APRIL 20 • 2023 | 9
agree upon the majority of
issues. One of our biggest
problems is we are held
hostage by leaders who create
a culture of catchy, divisive
and power-driven discourse.
HOPE AND DESPAIR
Am I hopeful? Of course, I
am. Is this the first time our
society is in danger? Hell no.
We fought with one another
for thousands of years, and
have been able to overcome
and establish our own state.
We are the “start-up nation.”
We will figure this out.
But will we? And if we will,
would it be another status
quo that will hold for several
years, hiding our deeper
wounds? What will be here
in 20 or 30 years? What will
Israel look like when my
children Ella and Gili have
their own families?
From far away, living in
Detroit, there is something
very hopeful in seeing the
passion people have for the
state of Israel. In the past
three months, we have seen
more Israeli flags in the street
than ever before. Patriotism
has been expanded to a
wider lens and is possessed
by diverse (and opposing)
communities.
At times, this is very
exciting and gives me much
hope! But unlike Daniel
Gordis, who wrote the article
“What you just witnessed was
one of the greatest weeks in
Israel’s history” — We don’t
feel so great.
Many of those going to
protest and waving the flag
are feeling that our nation
is declining to a place of no
return. If my father, who
has always been our family’s
Zionist guiding star, who
fought as a paratrooper in the
Six-Day War and Yom Kippur
War, who was a shaliach and
served the Jewish people for
his entire career in the Jewish
Agency, speaks today mostly
words of despair — I am
concerned. I am scared. Very
confused.
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
AND ANARCHY
One specific group of people
has been in the headlines
more than others: Reserves
Air Force Pilots (just like me).
In several different
occasions, some Air Force
pilots claimed they will not
come to serve if the judicial
reform passes as planned.
Some have accused them
of being anarchists and some
call them heroes. This is not
to be taken lightly. Refusing
to serve has been a taboo in
Israel, and the IDF usually
remains outside of any civil
or political discussion.
This widespread discussion
between Air Force pilots just
tells you how serious this
situation is. Some political
leaders and thought leaders
quickly claim that these pilots
are doing this as a political
act, using their power to
overturn the elections,
creating a dangerous situation
where a soldier can decide
not to follow orders based on
his/her political point of view.
As a reserves pilot myself,
that is completely misleading.
The only reason these
pilots are saying they will not
come to serve is that they
are genuinely afraid that the
orders they might get come
from a government that is
not functioning anymore as
a true democracy, with the
right checks and balances to
ensure their orders are legal
and moral. That is the red
line those pilots draw — and
that is completely legitimate
disobedience and not anarchy
like some would prefer to
color it.
JEWISH AMERICA
Naturally, and from a caring
attitude, American Jews ask
us: “What can we do?” “What
is our role in all of this?”
The usual answer is
choosing between supporting
Israel no matter what or that
it is OK, even important, to
criticize. Those two options
are actually more of the same.
They represent somewhat of a
passive or reactive approach.
Israel does something, and
we react to it. I think this
community can allow itself to
take a more active role.
By saying active, I do not
imply being directly involved
in each political decision
Israel has to make.
Activism can be having a
place at the table in a broader
conversation — one that
looks on into the future and
helps define the vision for
Israel and ways to achieve
it. It’s not a privilege to have
a seat at the table. We need
you. We need our people
from close and from afar to
give us perspective and share
the wisdom of the Jewish
people, in a way that will
revive Zionism and help us
extract the potential of our
tiny country to be the best it
can be.
Albert Einstein once said,
“In the middle of difficulty
lies opportunity.”
Let’s take it!
Yiftah Leket is the community shaliach
from Israel and works for the Jewish
Federation of Metro Detroit.
suffer such a fate.
However, when one wants to
spread fear and hate, it doesn’t
matter so long as the image
serves the purpose to dog
whistle constituents.
Fear is a primal reaction to
survival and to preserving the
self/group/community. Hate
is what comes out of the fear,
directed toward the perceived
threat. Humankind’s worst
leaders have used and continue
to stoke fear, directing hate
toward an easy-to-scapegoat
target. It is all too often used
to rile up support of the mis-
informed and those in our
society whose position and
safety feel threatened in some
way. The results are catastroph-
ic. Even since the Holocaust,
genocide has been happening
time and time again.
I believe that hate is very easy
to evoke. It needs almost no
effort. Though it takes emotion-
al energy, that energy is usually
directed not toward the self but
toward the other, the perceived
reason of the threat. Love, on
the other hand, is much harder
to evoke since it requires con-
stant emotional and mental
work. To be successful, you
would need to allow yourself to
empathize with the “other” —
those who do not look like you,
behave like you, believe like you
… after all, we are all humans.
Whether you believe that we
were created by one Creator or
if you simply believe in what we
call humanity, we are still here
together, part of this one won-
derful world.
Let’s choose love and work
toward it!
Avishay Hayut is one of the
co-authors of: “The Ones Who
Remember: Second Generation Voices
of the Holocaust” published by City
Press. He lives in Ann Arbor.
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