One Year After Oct 7., the Heartbreak and Hope of Israel and the Jewish People

There are moments that cleave history in two — before and after. For Jews, Oct. 7, 2023, is one of those moments.

I write this from Jerusalem, where the weight of history presses down like a physical force. It’s been a year since Hamas terrorists tore through the Gaza border fence, butchering, raping, and burning civilians with shocking savagery. As I sit at my desk, the door to my bomb shelter stands open — a lifeline as rockets continue to rain down on Israeli cities.  

In this year of living on edge, I’ve watched a nation grieve and steel itself. I’ve seen mothers cradle photos of children who may never come home, and witnessed soldiers, some barely out of their teens, shoulder rifles with determination. And I’ve observed, with growing dismay, the response of a world that seems to have lost its moral compass.

What happened on Oct. 7 was evil, full stop. There is no context, no historical grievance, no political cause that can justify the slaughter of innocents. And yet, in the months that followed, we saw a parade of equivocation, of “yes, but,” of moral relativism that would be laughable if it weren’t so tragic.

In a perverse inversion of logic, increased terror has bred increased hatred — not toward the perpetrators, but toward the victims. As rockets fall on Israeli cities, antisemitism surges globally. On American campuses, we’ve witnessed scenes that would make Joseph Goebbels proud: young people marching in support of terrorists, chanting for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state.

And then there’s the surprise. It comes from places you’d least expect — not from the Arab world, but from the very Western nations once thought to be Israel’s steadfast allies. In the halls of the UN, in the corridors of power in Europe, in the editorial pages of once-respected newspapers, Israel stands accused. Accused of what, you might ask? Of defending itself. Of refusing to lie down and die quietly.

It’s a world turned upside down. The very bastions of democracy and human rights that should understand Israel’s fight, that should stand shoulder to shoulder with it against barbarism, are instead wringing their hands and crying foul. They speak of “proportionality,” as if there’s some acceptable ratio of Jewish dead to terrorist dead. They demand “restraint” as if Israel hasn’t spent decades restraining itself in the face of constant threat and provocation.

Israel has a right to exist. It has a right to defend itself. And it has a right to expect that its allies — chief among them the United States — will stand with it unequivocally in the face of those who would see it destroyed. 

This is not a matter of politics. It’s a matter of right and wrong, of civilization versus barbarism. When we fail to make this distinction, when we engage in false equivalencies between a democratic state defending its citizens and terrorists who deliberately target civilians, we betray not just Israel, but American values.

I think of the Israeli mothers whose children were kidnapped by Hamas. I imagine their eyes, filled with fierce love and fiercer determination. Their unspoken vow: to bring their children home, and ensure this never happens again. This raw resolve is Israel’s essence — a spirit born of necessity and nurtured by adversity.

That is Israel’s true face. A nation forged in history’s crucible, tempered by suffering, strengthened by unshakeable faith in the future. A people who, even as bombs fall, proclaim: “Am Yisrael Chai” — the people of Israel live.

As we mark this somber anniversary, let us recommit to standing with Israel. Let us call out antisemitism wherever we see it. Let us support Israel’s right to defend itself, without caveat, against those who seek to erase it.

And let us remember Oct. 7’s victims — not as statistics, but as human beings. Sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, each with dreams and hopes cruelly cut short. We honor their memory not by forgetting, but by building a world where such atrocities are unthinkable.

Because in the end, this is about more than just Israel. It’s about what kind of world we want to live in. One where evil is confronted, or one where it is appeased? One where our allies can count on us, or one where our word means nothing? One where we stand for something, or one where we fall for anything?

The choice is ours. And history is watching. As for me, I look forward to the day when I can close that bomb shelter door — not in fear, but in hope. A day when it stands as a relic of the past rather than a necessity of the present. Until that day comes, we remain vigilant, we remain strong, and above all, we remain alive. For in our perseverance lies the promise of a future brighter than any darkness. Am Yisrael Chai.

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