Israeli Resilience

The Muslims, in addition to the blood that they are shedding all over the world, have been on a knife wielding murder rampage here in Israel for the last two months. But the Jews in Israel are not cowering. They are defending themselves and carrying on with their lives.

Here are a couple of cases demonstrating that Israeli resiliency. The first case is the one of Leah Bowman. Leah was the tour guide that was attacked by an Arab who smashed a bottle on her head. Undaunted, she returned to the scene of the crime and is continuing to guide tours:

But, of course, I was left with a dilemma: I have been guiding in all areas of Jerusalem for years, feeling safe to go and explore, and loving it! What do I do now? Should I continue to do this? Thinking through everything that had happened, I realized that actually, the area very is safe with all the police and army all throughout the city, and the cameras. And more than that, I decided that I’m not going to let terror keep me away from what I love to do, and all the more so, Jerusalem and guiding throughout Israel. I will continue to learn, explore, and guide in every corner of the city and the country: Gush Etzion, the Dead Sea, Tel Aviv, and in Southern Israel, showing visitors the inspiring history, and about the security situation.

Learning about the history, archaeology, and Biblical sources is very empowering. With all of the problems we are facing in Israel and around the world, I think that the healthiest response is to take the opportunity to strengthen ourselves in our knowledge, commitment to what we believe in, and physically (and yes, I’ve signed up for an awesome program of self-defense classes for women in Jerusalem!)

Just a week after the attack, I was back in the exact same place giving a tour, and was able to say the blessing thanking God for doing a miracle for me in this place, and I can say that on my birthday, my life was renewed for me.

Leah has a blog that can be seen here.

The next case is that of Raz Bibi. Raz Bibi is a border patrol policeman who was stabbed and critically wounded by and Arab terrorist in May. Now Raz is back in uniform:

Roughly a month after the attack he was discharged from hospital and directly went to the Kotel (Western Wall) to pray and offer thanks for his miraculous recovery. Following another few months of heavy rehabilitation he once again showed his heroism by electing to return to active duty in the capital.

"From the moment when I opened my eyes in the hospital I knew I would return to wear the uniform of the Border Police. Today I'm happy that I returned to serve alongside my comrades in arms," Bibi was quoted as saying by the police.

"And who is like Thy people, like Israel..." (2 Samuel 7:23). "But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad...(Exodus 1:12). We are here to stay!