The People in the Arena
How Hamas terrorists turned a country on the brink of a civil war into a united nation.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt, April 23 1910
I am currently writing this essay in a bomb shelter in Tel Aviv, sheltering from the rockets Hamas has indiscriminately sent to civilians across Israel over the last two decades. On October 7th, Israel and the world was shocked by a wave of 2,500 Hamas terrorists who stormed the border fence and killed over 1,400 Israelis. Civilians, women, children, babies. 260 young adults at a peace festival. 40 babies decapitated. Girls raped, tortured, abused. Humans were torched to death. Over 200 Israelis in captivity in Gaza, and infinitely more have been scarred for life. The stories are too difficult to tell and too overwhelming to write.
There are thousands of questions to ask, and very few answers. The world has seen what the despicable Hamas terrorists have done. And yet, many elements of the civilized world have come in defense of Hamas. Student organizations at Harvard published a despicable letter defending Hamas’ actions and blaming them on Israel. Students at NYU wrote one of the most ignorant pieces of writing I've ever seen. Across hundreds of college campuses around the United States, student “activists” are disguising their blatant antisemitism with protests in “defense of the Palestinian people.” It’s nothing new to expect demonstrations like this coming out of, say, Iran or Syria - but in the highest, most prestigious education the free world has to offer? It’s bizarre to me.
We could discuss the geopolitical implications of the awful attack, or Hamas’ two decades of torture for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the changing dynamics of the Middle East, or how Israel should and will respond to these atrocities. But I choose to write about something else. Since the attack, I have seen a completely new Israel.
A month ago, it appeared Israel was on the brink of a civil war. As a result of Prime Minister’s Netanyahu's judicial reform (or overhaul, whatever you want to call it), mass protests have broken out since December 2022. Every Saturday night, for 39 weeks straight, opposers of the judicial reform have stormed the streets in the name of democracy and for the downfall of Netanyahu. The intricacies and underlying themes of the judicial reform are not vital to discuss, but the rhetoric as a result of these protests certainly is.
Walking around Tel Aviv over the past several months you come to understand the extent of the rhetoric. Stickers plastered across street signs read “secular people are not slaves'', clearly opposing the Ultra-Orthodox who refuse to serve in the IDF, or signs showcasing “government of destruction”, a reference to the destruction of the second Temple. Yet, the conservative camp in favor of judicial reform is not innocent either. Anti-secular rhetoric infiltrated many Yeshivot and communities, calling the Saturday night protestors “crazy leftists” and anti-religion. I'm not innocent either in further fueling the hatred and divide in the country.
The final culmination of the past nine months of protests occurred on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and a day well known for its peace and quiet within Israel. Seldom are cars on the road, and the religious and secular alike are in synagogue throughout the course of the day. Yom Kippur 2023 was anything but that. What started as a municipal court decision to ban segregated prayers in public spaces, later led to riots and protests in Tel Aviv during the prayers themselves - some even becoming violent. On one extreme, the liberal camp was seeking to remove religion from the public theater, whereas the extreme conservative camp wished to implement religious laws within Israel. The protests that were originally directed towards democracy, a vital element of Israel and the Jewish people's national character, had led to riots and tears. Never in Israel’s history has the country had such polarization and divide. If you were to ask any Israeli, the country was headed towards a civil war. Scenes like this were unheard of in Israel’s entire history. And then, October 7th happened.
Suddenly, all political ideology dissolved. Protests turned to mourning and arguments to agreement. The IDF, Israel, and the broader Jewish world was shocked by the Hamas terrorists infiltration on the border and proceeding to murder, kidnap, and rape every living thing they see. There is no right or left when hundreds of teenagers at a peace music festival are fleeing for their lives. There is no pro-reform or anti-overhaul when entire communities are hiding in bomb shelters from Palestinian rockets. Demographic concerns and anti-secular sentiment are immediately dropped as hundreds of thousands of reservists are called up to defend their country, leaving their families and loved ones behind.
Suddenly, all anyone cared about was survival. But, not just individual survival. Survival as a unit.
The entire nation seeked to find ways to help. Israeli reservists around the world rushed to come back to Israel while Jewish American families created distribution centers for the soldiers to pick up gear on their return to Israel. Over 100% of reservists answered the call to fight, with many not called showing up regardless. Those of us not in the army called military gear manufacturers around the world to purchase and immediately bring the missing supplies to Israel.
Volunteer centers popped up around the country: assisting with the elderly and Holocaust survivors, tying tzitzit for soldiers who don’t traditionally wear them but wanted another layer of protection, babysitters, all-night Torah learning in the merit of the soldiers, and preparing new homes for the relocated families from the North and South. There was a funeral last week for a lone soldier whose family couldn’t make it into the country - a message was sent into a group chat, and within minutes, 500 people arrived. This is the Jewish people.
Non-kosher restaurants in Tel Aviv suddenly turned their kitchens kosher in order to be able to make meals for soldiers and grieving families. Just last week, my peers and I went to volunteer at one of these establishments. Hundreds of people, from all walks of life, religious, secular, and everything in between were there. Cutting cucumbers, frying schnitzels, making sandwiches, and packing boxes. There was no such thing as ideology in that room. Just Jews, trying to help their country.
Last week, a soldier on the Lebanon border asked me to find a way to bring a package up to her, as she was quickly running out of supplies and clothing. Within 20 minutes, and several combinot, an 18 year old volunteer who I had never met in my life was driving the package three hours north to hand-deliver it to her. There are few countries in the world where that would ever happen.
Even in the Ultra-Orthodox world, where recognition of the State of Israel is questionable and serving in the army is frowned upon, has there been incredible effort. Many of the civilian volunteers cleaning the sites of the massacres, honoring the dead, and preparing funerals are Charedim (ultra-orthodox). Zaka in particular has been an incredible organization assisting grieving families. Further, since the war began, over 2,000 Charedi volunteers have requested to volunteer and join the IDF, a changing tide in what used to be a flammable issue.
In the speech I quoted above, one of Theodore Roosevelt’s finest, he emphasizes how the one actively involved in a situation, despite its difficulties, is the one who counts. “The Man in the Arena”, as it came to be called, is one of the most recognizable phrases in history, showcasing the credit the individual deserves for stepping up to the plate. Over the past two weeks, I have seen the People in the Arena. Not since the 1973 Yom Kippur War have the Jewish people been united this way. Each individual within the nation, regardless of political ideology, belief, or upbringing has contributed in their unique way. A nation in mourning has turned their sorrows into action.
Instead of the polarizing stickers plastered across Tel Aviv, new billboards are up advocating for unity. “Stronger together” reads one in the main site of the democracy protests several weeks prior. “There is no right or left” is written across bus stops. “Baseless love,” a Hebrew play on words on the baseless hatred leading to the destruction of the Second Temple, is put up across businesses in the city.
However, this isn’t a new idea. Throughout Jewish history, whenever the people were most antagonistic against each other, calamities fell. The destruction of the second Temple famously occurred because of baseless hatred. The story of Purim occurred because of the disunity amongst the Jews in Persia. Even after the Holocaust, the worst calamity to befall the Jewish people where six million perished, the Jewish people continued to be inimical against each other.
Yet, it is in historical times of Jewish unity we were at our strongest. See the story of the Roman Jewish Ghetto, promulgated by Pope Paul IV in 1555. The idea was by containing the Jews within a certain radius there would be an internal uprising and eventual mass conversion to Christianity. However, as time passed, the Jewish community within the Ghetto only grew, and restrictions were dismantled in 1888 when the Ghetto walls were torn down. The Roman Jewish community today is alive and thriving. The theme here is evident - the strength is in numbers, especially when sticking together. Why is it that only during times of distress we join together? Will this unity last? I can’t say for sure. I don’t doubt there will be infinite committees and inquiries to understand how the barbaric attacks occurred. I only hope the images of Yom Kippur and Kibbutz Be’eri remain in our hearts as the situation unfolds. The internal threat is the most dangerous of them all.
Throughout history, our enemies have risen to attack us countless times. So much so, there is even a modern antisemetic slur on the amount of countries Jews have been expelled from. Yet, after two thousand years of exile the Jews are still here. The Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Crusades, and Nazis all tried, yet all failed. And now Hamas - I have the utmost confidence they will fail as well.
Because us Jews won’t die from genocide. We’ll only die by suicide.
Am Israel Chai.