Megillah, November - December 2002

Editorial

The term "Righteous Gentile" brings to mind the days of World War II, when non-Jews risked their lives to save the lives of Jews. These Gentiles daily risked losing everything: property, loved ones, even their own lives. They got no tangible reward for what they were doing; only the inner peace that comes from knowing that what you are doing is the right thing, even if it is not the "in" thing to do at the time.

Today, in the midst of all we hear and see that is going on in Israel at this time, when all over the world, opinion is divided as to who is at fault in the killings that occur daily in the land of Israel and the Arab states – we have, right here in Bowie, a Righteous Gentile. A non-Jewish friend of ours who lives in Bowie told Herb the following. When he (I am not using his name) first heard about what was going on in Israel, he tended to side with the Arabs. After all, he felt, they were being kicked out of their "homeland". The Israeli soldiers were patrolling streets. Curfews were imposed. Buildings were being leveled. Sympathy was indeed felt for the poor Arabs.

Then, as things progressed, a different version of the events taking place in that troubled part of the world began to emerge. Arab suicide bombers killing tends and twenties and fifties of innocent Israeli people, including children and foreign tourists. Arabs were seen celebrating and cheering at the sight of people dying or being maimed for no fault of their own. The people who were dying were not military targets, as was the case of the Arabs who were being attacked by the Israeli army.

The more our friend saw and heard, the more he sided with the Israelis. He reached the point where he was very sympathetic to to the Israelis and felt that what was going on was very wrong. He is the type of person who takes action on his feelings. The outcome? If you drive down his street here in Bowie, you will see a house flying both the American and Israeli flags! He feels that this is how he, a Gentile, shows the world how he feels and where he stands on the issue. Could we do less? So, if you drive down my street here in Bowie, you will see another house flying both the American and Israeli flags – ours! I understand that there are other families here in Bowie flying both flags. I applaud them.

Care to join us?

~Bernice Cohen