There is an old joke which states the following: A man (let’s say Jim) is out sailing in the ocean when his ship starts to sink. He quickly jumps into the life raft and floats around for days. Suddenly he happens upon a tiny island and sees a few huts. Quickly he rows towards the island hoping that there will be fresh water and food in the village.
As he gets to the beach a skinny old man comes running yelling
‘You found me! I’m saved!’
Jim is taken aback and says to the man.’ I thought you were saving me- you’re from this village…’
The man looks back and says’ I’ve been stranded here alone for years.
‘Then what’s that village?’ Jim asked.
The old man replied ‘ I’m Jewish. The first thing that I did when I got here was build two synagogues’
‘Two synagogues?! Why two?’
The man replied ‘One that I go to, and one that I’ll never step foot in!
Israel in a colourful and complicated country. It has a very divided population. There are deep divisions in Israeli society as a result of politics, religion and numerous other reasons.
Every once in a while I find myself wondering what happened to the unity of our people and how we became so divided.
Unfortunately every couple of years there is a war. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve had to change plans as a result of a war with Gaza or Lebanon. Of course these wars cause arguments as to whether or not they are justified and the politicians are divided between right and left wing.
Strangely at these times that you think would bring even more division the people are more united.
The other day I went to a hospital to visit a few of the soldiers who had been wounded. I was amazed by what I saw. There was a plethora of people who had come to visit soldiers and bring them gifts. There were right wing, left wing religious and non religious people.
All of them came with smiles and gifts in order to support our soldier. people brought bags with snacks, clothing, homemade cookies and even tablets to give out to our soldiers. A small thank you for protecting us and our country.
one of the moments that stood out the most was as I was waiting for a bus to get back home an old ultra-orthodox couple came over to me- The Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel are known for not serving in the military and not supporting soldiers – They were carrying gift packages and asked me ‘ where are the soldiers?’ I replied ‘Who are you looking for? Anyone in particular?’ The answer which warmed my heart was ‘The soldiers- it doesn’t matter who!’
I pointed out to them which building to go to.
As I got on the bus I smiled with the knowledge that the entire nation is a unified and a single family even if we don’t always show it.
Yoni. You have summed up the situation beautifully.