Spreading Light
No 19 year old leaves home in the morning thinking that by nighttime their picture will be spread throughout social media as a victim of terror, but that is what happened last Thursday in Israel. Her name was Ori Ansbacher. Her mother asked people to spread light in order to honor Ori whose name means my light.
As a great man once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can.do that”, so I went in search of light. I found that the youth in Tekoa, the town Ori was from, had a beautiful idea in response to her murder.The youth of Tekoa, asked us to walk the nature reserves and trails of this beautiful country. They started a hashtag #AFreeNationInOurLand. It is a line from Israel’s national anthem- “to be a free people (nation)in our land”. Why is this simple request so filled with light?
As Jews living in Israel we are not allowed to just be. At every turn we are expected to justify our right to exist as if the fact that we exist is somehow a favor bestowed upon us, unlike any other country on the planet. This simple act of being in our land is the right response to those who try to dangle us over the pit of oblivion where one wrong move, and in this game there is no right move, and we are gone. Our history was stolen from us by those who conquered the land and exiled us. Although they left some of us behind so our land was never void of Jews. Each time we walk the trails we not only remember our history but we reclaim it and create a new history.
The simple act of walking in nature connects us to one another and connects us to the earth beneath our feet. The more connected we become the less fear we experience. It’s almost like an act of national security because the more we feel secure, the less fear mongers in and outside of Israel, can affect us. That alone is bright light.
When we don’t respond to violence with violence that creates space where light shines through.The young people of Tekoa, because this is their response, are the light of our future. We may not be able to control the dark, but we can always make the conscious choice to spread light.
