“The Lost Art of Hope in Israel”

One of my favorite movie scenes of all time comes from the movie “Exodus,” when the character portraying David ben-Gurion announces to an enormous crowd of Jews that the UN has just completed its vote in favor of partition in Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The crowd, which stretches as far as the eyes can see, simultaneously erupts in a rendition of Hatikvah (the Hope), as they cheer the news that the Jewish people will finally have a land to call their own.
 
Hope is sometimes a difficult thing to come by these days for Jews who routinely monitor the current situation in the Middle East. It pains us to see explosion after explosion rip through the land that we hold so dear, as we watch hopelessly on CNN and MSNBC at the carnage in the streets of Jerusalem and other Israeli cities. If you speak with people who know Israelis, or are in tune with what is happening on the ground in Israel, then you have heard that even the most dovish of Israelis have gravitated towards the right. A couple of years ago they felt that peace was just around the corner, and perhaps their children would not have to fight for the survival of Israel like they had to do only a couple decades earlier. Now, many Israelis simply hope to see peace in their lifetime. It is a shift backwards that is particularly painful considering how close Israel was to peace in the mid-90’s.

Perhaps because peace was so close to coming to fruition that now it is even harder than it has been in the past to accept the current conflict. We no longer think of Israel as a small, third world type country that exists in a constant state of fragility. Instead, we see an Israel that is hi-tech, wealthy, powerful, and progressive. Before the recent intifada began, we could look forward to traveling to Israel and lodging in five star hotels and eating in exquisite and elegant restaurants. The primitive Israel, with unpaved roads and unfurnished living quarters that we saw in the movie “Exodus” is as far removed today as the Israel of King David three thousand years ago. And so now, as we see Israel torn to pieces by violence and confusion, we can only wonder if such a golden age of peace will ever return.

It is precisely when such thoughts creep into our mind that we should recall the words of the Hatikvah – “for two thousand years we have not lost our hope, to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.” While it is difficult for us to be optimistic about what is happening today in Israel, we could take a lesson from the early Zionist pioneers who came to a land full of swamps, hostile natives, and precious little resources. Their hope of re-establishing a Jewish homeland in Eretz Yisrael was much stronger than their fear of failure. In essence, it was that mindset that became innate in Israelis over time that has allowed them to build a powerful and viable nation in the midst of angry and vengeful enemies.

As we approach the High Holy Days, we should not let our disappointment in Israel’s current situation diminish our hope in the future of a Jewish state. Israel is a country that was built atop the sweat, blood, and toil of Jews who realized that they required a homeland of their own. As Jews, we have inherited that same fervor for Israel that consumed the early Zionists. Today while Israel is maintained physically by a powerful military and economy, she is sustained spiritually through the soul of the Jewish people. Throughout our history, our people have always sang “Od lo avdah tikvateinu – Still we have not lost our hope!” Now is no time for us to lose our hope that one day soon peace will reign in the land of Israel.

B’shalom,
Jeremy Barras