That being said, one night I was walking on the Champs Elysees with a bunch of fellow participants and two frenchmen who had hosted us for dinner. One had a black velvet kippa on and his tzitzit hanging out. All seemed fine, until we happened upon some Muslims hanging out on a bench there. Picture this, about 15 of us walking in a group. I am at the back with the guy with the kippa and tzitzit, (he is the only one - everyone else had hats or no head covering at all). All of a sudden I notice the Israeli guys amongst us, get this look in their eyes - one turns to look at me and my new French friend, he is protecting us, the others are watching the Muslims. It seems as if the Muslims made some comment and my Israeli friends were concerned they may try something. I had no idea the interaction with our Muslim cousins had transpired at all, all I knew was something happened to make my friends come and protect us.
It was an eye opening moment. I can not remember a time when I was the direct target of an Anti-Semitic remark, I do remember my father telling me stories of the KKK coming to his door, and I understood then how important it was to protect ourselves. This moment in France reminded me of this. There are times when we forget how easy it is to become a target. We forget how easy it is for someone to hate us. We take our freedoms for granted, and live in comfortable bubbles. But we need to remember that bubbles pop. We need to protect ourselves - we need to stand up for Israel - this is the only way we as Jews will ever be safe. Don't forget - Theodore Herzl thought if he became enough of an Austrian he would be accepted. The Dreyfus trial (which took place in Paris), showed him otherwise. Here was an assimilated Jew, a high ranking officer in the French Army - and the reaction to his (false) conviction was thousands of Frenchmen screaming "Death to the Jews". If it happened to him, don't you think it could happen to you too?
(sculpture of Dreyfus being demoted in the French Army)
From Daphne, Faith, Jordana and Eden: "We watched a disturbing video (about Sderot rockets)" with our AWESOME substitute teacher...Please come back.
ReplyDeleteFrom Shira, Jacqueline, and Carrie: "We say hi. Hope you're having a good time. We miss you." P.S. Our substitute is AWESOME.
From Samuel, Justin, and Adam Tommer:"We hope the ash cloud gets in your way so you can spend more time in your beloved Israel." (And Adam Tommer says the sub sucks, so COME HOME.)
From Ben Selya and Aaron: "We hope you come back soon and give us candy like from the first day of school." [ed note: the AWESOME sub gave them donuts today]
Glad to hear your sub is awesome. Loved reading your comments. Believe it or not I miss you too. See you on Tuesday!
ReplyDelete