For as long as I’ve known, Jewish friends and family have made pilgrimages to Israel every summer. There are teen trips and study programs and work internships and business trips and now Birthright, which brings 20-somethings to Israel for their very first visit. For a Jewish person, going to Israel is like returning home. It is our special place - our homeland. It is the one place in the world where we are not the minority, and the one place that our Jewish spirituality all comes together after reading about it for years in our religious school books.
This summer is no different than any other. I have so many family and friends who have made Israel a mandatory part of their summer travel plans, and now, I keep reading postings from them about racing to bomb shelters and rockets flying overhead.
For Israelis, this is a normal way of life. (Though personally…I don’t see anything “normal” about it at all.) They have spent their lives listening to the sirens, and many even have bomb shelters in their own homes. For Americans, however, running to bomb shelters is a very new and shocking experience. I am sitting here in my cushy home on safe land and can’t stop thinking about them!
I am thinking of my past-her-due-date very pregnant American friend running to the a bomb shelter with her dog in tow.
I am thinking of the Israeli family who lives in Tucson and brought their American born child to Israel for her 1st time this summer. This is not what they planned for their sweet child’s first visit there.
I am thinking of my little cousins who have such a love of Israel that they are there on work internships to immerse themselves in the culture that they love so much.
I am thinking of my friend who arrives today on business with his wife and three children in Tucson waiting for him to return home.
I will admit….I am worried for each of them. I selfishly want them all to change their plans and come back to the US now! They are each stronger than I am and are somehow remaining positive and aligning themselves with this amazing country. As they have 15-30 seconds to get to their bomb shelters once the sirens sound, I want them all to know I am praying for their safety along with the safety of each Israeli.
There is only one song that I possibly could have as my song of the day today, and that is “Hatikvah.” “Hatikvah,” or “The Hope” is the Israeli national anthem, and it is hauntingly beautiful. The hope of the Jewish people is to “be a free nation in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.”
Here is Barbara Streisand singing it at a concert she performed in Israel long ago. I thought her version of it would be apropos today as I am thinking of Americans in Israel at the moment. This is my hope for them! Am Yisrael chai!
