Friday, August 2nd, 2024

There’s a story I remember about the optimist and the pessimist: 
A pessimistic child is put into a room piled high, floor to ceiling, with toys, every toy imaginable, but he remains unhappy. When asked why he’s so sad, his response is, “What’s the point? All these toys are just going to break one day anyway.” An optimistic child is put in a room piled high, floor to ceiling, with horse manure. He gets excited and starts — with his bare hands — digging at a furious pace, with a huge smile on his face. When asked what he’s doing, he replies excitedly, “Are you kidding?! With all this manure, there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!”

We all know the importance of optimism. Living in Toronto’s Jewish community right now, though, it is more and more challenging to keep a positive outlook. New acts of anti-Semitism are seen daily. Synagogues vandalized, a Jewish school bus set on fire, a leading Jewish organization having its charitable status revoked by CRA. Some politicians speak out in support, others do not. Their actions, or lack thereof, speak more loudly than any of their words, and this seems to further empower the enemies who live with us here in Toronto.

On the global scene, every time something good happens for Israel, our enemies raise their game and it becomes ever more dangerous and frightening for the Jewish people. The confusion, too, is overwhelming. Although there are those who believe that the only safe place for Jews is Israel, there are many others who fear for Israel’s survival. 

Do you know why I do not fear for Israel’s survival? Firstly, it’s for the same reason that Israel won its War of Independence. We had no choice. We had to win. We were not going to be taken back to the gas chambers. Period. The second reason that I have every confidence in Israel’s durability is partly based on a joke which I learned as a child, shortly after the Six Day War: 

A man dies and is taken to see both Heaven and Hell. His escort first takes him up to Heaven, where they see a very nice place, with happy people relaxing in a nice neighbourhood. The man and his escort then take the elevator down to Hell, where they see beautiful gardens, rolling hills, waterfalls, shady trees, fire contained in friendly fire pits over which people are roasting marshmallows. In short, they see Paradise. The man asks his escort, “What is this? I thought it was supposed to be Hell!” The escort says, “Yes, it’s Hell. It’s amazing what those Israelis can do!”

Putting aside my childhood reaction that I didn’t like the idea of Israelis in Hell, the point of the joke is that the the people of Israel can do ANYTHING. And you know what? We see proof of this every day. One of the torch-carriers for this year’s Olympics was Kevin Piette, a French paraplegic athlete. His legs are completely paralyzed. Kevin managed to move his legs to walk the distance carrying the torch by wearing a black exoskeleton robotic device that was INVENTED IN ISRAEL. Yes, the Israelis can do anything indeed. My fears are reserved for the hostages and for the soldiers who are protecting our homeland. May G-d bless and protect them and return them safely to their families. May the fighting end and may we see peace for our People. But for Eretz Yisrael to survive?! If the optimistic child can envision a pony in a room of manure, we can all find it in ourselves to remain positive as well, both individually and united as One People..

Am Yisrael Chai!