I recently went through a lot of Dad's old papers. He had been given a choice of going to America...which ultimately, for various reasons such as advice from relatives and the relief organization that asked him to, he did. He had another passport though...it is marked "Palestine" in English. In Hebrew, it is clearly labeled "Eretz Yisrael", the Land of Israel. There was no other "Palestine".
I write in his memory and in his honor. He would be horrified to see what was going on, both in the world with its recurrent anti-Semitism only 60 years since Auschwitz-Birkenau; he would also be appalled by what was going on in Israel, he would never support, I am sure, giving back the Land for nothing.
Yet...I don't bring this up because of what I think his thoughts about those things would be. I wanted to volunteer and start posting because I think it is easy to lose hope and tough to keep fighting. Bleak headlines about the disengagement, the GOI seemingly to lose any semblance of sanity, the Arabs enjoying the continuing world appeasement. And on and on it goes.
My father emerged from the darkest night and did not stop or give up. At this moment, he would be beaming about how his family was thriving, his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren...he has one grandchild right now who is spending a second year in Israel studying in a yeshivah. We have other family and friends in Israel. Life goes on.
And that's the point. Sixty years ago, the survivors of the camps and those already in Israel did not give up. The defenders of Israel did not give up when they, by all odds, should have, in 1948. Now, when disengagment and internal division and sheer tyranny and stupidity seem to be governing Israel, and the world either aids and/or abetts the enemy, it is easy to give up hope.
I know this may not be a necessary post for readers of this site. But I thought it a good day to remind myself at least, not to give up on Gush Katif or a single dunam of land anywhere.
My dad didn't give up hope when all seemed to be gone. Israel, for all its woes, is in no way such bad shape as we were at the end of World War 2. Other posts here have pointed out, in fact, how well Israel and Israelis do in spite of all that goes on...Israelis just don't exist, they add to the world, they create and innovate. They thrive in spite of the problems.
I write this in Dad's memory. With the help of those who support, read and post on this site, and with those who support Israel in other ways, Israel will continue on. We don't give in to despair. It's easy to do, but we won't. And I can think of nothing better to perpetuate my dad's wishes and his memory than by making any contribution I can.
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said:
Some thoughts on hope
I wanted to briefly write about why I wanted to start posting on this site. I thought that now, having just celebrated V-E Day as well as Israeli Independence Day, would be a good time to explain.
My father was a survivor of the concentration camps. My grandparents, his parents, were murdered in Auschwitz. Dad was from Oradea, Romania, and managed to survive, come to America, become an authority in his field (microbiology), raise a family and lead a relatively "normal" existence until his untimely death from illness some years ago.
Why do I bring up this up at this time? Let us imagine the survivors of the camps, of the war...it would have been easy to lose hope. Some did, and went into madness or suicide. Yet, many others, such as Dad, refused to give up. They had families, they made something of their lives. The many that went to Israel fought for and brought about the return of the Land, even as they joined those who had already established the nascent homeland prior to that time.
I recently went through a lot of Dad's old papers. He had been given a choice of going to America...which ultimately, for various reasons such as advice from relatives and the relief organization that asked him to, he did. He had another passport though...it is marked "Palestine" in English. In Hebrew, it is clearly labeled "Eretz Yisrael", the Land of Israel. There was no other "Palestine".
I write in his memory and in his honor. He would be horrified to see what was going on, both in the world with its recurrent anti-Semitism only 60 years since Auschwitz-Birkenau; he would also be appalled by what was going on in Israel, he would never support, I am sure, giving back the Land for nothing.
Yet...I don't bring this up because of what I think his thoughts about those things would be. I wanted to volunteer and start posting because I think it is easy to lose hope and tough to keep fighting. Bleak headlines about the disengagement, the GOI seemingly to lose any semblance of sanity, the Arabs enjoying the continuing world appeasement. And on and on it goes.
My father emerged from the darkest night and did not stop or give up. At this moment, he would be beaming about how his family was thriving, his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren...he has one grandchild right now who is spending a second year in Israel studying in a yeshivah. We have other family and friends in Israel. Life goes on.
And that's the point. Sixty years ago, the survivors of the camps and those already in Israel did not give up. The defenders of Israel did not give up when they, by all odds, should have, in 1948. Now, when disengagment and internal division and sheer tyranny and stupidity seem to be governing Israel, and the world either aids and/or abetts the enemy, it is easy to give up hope.
I know this may not be a necessary post for readers of this site. But I thought it a good day to remind myself at least, not to give up on Gush Katif or a single dunam of land anywhere.
My dad didn't give up hope when all seemed to be gone. Israel, for all its woes, is in no way such bad shape as we were at the end of World War 2. Other posts here have pointed out, in fact, how well Israel and Israelis do in spite of all that goes on...Israelis just don't exist, they add to the world, they create and innovate. They thrive in spite of the problems.
I write this in Dad's memory. With the help of those who support, read and post on this site, and with those who support Israel in other ways, Israel will continue on. We don't give in to despair. It's easy to do, but we won't. And I can think of nothing better to perpetuate my dad's wishes and his memory than by making any contribution I can.
Posted by Maurice Sonnenwirth at May 16, 2005 08:15 AM