Libi B’Mizrach – My Heart is in the East

Libi b’mizrach –  My heart is in the east.

It has been an intense nine days. It even started before that with the tragic killings of three Israeli young men and a Palestinian boy, all by extremists on both sides. We as Jews can’t say we don’t have extremists too, that would be ignorant.

For nine days rockets have been and are being directed into Israel from Gaza. Israel attempted peace by leaving Gaza in 2007 in hopes that the people within that area would begin to build a foundation for living independently and in peace with its neighbors. However, instead of building homes and a responsible government, Hamas has built a society that longs to bring terror to Israel, and in their words, “replace Israel in its entirety with a Muslim Brotherhood-ruled state.”

We turn on the news and we cannot avoid hearing about what is taking place in Israel and Gaza. Yet, having lived in Israel and knowing the people and the land, we must not always rely on what we see on all the major news channels. (Even John Stewart, a nice Jewish boy, frustrated me last night! – not saying that he is the most reliable news source, but there are enough people who use him for their daily dose of news rather than parody. But a cultural influence just the same.)

All of us need to have part of our hearts in the east. All of us need to feel some kind of connection with the Jewish people and the Jewish state who at this time hear the sounds of sirens going off many times an hour depending on where they are in the country. All of us need to be aware of what Israel means to us as Jews and the world. All of us need to be connected. We cannot let Israel be or feel alone. Our hearts should be in the east.

I’ve recently downloaded the app, Red Alert: Israel. It alerts me on my phone that a siren is going off in Israel because of an impending rocket. Yes, you can turn the sound off, however, there is something about having the sound on while in meetings, Torah study, and yes, even Shabbat services last week. It provides a slight feeling of being disturbed in the middle of an activity or even the middle of the night and know there is less than one minute to get into a shelter.

Read the news coming out of Israel. Read the Jerusalem Post, Ha’aretz or Times of Israel, all very good sources that will give you a good sense of what is really happening. Join the Jewish Federation Family Services of Orange County who have partnered with the Reform and Conservative movements, and make a donation that will help provide emergency aid to Israel’s citizens and soldiers.

This is not the time for us to just think, ‘Israel is on the other side of the world. What happens there doesn’t really affect me.’ Yes, it does! It affects all of us.

At this time we have a number of our youth touring throughout Israel on TIES and Birthright. They are all safe and having an amazing time. Their leaders are in constant connection with security and their schedule is always being adjusted depending on the moment. And as I’ve said to the parents of these youth, I would not hesitate to have my children there right now. I know they are safe and I know that while there is so much intense action happening, life continues in Israel. People are going to restaurants for dinner, friend’s houses for Shabbat and studying. Yes, life is interrupted by sirens that call them into shelters, but then, when the all clear is sounded (many thanks to Iron Dome), life continues.

Libi b’mizrach, my heart is in the east and I hope all of our hearts are there as we pray for peace for all people! May it come soon! Oseh shalom bimromav hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu!