Putting Our Money Where Our Mouths Are

We don't really know who our neighbors are. We're about to find out.

It's now been 34 days since Hamas launched its horrifying assault on Israel. Meanwhile, for about 30 days, Israel has been - first tentatively, then resoundingly - condemned in world media and popular opinion alike for defending itself, as any country experiencing a terrorist invasion must.

And for over a month, those of us who understand the particular nuances in this situation have been saddened, terrified, and angered over and over again, often in the course of a single day.

“But what can I actually do?” my heartsick mother asked her spiritual advisor. The woman wisely counseled Mom that just fully feeling her distress was, itself, an act of support: others see it, they feel it, and they know that they are not alone.

And she's right. That was some comfort, though perhaps not enough.

What can be done? There's prayer, of course. There's donation. There's discussion. There's taking the time to clearly correct the record whenever the chance presents itself - an effort which, lately, could be a full-time job.

In fact, such activism is my partner’s full-time job.

I could not possibly be prouder of my fiancé, David Swindle, who, as US correspondent for Jewish News Syndicate, chronicles and spreads awareness of antisemitism and developments in the Israel-Hamas war Mondays through Fridays. And then, on weekends, he edits The Algemeiner, a legacy American Jewish news source dedicated to spreading diaspora and Israeli news.

And, of course, David funnels his spare time toward Zionist efforts with this Substack. We've seen tremendous growth as a result of his work, even just during the past month of Israel’s war with Hamas, which is wonderfully heartening.

But now, he's thought of something else we can do. And we're doing it together.

One of the most sickening features of Hamas’ brutal and unconscionable terrorism against Israel this fall has been the taking of Israeli hostages. Current estimates cite 242 Israelis being held in Gaza since October 7. David wanted passionately to raise awareness on their behalf.

So he decided to print up the hostages’ “Kidnapped" flyers and display them from our front-yard fence. Though we aim to post several, we started with one sign displaying four posters.

What would happen, we wondered? Looming in the back of our minds was the stuff of David's Antisemitic Incident Report, a round-up he publishes for JNS that details all the public incidents of Jewish hate. Such activity - from passing out antisemitic flyers to committing physical violence - happens so often in our country that the report has had to be released daily, instead of weekly. (Read today's report here.)

Our stomping grounds, just outside Joshua Tree, California, are filled with flyers all the time. And people read them! People are used to getting information this way, whether it's about a Ram Dass meet-up, a limited concert series, or a hiker missing in the namesake National Park. So we do know that folks around here are used to public information being posted in this old-school way.

What we don't know, necessarily, is how they feel about this war.

Maybe we should. We've lived here since May. Still, while we love every dog on our street and are familiar with many pedestrians, we have no idea of their politics. But even if I were the type to lovingly bake individual loaves of banana bread for our new neighbors, then make the rounds gifting them and introducing my family - and I’d like to be that type, but I'm not - it'd be hard to casually say, “I love your prickly pear out front. And you have such gorgeous Joshua trees! Hey, speaking of the desert, how do you feel about Israel?”

So it's an experiment.

Maybe no one will read our signs. Maybe our signs will be ripped down. Maybe they'll be defaced. It's not impossible to consider that passers-by might draw swastikas, or steal our lawn ornaments. David has chronicled too many instances exactly like that.

Maybe people will knock on our door to ask about the posters, or to say that they're worried about, or even praying for the hostages, especially as the display grows.

Most likely, we know, people will just walk on by.

But maybe our posters will make people think. And then maybe they’ll go home and research. And after that, maybe they'll have a couple of accurate talking points next time this subject comes up. Maybe.

So many of us have been discouraged, disparaged, and disheartened by simply recognizing that Israel and her people deserve a robust defense. We've been startled and saddened to realize that 63% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the war, which is reflective of his overall disapproval rating - and that leads naturally to uneasy speculation about who America will elect to lead us this time next year.

In light of all that, perhaps this one-person-at-a-time, one-mind-at-a-time, one-heart-at-a-time approach will serve us well. Let's encourage people to learn who these hostages are, to tell their stories, to put partisan ideology aside and to really feel the depth of these uniquely unacceptable injustices.

After all, it's something we can do.