CHAPTER 56

Kibbutz Nof Kinneret

It was about 7:30 p.m. when Yehoshua’s car pulled back onto kibbutz property. Most kibbutz members were already in the dinner hall as Eitan came out of his slumber in the back seat. Yehoshua asked if he and Emma were hungry. They nodded yes, and Yehoshua drove the car nearly to the dining hall’s front door. They entered and grabbed their meal from the buffet station.

Within moments of sitting down, Eitan abruptly pushed his chair back. “I’m sorry, everyone. I need some air.”

Emma stirred for a moment to follow him out, but Yehoshua gently put his hand on top of hers and said softly, “Do you mind if I go speak with him for a moment?” Emma nodded, and Yehoshua headed out after his friend.

He had a feeling Eitan would be sitting alone somewhere. Just a few moments later, he spotted him on a bench adjacent to the kibbutz main office. “Mind if I join you?” he asked softly, trying to assess what was really bothering Eitan.

Eitan nodded, and Yehoshua sat down. “I am sure I am not the first Jew who sat here under these stars and admitted that he was scared,” Eitan said, admitting that it was not just a migraine that was bothering him.

“That’s not the way we look at it, my friend. And it’s not the way your grandfather looked at it either,” Yehoshua responded, eager to share with Eitan a lesson that Israelis knew all too well.

“What do you mean?” Eitan asked, wondering why Yehoshua invoked the name of his grandfather.

“When I was little, every so often after my football practices your grandfather would call me over. He was here so many times that he was familiar to everyone on the kibbutz. And he loved to impart these meaningful lessons to us. It was strange. He spoke more like a parent than a rabbi, but they were some of the best lessons I’ve ever learned. Everyone on the kibbutz felt that way. Anyway, one day he called me over and said, ‘You know, even with all these damn Arabs who want you out of here, you are the luckiest Jews in the world.’ I remember he would say that if they wanted to attack us, they would have to do it on our land, not their own. ‘This is our land, and we can defend it,’ he would say. ‘When I was your age in the States and the anti-Semites came for me, there was nowhere to go. No one to defend us. We had to fight with sticks and pipes, and if people didn’t fear us, they would come for us. Here we have the home field advantage, and no matter how much they hate us, it doesn’t matter. A Jew who lives in his own home, and not someone else’s home, is the luckiest Jew in the world.’”

Yehoshua felt inspired. “After the Shoah, my grandparents knew this as well as anyone, but Eitan, after your grandfather came here for the first time, he knew it as well.

From what I heard, he had a lot of pride. He knew a lot. He knew that it wasn’t easy being Jewish. That we have to deal with things that other people could never comprehend. But Israel, this place, this is what gives all of us a reason to rise up. Because of Israel, we can raise our heads with honor no matter where we are in the world.”

“That’s what I learned about him too.” Eitan smiled.

“I know it’s not easy now. This is a tense time. But we will get through it. And in the meantime, you should take your grandfather’s advice,” Yehoshua said, giving Eitan a playful punch on his shoulder.

“What’s that?”

“You are a Jew in Israel. Raise your head up high!”