Sunday, December 28, 2008

“Operation Cast Lead”

This past Friday, just 24 hours before the launching of “Operation Cast Lead”, (in Hebrew cast lead is part of a Hanukah song about a lead dreidel) Ben Caspit of Ma’ariv wrote a piece, that in my humble opinion, says it all. I am quoting part of that article to you, because its story is an inspiration to us all in these very challenging times. It begins:

“Blue eyes- pale as can be, gray hair, a fine face, blue number tattooed on her arm. Her name is Ita.”

Ita is about 80 years old. Yesterday she stood in the remains of what was left of her granddaughter’s home in Moshav Tekuma on the Gaza Strip. She has seen worse. Much worse. She saw Joseph Mengele standing in front of her during “selection”. He sentenced the frightened, scrawny, young girl to death. But Ita did not want to die. She ran away, and managed to escape Mengele’s sentence by climbing over barbed wire. Ita was imprisoned in both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. By virtue of an unbelievable combination of wonders and miracles (usually identified with Hanuka) she survived.

She then was able to make her way to Israel. Upon her arrival, Ita was captured by the British and sent to a detention camp in Cyprus. She eventually arrived in Israel once more. Soon after, Ita met Tzvi, who had a similar story. The two fell in love, formed a family and realized their Zionist dream. In their struggle to rise up from under the ashes, they formed a moshav in the western Negev called “Tekuma” which means: resurrection, revival; resistance, toughness, survivability. There they were joined by other holocaust survivors and together they built this beautiful moshav.

The State of Israel was established one year later. Tekuma, located two minutes from Netivot in the land of the Kassams, has been a target for the past seven years. This has not frightened Ita and Tzvi away, who have raised their children, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren in this moshav.

The day after a long range missile landed in her family’s home, Ita participated in a ceremony in which her grandson was awarded his official Israeli Air Force Fighter Pilot Wings. Under other circumstances, this could have been a victory for Ita, who said: “what a pity that there was no Israel Air Force in Europe years ago, that could have come and bombed the concentration camps. How important they are today.”

Yesterday, Ita lit her Hanukah candles surrounded by her children and grandchildren. She knew, that after seven years of a living hell, the government of Israel was now actively involved in assuring their safety, with decisive steps to eliminate the constant shower of rockets which had besieged them.

No country in the world would have allowed this situation to go on for seven years. The State of Israel, with its history and compassion, sought to exhaust every other possibility before sending Ita’s grandson, and his fellow pilots on their mission, to protect his grandparents and the people of Israel.


"ה' עז לעמו ייתן ה' יברך את עמו בשלום "
"May God give strength to his people May God bless his people with peace".


This was sent to me by Yossi Tanuri, Director General United Israel Appeal of Canada