Iran’s Attack on Israel
7 min read
With Israel and Jews under attack worldwide, you can help strengthen the Jewish people.
After Hamas perpetrated the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust on October 7 - torturing, dismembering, and murdering 1,200 Israelis, and kidnapping 240 hostages - much of the world has risen up to attack not Hamas, but Israel. Antisemitism has risen to its highest recorded levels around the world. In the United States, more young people say they support Hamas after its attacks on innocent civilians than they approve of Israel. Synagogues in Canada have been firebombed and shot at; in California, an elderly man waving an Israeli flag was killed by an anti-Israel demonstrator.
Yet Jews are coming together as never before. Synagogue attendance is up. People are clamoring to purchase Shabbat candlesticks and Stars of David. In Paris, over 180,000 people marched against antisemitism; in Washington DC, nearly 300,000 people demonstrated in support of Israel and for the release of the 240 Israeli hostages. In the face of pain, we’re renewing our Jewish pride.
Thanksgiving is another opportunity for Jews to unite and make a difference. As you sit down with family and friends this Thanksgiving, here are four actions you can undertake.
Lobbying our politicians is crucial to applying pressure on Hamas to release Israeli hostages and to ensuring international support for Israel overall. Any letter - even an imperfect one - has an effect.
Do a quick search to find out who are your national representatives. In the US, everyone has one US Congressman and two US Senators. They’ll each have a website with the phone numbers of their local constituent office and their Washington, DC office. In most cases, their websites have a “contact us” section.
Before you sit down to your Thanksgiving meal, send a quick email to each of your representatives. You don’t need to know all the finer points of US foreign policy. Your officials are your voice in Washington and they are happy to hear from you.
Here are a few suggestions of items to consider including:
Send your email to the Governor of your state too, and to the White House at https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/. Consider emailing the Red Cross through https://www.icrc.org/en/contact and tell them you’re very concerned about the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas and that you demand they do all they can to visit them in Gaza and ensure they are being treated well,
Prayer is the ultimate Jewish strength. It’s a powerful way to connect with the divine, to know that you’re not alone, and to draw strength to carry on. This Thanksgiving, harness the power of bringing friends and family together at your table to say a prayer for Israel and the hostages.
One prayer that many Jews around the world have been saying on behalf of the hostages is Psalm 142, a “Maskil” (“Lesson”) written by King David. It recalls a time when King David was fleeing for his life from the murderous King Shaul and hid in a dark cave, cut off from his family and friends and fearing that every moment might be his last. Its haunting words resonate today.
You can also offer your own prayer using your own heartfelt words.
Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to ask the older generation about your family’s unique Jewish history. If you go back far enough, chances are you’ll discover your family’s harrowing tale of persecution, faith, and antisemitism. Talking about them can help build resilience and equip you to better face challenges and difficult times.
That’s the conclusion of Professors Robin Fivush and Marshall Duke of Emory University in Atlanta. Their groundbreaking research into the emotional health of children found that children who know more about their families’ histories have significantly better mental health: higher self-esteem, more social competence, better friendships, fewer behavioral problems, and lower levels of stress and anxiety. Hearing about hardships that our ancestors went through instills the lesson that no matter how difficult times might be, you too can prevail.
During stressful moments like today, Prof. Fivush, explains: “You can explain to your child, ‘We don’t know yet how this story is going to end but let me tell you about some challenging times I got through, or your grandparents got through.” It’s not only children who can benefit from hearing about family experiences: understanding where you came from can help adults better cope with this fraught moment when Israel and Jews are being attacked.
Profs. Fivush and Duke came up with a list of 20 questions that they call the “Do You Know?” list they used in their research. You can see their original list here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-stories-our-lives/201611/the-do-you-know-20-questions-about-family-stories.
Here are questions you can use that have a Jewish twist. Consider asking them at your Thanksgiving meal.
May this Thanksgiving be a time when American Jews - and Jews around the world - come together to do all we can to strengthen our Jewish community, to build Jewish unity, to work for the release of hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas: to strengthen the nation of Israel, and ourselves.
This idea comes from Seats of Hope. As we come together for Thanksgiving this year, we remember that our tables are incomplete until all the hostages, who were brutally abducted by Hamas on October 7th, are back home.
Save a seat and "host" a hostage for the holiday, convey the message to the world: our holiday tables are not complete until all the hostages return home:
Download and print a reserved sign to place at your table. Along with the sign you will receive the hostage story.
Take a photo of the empty reserved seat and upload it here.
Once uploaded, a red dot will be shown on the interactive map. Let's paint the whole map, coast to coast, with red dots.
The more families upload their own “seat of hope” photos - the more powerful this joint call for their release will be.
Thank you for this article and all the other articles I've read. Much appreciated. I'm writing my Senators and Governor right now. Working on the rough drafts. Thanks again. May G-d bless you.
It would be wonderful if we in Israel would have representatives in our ?democratiic? government, who can be approached. But the system is not democratic here, no matter how much they insist that it is.
Well written!
Excellent article, well written and meaningful for those in the Diaspora.
Why not have a place at the table for one of the murdered Israelis? They have become faceless, sometimes with no one to mourn them. Where are the pictures of these innocents?
I like the idea to share my Thanksgiving holiday table talk with family and friends using your prescribed list of conversation ideas. I will also set a place at our table which will represent all the hostages not just one of them. Thank you for the truly thoughtful way to express our hope that the hostages are not forgotten.
Since childhood, I have been a fervent admirer of anything and anyone Jewish- that means 70 years plus. There is something missing here in my reading of your article: whenever I helped, in even a minimal way, a Jew, even not religious, I was later recompensed by generous help in my pursuits. It's in your blood!
Another major example: my Maltese father helped a friend's friend who had emigrated from Transylvania to Italy in the 1960s to reach Switzerland, where he was accepted in a major career. Fourteen years later, he offered me a job, just because he recognized my name, which provided me with my own career. I can cite more examples of Jewish solidarity.
GREAT!