JNS.org..
20 March '20..
I moved to Israel in 2004, and since then, there have been events and moments that have reaffirmed the reasons why I did.
One of those moments is right now.
Yes, now, during these challenging and confusing and unsettling days that the world is being held captive by the coronavirus.
Like so many others around the world, we in Israel are confined to our homes, but the few moments a day that I do manage to get out into the world remind me of why I love Israel so much.
It’s the calm I see on people’s faces as I push my shopping cart through the supermarket. It’s their ability to still smile and even laugh with one another as they stand in line waiting for their turn to pay for the items they want to bring back to their families in quarantine. And it’s their ability to still believe that y’hiyeh b’seder … “It’ll be OK.”
And I wonder why is it that Israelis are not entering into hysteria the way people in other countries are, even though their day-to-day lives have been deeply and unexpectedly altered in very much the same exact way? Why are we not stripping the shelves bare of toilet paper and pasta and cold medicines, leaving nothing to find for the people that come after us?
And then it hit me.
I realize that the people I pass on the street, on the road and in the stores have seen hard times before. While recognizing and honoring the unique aspects of this time we’re now in, this is not the first time the people of Israel have been forced to struggle. They’ve done so many times before. They’ve been called upon to interrupt their self- and family-centered lives time and time again for the sake of the nation.
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