PURELY COMMENTARY
continued from page 4
1942 - 2023
Covering and Connecting
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6 | OCTOBER 19 • 2023
J
N
Yom Kippur War, 50 years and
one day later. It’s Israel’s Pearl
Harbor. Akin to pogroms of
Jews in Europe — except that
these pogroms are happening
in our home.
A home is a place where you
can feel safe. Hamas violated
our safe Jewish home.
Paramedics, police officers,
concerned citizens, regular
people fought valiantly, with
hundreds dying to save others.
Parents died protecting their
babies. Heroism, plain and
simple.
People trapped in their
“secure rooms” whispered to
newscasters, I hear gunshots
ringing outside my door.
Friends from all over the
world write-text-message me.
Are you safe? Are you okay?
Well, yes. We’re safe. I live in
Jerusalem and not many rock-
ets have landed here. We run to
the stairwell when the rockets
sound. But we’re not okay.
Our self-image as a powerful
nation that can defend itself
from weaker enemies has been
shattered.
The social contract is bro-
ken. It must be rebuilt.
Israel’s greatest natural
resource is its people. The
togetherness and mobilization
are astounding. It seems every-
one is doing something for the
war effort. Raising money and
equipment for Israeli soldiers.
Collecting food, distributing
breast milk to motherless
infants, providing survivors
of terror with psychological
support.
Israel’s fanciest restaurants
are turning their kitchens
kosher so that they can feed
soldiers.
My friend created a make-
shift music therapy room at a
Dead Sea hotel for evacuees
from the ravaged Kibbutz
Be’eri.
Volunteers dig graves to
help the Hevre Kadisha burial
society.
Yesterday we paid a shivah
(mourning) visit to honor a
fallen soldier whom we did
not know: Nathaniel Avraham
Shalom Young, a Lone Soldier
from England. Some 100 peo-
ple gathered to hear about a
handsome, affable 6-foot-4 guy
with a twinkle in the eye and
mischievous sense of humor.
Solidarity is not limited to
Israel’s Jewish citizens and res-
idents. Kfar Kassem, an Israeli
Arab city, opened its doors to
evacuees from the south.
Asylum seekers pack boxes
for hundreds of displaced peo-
ple. One of my close friends,
Ibtisam Erekat, was the first
person to reach out when the
sirens sounded to make sure
we were okay.
Even when Israel bleeds with
national and personal trauma,
it beats with the will to defend
itself.
From the wreckage, we’ll
construct hope. And from
there will come the light.
Ruth Ebenstein is an American-Israeli
journalist, historian, public speaker and
peace activist. She is writing a memoir
about an Israeli-Palestinian friendship
begun in a breast cancer support group.
She grew up in Southfield.
A shivah notice for a slain Lone
Soldier from the UK.