digit millions surrounded by those hateful hordes sworn to her destruction.

Yet somehow in the very short period of 76 years the tiny State of Israel while beleaguered by bitterness has fought to benefit not only those hostile neighbors but also the international community at large. What is truly outsized and disproportionate are her contributions to the world at large through her technological, medical and agricultural innovations.

Having labored industriously in community relations building bridges with diverse segments of society for the last quarter of a century I truly believed that if I gave respect, I would receive it. Now I am having my doubts- a casualty of the times. However, you my friend- or ex friend as the case may be- as you press on my genetic scar, it should be abundantly clear to you that it was not self-inflicted. It should be equally clear to you that being prepared to apologize for personal misdemeanors will never ever make me an apologist for being a proud Jew or for Israel the jewel in our crown- the national homeland and shelter for a people persecuted in and expelled from most of our historic homelands.

In that context I make no apology either for my pronounced sense of victimhood which was imposed upon me- and not just me- by the insensitivity and inhumanity of others. That ultimate injustice arising from within all of mankind created in the image of G-d certainly represents a deep and lasting tragedy of the 9^th of Av.