A Diaspora Girl’s Message to Israel: You Are Not Alone

Dear brothers and sisters in Israel,

In the midst of tragedy, violence and sadness for each one of us, I can’t explain my emotions about everything occurring in our homeland. Rockets were fired everywhere, people moved to bomb shelters, women were raped and babies were stuck in cages. However, within all the madness, I feel that all of our neshamot are connected and feel that Hashem is demanding something from us. He wants Ahavat Chinam, for all of us to love, respect, help and be there for one another without any hesitation.

As a girl living in the diaspora, I can’t help but feel powerless in the face of everything occurring and wish I could do more, but all we can do right now is pray, unite and donate. All we can do now is love and respect one another no matter the culture. Whether someone is Ashkenazi, Sephardic, religious, secular, conservative or liberal does not matter. Hashem is calling each one of us to unite and show the love, gratitude and empathy we have for one another. 

This whole situation makes me wonder: Why do we need to wait for such brutal, harsh times to realize the importance of “loving our fellows like ourselves?” Why do we need to wait until tragedy strikes to unite, grow spiritually, pray with greater force, donate and just be there for our brothers and sisters? 

We can answer that a different time, but in the meantime, start loving a little harder today! Appreciate all the positive aspects of your life, as you never really know if it will be taken away from you. We should unite today in order to grow spiritually and be there for one another. At the very least, we should feel proud of our Judaism and our love for Israel. 

Finally, Am Israel Chai!

Love,

Your sister living in the Diaspora

____

Photo Caption: Israeli soldiers standing together

Photo Credit: Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson's Unit / Wikimedia Commons