As a child living in Texas, I always knew that being born Jewish (from my mother’s side) came with an element of danger.
I recognized it in Bible stories such as when the Pharaoh threw all Hebrew male babies in the Nile River and when Queen Esther pleaded to reverse a decree to annihilate all Jews. It was clear that those incidents were not just a one-off in the history of Jewish persecution since it continues with the Holocaust and the Israeli War of Independence to the current war of October 7th.
When observing myself, I would ask: “What have I done to be hated so much?”
As a blue-eyed Jewish girl living among Israel-loving Texan Christians, I couldn’t see why anyone would have a reason not to get along with my family. When we arrived in Israel, the awakening was rude and disillusioning, and times were tense during the 2nd Intifada. I still remember holding my breath on the public bus, not knowing if a suicide bomber would end my life, and being saddened over the protective wall,...
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