A few years ago our agency was tasked with a project by a Jerusalem-based NGO. Its income had been falling since the early 2000s and fundraisers wanted to establish what would motivate Generation X and Millennials to donate. A challenge made harder as the buoyant “start-up nation” of the mid-2010s became increasingly removed from the “cause” their parents and grandparents had rallied behind throughout the century before.
I met people of all ages and backgrounds, from across the Jewish world and beyond. But one meeting, with a Holocaust survivor, left an indelible mark. “You see, we Jews always have a suitcase packed and ready by the door,” he warned. “But in 1948 we got to put the address tag on it.”
The Jewish homeland has been a constant throughout our history. In exile we yearned to return. Then, as the state was granted independence, a partnership across the diaspora brought those dreams to life. When Jews needed to flee persecution, Israel wasn’t just ready and waiting, it orchestrated their escape. It has been a relationship of existential necessity.
And then, October 7, in an instant, Israel stopped feeling like a safe haven. Worse, it felt like its existence was under threat. Those of us too young to remember 1948, 1967 or 1973 had taken Israel for granted. Even with every lesson from our history, we still took Israel for granted.
