Grapevine November 17, 2023: A cause for optimism

Rallies for Israel and against antisemitism and all forms of racism in general have been inspiring examples of across-the-board Jewish unity, but they have not really succeeded in overcoming an aura of concern and even despair.

The pessimists are worried that Israel is living in the shadow of an existential threat, while optimists look back at history and say that the Jewish people, as a collective, are indestructible. Someone who not only believes that but is also living proof of the repeated ability of the Jews to rise like a phoenix out of the ashes is former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yisrael Meir Lau.

A child Holocaust survivor who was liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp, Lau is a brilliant raconteur with a phenomenal memory for names, places, and details, and he is also the eternal optimist.

His optimism is evident in the interviews he gives against a backdrop of history, with the occasional religious parable thrown in for good measure.

Writing in a special supplement published last Friday by Israel Hayom, Lau took readers back to a little over 75 years ago. Headed by then-Jewish Agency chairman David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, the leaders of political parties of the state-in-the-making gathered at 16 Rothschild Boulevard – home of Meir Dizengoff, Tel Aviv’s first mayor – to read the Declaration of Independence and proclaim the establishment of the State of Israel after 2,000 years in the Diaspora.

Ze’ev Scherf, who later became Israel’s fourth minister of finance, read the draft of the declaration, and Ben-Gurion noticed that an important word was missing.

Scherf agreed, saying that the state to be proclaimed did not as yet have a name.

Three options were proposed: the State of Zion, the State of Judah, and the State of Israel. It took Ben-Gurion a moment to decide that it would be the State of Israel, after which the Declaration of Independence was signed by 47 people ranging in political representation from the ultra-Orthodox Agudath Israel to the Communist party.

At exactly that time, which was 4 o’clock in the afternoon, came the sound of an extremely loud explosion. The Egyptian Air Force had bombed the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station. It was rush hour, and the station was crowded. The 40 people who were killed were the first casualties of the War of Independence.

The tiny state did not have an organized army, lacked an air force, and its only fighters were the members of the underground movements of the Haganah, Irgun and Lehi.

To an observer, it looked as if there was no one to fight this war. But within the space of a year and a half, Israel fought against seven Arab states – and won.

By the end of the war, the Negev, the Galilee, and half of Jerusalem were on the map of Israel. Six and a half years later, Israel was embroiled in another war and added Sharm el-Sheikh and half of Sinai to its territory.

Then came the 1967 Six-Day War, when Israel was pitted against the armies of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Then-Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser had pledged to throw all the Jews into the sea. Yet within six days, Israel emerged the victor; it united Jerusalem and conquered Bethlehem, Hebron, Judea and Samaria, and the Golan Heights.

Then, in 1973, came the Yom Kippur War, which caught the country off guard. And yet, only three weeks later, the Israeli army was a mere 101 kilometers from Cairo. Despite the pain of heavy losses, Israel won that war as well.

In subsequent military operations, Israel again emerged the victorious.

Now that Israel is engaged in a war against Hamas, the hope is that once again, it will triumph over the enemy who is intent on the destruction of the Jewish state.

Commenting on the unity of the nation and the understanding that has developed among people who not so long ago were fierce opponents, Lau reminds readers of the prophet Isaiah, who predicted that the wolf would live with the lamb and the leopard with the goat…

Wasting a diplomacy opportunity

Heads of state and government, foreign ministers, and defense ministers who have come to Israel to demonstrate solidarity have received ample media coverage. But solidarity visits by Jewish groups and individuals have been largely overlooked.

This is a big mistake not only because there are big-time philanthropists among the Jewish visitors, but also because they are an important factor in Israel’s public diplomacy efforts – particularly now that the Foreign Ministry must partially suspend its public diplomacy activities for lack of budget.

Currently, a Momentum solidarity mission of close to 100 Jewish mothers is in Israel. Momentum is a global movement bringing Jewish women around the world to Israel so that they will fall in love with the country, connect with their Jewish identity, tap into Jewish values, and develop leadership in their local communities. Since its founding in 2009, the organization has reached 22,000 women from 34 countries and has been working with more than 378 Partner Organizations such as Jewish Federations, JCC communities, and Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs.

Among the participants in the mission are Jewish women from the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and Mexico. Twenty of them are mothers of lone soldiers currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces and fighting in the war against Hamas.

Throughout the visit, the women are participating in a variety of volunteer activities that include, among others, joining Israeli mothers in cooking for soldiers and harvesting crops to assist farmers. They will also meet with some of the families of the hostages who are being held in captivity in Gaza and possibly with bereaved families of fallen soldiers.

“Today, Israel and the Jewish people face unimaginably difficult times,” said Momentum’s founding director, Lori Palatnik. “Mothers have had their babies taken from their arms, and families have been torn apart by brutal acts of terror. At Momentum, we couldn’t stand idly by while our Israeli sisters are in so much pain. As a result, we’ve mobilized our dedicated community of Momentum mothers who have chosen to show up for Israel and its women to demonstrate their unwavering support of Israel in an emotional display of unity.”

Venture capitalist Zvi Noe shows solidarity

Among the Jewish individuals who came to show their solidarity soon after the war started was British philanthropist and venture capitalist Zvi Noe, who was recently elected to the chairmanship of the United Jewish Appeal for Israel (UJAI), effective April 2024.

He succeeds Louise Jacobs, the first woman to chair the organization, who will complete her six-year term at the end of March.

During his visit to Israel, Noe met with people who have lost family members, parents of hostages, and evacuated children. Those memories will stay with him forever, he said. “I have never felt more committed to the unity of the Jewish people and to the importance of standing shoulder to shoulder with our Israeli brothers and sisters. UJIA will be there not just for the physical rebuilding, but in addressing the mental scars.”

Noe, one of five siblings and a father of five himself, is the son of Leo Noe, a multi-million-pound property investor and developer who is well-known in the UK and Israel for his generous support of numerous causes. The Sunday Times Giving List placed him among the top 30 donors to charitable causes over a 20-year period.

The son of Auschwitz survivors, he followed his father Samuel Noe into business.

A horrible injustice for a Israeli Bedouin soldier

All sorts of unimaginable things have happened since October 7. Army Radio’s Doron Kadosh reports on a Bedouin soldier who fought against Hamas on that terrible day, witnessed the brutal, inhuman atrocities, and also saw some of the people in his unit fall in battle. Since then, he has suffered acute trauma. Initially, he was given therapy to help him cope, but after cannabis was discovered in his car, he was arrested and thrown into prison. Surely by now, the army is aware that cannabis can bring relief to sufferers of both mental and physical pain. Instead of getting a medal, the soldier got jail time.

Jews gather in Polish capital

On one of the few occasions when Polish Jews came together to spend a weekend in a traditional Jewish environment, more than 200 Jews from Warsaw, Krakow, Katowice, Lodz, and other communities last week gathered in Poland’s capital, together with some of the Ukrainian Jews who have found shelter in that country and are supported by Chabad.

In the aftermath of October 7, there has been a resurgence of antisemitism in Poland, and it was very important for Jews to come together in a spirit of unity and resilience. The event also symbolizes the growing revival of Jewish life in Poland.

Participants heard stirring addresses by Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Chabad of Poland director Rabbi Sholom Ber Stambler, and Chabad co-director Rabbi Mayer Stambler alongside international speakers who included Israeli journalist Yedidya Meir and his wife, television anchor Sivan Rahav Meir. Also present at the Chabad-hosted event was Israel Defense Forces special operations veteran Amit Moshe.

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