Growing up in my Newton, Massachusetts, whose population consists of around thirty percent Jews, I never felt out of place for being Jewish. As a matter of fact, in some of my classes at Newton South High School, the majority of students are Jewish, and we have a strong Jewish Student Union with many participants. Being surrounded by so many Jews in my everyday life made me ignorant to the reality that, on a global scale, Jews are a tiny minority, only 0.2 percent of the 8 billion people on Earth. So, I guess you can imagine the eye-opening experience that October 7th was for me. That was a day that I understood the resilience of Jews, and, at the same time, a day that made me feel so alone. I wasn’t half as scared for being Jewish as I was for being Israeli. For the past year and a half, being an Israeli-American Jew living in the United States has been a complex experience. For one thing, it’s been challenging to see what’s going on so close to where I live, whether it’s Harvard students chanting “Free Palestine” in Boston, protesters in Newton Center shouting that Israel is committing a genocide, or posters of Israeli hostages blacked out by spray paint or just scratched away. It pains my heart to witness or just hear of these things when I have family members in Israel who have gone to the bomb shelter in the middle of the night. And it’s been especially hard to have people from school all of a sudden say to me that the IDF is comparable to the Nazi Regime. There’s been times when I admit that I was ashamed of being Israeli, all because I was too scared to start a conflict for having a differing opinion.
Despite these hardships, the past year and a half has strengthened my connection to Israel all the more, and I owe that to a community called Israeli Scouts. The best way I can describe this organization is a meeting place held every weekend by Israeli-Americans, for Israeli-Americans. We learn songs for Jewish and Israeli holidays, practice speaking Hebrew, and do different activities about what Israel means to us. In light of the Gaza War, we’ve also written countless letters to IDF soldiers, and have had guest speakers from Israel come in and share their experience relating to the war. Going to Israeli Scouts every week allows me to talk with other Israeli-Americans who also worry about family members in Israel, and it also allows me to voice my opinion in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. I feel so supported by this community, as it is a place that encourages me to be Israeli rather than to be ashamed or uncomfortable with that part of my identity. One of the things that I like the most about Israeli Scouts is being able to, as a high schooler, teach elementary school kids, who are also Israeli, about our culture and what we can do to keep those traditions alive. Especially during this hard time, passing on my knowledge and love for Israel has been so rewarding, and I can’t thank Israeli Scouts enough for that experience.
Image Source: https://www.timesleader.com/news/1612195/israeli-scouts-sing-and-dance-at-jcc-camp
