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DECEMBER 28 • 2023 | 7
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of their child along with all the
other hostages. It was a two-day
mission, but the convenience of
Hertz Rent-a-Car, the on-time
landing of El Al, and the effi-
ciency of Israel’s roads and tun-
nels enabled me to pack in a lot.
The lesson I learned from
this quick trip was that while I
went to give support and show
solidarity, the people of Israel

— from those in the hospital,
those fighting for the release of
their child, those helping pack
lettuce and those dislocated
from Kiryat Shmona staying
in my hotel — gave me back
something precious; a sense
of resiliency and strength that
I could take back to Jews in
America. Israelis are strong,
serious, sad and angry; but
more than anything, they are
resilient, determined and not
going to let the terrorists win.
We Jews in America can learn
from our brothers and sisters in
Israel — we must fight the hard
fight against antisemitism, but
we have to be strong and resil-
ient and let those who spread
hate know that we will never
accept a divided and vitriolic
America. We stand shoulder
to shoulder with our brothers
and sisters in Israel, and their
strength is our strength.
Am Yisrael Chai!

Rabbi Asher Lopatin is the executive

director of the Jewish Community

Relations Council/ AJC Detroit.

Rabbi Lopatin with the
group from Natanya packing
parsley and lettuce.

Dos is nit Rosh Hashanah, men ruft dos New Year
Mir darfn nit zitzn in awe and in fear.
Mir essn un essn un trinken some beer.
Making new resolutions tzu brekhn yeder year.
A yontef far alle, far dir un far mir.

Dos is nit: this is not
men rift dos: we call it
Mir darfn nit zitzn: we don’t have to sit
Mir essn un essn: we eat and we eat
un trinken: and drink
tzu brekhn yeder year: to break every year
A yontef far alle: a holiday for all
far dir un far mir: for you and for me.





By Rachel Kapen

Yiddish Limerick
Happy New Year!

D

ear Partners,
What happened
on Oct. 7 shocked
the whole world, we didn’t
understand and didn’t digest
what happened, simply an
incomprehensible act. But it
also sharpened in us the need
for overall Israeli unity against
this despicable and murderous
terrorism. It strengthened in
us the belief that our destiny
is one.
All of us, Jewish and Arab
Israelis, stood together and
expressed our support for the
families of the murdered and
hostages, we prayed and con-
tinue to pray that all the kid-
napped will return home, and
that this terrorist organization
will be eliminated.
Members of our partner-
ship from Israel and the USA
called to express support and
solidarity. I personally greatly
appreciated the phones that
rang and the personal mes-
sages that were sent to wish us
health and a peaceful life. This
only proves how much we are
together, how much we are a
family.
This is our way of life, and
this is our decisive answer
to murderous terrorism. We
believe in partnership between
normal human beings as
human beings.
I have always said that

the partnership is not only a
Jewish-Jewish partnership but
an American-Israeli, Jewish
and Arab partnership. My fate
and the fate of Arab society
in the State of Israel is inter-
twined with the fate of Jewish
society as well.
And that’s why I’m here,
an Israeli Arab who believes
in a life of partnership built
on the values of equality and
democracy. After all, this is
what the State of Israel was
founded on and we must not
miss the idea, despite all the
disturbances and distractions
around.
As a person who lives with-
in Israeli Arab society, experi-
ences and participates in the
open and intimate public dis-
course, I can say with certainty
that the absolute majority
says the statement in the most
emphatic way: “We don’t want
terrorism, and we don’t want
wars. We want a normal life
with respect, peace and quiet.
”
I believe and am sure that
after we pass this human cri-
sis, we will all return to our
normality as a society that
desires peace, shared living
and prosperity for all of us.

Hisham Bisharat is the co-chair of the

Partnership Path Program. This letter

was first published by Federation’s

Israel and Overseas Department.

Hisham
Bisharat
and his
family

Federation’s Israel & Overseas Dept.
A Letter from an
Arab-Israeli

HISHAM BISHARAT
CO-CHAIR OF THE PARTNERSHIP PATH PROGRAM
continued from page 6