Events in Israel

I am not that into politics. It bores me. I like knowing what is going on with the world, I do try to keep up with current events, and I do care about some of the issues, because I do know that they affect me. When it is time for a big election, I do try to inform myself so that I am not an uneducated voter, blindly following what others tell me. But when it comes to following daily political issues and who votes for what, I just don't have the attention span to follow it. I kind of feel that the government is going to do whatever they want anyway, and it doesn't really matter that much who is leading the country. This is a bad attitude, I know, but it's how I feel. When it comes to Israeli politics, then, I just feel lost. I haven't kept up enough to know who stands for what, what all the different party platforms are, and I find it extremely confusing in general, which even those who do follow it closely confirm is the case. But I do care, because it is my fellow Jews who are intimately affected by Israeli politics. Jews who are being murdered, who are being thrown out of their homes. And my fellow Jews are leading the country. And the Torah by which I lead my life is taken into consideration in some of the laws and statutes that are being made to guide life in Israel. But up until now I have kept a fairly distant and removed, and honestly, not incredibly focused, watch on the news in Israel. It always hurt me when my fellow Jews were murdered. But it is sometimes hard to really feel it personally when it is happening across the globe. Not that it is right to not feel personally affected, but it is the case. While I was in Israel, I visited some of the communities that are currently being dismantled by the Israeli government. I saw them with my own eyes, and even met a couple people who live within them. I walked around Hevron, stood a few yards away while our tour guide specifically pointed out the homes that are being taken apart now. And all of a sudden, I really feel it. I really get upset. I can't sit aside and feel like it is something that I am affected by because I am not there. Because all of a sudden I do feel affected by it. It's interesting that such a change can occur with a few days of being there. I know that I will still not follow the news as closely as I should, that's just not who I am. I still don't really know what I can do about it, besides care. But when I see the headlines now, I am moved to read the entire articles and to feel it personally. I am sorry it took me traveling all the way to Israel to feel it so personally, but I am glad that the change has occurred. It makes me feel more a part of a people, a people that transcends distance and location. Jews are Jews and we should care about what happens to them, no matter which corner of the globe they reside.