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February 13, 2004/Shevat 21 5764, Vol. 56, No. 21
Visit to another IsraelGARY WEXLERIt's time we stop kidding ourselves that Israel has survived well through the last three years. The country is unraveling at the seams.My wife and three kids wanted to be in Israel for the winter break. From the moment we arrived at the hotel in Jerusalem on our first night, I noticed how things had changed even since my last business trip in June. At the hotel, we were slammed in the face with lobby pandemonium, tension and the understandable hypersecurity precautions. As our days went forward in Jerusalem, we felt as if the hotel pandemonium was a microcosm for what was happening all over the city. Jerusalem appeared as a city overrun by religious fundamentalists, squeezing out a creative, secular population. Jaffa Road now resembled a third-world capital. Today, Jerusalem has the distinction of being the poorest city in Israel. Between terrorism, the economy and the increasing Haredi population living on welfare, this does not bode well for the future of the city or Israel. Neither does the building of a wall through the country. It is creating a national nightmare. The reality is that while the world celebrated the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the opening of borders everywhere, the Jews are walling themselves in. Whether it works or not, its existence is depressing. It has meaning and psychological gravity for us as a people, as well as for the entire Zionist effort. To see it doesn't make one feel secure, only sad. It points to the reality of why it has to be done. It is not a proud Jewish moment of ingenuity. As we traveled through the country, our friends expressed frustration, anger, resignation and a continual fear of slipping into unemployment. Conversations with their adult children all revolved around the possibilities of their leaving. There were daily stories in the Israeli press about hungry and impoverished families, the increase in family violence and the levels of corruption in government and business. A friend of mine who lost a soldier son to a Hamas terrorist kidnapping invited me to meet with him and 10 other parents who have lost children to terrorism. I left the meeting completely drained and depressed. We shopped in Israel, spending money to help in whatever small ways we could. But I cannot kid myself. In comparison to the enormity of the problems, our actions are nearly insignificant. We Jews have the creativity to find solutions to the world's biggest challenges. Yet when it comes to this situation, the leaders have only displayed the thinking of a nation of victims. We are the people who, after thousands of years, had an idea to recreate our country. Where is Jewish creativity and all our ideas when we need them so badly now? Gary Wexler is the owner of the Los Angeles-based Passion Marketing for Issues and Causes. |
