I’ve not written of the 0ct 7,2022 massacre of more than 1200 Jews on Sukkot morning in Israel. Too much to write. Too much to feel. Too much to learn. Too much muchness within me to share in this space originating with the goal to enhance the now.

But today I am sharing a link to a webinar with Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur, political correspondent and senior analyst for The Times of Israel.   The entire piece is measured. He focuses on what Israel can and cannot do, where the country has stumbled, and stumbled big, and where Israel must stand firm.  Most salient for me are his comments that begin at the 52-minute mark. When asked what American Jewish leadership can  attemnt to stem the tide of anti-Semitism, Gur answers, ” We can’t.” His response resonated with me, echoing something I’ve known for years: it is not my responsibility, nor is it possible to make, teach, or encourage a hater not to hate me. The Jew, Gur relates, is part of the haters’ (be they on the right or on the left) reality play that has nothing to do with reality. For any Jew to try and “re-educate” an uninterested hater is wasted energy at best and self-demeaning at worst.  We Jews do not have to justify our existence.

I cannot free anyone’s heart from their own hatred. That is their work. My work is to be a strong, proud and active Jew. My job is to read and to learn, to summon compassion for those trapped in self-destructive hatred, to pray that those in Gaza and elsewhere may one day, as my grandfather once wrote,” throw off the yoke of their oppressors, the highly-placed usurers and political prostitutea and demagogues who hold sway and dominion over them now.”

Please, if you are so inclined, listen to the entire webinar.

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For a bit of lighter fare, check out  Flora Palestinia Ethnobaotany.  From their website: “FLORAPAL is an ethnobotanical web site of “Flora Palaestina”, a botanical term [in other words not a political designation], first used in 1756 by Linnaeus, the “father of modern botany” to describe plants native to the Holy Land, today comprising Israel, Palestinian Authority (West Bank & Gaza) and Western Jordan. For thousands of years knowledge of traditional uses of these plants, passed down through generations of Jewish and Arab communities have played a vital role in this region’s culture & economy — as food, medicine, cosmetics, spices, perfumes, dyes, raw materials and for ceremonial and for religious uses.”  If you enjoy meandering through garden and flower catalogs, this site’s for you.

May the efforts of those involved in FLORAPAL ultimately help to transform the region where all may rest beneath their vines and fig trees and none shall be afraid.

Shalom,

Debra

PS that photo up on the left there? Yours truly at fifteen navigating a ropes course in the Negev.