I am blessed to be a simple person- not political- just what we know as a small person who is blessed to be involved with our integral right to protect our Torah, our Land and people. We are blessed to be living where we do in our Land and we who are living in the heartland of Israel- Jerusalem, Hevron- Yesha are especially blessed.
When my beloved husband Ami and I moved up to the community of Bet Horon it was after serious deliberations of which community to make our home in- Hevron, Bet El – the Jordan Valley? We chose Bet Horon which was a very new and young community 34 years ago when we moved up, because of what it symbolizes. It is a community which is religously observant publically, but a mixed community of more and less observant Jews.
Why is this so important to us? Because we believe in the importance of unity, mutual respect and love of one another even though there are differences in how someone believes or observes as a Jew. We are one people and like a mosaic fit together each in his own way to complete the picture .
Tolerance is one of the most important facts of life. Not only tolerance for differences in our own personal families- but tolerances for one another in our Nation and Land.
I have the privilege of working in security and rescue and serving as one of our spokespeople. Yes, I am observant but I cannot even begin to count the times when either at work or in an interview with someone who has not seen me yet I am met with a look of total surprise and usually comments such as, “are you a radical religious settler? You don’t look like one!”
The stereotype of what we are supposed to look and sound like is one of the barriers that we must overcome. Creating mutual respect despite differences is another challenge we must undertake. The symbol of our community is the four species- each different but in order to make the blessing you must have all of them.
The same goes for our lives here in Israel- each of us is different whether in habits dress or any other difference. How much more difficult is it for those who are sitting in our Knesset – each certain that they are right and their way is the best whether for political reasons or actual belief in what they represent.
The bottom line in our Knesset must be first and foremost loyalty to the Jewish State of Israel, to what it represents and yes for protecting the rights of those LOYAL citizens of Israel who are not Jewish. Yes we can be different except on very basic and imperative issues- NO ONE WHO WISHES OR CALLS FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE JEWISH STATE OF ISRAEL SHOULD EVER BE ALLOWED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE KNESSET.
It is right and acceptable to have different opinions and normal. It is not acceptable or normal to allow those who publically attack or oppose the State of Israel – the Jewish State of Israel to be allowed to even have the privilege of having citizenship let alone be elected, and paid to betray and endanger our existance.
As I stated, I am a simple person but not only logic – the necessity of survival demands that yes, we have tolerance but we never endanger our existance by allowing an enemy inside of our legal, political system and giving them the liberty of using this power to endanger us and encourage our enemies to attack us – even verbally. Because words – incitement lead to physical violence as we witness in the horrific terror attacks that we suffer.
Yes to tolerance mutual respect of those who are different whether Jewish or not – but never to allowing enemies to right to endanger us – neither verbally nor physically.