My little son is almost 3 years old and requested a Batman costume for his birthday, but I can’t do it. For me, “Batman” is now forever associated with little Ariel Vivas, who loved Batman. Because he wanted to save people from the dark tunnel. And now it is he, along with his mother Ciri, father Yarden, and Batman, who need to be rescued from the dark tunnel. My brother Kfir.
It was on October 7th, the day Hamas carried out brutal acts of murder, rape, and hostage, that I held my two red-haired sons tightly as they were brutally kidnapped by Hamas in Gaza. coupled with the look of pure terror on Siri Vivas’s face. I’m taking it. I don’t know if the Vivas family is alive, but I continue to pray every night that they are and that they will be saved because of the horror of the alternative.
That soul-crushing image reminded me of the worst days of the Holocaust. I had sleepless nights imagining mothers holding their children while being shot or executed in gas chambers. It reminds me of my own grandparents. They experienced concentration camps and survived the Holocaust, but their parents and siblings were murdered. I often wonder if they were holding their children in their arms in their final moments.
My daughter is 8 years old and until October 7th I was trying to protect her from the worst things in this world. I wanted her to live in a world where evil people don’t exist and children are safe. I carefully selected movies and books for her to read and watch, with only happy endings. After seeing the posters with the faces of many Israelis kidnapped and killed in our neighborhood since October 7, I can no longer protect her. Some of her friends were too scared to sleep in bed.
She remembers when anti-Israel protesters came to Caulfield. One Sabbath night, I heard the voice coming from the house, and we were all sleeping in the same room with golf clubs under our beds. At the same time, this confusion makes her interested in understanding what it means to be Jewish and asks many questions in search of answers.
I told her that although Jews have been persecuted for thousands of years, we are a proud people, passing down the chain of faith and tradition from generation to generation.
I told her about the Holocaust and how Jews, including my family, were killed. I showed her their faces and told her it was important to never forget them.
I told her that Israel is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people, that many Jews have returned to this land in search of freedom, and that we pray for peace between Israel and its neighbors. I told you.
But still, I remain silent about why there are more armed guards at her Jewish school, and I don’t look too upset when she talks about training to hide from bad guys at school. I am trying to do so. “Jews” was graffitied on a Jewish school, and protesters chanted “Fuck the Jews” and “Where are the Jews?” at the Sydney Opera House on October 9th. has not been touched. The extent of exposure is a question that each family grapples with depending on the age of the child.
“Why do some people hate Jews?” she asks. I don’t have a good answer because the reasons for such hatred are irrational and change over the years. Yes, Jews have pioneered the arts and sciences and have contributed much to the world, including the moral code of the Torah, but we don’t have to prove our worth or humanity. .
When I put my children to bed at night, I notice that the lullaby has changed and I am now singing the words of Rabbi Nachman.
“Kol ha’olam kulo Gesher tzar me’od Veha’ikar lo lifached k’lal. The whole world is a very narrow bridge and the important thing to remember is to not be afraid at all.”
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