Opinion: The Jewish state has achieved far more impressive gains in situations in which we need to make a little more effort, that push us far out of our comfort zone, and we should embrace this quality for it makes us who we are
Abu Dhabi is currently hosting the Special Olympics, and the Israeli team already has an impressive collection of medals, one we never had in the Olympics that aren’t “special” – and this is the norm.
For in the Paralympics, too, the Israeli team is able to rack up a great number of wins. It seems that in general, the State of Israel has been able to achieve far more impressive gains in competitions that require more effort, that push us far out of our comfort zone. But not exclusively.
This country has a tendency to emerge in full force at the most trying moments, in moments that need demand great fortitude to overcome obstacles. It is in these moments that we discover the beautiful face of our nation, in which manifest dedication and kindness, a willingness to give without hesitation, an ability to withstand tremendous challenges without breaking. And these moments also reveal Israeli unity, with whose help we have always managed to overcome the odds – for many years.
As in the Special Olympics, so too, was this fortitude on full display at the funeral of Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, which took place this week in the community of Eli. We again discovered the “special forces” that characterize our people, who, despite the pain and the hardship and the terrible sorrow, stand tall, and do not bow or break.
When Rabbi Ettinger’s children and neighbors eulogized him, they loudly vowed that “They will not break us.” They promised the terrorists who took the rabbi’s life and that of that 19-year-old Gal Keidan that we would not give up, we would crumble.
For years we have wanted to be in a country that shut down between two and four, in some European fantasy about siestas. But a calm that is suited to the European climate cannot adapt to the hot weather that prevails here in the Middle East. Longing for such serenity will not do us any good.
When everything flows here calmly, we find ourselves drifting away from all the good things we know how to do, as evidenced by the upcoming elections: The war of slander, the shallowness, the preoccupation with what one person or another did or did not do, the crude and destructive language, are all a small part of what happens to us when our lives are smooth sailing. Without a common enemy that threatens us all, we start turning on one another.
It’s not ideal, no doubt, but we should understand that this is the reality. It’s probably something that has been embedded in our DNA since we left Egypt. “But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. (Exodus 1:12)”
The difficulties and challenges we face create unique forces and abilities and we have to remember that. That’s exactly what difficulties are about — making us try harder and understanding we have so much more in us than what meets the eye, and much more in common with others than what we are made to believe.
Competitors in the Special Olympics will attest to that, having lived their entire lives with immense difficulties and beat the odds time and again.
As reported by Ynetnews