Heroes In a Box

After working at an event called "A Night To Honor Israel" at my church, I've decided to focus this project on Israeli/Jewish Heroes. Throughout history there has been numerous heroes, dating all the way back to biblical times. For example, Abraham, chosen by God, also known as Yahweh, to lead the Jews. Also during the biblical times, Moses was chosen by God to lead the Hebrew/Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt. Most commonly known Jewish/Israeli heroes are either related to the Bible/Torah or the Holocaust. To my surprise, there were a large amount of Jewish/Israeli heroes during the late U.S colonization. Many fled Europe due to prosecution, but to their dismay, realized that the U.S bore the same prejudices. No, we didn't preform mass slaughterings or torture, but the Jews weren't treated as equals; they weren't allowed to practice Judaism in a synagogue, serve in the militia, or even practice handicrafts. Despite the anti-Semitic actions associated by purely hate filled words, Jews persevered, and kept on fighting. All of the heroes displayed many characteristics, such as faith, determination, peace, gentleness, and dedication to the extent of martyrdom. The characteristics that were the most important and helpful were faith and determination. In the Jews case these two worked together; their faith in God is what kept them going.

Picture: http://www.shamash.org/holocaust/photos/

I chose this picture, as graphic as it is, to show how much determination they had. This picture shows next to 100 murdered bodies of Jews. The Jewish community knew what happened to Jews in these camps, yet they didn't give up, they didn't throw their life away; they did whatever necessary to stay alive and honor their God.

Picture: http://go.ariel.muni.il/ariel/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=1

"For Zion's Sake" (Above) is a group of 17 teen-aged Jews from Ariel, near Israel. I got the pleasure of working FOH (Front of House) at the NTHI at my church, with all of these people. This group shows that even the Jewish and Israeli youth of today's modern world are dedicated. Just for not being afraid to say what they believe in, and traveling all around the world sharing that, is more than enough to make them heroes.

Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WslLNTYzmzw

This video shows modern day Jews that are still going strong, thanks to their Jewish ancestors perseverance. Although this video does not directly talk about Israeli/Jewish Heroes, it shows that the Jewish faith, along with Israel is a major part of these peoples lives. It also talks about how some of them find it easier to be Jewish when in Israel, rather than the U.S.

© 2006, Lyor Shternberg

CUPPED PALM




Now I will love you against myself, against
fear, which swallows my breath from a cupped palm,
against the world which orders me to destroy my body,
my body's soul, with a host
of other bodies, against
consciousness dancing itself to death.
This whole dance of nothingness, all these inner eyes
spreading fake skies within, traps made of cold blue netting.
Your absence
is your gift. Not because I chose you
as the great absentee
and not because I want you
tender and distant,
but because
at the edge of your absence
the nearness of your body waits,
human, making an actual
place in the world
for me.

This poem shows the remaining inner struggles that goes on in Judaism. This piece of work reminded me to have faith, and to go against my "body's" better judgement, and to trust in what God has told me. Although I am Christian, there is really only one difference between these 2 religions, and that is the Messiah. Some Christians have embraced Replacement Theory, basically condemning Jews, but personally, I don't. So really at the end of times we'll just have to ask the Messiah, "Hey, have you been here before?" That is when we will find out which religion is "right". Jews suffered at the hands of Christians for hundreds of years, especially because of Replacement Theory. So we persecuted them, with the exception of "Righteous Gentiles", but they had faith, allowing Jews to keep determined, and now some are viewed as heroes. Just another example going to show that violence in any form is never good, and will eventually come back to haunt you.

Conclusion

Being a Christian, I never really viewed Judaism as being "equal". After my experience working with "For Zion's Sake", learning about Judaism's past, and researching for this assignment, I have come to the conclusion that Jews and Christians are next to identical. Both of our religions have had, do have, and will have numerous heroes; the majority of them displaying determination through their faith. Through this I have also increased my knowledge of the modern Jewish culture, along with their past. Today's Jewish and Israeli heroes aren't facing deadly persecution daily, most never face it, but this unadulterated hatred still has a presence. Today's modern Jew's struggle more with the disconnection from their homeland, which holds all of their past and a lot of their family, and the same thing many Christians struggle with; faith. Whether you are Christian or Jewish, sometimes you can find it hard to have complete faith in the teachings, not necessarily because you don't believe it, but because you haven't experienced it. In other words, some find it hard to trust everything they have with someone they haven't seen, heard, or touched. The lack of this uncertainty is what made the Israeli and Jewish heroes who they are, they used their faith to drive their determination, and survive unimaginable hatred.