Jerusalem — I wrote in the July 6 Chronicle that I have rarely felt scared since beginning my year in Israel. Last week’s bombing in the center of Jerusalem challenged that confidence.
Sbarro, the pizza parlor where the bomb exploded on Aug. 9, is a seven-minute walk from the Hebrew Union College campus. I frequently shop and eat in the surrounding area.
I had even planned to walk by it that morning on the way to a travel agency, but household tasks delayed me. A close friend was across the street from Sbarro that morning purchasing a cell phone and was having lunch a few blocks away when he heard the explosion.
On the positive side, no fellow rabbinical students or friends were hurt. Within 20 minutes of the explosion, almost every student had contacted the dean.
The following day we convened a discussion group and participated in a security briefing. One of our professors wisely described the situation as “filled with ambiguity.”
Not only was our professor describing the political situation in Israel. She was also reflecting on our condition as students on a year-in-Israel program.
Many of my classmates do not want to spend a year living in fear. While all of us have a deep attachment to Israel, not everyone thinks joining the Israeli army and living in a war zone is necessary preparation for leadership in the American Jewish community.
Some fear that Reform movement leaders’ desire to avoid another political backlash — like the one that greeted their decision to cancel the summer high school Israel trips — might prevent them from taking drastic steps necessary for the security of HUC students.
For the time being, I’m staying in Israel. I can not pretend to think we will not see more acts of terrorism and violence similar to the most recent explosion. I can not pretend to think that I can feel safe walking around anywhere. I can not even pretend to think that I am staying here out of a patriotic commitment to the Jewish state.
The truth is that I see my teachers, my landlords and folks I’ve met in restaurants and coffee houses, and I know they are scared. Many of them have young children.
Many of them can not afford the luxury of avoiding buses and the downtown area. Many of them are in Israel because they cannot live as Jews anywhere else.
Remaining committed to the well-being of Israel requires, I think, a special empathy for the people of Israel. While I can not say that I will stay regardless of what happens here, I can say that I will do everything I can to remain safe and remain here.
Evan Moffic, a graduate of Nicolet High School and Stanford University, is beginning his first year of rabbinical school at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, which serves the Reform Jewish movement.
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