Tag: jewish-pride

To Life, To Life, L’Chaim. L’Chaim, L’Chaim, To Life.

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Ever since October 7, 2023, I have been writing this blog very regularly. Over the past month, that has slowed to a crawl. I’m not sure if it is fatigue, frustration, anger, sadness, or some other emotion. I just know that writing has been very difficult as the Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah-Iran-Houthis war continues and the rise in antisemitism around the world and in the United States continues to grow.

I write when I am moved emotionally or intellectually. My emotions have been muted and the rise and acceptance of Jew hatred has made me wonder about the intelligence of the people in this country and the world. I wasn’t sure what to write or if I would find something that moved to me to write.

Then I read this post by Jon Polin, the father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The power of his words hit me deeply. The price of this war hit me deeply. Read Jon’s words and let them wash over you, sink into your soul, and see if you are not changed.

I respectfully ask that the Office of The Prime Minister of IsraelBenjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו stop claiming that “his forceful application of combined military and diplomatic pressure has so far achieved the release of 205 hostages out of a total of 255.”

This insensitive claim whitewashes the lives of the 20% of the 205 who were taken into Gaza alive, survived a period of torture, and were then killed in captivity, including my son Hersh.

In August 2024, a negotiated deal was possible to release a number of hostages, including Hersh and at least three others of the five with whom he was held (together “the Beautiful Six”). Instead of completing this deal, and despite finding a live Israeli hostage in close proximity to where the Beautiful Six would be executed just two days later, a decision was made to continue with the risky military operation in Rafah. This decision led the Beautiful Six to be executed. Ironically, the deal that could have saved them was finally completed in January 2025 under pressure from President Trump.

Please do not take credit for “achieving the release” of Hersh. This is offensive to Hersh and to our family.

As I began to write this, deeply impacted by Jon’s words, the price paid by Rachel and Jon and so many others in Israel, dealing with my own feelings about not being able to go to Israel since September and plans to go in October, the graduation from college of my younger son and the career success of my older son, while so many in Israel have lost their children and loved ones because of the war and, I came across this piece in Daniel Gordis’s “Israel from the Inside” substack. He posted this piece written by Hagai Luber, an actor, playwright, theater director, acting teacher, and the founder and artistic director of the “Aspaklaria” theater and acting school. The translation is below. It captures my feelings beautifully.

Please, please,  
On the panels in the TV studios,  
On social media and in tweets,  
In the Knesset, in committees, and in speeches.  
And in the war cabinet, in the heat of discussions,  
Do not use the dead soldiers as proof of your righteousness!  
Do not say—"See? We must achieve a decisive victory."  
And do not say—"This is the proof that it is time to end the war."  
And do not prove with a victorious shout that if only there were more fighters, the disaster would have been avoided.  
And do not passionately criticize the methods of fighting and the security doctrine.  
And do not say—not today at least—  
That we must...  
That now...  
That the time has come...  
That we warned long ago...  
(And never, ever dare to say "They fell for politics and in vain")  
Just take a moment,  
Or a day,  
Or a year.  
And quietly look at these beautiful ones, in the picture.  
And think about the wondrous fact,  
That regardless of taking a stand or having an opinion,  
They were willing to die for you (f.) and for you (m.).  
And when they heard over the radio that soldiers hit explosives,  
The rescue forces rushed there to save lives,  
And took fire and continued, gritting their teeth, in evacuating them.  
And they didn’t check which sector they belonged to.  
And whether they are "secular" or "ultra-Orthodox,"  
And what their opinion is about the situation and what exactly they think.  
And this unconditional connection is the rock of our existence.  
And it is stronger and more steadfast than all our follies.  
And it is the secret of our strength.  
And it is the light and the good in our lives.  
We will grieve together.  
We will be comforted together.  
And we will rise together.

Haggai Lober

Maybe this hit me so hard today because I watched a former student who became a friend, bury his wife, another former student who became a friend, in Israel today. As I watched the funeral, I was struck by a number of things. First, her desire to be buried in Israel. How much that meant to her. Secondly, how as people talked about her, I could see her face, hear her voice, her laughter, and her passion for life. Third, how grateful I was that I got to see her last fall when I was in Atlanta and that I got to give her a big hug then. I only wished I’d spent more time with her that day.

That’s who we are as Jews. We love life. We cherish life. Our toast, L’Chaim, is literally saying “To Life”. Saving a life is as if we saved an entire world. We celebrate life throughout our lives. Even when somebody dies, we use shiva, the 7 day mourning period after burial, as a way to help the mourners deal with living their lives after losing their loved one. We tell stories about the person who died to celebrate their life and bring comfort to the lives of their loved ones. Everything is about life.

Beginning on October 7th, we have lived in an almost 2 year period of death. Death on October 7th. Death of hostages. Rise of antisemitism impacting our ability to live life. It only struck me today how un-Jewish this time period has been. I was reminded of this by words spoken by the daughter of my friend Yael (z’l) as she eulogized her mother. She had asked Yael (z’l) if she regretted anything in her life and she told her no. When pressed, Yael (z’l) told her daughter that she married a man she loved with all her heart, had parents who loved her, had 2 beautiful children that she loved more than anything, and had a fulfilling career. What was there to regret.

As I type and read those words, I can hear Yael’s voice saying them. Even in death, Yael (z’l) reminded her children, her family, and me the importance of living life. Jon Polin reminded us about how important living life is and just how powerful the loss of life is, through his son Hersh (z’l). Haggai Lober teaches us through his essay how important life is by the way we do whatever we can to save lives and how despite the incredible value of life, we are willing to risk our life to save others.

October 7th and the war that has followed has cost us too many lives to not honor their memories by living ours. Living them Jewishly, whatever that means to each of us. I have my Nova tattoo, my we will dance again tattoo, and my tattoo of the artwork by Moshe Shapira connecting released hostage Emily Damari’s hand with the priestly blessings. Moshe’s son Aner was murdered on October 7th as he repeatedly threw grenades out of the bomb shelter, trying to save others, until there was one he couldn’t get to in time and this tattoo reminds me of Aner, Emily, and Moshe. I wear my Star of David with Israel as the center of it proudly every day, outside my shirt. I got my Florida Stands with Israel license plate and display it proudly on my car.

Florida Stands With Israel License Plate
The art of Moshe Shapira plus We will dance again tattoo
Nova Tattoo
My special Magen David

I’m not the most religious person but I go to minyan when asked. I learn Jewishly every week through two different teachers and with a Rabbi friend when possible. I am proudly and outwardly Jewish. I refuse to hide it. I often think of my parents, who were outwardly proudly Jewish, my grandparents, who were outwardly proudly Jewish, and my Great-grandmother Rose, the only of my Great-grandparents that I knew, who was also outwardly proudly Jewish. I owe it to them and to my children to be proud of who I am, of my history, of my heritage, of my culture.

In memory of all those murdered on October 7th, who have died protecting Israel and the Jewish people, who were murdered by Hamas as hostages, I have one thing to say.

The power of the mezuzah and the connection to Ethiopian Jewry

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

A friend of mine who is a Rabbi came by today to give me some Shmura matzah for Passover.  It’s a special, hand baked type of matzah.  Since I’m gluten-free, I can’t eat it, but we’ll use it on the Seder plate.  While he was here, I had three new mezuzahs that I had just gotten to hang on my 3 back doorframes.  The ones I had were too big, so I needed new ones.  So I asked him to hang them with me.  I’ve hung my other mezuzahs myself but since he is a friend and a Rabbi, I thought this would be a nice thing to do together.

I have the privilege of working with a program called MyZuzah.  The concept is that the mezuzah is a great Jewish symbol, it provides protection to the home, is easy to put up, is a low barrier entry to something Jewish, and is a visual, daily reminder of being Jewish.  MyZuzzah provides free mezuzah cases and kosher, fair trade scrolls, known as klafs, to anybody who doesn’t have a mezuzah on their front door.  It’s a cool program and helps start a Jewish journey.

They also have a great store with cool cases that you can buy.  I have an awesome mezuzah on my front door and a very cool one on my office door.  But I didn’t have one on my doors to the back patio or the backyard.  As we worked together and I looked at the store, I saw that they had ones made by the Ethiopian Israeli community.  Not only were they beautiful, but I have a personal connection to this community.

My childhood friend Grace works for the Ethiopian National Project (ENP). 

With Grace when she and ENP visited Orlando earlier this year

This is a project created by the Israeli government to help Ethiopian Israeli children with their education in order to have better success in life.  The original Ethiopian Israeli’s didn’t speak Hebrew and didn’t have formal education so they couldn’t help their children in school.  This mean the first generation of children struggled to have success.  Their children then had similar struggles, resulting in the creation of the ENP.  Since their creation, the ENP has had incredible success helping this community improve their academic effort, get into better military units, and have success in college.  Their results are extraordinary.  I have had the opportunity to visit the ENP sites on two occasions.  The kids were amazing and inspiring.  It was clear the impact the ENP programs were having on these kids.  One of the adults at the site took us to the roof to teach us Ethiopian dancing.  It’s still one of my favorite Israel memories.  I’ve become friends with Roni Akale, the Director General, who made the walk from Ethiopia to Sudan in 1993 when he was 20 years old.  I love hearing his story as it never gets old.  His success is a model for the Ethiopian Israeli children of today as they see somebody like them who is a huge success.

With Roni, the Director General, who made the walk from Ethiopia to Sudan in 1983
Ethiopian Dancing on the roof of the ENP
More Ethiopian dancing on the roof of ENP. It was so much fun

This isn’t my only connection.  When I was in Seattle, I had the privilege of meeting Sid Weiner.  Sid was an amazing man who in the early 1980s began working to ‘Save all Ethiopian Jews” by creating a program by that name, also known as SAEJ.  SAEJ rescued Ethiopian Jews in many ways.  Two of my favorite stories that Sid told me about how they did it were as follows.

Sid Weiner at his birthday party
Sid telling us stories about his life at his birthday party

First, they met with Secretary of State George Shultz.  They advocated to issue visas for the Ethiopian Jews to come to the United States.  After much conversation, Secretary Shultz agreed to allow them make fake visas so that the Ethiopian Jews could escape Ethiopia and come to the US under the condition that they only stay 24 hours in the US before flying to Israel.  So that’s what Sid and his team did.  They made fake visas, flew Ethiopian Jews to New York using them, put them up in a hotel for the night, and put them back on a plane to Israel the next day.  It’s truly an amazing story of ingenuity and daring. 

The second story was about how they would create fake adoptions so the new adopted children could come to the US to live with their new parents and family.  These adopted children would arrive in New York and promptly board a plane to Israel where they would make Aliyah and become citizens.  Sid didn’t know how many children he ‘adopted’ this way.  He said that one time in Israel, he was with a group of Ethiopian Israelis eating dinner when he realized that at his table were four of the children he had ‘adopted’!  He hadn’t seen them since they were in New York years earlier. 

Needless to say, the Ethiopian Israeli community has personal meaning to me.  So the opportunity to buy the three mezuzah cases and kosher, fair trade klafs that I needed for my doors AND have them be made by the Ethiopian-Israeli community AND be beautiful Ethiopian art was something I couldn’t pass up.  So I bought them and today they were hung.  Every time I look at those doors, I have a smile on my face.  Not only have these mezuzahs made the door frames more beautiful, I did a mitzvah in putting them up, they offer protection to the home, and they are a tie to the Ethiopian-Israeli community.  What a win for me!

The 3 mezuzahs I bought that were designed by Ethiopian Israelis

That’s the thing about Israel – there is incredible diversity and amazing different cultures to explore.  In Tzfat I always get food from the Yemenite place.  It’s delicious and they even have a gluten free option now.  I’ve been getting food from the same place and from the same Yemenite Israeli man since my first trip in 1989.  I love getting Hummus from Abu Ghosh, an Arab town, 10 kilometers west of Jerusalem.  While others may disagree, I think the hummus from Abu Ghosh is the best in the world.  I’ve spent time with the Druze and had lunch with them.  It’s fun learning about their culture, sharing a Druze meal, and talking.  There is nothing like visiting Haifa and the Bha’i Gardens.  Learning about the Bha’i religion and the Bab is interesting.  The only way to tour the entire gardens is with a member of the Bha’I faith who gives you the tour.  It’s truly spectacular and never gets old.

The Baha’i Gardens during the day – it’s beautiful to see and walk through
The Baha’i Gardens at night – it’s simply spectacular

So how does this all tie back to the mezuzah and hanging it with my friend Amram today?  When we purchased our house, the first thing I wanted to do was hang a mezuzah on the front door to mark it as ours.  When I created my home office, the first thing I wanted to do was put up a mezuzah to mark the special change in the room.  A mezuzah marks your home as a Jewish home.  In these times it may be scary to clearly mark your home as Jewish, but as we approach Passover, lets remember that marking our homes as Jewish is what saved the Jewish first born from the angel of death when they ‘passed over’ the homes that had the marking on it.  It’s a symbol of pride and of commitment.  When I was in Havana a number of years ago, we visited the Hotel Raquel in Old Havana.  This Jewish inspired hotel not only had Jewish art throughout and matzo ball soup on the menu in the restaurant, it had a mezuzah on each hotel room door.  As we toured the hotel, it was the mezuzah on each door that struck me the most. 

Each room at the Hotel Raquel has a Jewish biblical name and a mezuzah on the door

In these crazy times when antisemitism is rising and all around us, Israel is fighting the evil of Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran attacked Israel with drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles, and we see hate all around us, the simple act of putting up a mezuzah is a simple, yet powerful statement.   Every time I see the mezuzah on my front door, on my office door, and now on my back doors, it puts a smile on my face.  It’s a reminder of what being Jewish means.  It’s a reminder that I am part of a mishpacha, a family, that goes back thousands of years and is worldwide.  Jewish homes all over the world and for centuries have had a mezuzah on their front door.  It is truly l’dor v’dor, generation to generation, strength to strength, that we are here, we aren’t going anywhere, and we will not only survive, but we will thrive.

So if you don’t have a mezuzah on your door and want one, there is now no excuse.  MyZuzah will send you one for free and show you how to hang it.  You can easily mark your home as a Jewish home and tie it with generations of Jewish homes along with Jewish homes all over the world.  Each time you walk past it, you will be reminded of being part of the Jewish people.  It’s a pretty amazing little thing that can change your life.  Hanging those three mezuzahs today brought me great joy.  I hope you choose to hang one and that it brings you great joy too.