I am writing as a proud Jewish American whose father fought under Patton in the Battle of the Bulge.  I wanted to share what I have been thinking and feeling since October 7.

I was born in Chicago and grew up in nearby Skokie.  During my growing up years of the ’50s and ’60s, Skokie was known for its large Jewish population.  Following World War II, there were some 7,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors that called Skokie home.  Put another way, when I grew up, there were a lot of people walking around in Skokie with tattoo numbers on their forearms and scars in their hearts.

There comes a time in a Jewish life when a Jewish person first feels his Jewish connectedness — a special bond to fellow Jews and the land of Israel.  This feeling of connectedness is not necessarily a religious phenomenon, because it happens to secular Jews, too.  (Sometimes it never happens!)  I know exactly when it happened to me.  It happened back in 1967, when I was 15.

On June 5, 1967, tiny Israel was forced to fight on multiple fronts against Arab aggressors that were intent on “throwing Jews into the sea.”  On June 10, it was all over.  It was called the Six-Day War, and it was a rout.  With the rout came exhilaration and relief within my Jewish Skokie community.  No more Jewish Holocausts!  Thank God there is an Israel!  So much for the myth that Jews can’t fight!  It was at this time that I first felt my Jewish connectedness.

My parents must have been feeling the connectedness, too, because they made sure to save the Chicago Daily News (June 20, 1967) “News Bonus” edition.  I still have the front page of that newspaper, frayed at the edges and terribly faded, but now tucked away safely under glass.

I am not always feeling my Jewish connectedness.  Sometimes I even forget about it.  But then something horrific happens, like October 7.  There is nothing like the mass murder of 1,400 Israelis and the abduction of hundreds of hostages to bring back my Jewish connectedness feeling.  Worldwide protests against Israel and chants of “from the river to the sea” and “gas the Jews” help me remember who I am, too.

There are 8 billion people in the world today, and 2 billion of them are Muslim.  Today, there are only 15 million Jews on this Earth, and 7 million (almost half) of them live in Israel.  There are dozens of Muslim countries but only one Jewish country, and it is the size of New Jersey.  When the Six-Day War broke out in 1967, and the nations of Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Syria went to war with Israel, Jordan controlled the West Bank, and Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip.  Funny — back then, there was no Palestinian problem — only a Jewish problem.

I am writing about good versus evil.  Why is it that Hamas and Iran vocally share the same game plan as Hitler?  Think about it.

So fight on, tiny Israel.  With your own strength and fortitude, and with the help of those who support you (both Jew and non-Jew alike), and with God’s blessings, may you know peace through victory.