I think I have been a Zionist all my life.
I remember at the age of seven.
I went around with those blue and white boxes to collect money
for Eretz Yisroel, and when I brought the box back to Hebrew
school and gave it to the teacher, she shook it and gave it
back to me saying, "fill it up!" They didn't waste boxes back
then. We listened to the teacher and you see - we have Eretz Yisroel.
A dream that came true.
We had faith.
So you see it paid to have faith.
I remember all those nickles and dimes that we had to
convert into dollars. I remember those comments people made
on the side. I remember pessimistic comments and those
who gave us generously and wished us good luck.
There were two kinds of people see. There were the positive kind
that encouraged us and the negative people that tried to defeat us
but couldn't. We have Eretz Yisroel.
So that's the difference between pessimism and optimism.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sylvia Mandelbaum
6 comments:
you are right, Sylvia! it pays to have faith!
the pessimists will never accomplish anything. their pessimism will be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
the optimists who worked hard are the ones who, with G-d's help, achieved what we have today - the re-establishment of Am Yisrael, the Jewish nation, in Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel. their optimisim will also be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
G-d helps those who help themselves! and especially when we are fulfilling His will of sanctifying Eretz Yisrael.
may it continue to grow and prosper!
Right on, Sylvia. I'm sure those blue and white boxes seemed like they symbolized an impossible dream, but if you will it, it is no dream... we just have to keep summoning the will to make it work, with Hashem on our side.
Sylvia, your teacher had more than optimism and faith. She had determination, and she passed it on to her students. The pessimists probably thought that they were being realists and trying to save you from future disappointments. We have Eretz Yisrael today because of people who refused to be "realists".
I wonder how many of those positive people have descendants in Eretz Yisrael today and how many of the negative people don't have many descendants at all.
Hadassa DeYoung, K'far Darom/Elon Moreh
Sylvia,
Thanks for posting such a lovely message.
Batya
I also remember growing up with those blue and white boxes. My greatest thrill as a teenager was to actually be there to plant a tree--on our land. It was definitely a more than "half full" (pushka) point of view. May we continue to fill it up!
Sylvia Kol Hakavod for saying it right
I too remember the little blue boxes and we each brought a penny a day to fill it up. We kept that up for a long time while I was at Talmud Torah in Vancouver. I liked what she said as it is simple and to the point. Either you are for or you are not for Unfortunately here in Israel there are many who are not for or are acting dumb, but the passivity is killing us from within. Kol Hakavod that you still go on being that strong Zionist both inside and out.
be well pesach
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