Editors-in-Chief Note: These two personal narratives (this article is accompanied by a companion piece written from a Palestinian perspective) reflect intergenerational trauma, identity, and resilience shaped by histories of displacement and violence. One writer shares a story of Jewish heritage and mourning, while the other reflects on Palestinian uprootedness and the struggle to preserve memory across generations. Together, they represent deeply personal perspectives rooted in vastly different lived experiences.
History is littered with examples of Jewish resilience in the face of adversity. Through the burning of the First and Second Temples, exile from just about every nation in Europe, and countless pogroms and massacres, the Jewish people have been forced to flee or face death time and time again. My great-great grandparents lived this reality. Like many Jews at the time, an uprising of violent pogroms in Eastern Europe prompted them to flee their homes in what’s known as the Second Aliyah. Many Eastern European Jews migrated to parts of Ottoman Syria (modern day Israel) in the Second Aliyah, reflecting the 2000 year hope of the Jewish people, “To be a free people in our land, The land of Zion and Jerusalem” (translated from the Hatikva, Israel’s National Anthem). Others left for parts of South America and the United States.
After surviving the Bialystock pogrom in 1906, my family left a predominantly Jewish city, Bialystock, Poland (then part of the Russian Empire), and moved to America. They arrived settling in New Jersey, where my great grandfather would be raised. He served as a member of the U.S. Army in World War II, fighting against the terror and anti-semitism that Jews have become so accustomed to today. He went on to move to the Bronx, where he would raise my grandfather.
Growing up, my grandfather was the largest Jewish influence in my life. Throughout his life, he embodied the Jewish value of Pikuach Nefesh (saving a life). He studied at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he got his M.D., and went on to become a General and Vascular Surgeon. He taught me the value of human life, and for many years was my closest connection to the Jewish community. Passing on October 5, 2023, he had no idea of the horrors that would shake our world just two days later. If he was here with us today, I know his wisdom would have been invaluable during these trying times.
On October 7, 2023, people around the world were alarmed to learn about the terrorist insurgency in Southern Israel. According to a report conducted by Human Rights Watch, “…armed groups carried out numerous coordinated attacks including on civilian residential communities and social events and on Israeli military bases in the area of southern Israel bordering the Gaza Strip…. fighters fired directly at civilians, often at close range, as they tried to flee, and at people driving through the area. The attackers hurled grenades, shot into shelters, and fired rocket-propelled grenades at homes. They set houses on fire, burning and choking people, and forcing out others whom they shot or captured. They took dozens hostage and summarily killed others” (hrw.org). One year after these horrific attacks, the US Secretary of Defense shared that the terrorists “murdered some 1,200 civilians, including more than 40 American citizens, and took 251 more innocent people hostage, including 12 Americans.” He called it, “…the bloodiest day in Jewish history since the end of the Holocaust” (defense.gov).
I didn’t fully understand the gravity of what happened that day until I saw it with my own eyes. Available on YouTube under the title, “Massacre Across Israel From the Eyes of Hamas,” is raw footage captured by Israeli surveillance cameras and terrorist’s GoPro’s. While the footage is graphic, it really is the only way to understand the weight and intentionality of the October 7 attacks.
Three days later, I joined thousands of San Diego’s Jewish community members at a vigil held for the victims of the October 7 attacks. Listening to a speech delivered by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, I learned of the murder of Ofir Liebstein, the chairman of the regional council of San Diego’s sister city in Israel, Sha’ar HaNegev. Liebstein was one of San Diego’s closest connections to Israel, having visited in 2021, and hosted Mayor Todd Gloria in 2023. His death shook members of the community who had the honor of knowing him personally, and emphasized the connection that Jewish people in San Diego have with Israel.
Living as an Jewish American in today’s society can be scary, but hard times have brought us closer together as a community. The days following the terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023 might very well be the darkest days the Jewish people will experience in my lifetime. However, it was during these days that I have felt more connected with my people and my heritage than ever before. Since the events of that fateful day, no Shabbat was complete without a prayer for the hostages held in captivity in Gaza, and no Jewish gathering went on without our voices joining together for the Hatikva. It was there, standing, arms linked with my peers, singing a melody of hope, where I understood how my ancestors had overcome millennia of dehumanization and ostracism.