VV1

Bring Them Home
By: Liz Breier / This & That
My first Vegas Voice article appeared in the
August 2020 issue. I recently looked back
on the topics I have discussed over the past 3
plus years and considering the last few months, I
realize how fortunate we were.
In retrospect it all seems so unimportant.
Little did I know how my (our) world would
change in the literal blink of an eye.
Just like going from the innocence of
childhood to the responsibilities of adulthood,
I woke up on October 7 and realized that the
world had changed. Maybe not changed,
but revealed itself to me in a way that was
so unexpected, and sadly, not a world that I
thought I lived in.
I am not so naïve that I was unaware of the
hatred, jealousy, racism, antisemitism and
Islamophobia and all the other crazy hatreds
people dream up to blame someone else or
some other group for their own misfortunes.
However, I was not aware that beheadings and
rapes and burning of children would receive
applause from the allegedly sane and educated of the world.
Who would contemplate that society could deteriorate to such depths
of depravity? If someone told you a few months ago that people would
applaud barbarism, could you believe it? Would you think such a thing
was even possible? Condoning and celebrating the atrocities seems
almost as ugly as the actual acts of brutality.
I must temper my relief at the release of some hostages as they are
returned in the most agonizingly slow trickle. Of course, I am thrilled
that they are reunited with their families but
am frightened for their future.
Is it even possible to live a normal life again?
How carefree can those children ever be? What
will haunt them in their dreams? Will they even
recover physically from the torments?
If you have ever been unfortunate to suffer a
trauma, you know that you never fully recover.
What those hostages have endured is far
worse than most experiences any of us can
imagine. The long-term effects of the Hamas
attack reduce me to tears for Israel as it will live
on in the hearts and minds of the victims, their
loved ones, and the entire country.
Jews everywhere are now living in an
alternate universe. We must now suffer the
daily torrent of hatred spewed at rallies calling
for genocide.
Hamas proudly broadcast their rape and
murders and yet there are deniers. Municipal leaders are denying
Jewish religious symbols and lighting of menorahs to avoid showing
“favoritism.”
Ivy League university presidents are claiming that a rally calling for the
mass murder of Jews is not hate speech (unless or until action is actually
taken because it depends on the “context”). One such individual, Sally
Kornbluth, is herself a Jew – I am embarrassed and ashamed of her.
Perhaps, keeping the Saudi funds coming into the University coffers
is more important than standing up for what is right by condemning
individuals (students and professors) who are bullying and intimidating
Jewish students. I cannot comprehend how individuals with so much
education can be so ignorant.
I fear that the worst is yet to come. While we remain hopeful for the
freedom of all the hostages, I can foresee that Hamas will never want
to release the women to attest to the brutality they suffered or any of the
remaining hostages because they are a security blanket for Hamas.
I pray I am wrong – I would never be so grateful to be mistaken.
Peace is not likely to come to Israel any time soon. Hamas has declared
that they would gladly attack again as they did on October 7 and that they
would do it repeatedly.
Jews outside of Israel go about our days with friends and family and
all the mundane errands we must perform to survive, but never, ever is
the thought of our brothers and sisters far from our thoughts. They are
always in our hearts as we pray to Bring Them Home.
34
January 2024
Liz Breier is an ex-New Yorker who retired to Florida for 24 years
before deciding that Nevada means home to her. You can contact
Liz at: bluesky090372@gmail.com.