UJA's Walk for Israel

Important announcement!!! Be there June 9

Each year, I face a serious dilemma as the Walk for Israel approaches.

My desk calendar entry for June 9

And that dilemma is:

What t-shirt do I wear?

Do I wear one of my Herzl-father-of-Zionism shirts?

Or throwback to David Ben Gurion, in varying styles?

I could always opt for another leader, like the Lioness Golda Meir, the Warrior Moshe Dayan, or my personal favourite, Menachem Begin:

My wife will not be pleased that I didn’t iron before taking these pictures.

I could go more traditional:

Or I could try more tongue-in-cheek, and hope I don’t get too many looks for poking fun at Hassan Nasrallah, who deserves all the mock, ridicule, and scorn we can muster:

I haven’t made up my mind just yet, but be there on Sunday to see what I decide.

And that is where my dilemma ends. It is otherwise a no-brainer to me, that my wife and I will be there walking, together with our children, our parents, our siblings, and their children, in support of Toronto’s Jewish community, and the State of Israel.

Safety

I have full faith in our organized community, to ensure our safety at the Walk. Obviously, there can be no guarantee for anyone’s safety, ever. But, I am absolutely confident that every possible effort will be made to ensure that we can walk up Bathurst Street with pride, with our flags, and most importantly, with our children. I know that if our safety was in question, the event would be different.

Walk for Israel 2022 (Photo credit Consulate General of Israel in Toronto)

There will be a significant police presence. They are there to support us. Despite whatever grief we would otherwise like to give them for not disciplining protestors at Avenue/401, or allowing endless anti-Israel marches on Toronto’s streets, or anything they’ve done or not done on campus, on Sunday they deserve our utmost respect and thanks.

Work with them. Don’t make their lives any more difficult than they already will be. And don’t try to gift them one of the God-awful pickle flavoured freezies that were handed out at the walk last year. They deserve better. A popscicle or bag of chips will suffice.

Do not engage

Do not engage with any of the protestors. One argument with a keffiyeh-clad protestor, one shout at one of the schmucks from Neturei Karta, one video of a “Zionist-gone-wild” posted to Youtube, loses us points.

Confrontation is a gift the anti-Israel mob is looking for. Don’t give it to them. Ignore them. Walk with your head held high, your flag flying in the wind, and allow their genocidal chants to be drowned out by the sounds of our music that celebrates life.

No excuse

I’ve gotten lots of phone calls and messages this week asking me what I think about the Walk for Israel, and whether it is safe to go. This is what prompted this post. I will say the same thing I have said to everyone: Don’t be ridiculous; come walk with me and 25,000 of your closest friends.

This year, I don’t accept a single excuse for someone not coming to the Walk for Israel.

If you have an Israeli flag in your Twitter/X profile name, IG handle, or on your Facebook profile picture or banner, you should be there.

If you regularly wear a dog tag or yellow ribbon seeking to return the hostages, or a Magen David around your neck, you should be there.

If you had tears in your eyes on October 7, or any day subsequent, you should be there.

If your heart flutters when you see the Israeli flag, sing Hatikvah, or recall our history, you should be there.

Whether you send your kids to a public school or a Jewish day school, if you want to raise your kids with a strong Jewish/Zionist identity, you should be there. Show them what it looks like to see tens of thousands of Zionists marching in unity together.

If you have an Israeli flag at home you can wave, bring it, and be there.

If you know someone who is not Jewish, but who cares about and supports our community, and who believes that we are on the right side of what has truly become a clash of civilizations, tell them to be there too. Tell them the hot dogs at the end are average, but there’s a special offer of schwarma and falafel this year. If not for the food, tell them the company is worth it. Rain or shine.

If you truly can’t come, then at the very least, you should donate. (While you’re at it, subscribe to Catch!)

Be there

This year, there is no excuse to not join with your brothers and sisters to march down the streets of Toronto, proclaiming our belief that the Jewish people and the State of Israel have a right to exist in peace and security.

In Israel, the people are at war, and yet they remain confident and strong. Rockets are literally falling all around them, hitting building, setting hilltops on fire, and moving the country closer and closer to a larger, regional war. In response, Israelis gird themselves for battle. The least we can do, here in the Diaspora, is walk. Be proud. Stand tall.

Today is June 6, 2024: D-Day. 80 years ago today, the Allied forces stormed the Beaches of Normandy, which began an offensive in Europe that turned the tide of World War Two, leading to the end of the war 11 months later. Images abound on TV today, of young soldiers, 17, 18, 19 years old, on boats, falling out into the sea and storming the beaches of hell, all in a fight for a righteous cause, of good versus evil. This was the greatest generation, thrust into battle to ensure a better future for us all. Their bravery enabled the Allies to win the war, and defeat the evils of Nazism. We should channel their bravery today. Remember that there are always things that are bigger than us, that are worth fighting for.

There are plenty of opportunities to show our support for Israel, whether here or overseas. But this weekend, we have an opportunity like no other to come together, and show our neighbours that we will not be intimidated, we will not be scared, and we will not stay home.

Together, we will say as one, Am Yisrael Chai, and Israel, we are with you.