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.

A Just War of Survival

50 years ago this week, we remember the Six Day War – a war that changed the face of the Middle East in ways that continue to reverberate to this day. In just six days, Israel decimated the entire Arab military forces and expanded her size by 3 times.

There are those who say the war was a Pyrrhic victory – a battle that Israel won, but would ultimately lead to her having more losses in the long run, due to the increased administration of territories in which a largely hostile Palestinian population exists.

It’s true that Israel faces many challenges today, including the almost insurmountable one of trying to make peace with a Palestinian leadership whose goal has never been about peace, but rather the destruction of the Jewish State.

But when we think back to that time leading up to the Six Day War, we can never forget that the victory was anything, but empty.

Israel stood alone in the world, besieged by Arab States who had openly stated their intention of wiping out the country, including the annihilation of its citizens. There may have been some demonstrations of support in Europe, and the American government was ‘sympathetic’ to their plight, but no country was prepared to lift their finger to help her. The Egyptians blockaded the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, which was considered an act of war, yet America refused to respond to it, despite the assurances it gave Israel in 1956. The Egyptian leader Gamal Nasser had demanded the UN leave the Sinai, to which the UN complied meekly, proving how ineffective they were as a ‘peace’ keeping force.

Israel was abandoned, surrounded by bloodthirsty Arab regimes intent on committing another Holocaust on the Jewish people a mere 22 years after the previous one had been carried out. And now, just as then in those dark years of the 1930s and 1940s, the world was silent to the cries of Jewish anguish. No one was going to save the Jews this time, just as they didn’t save them last time.

Her people were fearful. The country was isolated. The army was outnumbered.

But unlike before, Israel was not a powerless people anymore. Backed by a population who knew what would happen if they lost, and buoyed by the support of so many Jews who flocked to the country to help, and backed by the solidarity of a people who had vowed ‘Never Again,’ they struck back and carried out one of the greatest military victories in history.

However, it was not a victory that could be classified in military terms alone, for it was a victory of life itself.  It was the victory of the enduring Jewish spirit to fight for life, no matter how bleak the prospects are and no matter how overwhelming the odds may be. It was an announcement not only to her own people, but to the world at large. The Jews were back in their ancestral land, and the era of countries and regimes being able to do with them as they please, had ended.

With the liberation of Jerusalem, it had also ended the reign of ethnic cleansing the Jordanians had carried out in the Jewish Quarter, where they had destroyed ancient Jewish synagogues, expelled the Jewish population, desecrated the graveyards, and denied access to the Western Wall in violation of the Armistice Accords of 1949 – a violation that the world also ignored.

Looking back, there is some thought that because of the war of 1967, Israel inherited more problems, problems that haunt it to this day as it strives to make peace with the Palestinians. There is no doubt that Israel faces enormous challenges today; however we can never and should never lose sight of the alternative of those six fateful days in June for the alternative could well have been catastrophic.

Israel fought a just war against Arab regimes intent on their annihilation. Their victory led not just to their continued survival, but to their ability to live and breathe in their own country. Their victory led to the freedom to be able to walk and prayer in their ancient capital – a freedom previously illegally denied to them.

We should never underestimate the power of what that means.