Self-hating Jews need to look in the mirror

Dear friends,

One of my friends shared this status written by Idan Raichel. It moved me so much, that I had to share it. He describes his feelings about the unfortunate phenomenon of what we call "self-hating Jews"- in other words- Jews who will do everything and anything to come out against the Jewish people and encourage everyone to act against us as well. I am very passionate about this issue and it hurts me greatly when one of my own turns themself into our own worst enemy. Without further adew, Idan Raichel's Facebook Status update: 

Hi It’s Idan writing to you again, Shavua Tov (have a good week). I wanted to tell you something:(Translated to English by David Azulay ) 
     Six months ago I stayed at a roadside motel in California. It was in the desert, with nothing really around. I was there for business and around the evening time I had nothing to do so I went outside to the motel courtyard to read or just to rest and relax.
On the first evening I overheard two men speaking in Arabic to each other. They were maybe 25 or 28 years old or something like that, I asked them where they are from and they said that they are officers in the Egyptian Army and that they are in the US for training. I told them I’m from Israeland they flinched a little and tried to stay away a bit.
     Later on 5 or 8 more officers joined them and we started a rolling conversation about Israel, which they never visited and they said that because of their position they probably never will. They had never spoken to an Israeli before, and they were really interested to find out about our culture and day to day life in Tel Aviv. I felt like I’m talking with the Elite of the Egyptian society. I can’t really explain why but these conversations were triggering within me the same emotions that I feel when I talk with an Israeli Navy Seal or Special Forces, a bunch of men with deep moral values.
     Those Egyptian officers were really knowledgeable about many Israeli military issues. They knew everything about Raful, the Bar-Lev line, the Dakar Submarine, Ariel Sharon, Moshe Dayan, Itzhak Rabin, Israeli Tanks, Israeli Fighter Jets and more. They talked with much appreciation about the Israeli sophistication and strength and with great and deep patriotism about Egypt and its moral power, in their opinion.
     On the last evening, one of the officers, who looked to me like the salt of the earth of the Egyptian society, told me: “Idan, it is very important to me that you know that our parents fought in the war that you call The Yom Kippur War, and that they were good soldiers. It is important to me that you know that before we are soldiers, and before we are Egyptians, we are first very devout Moslems, and that we interpret the Quran in a very different way from what you see sometime in other countries in the Middle East in your neighboring nations and countries. It is important for me that you will know that our parents and we were always happy when one of your war machines got hit by us, we were always happy when an airplane got shot down, and we were happy when a tank got blown up or when one of your sea vessels got hit. BUT NEVER, EVER were we happy about the loss of human life inside that tank, we were never happy about the death of the mother’s son who was flying that airplane and we were never happy about the death of the brother who was sailing that sea vessel.”
     I listened to the Egyptian officer and I thought to myself, “Rejoice not when your enemy falls”, the same values for us and for the best of them.
     I’m writing these lines because I was horrified to hear that a woman,probably from the radical extreme Israeli left, wrote that she is happy about the Israeli helicopter training accident, a crash last week that led to the death of two of our finest men. This miserable woman is a disgrace to ourcountry, and people like her are the bottom of the Israeli society. There is nothing good in them, nothing Jewish or Israeli, and it will be good if we will repudiate them from our society.
I’m dedicating the last shows of the Idan Raichel Project tour to the memory of those two pilots, who are without a doubt the Elite of the Israeli society.
Shavua Tov,
Idan Raichel

Forget Georgia, I got Arkansas on my mind!

It's been one week exactly since I finished my speaking tour with StandWithUs. The last week I've spend recuperating at home with my family in Arizona. Two weeks of non-stop touring and 27 speaking engagements will do that to you! I've wanted to post this last week but just didn't have the brain space. I'm sure you all know how that goes. I'm still determined to finish writing about my tour! In continuation from my previous post, I'll start where I left off- Nashville.

Me at the Arkansas State University

After our final speaking engagement to high school students at the Gordon Jewish Community Center in Nashville, we drove in to Jonesboro late at night. We must have arrived at the hotel close to 1 AM and we were scheduled to speak at Arkansas State University the following morning. A CUFI (Christians United for Israel) chapter had scheduled that event for us, and it was truly an honor to meet the people who support us without conditions. You can follow CUFI on twitter at @CUFIatASU or visit the national organization's website here. I met some wonderful people- true believers- they called themselves. The 'true believers' are Christians who have taken it upon themselves to observe Christianity the way they believe it was before the time of Constatine the Great (a notorious Roman Emperor) back in the 300s. If you'd like, you can read about Constantine's impact on Christianity.

Despite the heavy rains, we forged ahead!

After finishing at ASU, we had to get on our way because our next speaking event was in Hot Springs. The drive was about three hours long and the rain was horrendous! At times we didn't have any visibility but thank heavens for Vida- she got us there safe and sound! On our way we talked about our next speaking event at Congregation House of Israel, a small reform congregation with 60 member families. There must have been at least the same amount of people in the room to hear us talk, and the wonderful buffet of pot luck goodness settled my stomach before I was to share my story with a new group.


While everyone was still eating, I walked around the room with a few packages of delicious Medjool dates that I brought from Israel. By this time I must have 'dated' at least 150 people in Texas and Tennessee, but the Jewish community in Hot Springs stole my heart (sorry, babe). The people were so warm and genuine, and the history of that congregation lined the walls in endless black and white photographs. I was told of the rabbi who flies in every month from Florida, and I shared my interest in coming back to lead a Shabbat service. After I finished speaking, I met many interesting people, including a Finnish version of James Bond. He was super awesome and I hope to hear more of his adventures as I continue to be in touch with him and his lovely wife.

Adam and Millie at Ambrosia Bakery 

I was introduced to our hosts- Yossi and Kim, who graciously opened their home to us. It had seemed like an eternity of hotel stays and driving, and the prospect of having my own room with a proper bed was just sublime. Yossi's son helped me to my room with my suitcase and after freshening up, I came out to get to know our hosts. Yossi had moved to America about 30 years beforehand. His wife Kim had such a knack for decorating and I felt like I was in an oasis of peace and harmony and I immediately felt right at home. They even gave me a bottle of Hot Spring's famous BBQ sauce, which apparently is President Bill Clinton's favorite! I can't wait to try it when I get back to Israel.

View of Hot Springs from the Mountain

The very next morning, Kim took us on a tour of Hot Springs. We drove through downtown and up the mountain, and back down through the race track, where Kim and Yossi work. We concluded our tour with some sweets from the Ambrosia Bakery (which I highly reccomended!) and began our drive into Clinton, Mississippi (from one Clinton to another, I guess!). I'm going to include the photos I took on our tour of Hot Springs with Kim. After such a wonderful visit with Kim and Yossi, Congregation House of Israel, Ambrosia Bakery, and the wonderful horsies at the track, I will be sure to be back- and sooner rather than later!

Allies when you least expect them

#ISS2013. This was the hashtag of my life over the last two weeks. I tweeted my way through Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. I apologize for not updating my blog along the way, but I got to a point where my experiences were very emotionally challenging. I didn’t have the space I needed in my head to be able to write.

Christian community leaders in Tennessee

Last time I updated my blog I had experienced a wonderful Purim celebration with a wonderful congregation in Watertown, TN. The next day we continued on to a lunch hosted by the Caleb Company, followed by a discussion in Brentwood, Tennessee with Christian leaders who were there to represent their congregation. We were hosted by a wonderful woman named Betsy who opened her home and her heart to give us a platform to share our message. I made sure to dress in my Sunday best but had reservations over whether or not I could truly open myself up to mainstream Christians.

When I was a little girl (probably 8 years old), I went to once per week to study under the Kumon system, developed in order to help children improve and excel in mathematics. This class was held at a local church. One of the classrooms, which looked like any other classroom I had been in at the time, was filled with plenty of visual stimulation and learning tools. Across the top of the wall was a picture border surrounding the perimeter of the classroom. It was the story of Jesus, so I walked along each section, reading what friends my age were learning in Sunday school. And then I got to the part where Jesus was sentenced to death. By that time, I was really upset because he seemed like a good guy. The next section would forever influence me and my feelings towards the Christian faith. I remember it very clearly:

“The Jews Killed Jesus”.

I was a Jew. I was eight. How could I have killed Jesus? Why would I or my people do such a thing? It was heartbreaking for me and I felt as bad as a little kid could feel in being told that her people killed someone. As I grew up, I always distanced myself from Christians because I felt, through that experience, I was able to see what they really felt about me. In high school this was further exacerbated when I was told by a friend in choir class that I was going to hell because I didn’t believe in Jesus. Well great, first I learn I killed your savior and I now I’m going to hell for not believing him. I knew at that point that I didn’t belong in America. I immersed myself in my Jewish studies and my Persian heritage, making sure to always surround myself with people who loved me and who were like me. 

As I stood in front of this crowd of Christians, representing Israel and the Jewish people, I felt alone and disconnected. They were all wonderfully sweet people, but I still had my guard up. During question and answer period we received the usual questions, except one woman got up and asked “Why is it that Christians ally with Israel, but Jews don’t always ally with us?”

I felt like I was punched in the gut. All the sudden my dark red dress went from representing the red in the American flag to representing the thousands of years of Jewish blood spilled at the hands of Christians because of the one belief: The Jews killed Jesus. I took a deep breath and shared with her my experience as a little girl, which isn’t far off from those of many of my other Jewish friends growing up. This was the first time that I had ever opened up to anyone about this story, and it was very emotional for me. 

At the end of our time to speak, the group, about forty Christians representing a dozen denominations, huddled around us and prayed out loud. Members, one by one, chimed in with their blessing for me, calling me by Hebrew name “Yocheved” which means “Glory of God”. They openly apologized and prayed for my forgiveness. They poured their hearts and their souls into my hands, and I was overcome with an overwhelming sense of reconciliation. As I stood there, weeping with tears streaming down my face, I was able to break through my barrier of defense against the Christian community. Just thinking about it, my eyes well up with tears as I re-experience the love that I felt from this phenomenal group of American Christians who were able to come forward, take responsibility for the actions of their fellow Christians, shower me with love and goodness, and genuinely pray for my healing from my childhood experience.

Several members from this crowd are scheduled to be in Israel soon. It’s about time we come full circle and I greet them in Israel, the Jewish homeland- my homeland, as together we expunge the hatred that has created so many barriers along the way. I want nothing more than to stand with them at the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, in front of the very stone Jesus was laid as he was prepared for burial. As a Jew, I am a guardian of his faith. As a Jew, I will protect the land of Israel, and as a Jew, and I will stand in solidarity with whoever is ready to stand with me.