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Tuvia Book
Author, educator, Tour-Guide, artist

What Does “We Stand For Israel” mean?

As “Operation Protective Edge” enters its third week we hear the “We stand for Israel” slogan everywhere. What does it really mean?   How does one stand for Israel in these crucial times?

I stand for israel

Imagine if you went back in time eighty-five years ago to Europe to the summer of 1939 and met a group of trapped Jews with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Imagine if you told them that you come form an age where there is an independent Jewish State with a “right of return” where every Jew receives automatic citizenship: A State where Hebrew is a living spoken language, a State where Jewish farmers farm their land, a State where Jewish soldiers defend our pride and dignity, a State where Jews live in freedom and are in charge of their own destiny.

The Jews of pre-Shoah Europe would fall on their faces thinking that you were talking about some kind of messianic era. After all, Jews yearned and hoped and prayed for two millennia to be “free people in our land.” Jews declared “Next Year in Jerusalem” after the Passover meal and Yom Kippur services and broke countless glasses at weddings saying, “If I forget thee O Jerusalem.”

Yet this is our reality as we live in the times of miracles and wonders of the sixty-sixth year of the State of Israel. We arrived at this place in our history not just because of prayers and hopes but also because of actions. Our youth returned and; one word at a time revived our dormant language, revived the idea of Jews working our land and revived the Jewish idea of self–defense. We should be jumping out of bed with the “Shechiyanu” prayer on our lips thanking our lucky stars that we live in the times that we do. So what can we do to show we, “Stand for Israel?

Things you can DO to support Israel. To Jew is to DO!

  1. Come here now:

Take a trip. Stay in a hotel. Meet the troops and families of troops in the field. Eat at a restaurant here. Take a tour. Our economy has taken a hit. Tourism for the summer is virtually dead. If you would like to help that is the best way.

  1. Make Israel your home:

Go to the options in your web browser and make www.timesofisrael.com your choice of Israel news the first tab on your homepage.

  1. Colour your face blue and white:

Update your Facebook status, twitter and your other social media sites with news on or support forour IDF soldiers and our embattled southern cities of Israel.

  1. Open your wallet in Israel’s support:

A lot of great causes – for example,http://lonesoldiercenter.comFriends of the IDF, or http://www.zdvo.org (IDF Disabled veterans association), to name just a few.

  1. Say thank you:

View the statementsof and WRITE TO THANK your elected officials for their support of Israel during this difficult time.   Write to thank the brave IDF troops on the front lines, http://www.thankisraelisoldiers.org/?CategoryID=164

  1. Advocate for Israel & attend rallies for Israel:

Check out ideas on: https://www.standwithus.com

May God show compassion upon our soldiers and our people and lead them and us from danger to security, from darkness to light, and from attack to freedom, as speedily as humanly – or as Divinely – possible.

About the Author
Tuvia Book has a doctorate in education and is the author and illustrator of the internationally acclaimed Israel education curriculum; "For the Sake of Zion; A Curriculum of Israel Studies" (Fifth edition, Koren), "Jewish Journeys, The Second Temple Period to the Bar Kokhba Revolt, 536 BCE-136 CE," (Koren), "Moral Dilemmas of the Modern Israeli Soldier" (Rama) and the soon to be published “Jewish Journeys, The First Temple Period, 1000 -586 BCE” (Koren). Dr. Book was born in London and raised in both the UK and South Africa. After making Aliya at the age of 17 and studying in Yeshiva he volunteered for the IDF, where he served in an elite combat unit. Upon his discharge he completed his undergraduate degree in Jewish history and literature, as well as a certification in graphic design. He then served as the Information Officer and deputy head of security at the Israeli Consulate of Philadelphia, while earning a graduate degree in Jewish Studies. Upon his return to Israel, Dr. Book graduated from a course of study with the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and is a licensed tour guide. Tuvia has been working in the field of Jewish education, both formal and informal, for many years. He has guided and taught Jewish students and educators from around the English-speaking world for some of Israel’s premier educational institutions and programs. Tuvia has lectured throughout North America, Australia, Europe, and South Africa. In addition, his artwork has been commissioned on every continent (except Antarctica). Tuvia served as a Shaliach (emissary) for the Jewish Agency for Israel as the Director of Israel and Zionist Education at the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York (Jewish Education Project). He was a lecturer/educational guide at the Alexander Muss Institute for Israel Education (AMIIE) in Israel. Tuvia has lectured at both Bar Ilan University and Hebrew University. He is a Teaching Fellow at the Tikvah Fund. He is a research associate at the Hudson Institute. His latest book, "Jewish Journeys, The First Temple Period, From King David to King Zedekiah, 1000 - 586 BCE," (Koren) is part of a series on Jewish history.
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