Israel is on my mind

A week before Thanksgiving, during the throes of bedtime, the doorbell rang. Opening the door, I found three giggling young girls, no older than 14, fundraising for a community initiative for Feeding South Dakota. I quickly gathered some cans and handed them over. Later, Mendel called me over to review the doorbell camera recording, expressing concern about what he saw and heard.

One of the girls standing by the door noticed our mezuzah by our door and tells her friends, “Oh, they're Jewish.” 
Giggles.
“Palestine!” says another girl. 
More giggles. 

No big deal, right? 

The pang in our gut though, was unmistakable. And so was my first immediate thought. “I’m so glad my daughters didn’t see/hear this. This wouldn’t be pleasant for them.” 

While I wouldn't usually make a fuss about an encounter with three absolutely clueless and ignorant kids, I’m sharing this for a reason. Beyond being the first experience  with even a hint of “antisemitism” since moving here to South Dakota, this moment affirmed  beyond a shadow of a doubt something that many “closeted Jew haters”, even some in Sioux Falls, like to deny. 

Anti-Israel, (what some call anti-zionism), IS Anti-Semitism. 

It took mere seconds for a young, uneducated preteen to go from Mezuzah, to Jewish, to Palestine, to “giggles”. 

They didn’t need to be well versed in geopolitics, or graduate high school, to make that connection. 

The Pro Palestinian protests, filled with hatred and animus towards Jews and Israel, that they saw on TV, the questioning of Israel’s right to defend itself, the glorifying and justifying the “resistance by any means possible” all over social media, was enough for them. This was a Jewish home, and they were going to laugh about it. For all they knew, I could have been a staunch advocate of the Palestinian plight, as some Jews are, and as were many of those butchered and taken hostage by Hamas! But that didn’t matter to them. The link to them was obvious and natural, Israel=Jew, Jew=Israel. And they are not wrong about that. 

Where do I go from here? 
Although I was relieved that my daughters didn’t witness this, I can’t control the world, and chances are, they will experience this themselves in the future. How do I prepare them for this? Can one be prepared? And for myself, my pang in the gut, my own experience, how do I fortify myself against the waves of Anti-Semitism around me. It’s not fun to be excluded from the “cool kids”, and it definitely feels like the “cool kids” are all about every minority excluding the Jews, these days. 

In facing this challenge, I turn to my Judaism. Ironically, the very source of this experience will be my strength. Only by fully respecting and embracing my Judaism, deepening my connection with G-d, and integrating Yiddishkeit into every aspect of my life, will I and my children be able to overcome the difficult moments. When my children live by the Torah and mitzvahs, understand their history and heritage, and thereby take pride in their Jewish identity, only then can they rise above the hate and subtle biases around them, standing tall with a sense of purpose from the mission given to us by G-d.

That mezuzah is absolutely not coming down. And very soon, alongside it, will be lots of bright, loud and proud Chanukah menorahs. I am embracing my Jewish spark and leaning on G-d to take care of the rest. 

What carries you through the hard moments? How did you raise your children to stand proud and become resilient, despite their hostile environment? I hope to hear from you, too.