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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