Growing up, my Holocaust survivor mother, of blessed memory, would frequently tell me that “We Jews don’t pray for miracles, we depend on miracles.” I never really understood that saying until October 7.
Since that dark day, it has been clear to me that our greatest miracles are our youth. In the US, we grew up hearing stories of the “Greatest Generation,” those Americans born during the first quarter of the last century who fought and won the Second World War.
The generation who lived through the Great Depression was considered highly driven and extremely patriotic. Our youth have long been considered the opposite, the derogatorily described “TikTok Generation,” whereby selfies and sound bites take the place of meaning and values.
How wrong we all were.
I was in Israel a month ago to attend the shiva of our cousin Sgt.-Maj. David Schwartz, whose shloshim (the 30-day demarcation after a death in Judaism, a second stage of mourning) fell this past week. He was someone who I admired and respected very much and got to know well during his honeymoon in Los Angeles.
David was an exceptional human being and Jew. He was a passionate religious Zionist, committed to the Land, People and Torah of Israel.
He presented a book – a commentary on every weekly Torah portion – to his wife as a wedding present.
Unfortunately, it was at David’s shiva that I saw the true beauty of Israel with visitors representing the full spectrum of society. Complete strangers who felt an inexplicable bond and needed to just be there to comfort David’s widow, our dear Meital, and their family.
Everyone in Israel feels affected by losses on October 7
What struck me most as I entered, was the sight of a young woman in her early twenties consoling Meital. She was the widow of Yosef Guedalia, who was killed fighting terrorists in Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel on October 8, hug and comfort Meital.
These two strangers now had the tightest of bonds, built around the ties of loss. In some way, this is a generation that can be compared to the survivors who went through the Holocaust.
They have a common bond where they lost family members simply for being Jewish or for defending the Jewish State. It is not just those whose family members were killed, it also the families of those who are kidnapped, those who are injured, and those who have been driven from their homes in pogroms.
It has touched everyone in the first, or at most, second degree of separation. Throughout Jewish history, the hate of our enemies was frequently the glue that bound us and became the great equalizers.
Hitler made it clear to every Jew that they are viewed the same, regardless of background or ideology.
Hamas’s rampage across the southern part of Israel, marauding through Left-wing largely secular kibbutzim and around more Right-wing traditional towns like Sderot and Netivot alike, proved that they don’t see our differences, and neither should we.
OUR GREATEST generation took up arms on that day and showed us and the world exactly who they are and exposed the best face of the Jewish people.
They came from across the political, religious and ethnic spectrum to come together as fighting machines with one goal in mind: victory. They included left-wing businessmen from Tel Aviv and right-wing doctors from Yitzhar.
For them, this is not the victory of words and slogans, but of action.
These brave soldiers declared that they will not return to their families and lives until the job is done and victory is accomplished. Their disagreements were among units that fought about who should go into a dangerous situation first and who should leave the frontlines last.
However, it is the last notes of the fallen which need to be read and studied across the Jewish world. These last testaments reflect something special in our youth, they demonstrate that behind the smartphones, social media and selfies, a truly exceptional generation lives.
Their voices from beyond remind us all of their nobility and value system, which rests on thousands of years of Jewish history, culture, and tradition. They showed us the best side of our people and civilization.
These letters and those who have left the frontlines, perhaps temporarily, are telling us an important message, one that needs to be listened to by Diaspora Jews, especially in North America.
We have a lot to learn from them, especially placing politics to the side during testing times. Israel is a source of pride; its people are the leading lights of the Jewish world.
Most of American Jewry have rallied to the side of Israel, its people and its democratically elected government.
However, some leaders run to the mainstream media with demands of Israel, rallying against its leaders and their decisions.
There will be a time for introspection and inquiry, but now we are at war, whether in Ashkelon or San Francisco, on university campuses and major towns and cities in the US.
We need to emulate this beautiful greatest generation of Jews in Israel who fight for the flag, the land, and its people. These Jews rally to the side of those who have fallen, regardless of any petty ideological, political, or religious differences. This crisis affected all, including those who were killed, kidnapped, injured, and made homeless.
A new survivor generation has arisen in Israel as a result of the bestiality of Hamas and its supporters. They heard the “Never Again” of their parents and grandparents, and now they must say it again, with angst but also pride.
They are standing together and declaring: let’s make never again a reality instead of a dream. From around the Jewish world, we must stand firmly by their side.
The writer is a Los Angeles-based philanthropist and real-estate developer who serves as chairman of the Golda Meir Commemorative Coin Committee and the Abraham Accords Roundtable in Washington.