The title is part of a statement made by Aviva Siegel, a former hostage of Hamas, whose husband remains in captivity, held in horrific conditions, "underground, with no oxygen", as did she and all, those freed and those remaining. It is a frightful, horrific, never should be situation and yet it continues, over a year, with no clear possibility or reality of freedom, a return to family and friends, to a nation, to life. The reality of this goal is slim, as we deal with those consumed by hate and enmity, who have long ago kicked to the curb any and all moral principles of humanity and simple decency.
Adding to this horror, draining ever more oxygen from the air, are those from within our people who choose to stand with the enemy, shoulder to shoulder, calling for the demise of Israel and of Jews in general. They call for their own death, for in fact, they are one of us, and so they will remain, no matter the efforts made to deny. In the meanwhile, oblivious, they add to the imminent peril facing us, as they contribute harmfully, to the growing chasms within our nation. The bite of betrayal from those within, from whom we expect support and understanding, to stand with us, side by side, is most venomous of all.
Why these paragraphs in the midst of self-discovery? Simple. That feeling of no oxygen, unable to take a deep breath to sustain one in life is the condition affecting Judaism and Jews today. When one is engaged in a long, long existing, ever extending, ever growing fight, one begins to breathe hard and heavy. Shortness of breath. A tightness in the chest. A growing fear in the mind. Is this going to be the constant everyday situation and emotions and realities for our people or might we ever find our way back? To breathing slow and steady, calmly, death no longer a very real near upon us, right before our eyes, actuality.
What and where is the connection? There are two paths before us, two main paths which explain this feeling. One is the fear emanating from outer enemies, those who hate us, who continue to wish us gone for good, to wipe us and our history out. To deny any and all contributions we have made throughout history to the people of this world. That path and reality is hard enough and too often causes people to walk around with their shoulders around their ears, in protective stance, most uncomfortable. But there it is, and we have taken up, shall we say, arms against it, are demanding our fair share of this world, no longer to be a point of contention, to be questioned. To breathe of the oxygen of this world.
Will we be successful in those battles? That is up in the air and swings back and forth. We have finally begun to coalesce around this imperative: We either fight and stand together or we are diminished and demolished one by one. We need to organize, concentrate, at faster pace for this is the existential challenge from the outside.
The other path is one that is yet more difficult for without repaving, all of the above paragraphs will become reality. It will simply be impossible to respond, to be reactive and proactive, to respond to their challenge with one voice. We need to remind those foolish enough to set their goal in life as the extermination of the Jewish people and the demise of Israel, they will face a solid shield wall to oppose, to negate them and their nefarious plans. How exactly can we do that, disunited and fractured as we are?
We repair those fractures. We do not lay paper over but fill in and cement over denying air and light needed to invigorate and reappear. These fractures are and will be the causatives of our shattering to bits, to our demise if we do not change our ways. We need to stop, take a step back and see our present path and how we got here. Look forward with understanding and know the imperative of revision within ourselves as individuals and as a nation, united as one, strong and prevailing over our foes, within and without. Unless we engender the necessary changes, and soon, we will lose the final battle. Look to the past, even today, last week, last year, last decade, and see how pervasive this hatred of us is and towards us in actuality. It is not only the cowardly masked and villain in the dark, the unknown and anonymous, but could be as close as your neighbor. One might knock down the sand menorah or one might help rebuild and keep it the next year. It is imperative that we know our friends and our enemies and be able to separate them, see them clearly.
This is a war, stated or not, but must be acknowledged as such. Nor is it new for thus is our history. Now is the time to recognize and oppose. First and foremost, though, is thus: WE MUST FIRST ASSESS OURSELVES, WHAT WE MUST DO. ATTEND TO AND MEND OUR WOUNDS AND REPAIR THAT WHICH IS TORN, MEND AND REINFORCE, ENHANCE AND STRENGHTEN THE ENTIRE PACKAGE.
We begin with what has been an internal eternal problem of the Jewish people, and the ever-growing, ever ongoing evermore serious fractures in the debate and rivalry between Religion vs religion and their vociferous adherents.
On the morrow of the morrow, I hope you will continue to accompany me on my rather intimidating journey of discovery and challenge.
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