Children of Israel are never alone

There are songs in life that speak to us - speak in ways that only music can convey. Songs that reach into our hearts and touch our souls. Songs that make us feel empowered, songs that seem to speak to us in a way that expresses our emotions with more than mere words, and songs that make us feel unique as if it was written only for you, . One of those songs that have had an effect on me is Close Every Door, from the Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat musical. In the lyrics of the song there's a passage that says: Close every door to me, Keep those I love from me Children of Israel Are never alone For I know I shall find My own peace of mind For I have been promised A land of my own Whenever I hear that, I feel the calling of my people and I feel the pride of being part of that special people. It says to me that no matter how dark the world might become, or how horrid the outlook might be, or how hopeless times may appear, we are never alone in this world, because we are part of the Jewish people. It was then with absolute disgust that I read about the Artsplash festival in Wellington, New Zealand, where someone decided to unilaterally change a line from that famous song from: Children of Israel Are never alone to Children of kindness Are never alone Sadly, this is a part of the world we live in today - a world which is trying to ethnically cleanse the Jewish people from the history books. We see it everyday. From the UN which passes resolutions saying we have no history in Jerusalem, to the Palestinians who continually preach their false narative and deny there was even a Jewish temple, to the Arab world who refuse to acknowledge the existence of a Jewish state. We even see it in music festivals and arts festivals - small events and large ones. And while it is sad to see many in the world try to erase us from it, our response should not be one of sadness but one of defiance. We must never accept what the world wants us to meekly accept. We are here, living in the same world as everyone else, but we do not exist in this world to simply vanish from it. We have not been Jews for the last 5000 years to simply not be Jews anymore. We have not had 3000 continuous years in Israel to have it erased by silly resolutions and ignorant arts festivals. Once upon a time, being a Jew might have meant to keep to yourself and to keep your head down, lest we upset a hostile population that surrounded us. And I understand that - it was about being safe above all else. But those times are gone. We are no longer a dispersed people, even though many of us live all around the world. We are a proud people with a strong country, a strong history, a strong culture, and a record of trying to do the right thing for humanity. So despite the attacks on our culture and our history and our country and everything about us, we must continue to be proud and to remember that Children of Israel are never alone, for we have been promised a land of our own.