The war’s still raging in the Gulf, but it’s mostly over and mostly won. Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran are in disarray and demoralized, if not yet dismantled. Israel’s fighting prowess, the self-sacrifice and solidarity demonstrated by its citizenry over two tough years, are admired by friend and foe alike.
But Israelis are wounded. So are many Jews and non-Jewish supporters of Israel abroad. The October 7 attack was a stab in our collective heart. And all too many people in the West, ranging from closeted Islamists to so-called “progressives”, leapt to turn the anti-Semitic knife.
How can we proceed with our lives, and even thrive, with this still-open gash? As a doctor, I have some ideas – specifically because my expertise is drug addiction.
Except in very rare cases, addiction is a disease from which sufferers never fully recover. It has a genetic pre-dispensation, but it presents because of an outside cause, such as that first, foolhardy hit of heroin or a rashly prescribed opiate painkiller. When I treat a patient, I make clear that “cold turkey” is a myth, and that he or she must both kick the habit and take methadone in order to control the agony of withdrawal and keep temptation at bay.
Addictions to overcome
Israelis and the pro-Israel community must similarly accept that they have an “addiction” to overcome. Addiction to the idea that, after the Holocaust, murderous Jew-hatred was eradicated. Addiction to the idea that Middle East peace can be achieved if Israel makes more territorial concessions. Addiction to the idea that Israel would be more acceptable to its neighbors, and to the international community at large, if it apologizes for its very existence.
Still, we must live differently now. We must take our “methadone”. This won’t be a medicine, but rather, a regular reminder to see the world as it really is.A world where, sadly, might does make right – and where Israel has the advantage of being morally and historically righteous, too
Dr. Miriam Adelson
Yes, we “kicked the habit” after October 7. We fought back with courage and ingenuity – and, no less importantly, with profound national pride. On the fronts with Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, and (as I
write these very words) in the skies of Tehran, the jihad against the Jewish state experienced its worst defeat in decades. In the face of a regional-wide death cult, we came together and sang “Am Yisrael
Chai!” – “the nation of Israel lives!”
Still, we must live differently now. We must take our “methadone”. This won’t be a medicine, but rather, a regular reminder to see the world as it really is.
A world where, sadly, might does make right – and where Israel has the advantage of being morally and historically righteous, too. A world in which anti-Semitism will always resurface, and should never be explained away. It’s a mindless resentment of Jewish success and survival and must be answered with only with yet more success and survival.
A world in which, as Ben-Gurion observes long ago, what matters is what Israel and the Jewish people do – and not the cruel and ignorant things that others say about them.
And indeed, Israel is taking action right now, in partnership with its great ally the United States, and proving that it can’t be beat.
Readers of my previous contributions to this magazine know that I’ve been taking my Zionist methadone each and every day since October 8, 2023. It’s not too bitter, and the dose isn’t too big to swallow. There’s plenty more to go around.
