Am Yisrael Chai
I have been filled with anger, sadness, numbness, devastation, confusion, frustration, and loss. It feels unbearable at times. On Saturday when the horrors were just beginning, I was texting with a Jewish friend and trying to express my emotions, and she responded with, “it feels like our family is dying. It is undescribable.”
Hamas, the terrorist organization in Gaza, has massacred and murdered 1,200 innocent Israelis including women, children, and elderly. Since this past Saturday, Hamas has taken 150 hostages and 4,500 rockets were fired from Gaza. More Jews were murdered on October 7th, 2023 than any other single day since the Holocaust. During the last couple of days, I have been thinking a lot about what Am Yisrael Chai means. In English, it translates to “the people of Israel live.” What does that really mean though? There is so much death, yet the people of Israel live? The Jewish people have been resilient over the course of our history. Even though the Holocaust happened, as a people, we live. Even though 850,000 Jews living in Arab countries were brutally kicked out of their homes, the people of Israel live. Even though the first and second intifada happened, the Jewish people live. Even though Hamas seeks to murder all Jews and the Jewish state… the Jewish state, the Jewish people live. Even when many of our loved ones have been murdered, raped, and our babies have been beheaded, the Jewish people as a whole lives. Am Yisrael Chai.
My name is Rebekah Mann, and I serve as the Director of Campus Programming for Students Supporting Israel. We have been working tirelessly to host pro-Israel rallies across North America. Within 48 hours, over 10,000 students have attended pro-Israel rallies, and SSI presidents on campuses across North America have been the leader in this. We are Pro-Israel, we are grassroots, we are SSI.
At the rallies, we have been singing the Hatikvah, honoring the memories of those we have lost, and finishing off with singing Am Yisrael Chai. Through the intensity of mobilizing students across the country, I have been thinking more about the chant, Am Yisrael Chai. We are singing with our Israeli flags, when we could be mourning, and figuring out how to get through the days, which is a very understandable response to such horrific, inhumane terrorist attacks against our people. But no, we are also singing Am Yisrael Chai.
Celebrating Jewish life, birthdays, bar/bat mitzvahs, and holidays, is Am Yisrael Chai.
When Hamas is brutally murdering my people, Am Yisrael Chai.
When our brothers and sisters are on the front lines fighting for the existence of the only Jewish state, Am Yisrael Chai.
When we feel alone speaking up our people, Am Yisrael Chai.
When we see videos of reservists getting called back to duty and saying goodbye to their family members before going to war, Am Yisrael Chai.
When Hamas supporters on college campuses shout “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” Am Yisrael Chai.
When one thousand protestors in Sydney, Austrailia chanted, “gas the Jews,” Am Yisrael Chai.
When we host pro-Israel rallies, Am Yisrael Chai.
When we destroy Hamas, Am Yisrael Chai.
The Jewish people are not going anywhere, the Jewish state is not going anywhere. We are here to stay, and we will fight and we will win, Am Yisrael Chai.
