On a recent trip to Europe, a family of three generations (a Holocaust survivor, his daughter and his grandchildren) dance to Gloria Gaynor’s pop song – ‘I Will Survive’ at concentration camps and memorials throughout Europe. This dance is a tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit and a celebration of life. Despite the systematic brutality and cruelty endured, we have still survived.
I usually don’t put up articles or videos that are not directly relevant to Israel. However, many of the survivors from the camps in Europe found a new home in Israel and this video is a demonstration of the will to survive.
Israel will not go away, G-d willing, by any pressure from outside or inside our borders. If we continue to hold fast to our heritage, religious insights and knowledge and if we celebrate our multicultural blessings as Jews from every corner of the globe living in present day Israel we will prevail over every bigot, fool, hater, anti-Semite, Jew and non Jew alike, that either loathes their personal birthright or loathes the very ethical and moral values that we as a people actively share with the world. We Will Survive !
My prayer for Israel:
We celebrate the various ways in which we as Israelis and Jews find that peace within ourselves from any variety of practices that supports Life. We celebrate life by expressing our love of the transcendent and our verbal expression that rolls off our lips in the Shma prayer. But we also forget as we push against the flow of life, often creating disappointment and despair in its wake. However, with one deep breath we have the power to remember once again the preciousness of life in every breath we take. Once again the wholeness of our lives and everything and everyone around us becomes the chorus in this divine instrument we play as Jews and Israelis. This is our destiny and our service to ourselves and the world around us. This includes our openness to the foreigner in our midst and the non Jews living side by side. Together we have the ability to set an example of living together with dignity and respect . Amen
This clip was first edited with the help of Pisithpong Siraphisit who runs Compeung Art Village, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
