Failed

Today I entered Ofra in the afternoon, after the homes in Amona were destroyed.

On my way to Ofra a number of ambulances passed us going to Jerusalem, sirens screeching. They were civilian ambulances, so the chances were that they were transporting injured demonstrators to the hospital.

It was my babysitting afternoon, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it, since when I left this morning we were told that there was no way to get from Shiloh to Ofra. To avoid road blocks and unpleasantness, the driver took the Alon Road, east of Shiloh and east of our regular road to Jerusalem, which passes Ofra and the "T" junction to Beit El. That "regular road" is the one the government wants to make Judenrein. It would turn a ten minute drive to Ofra into close to an hour and a half, and that's in a car. The twenty minutes to Beit El would mushroom into an hour and a half. For me, who has to hitch hike, the trips would be impossible.

Almost the entire student body of Yeshivat Tichonit Mateh Binyamin, Beit El, was in Amona, and most of the high schools in the area could tell you the same. Most of the demonstrators were kids, young, impressionable kids. I'm glad I'm not their "Ezrachut," Civics teacher. How does one teach good government to kids who were attacked by policemen wielding metal clubs? How can I explain democracy to a kid who faced mounted policemen? I'm glad I'm only an English teacher, and my biggest challenge is teaching some grammar, like passive verbs.

As I walked to my daughter's home I saw dozens or maybe hundreds of young kids, covered with dust and some freshly bandaged, trudging back to their homes or schools. I wanted to cry. I wanted to cry for their pain, and I wanted to cry for our failure.

We failed to take the Israeli Government out of the same political ideology that participated in the Sezon, turning in their fellow Jews to the British during the Mandate and the same ones who shot at the Altalena murdering Jews and endangering the "infant" State of Israel.

After almost fifty-eight years of modern statehood, Israel hasn't become a truly independent state.

Never in the entire history of the world was there a country so intent on self-mutilation and suicide. No other people attack its own and let terrorists thrive. The closest I can think of is King Saul persecuting and attacking David instead of fighting his kingdom's true enemies.

Today when the rabbi drove us to Jerusalem a neighbor kept saying that this present situation is worse than anything in the USSR, since it's being done by Jews. The rabbi brought up how David was attacked by Saul, and during all that Samuel the Prophet was silent.

Today it's not a comfort to know that history is repeating itself. We should have done a better job. Now we must pick up the pieces and make our kids feel that in spite of everything, this is their home, and they shouldn't give up. And we have to convince all of those who don't see the point in voting, that voting is even more important than ever.

And we must move forward and we must save our Land and People.