Treasure Trove: What Do We Do With Our Memory of This Ongoing Terrible Time?

I cannot throw these out.

They are the blue ribbons handed out at the first rallies to save the hostages.  They are the items purchased at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv to help fund the campaign to Bring Them Home.  They are the 101 yellow ribbons that were the only “decorations” in our Sukkah in 2024 and, when the holiday was over, hung on a tree in front of our house until the last hostage came home.

They are the memory of a terrible time.

Of course, we don’t need tangible reminders of the terrible time.  It remains inside of us.  And in certain respects it remains a terrible time.

What do we do with that memory?  How do we best honour the victims of the terror attacks of October 7, the ordeals of the hostages, the pain of the families, the sacrifices of the soldiers, the trauma of our people?

In Israel, is that reelecting those on whose watch this all happened on the promise it won’t happen again, or is it electing someone new with the promise that what did happen will be fully investigated?

Outside of Israel, is that channeling our trauma and fear into anger, or into community, or into both?  

In the end, we each must decide for ourselves how we move forward.  Is it with love or with hate?  Which makes us safer?  What is consistent with our Jewish tradition and values?  What will make us feel that all of the suffering has not been a waste?

Treasure Trove is a column about collectibles, so I don’t propose to answer these questions.  But my collection shows me that we have been through tough times before and we always find a way to get through them.  

We have no choice.

May the memory of all those we lost on October 7, 2023 and as a result of it be for a blessing.

For more treasures from the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, which have appeared weekly in the Treasure Trove column in the Canadian Jewish News (www.thecjn.ca) since February 2021, see https://herzlcollection.com/treasure-trove

David Matlow recently completed the #Herzl100 where he posted 100 Herzl videos in 100 days.  You can view them individually on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok, or see all of them here: https://herzlcollection.com/%23herzl100