From the Executive Director

By Michal Kohane

Remember when you saw your neighbor’s toddler walking out of the front door, proudly wearing two different colored socks and you smiled, thinking, “What a creative child!” Maybe their son bounced a ball on someone’s car (not yours!) and their daughter listened to some hip-hop\rock\youname- it music and you remembered, fondly, your own childhood adventures and thought how much fun youth is.

Then you turned around and saw your own child aiming for the door with quite an unusual clothing combination. The ball went into someone’s yard with whom you really didn’t want to deal and your teen skipped 6th period— right under your nose! What?! My darling, perfect offspring? In my house?! Before you knew it, you heard yourself utter some incomprehensible comments— most likely those things you heard your parents say to you and you swore you’ll never repeat because you will be understanding and modern.

We’ve all been there in one way or another. We know we can often lose our objectivity, sense of humor, kindness— and toughness— when it comes to those closest to us.

We do it as parents. And we do it as a People. We probably do it most when it comes to Israel.

In many ways, when we talk about Israel, we talk about our one and only child. And this child, by the way, has a huge family, for not only the Jewish people, proud and self-sufficient as we imagine ourselves to be, were involved in this child’s creation. Pause for a moment and check: How many other states came to be following a U.N. resolution? The world voted on the Jews’ homeland— a homeland whose capital is a city holy to three religions. No wonder everybody feels invested. No wonder it’s loaded. Israel is unique. Indeed, Israel appears in the news in a disproportionate amount and level of interest. Indeed, in so many ways, Israel is our child. No wonder we are sensitive when we enter a dialogue about our child. It just means we have to treat it with that much more respect.

And we have to be informed. You don’t want anyone to tell you anything about your kid, least of all if they don’t know what they are talking about. And, don’t get me wrong (and those who know me, can relate): don’t even try to lift a finger against one of my children. I’ll jump to their defense. So it’s important for me to distinguish between “abandoning our child” and finding true solutions, between true and false alarms, for while many things are scary, not each is an emergency, life-threatening situation. Maybe if we know we’re talking about our child whose well-being we all care about often beyond what we dare admit, we can hold the conversation better. After all, we love her even when she walks out in public in crazy colors.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful summer. Keep in touch— join our group on Facebook, check our website for new updates, and don’t forget to send us your pictures from around the world with yours truly, “The Jewish Voice.”