I have been trying to write my thoughts on this for weeks, but I’ve been afraid of getting things wrong, or of bringing down anger from any and all directions. I have a fourteen page draft of a blog post that seems more like a thesis than a personal essay, but I’m not an expert on the history of Israel, or military tactics, or academic jargon, or even anti-Semitism; I care about those things, and am impacted by them, but other people will do a much better job of holding forth on those subjects than I ever could.
What I can write about is how it has felt to watch the news lately, and be on social media, being told by so many people what I should think, or do, or say in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, a day after the fiftieth anniversary of the Yom Kippur war. I don’t believe that Jews, or Israel, should be immune to criticism; I also don’t believe that Hamas is anything but a terrorist group (calling them a liberation group suggests a real misunderstanding both of their mission and of how they have governed Gaza for the past decade and a half). What I know for myself is that hearing about the massacres on October 7th made me worry about family and friends in Israel, but watching the gradually more toxic responses around the world, and especially on American college campuses, has been frightening. I thought for sure that the chants of “from the river to the sea,” which is a demand for the eradication of the State of Israel and its current population of more than eight million Jews, plus two million non-Jews, would convince people that this pro-Hamas reaction is morally wrong, but that hasn’t happened. I thought it was the norm to recognize the difference between Hamas and Palestinians in general, and that everyone knew the difference between Israelis living within the internationally accepted borders of Israel (like the ones who were massacred and kidnapped), and Jewish settlers in the West Bank, but no. In fact, a lot of the terminology being thrown around about Israel (colonialist, apartheid, genocide) has become mainstream in a way I never expected. Social media is powerful in creating false narratives, and even more successful in advancing partial narratives that are misleading.
An enormous number of Israelis who spent the past year protesting against Benjamin Netanyahu’s far right government and its attempts to peel away layers of democracy are now fighting for their country’s survival, both in the military and in thousands of volunteer efforts to help the survivors from the south, who had to escape Hamas and Islamic Jihad rockets, and evacuees from the north, escaping Hezbollah rockets. I am proud of how quickly Israelis were able to find their way forward, and worried about the choices of the military and the government, and frightened by the lack of critical thinking and journalistic ethics that seem to abound right now when facts would be really helpful. I am proud of the Haredi (ultra-orthodox) Jews in Israel who are joining the army for this war, despite a very contentious law that allows them to avoid military service in favor of study, and I’m angry at some Jewish settlers in the West Bank who think they have a religious right to hurt their Palestinian neighbors.
But I can’t fix any of those things. I cannot vote in Israel, and I can’t call every reporter who takes Hamas’ word without evidence and remind them that that’s just stupid. I can only be here, living my own little life in New York, and sending prayers to my family and friends who really need it right now.
At my synagogue, on Long Island, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about how we find comfort right now, since that’s really all we can control. We’ve had speak ups, to share our grief and confused feelings, and vigils, for the survivors and the dead and the missing and all those on the ground who are still in danger. One of the rabbis from my synagogue joined a group of New York rabbis for a short trip to Israel, to show solidarity and to learn more about what’s going on. I think, right now, many American Jews, because we are further away from the danger and, in most cases, experiencing less direct trauma, are wishing for ways to reach peace. But we, I, have no idea what the military realities are, and what it will take to make Israelis safe again. I refuse to tell Israel what they should do, though, of course, I have questions.
I have a lot of trouble with people who equate the horror of a massacre perpetrated on civilians and a war conducted, or at least trying to be conducted, under the set rules of war.
My focus has been on finding podcasts and articles that can help me understand more of what it feels like to be in Israel right now, so that I can be more empathetic, and to reassure me that Israel is a real place and not this cardboard cutout of evil that often gets portrayed by Pro-Palestinian activists on American college campuses.
Israel Story, a great podcast in English that shares stories from all segments of Israeli society, has been posting short interviews with Israelis in different sectors during the current war. In the past, Israel Story has covered many Palestinian stories with empathy and clarity, humanizing and coloring in details of lives we often don’t get to hear about. The archives are full of those stories, but right now the most powerful of the short interviews I’ve heard was with a father who rescued his teenage son from the music festival in the South of Israel after the massacre had begun. www.israelstory.org/episode/sivan-avnery/ I’ve also been listening to podcasts from a school in Jerusalem called the Shalom Hartman Institute which has done a lot of work bringing together religious and secular, American and Israeli, and finding ways to have difficult conversations that are productive and even inspiring. I also watched a webinar interview with Yehuda Kurtzer, the president of the Institute in North America, that addressed what it feels like in Israel right now, and how liberal American Jews are dealing with the current news environment. https://youtu.be/Glia_tSZqmo?si=g3Fr8T4XR_D7Qkwk
I go to the Forward and the Times of Israel and the Atlantic for articles that help me understand the issues involved. Here are links to two of the many articles that I’ve found helpful: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-is-israel-being-blamed-for-the-hamas-massacre/
I go to Kveller and Nosher and My Jewish Learning for a break from the news and a chance to remember that there is still Jewish joy and silliness, and comfort food, and so much to learn about being Jewish that has nothing to do with politics or war.
But most of all I go to music. I have a ridiculously long Israeli music playlist on Spotify filled with music from Ishai Ribo and Hanan Ben Ari and Yuval Dayan and Keren Peles and Jane Bordeaux and Ofra Haza and Arik Einstein and David Broza and Hadag Nachash and Hatikva 6, and I keep finding more musicians and more music to remind me that there is more to Israel than this war.
Hanan Ben Ari – https://youtu.be/z27MZP_4P_U?si=uu7wqn1pEn6cRdd8
Ishai Ribo – https://youtu.be/7mmu6EzLZfM?si=egySHSIHEU0ckn7t
Jane Bordeaux – https://youtu.be/5t59s1sa1oc?si=o2XozKDDdpCiaSFA
Yuval Dayan – https://youtu.be/V4qsi4V-NFY?si=FqlWyWA40AIKhBYA
So that’s where I’m at right now. I’m still trying to write out my thoughts on the war itself, and the history that led to it, mostly for my own clarification, but the rest of the time I’m taking a lot of deep breaths, and listening to voices across the spectrum, when I’m up to it, and listening to music when I’m not.
I wish everyone Besorot Tovot, good news to come, and comfort and understanding until that time comes.
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my Young Adult novel, Yeshiva Girl, on Amazon. And if you feel called to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
Yeshiva Girl is about a Jewish teenager on Long Island, named Isabel, though her father calls her Jezebel. Her father has been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with one of his students, which he denies, but Izzy implicitly believes it’s true. As a result of his problems, her father sends her to a co-ed Orthodox yeshiva for tenth grade, out of the blue, and Izzy and her mother can’t figure out how to prevent it. At Yeshiva, though, Izzy finds that religious people are much more complicated than she had expected. Some, like her father, may use religion as a place to hide, but others search for and find comfort, and community, and even enlightenment. The question is, what will Izzy find?
rachelmankowitz 
Well said. Thank you for all the links.
Thank you!
Thank you, Rachel, for sharing your perspective, which is gentle and considerate.
I have been reading much to be better informed and comment nought.
Thank you for always sharing your insights.
Thank you!
We’re never very far away from this tragic war. My neighbour, Yuri, originally from Belarus, cancelled his trip visit relatives in Israel after the October 7 attacks.
Issues never are remote anymore.
The world has been feeling very small lately. It’s true.
I’m sending you a big hug!! I am very concerned with the terms being thrown about right now, especially from the political Left. The things that some folks say are so blatantly wrong and I get the shivers when folks who are usually uneducated about simpler things now declare themselves experts on what is going on in Gaza and Israel.
Thank you so much for this blogpost.
Thank you!!!!
Politically speaking, is there anyone out there with half a brain from either side ? The world in general abd the way a lot of people think really unnerves me.
Hugs and well said. I’ve been unable to express my feelings on this.
It’s so hard.
It is yet another political war. (Aren’t they all?!)
Fathers, mothers, and families, the common people in general, have their own lives to take care of and occupy themselves with, and more functional things than getting involved with deaths, their own or others.
There are reports of Orthodox Jews declaring themselves NON-Zionists, or non-war.
The Christian point of view is very objective:
Thank you for this helpful list of resources.
I will never forget my trip to Israel in June, 1982, just after the war in Lebanon began. People said, “Don’t go. It is too dangerous.” I told them, ” This trip is an answer to my prayer to see the old city of Jerusalem. How can I not go?” To this day, it is one of the finest experiences of my life. GOD bless Israel.
Thank you!
I’ve been thinking about you and what your thoughts might be regarding this horrific state of affairs. All I know for sure is that wartime means that the haze of propaganda will distort accurate coverage of the conflict, casualties, and who is responsible for what. I’ve been obtaining most of the information from MSNBC and CNN. I have an old college friend who now lives in Tel Aviv and I’m thinking about him, too.
I hope your friend is okay. A lot of people who haven’t been called up for the army are finding ways to volunteer to help survivors and evacuees, and I think that’s helping them take breaks from the grief and anger and fear.
Though we have never met, Rachel, I trust your thought processes and appreciate the insights you always provide in your writing. Thank you for the links to sources that you trust. You are deeply good.
Thank you so much!
You took the words right out of my mouth. I appreciate and trust Rachel’s calm writing and thoughts, even though we’ve never met. It’s something I’ve been yearning to find out here after all that’s been happening. A hopeful, familiar, wisp of fresh air.
Thank you so much!
Thank you Rachel for sharing your thoughts, perspective and what brings comfort. Prayer works. Never doubt it. Israel is doing the entire world a blessing. These ‘protests’ are far too organized. someone is behind this. But God wins. Always.
Ellie is my role model for prayer. She feels it with her whole self and really means it and finds deep comfort from it.
Well said Rachel, we all have our thoughts on this conflict and it is good to hear how you are thinking and feeling deeply about it. We each feel that wrong is wrong and there is little right involved in this mess. It appears to me that this is not a conflict between Jews and Palestinians but once again of religions and the lack of understanding and compassion for each other’s beliefs and from at least one reply you received, it shows that it involves more than the two major ones involved at this time. My feeling is that it all comes back to One God, no matter what we call that God and how we worship unless it also involves hate and bigotry, which we have seen here.
SAM
I’m not really sure what it all means, certainly religious differences and cultural differences, and political strategies and trauma, misunderstandings and greed and fear and hope. It all gets mixed into the soup until it’s hard to find how we got to this point, or how to get out of it.
That is why I liked your post, at least you want to know, so many others take sides listening to their favorite politician or “talking heads”. The main thing for me right now is that we should never give killing machines to anyone unless there is no other way to keep the peace and save lives, and in this case, the opposite is what I see. I often think about how many thousands of innocent people we killed with the Atomic Bomb and whether it was really necessary.
I think fear takes over. When people have to make split second decisions in a state of fear mistakes are inevitable.
Thank you for sharing your well considered thoughts on this tragic, heartbreaking situation, Rachel, as well as the reference links. Your analysis resonates with me; if only we could see a compassionate and sustainable outcome. Meanwhile, the international fallout is frightening. My thoughts are with you.
Thank you!
It’s all so upsetting-the rhetoric coming from Hamas, the number of Americans, especially on college campuses, who actually support them. I wouldn’t trust anything coming from the legacy media.
I’ve found that within the body of the articles there’s much more understanding than is clear from the attention getting headlines. But a lot of people only read the headlines and newspapers and media outlets know that very well.
That was very well said Rachel. False narratives spread on social media like wildfire. So many people fail to see the obvious difference between a terrorist organization (Hamas) intentionally murdering children, babies, and defenseless civilians, celebrating massacre and driving around displaying the corpses on trucks, and on the other hand a military operation hunting these terrorists and trying to free hostages while causing collateral damage in the process. On top of that the terrorist organization wants the collateral damage big as a propaganda tool. I can’t tell if Israel is handling this the best way, but I can tell that Hamas is evil.
Most people don’t understand the situation, and many are way too quick to blame Israel. I support Israel. In my experience College campuses has become a mess in a lot of different ways. Today’s Colleges are a racket, an expensive racket. I hope and wish that your Israeli relatives and friends will be safe.
Thank you!
I think we are all praying for peace and for the safety of the innocent who just want to live in that peace.
Yes.
The KuKu Klux Klan
now dressed in black
Canaanites celebrate in private
the rape and murder
of their neighbour’s children
the next day protesting in the street
that the enemy doesn’t fight fair
their anonymous women kept in a sack
Subservient incubators of Armageddon
with cries of “Genocide!”
“Innocence!” is just an empty slogan
for a lynch mob tribe carrying a rope
shouting that God’s on their side
Brother Cain is on the attack
high on jealous religious outrage
Humanity the abducted prisoner
taken hostage to a snakepit
beyond any hope
Their leaders chomping at the bit
to release unbridled murder
whilst crying their crocodile tears
and playing to a gullible audience
Israel was given no choice
after Hamas pulled the trigger
as one eyed commentators
fail to see the big picture
Islam is out to destroy Israel
Within the screech
of their hate speech
they say it loud and clear
in everything they do and say
that they don’t want peace
whilst Israel still exists
(Being a gentile, I don’t have a dog
in this particular terrible race. I just
observe what’s in front of my face.)
I don’t know how to respond. I’m sorry.
Sorry to unleash on your comment
comment section. A bit of bottled up
frustration. Feel free to delete.
I’ll understand … no problem 🙏
Thank you for sharing, Rachel. I have very much felt the same in regards to my shock at the lies spread on social media and those who believe it (in not even on there anymore but I still see things just online). It’s scary, but I continue to trust in God. He is doing something greater in this chaos. God bless you, and thanks, again.
Thank you!
A thoughtful, heartfelt and meaningful post. You put a lot of effort into this and it shows.
Thank you!
Efforts appreciated to bring all things together for a ready reference for readers to know for their own understanding. Thanks.
Thank you!
I wish I could weigh in on this from a more personal perspective. I gain a lot of insight in general from reading your blog. I constantly put up walls in regards to the state of affairs in the world at large to ease my anxiety. I hate that I have to do that but don’t worry about how people might react, you should consider publishing your 14 pg post especially because most everyone here knows it come from the heart. ✊️✌️
Thank you!
A heartfelt post from a sensible person of Jewish origins. My take on this is that the conduct of war across the globe has radically changed with opponents being able to bomb indiscriminately without ever seeing who they are killing. I can’t separate it from what is going on in Ukraine and so many other countries at different times.
Thank you! Though I don’t think war was ever a humane endeavour. The hope was that bigger bombs would act as better deterrents to war over all, but that may have been naive.
It certainly was.
I pray for peace for all. I wish it could be as simple as everyone just wanting peace. God bless.
I wish that too.
Thank you for expressing so eloquently how I am certain many of us feel about this current situation. Ever since the event of the insurrection, I have been conscious of keeping myself in a sort of “bubble“ to hear and understand the happenings around me without getting emotionally involved as much as possible. Nonetheless, I find myself praying that this war will be over quickly and that Israel will come from it stronger than before. I greatly appreciate the deeper understanding you have offered, and I hope you know many of us feel the same as you do.
Thank you so much!
Thank you for sharing what many (me) are thinking and feeling. Thank you for the links. Pl
Thank you!!!!
that music is awesome! There is so, so much more to israel than war! xoxo
I’ve become addicted to Hanan Ben Ari lately.
❤
My favorite part of this post is “Don’t look at me.” My heart aches over this whole situation. Keep writing your thoughts. Thank you.
Ellie prefers to focus her attention on chicken. It seems to help her.
Thank God for how music can touch our hearts, lift our spirits and bring us peace. Also, thanks so much for the links in your blog that enrich it’s content.
Thank you!
Thank you for your honest, empathetic, and well thought out response to the madness going on in the world–and how good of you to provide those links. You work from a thoroughness that sadly does not characterize the thinking of so many around us. Never has relativism impacted the world as much as it does now; it has contributed enormously to the anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstrations that so many supposedly sane voices cannot or will not call out for what they are. Praying for peace is always a good idea and always sounds good, but the difficulty is getting to that peace. A ceasefire with an organization like Hamas (and they are hardly alone) that holds as a constant and central commitment the elimination of Jews and Israel is not peace.
Thank you!
Well said Rachel. I think many of us are trying to make sense of it all right now. The world is crazy and getting crazier. If wars must continue and it seems power hungry men want them to, then fight them in a deserted dessert with no innocent civilians around.
If only that were possible.
Appreciate your thoughts on this complex part of the world and we pray for the hostages and all innocent civilians.
Thank you!
Let’s pray this is not the start of WWIII
Oy.
I totally agree with your thoughts on this, Rachel. What kind of god (Allah) thinks it’s okay to kill people who don’t think like he does? Kill the infidels? Death to America? Not the kind of people (Hamas terrorists) I want to surround myself with.
Thank you!
Well put. 😊
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing. It seems others have already written most of what I would have here. I do have a question. I listen only to NPR. Have you listened to their news coverage on the war and if so, what is your take on it?
I only listen to NPR in the car and early on in the coverage of the war they played a heart breaking interview with the sister of one of the girls who was killed or taken. I was sobbing and could barely see the road. So I’ve switched to music in the car for the past few weeks.
I only listen in the car too. I can certainly understand why it upset you so much. Not stats and impartial news. It made it real.
Absolutely. Those are the stories I want to hear, but not when I’m driving.
Thank you for your thoughts and the information urls. We absolutely must stay informed. Surely Hamas must have guessed the results of their attack. Thay only want chaos, death, and destruction. Thay have succeeded in that. Be strong.
Thank you!
Maybe they shouldn’t have been illegal occupying Gaza.
Israel
Israel hasn’t occupied Gaza since 2005.
Are you REALLY saying that Hamas could totally see that the IDF were going to bomb hospitals, refugee camps and ambulances? Really?
Given that Hamas locates its tunnels under hospitals and in refugee camps, yes, Hamas knew very well that those locations would become targets. That was their intention. I understand supporting Palestinian civilians and a two state solution; but Hamas is not fighting for either of those entities.
Like so many other here, Rachel, I’ve been awaiting your reactions to these horrific and tragic events. I’m grateful to you for your compassionate response–and for the links. I don’t understand why there isn’t more coverage of the fact that many of the people in the Kibbutz that Hamas attacked, and others they murdered, have been working for peace with their Palestinian neighbors for years.
There’s so little attempt at understanding. I wish the news media could be better at telling fleshed out stories, about everything, but more often than not the focus is on the extremes. It’s exhausting.
I am appalled at the colleges for being so naive about the purpose of Hamas. I am appalled at places that don’t understand how far back Israel predates Palestine — a name given to a country by conquerors as an insult to Jewish people.
My son went to his health care specialist and was asked why he hasn’t removed his yarmulke. My son said that it is an expression of his faith. When he told me about it, I said, “If you take it off, they win.” I don’t worry about the strength of his faith. I worry about the ignorance that seems to be pervasive in the USA.
How strange for a medical professional to expect you to take off a kippah.
My son thought it strange, too. He said the doctor told him twice that he needed to take it off.
Unless the doctor needed to look at his scalp… I don’t know.
Nope. Not a scalp doctor. 🙂
You are not alone, Rachel. I pray for Israel, too. There are a great many lies being circulated about Israel. But God will never abandon His people.
Thank you!
Neither can you just take the IDF at their word, who have been getting a LOT more media coverage than Hamas.
I disagree with you, but we all see things from our own perspectives.
I appreciate you taking the time and courage to put your eloquent thoughts together and out there. I don’t agree with all you have to say, but I appreciate your willingness to say something in an online environment that has for a very long time been been leeched of reflection before speaking and compassion for others.
I’ve ordered your book as a token of gratitude, but I used BookShop, not Amazon, as BookShop supports local indie bookstores; you can choose which bookstore to order from on the BookShop site.
Thank you!
So very, very well written Rachel! Thank you for putting words to so many of my own feelings and reactions. Too often I’ve been overwhelmed by it all that I don’t have words to pray. In those moments, I’ve found the words to pray in the Psalms of ascent.
Thank you. Prayer helps, and poetry and music.
Rachel, as you know I’m very connected to many Jewish authors and others in the writing community both here and around the world including in Israel. It’s been so hard to see the social media posts, the misinformation, and the reports from Hamas being taken at face value. I’ve been gratified by nonJewish friends reaching out to ask me how I’m doing, how I am interpreting information. We do the best we can. I’ll be sharing your post with a few of those friends.
Thank you, I think you’re helping many people understand the sound bites aren’t the real story.
Thank you so much!
Well said, Rachel! This situation is beyond scary, and I truly don’t understand the support for Hamas.
Thank you!
What you have written is extraordinary. If anyone wants to know what critical means in the best way, she or he should read here. You don’t excoriate Palestinians. You excoriate Hamas, which is deserved. Mostly, though, you reaonsably and authentically describe and express the journey you must take (and even make) to understand Israelis everywhere in this and where you might be constructively involved and set. I’m thankful for all the sources you cite. Now all of us have the chance to gather both stories and reason in this horrible situation. Thank you, Rachel. Peace to you and yours.
Thank you!
Well said. The Islamic faith is very clear on its purpose, yet the media tell us to ignore that. American college campuses, which seem to promote the woke agenda and now the antisemitic agenda continue to indoctrinate our youth who just want an education. The world seems to be upside down, but all we can do is pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
There are millions of Muslims who would never support Hamas if they knew what Hamas was doing to its own people. I believe that most people are unaware of the facts and will do better when they know better. I hope.
If I may, Rachel, “from the river to the sea” does not call for the eradication of Jewish people. Rather, it is a call for Palestinian people who are now living under apartheid to live with the equality, freedom, and dignity accorded others. It is a call for Palestinians to have free movement from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. I don’t believe anyone should feel threated by the liberation of an oppressed people.
Actually the phrase has been used for a long time to mean the destruction of Israel. While it’s possible that many of the people saying it today don’t know that and are using it to mean something less threatening, that doesn’t change the history of it.
You did an awesome job of writing about this. Thank you so much, and God bless you.
Thank you!
Hi, Rachel, thanks for this statement. There’s been no media discussing the nature of Hamas, and I’m sick of all these morons on campuses, probably not even students, using this terrible event as an excuse to get their Jew-hating on. Thanks again.
I’m reading so many articles lately just to try to understand, but a lot of the rhetoric is just too awful.
Amen. Wishing you Besorot Tovot in return, Rachel.