On Sept. 11, 2001, I was paragliding and horseback riding in Switzerland with my friend Kevin Lev when we found out about the terrorist attack against America. On Oct. 7, 2023, we Jews were enjoying festive dinners in Los Angeles while Israel was being ambushed at 6:29 a.m. We were asleep while men and women were petrified, hiding in bushes, cowering under stages, and cramming into makeshift shelters, as their families were picked off like vermin. They were raped, mutilated, and murdered, and not exclusively in that order.
That Simchat Torah, which literally has the Hebrew word “joy” in its name, was as surreal as any day I can remember. Enough people at shul had heard that there was an attack in Israel, but none of us quite knew the extent of this. We’d grown accustomed to hearing about attacks, retaining the upper hand, and feeling at least reasonably safe. But something about this felt different. A DJ was killed? People at a concert in the desert were mowed down and kidnapped? How horrible this sounded, and yet the devastation was far worse than we could imagine.
When Israelis were attacked so viciously, with the Hamas terrorists using cameras to record and even live-stream their barbarism on the internet, many of us thought, “at least the world will now show us favor.” Clearly this was our Sept. 11. Even the Nazis didn’t publicize and brag the details of their evil crimes. Nobody could deny the horrors of what was being done to us. Right?
How wrong we were again. The governments of Western civilization stepped up to show us support, but that would become conditional and short lived, depending on who, when and where. Most of the world refused to believe what was being shown to them. And many who did believe it tried to justify it. We already felt attacked, but now we also felt isolated. Up was down. Right was left. And wrong was right.
I spent the last year sharing the words of others, because I needed to scream some truths, and this was my way. We lost a close friend because their response to my wishing them a Merry Christmas was telling me that the war Israel waged was based on the lies of dead babies. I refuse to suffer fools. Not when the cost is this high and the insult cuts this personally.
I had avoided watching any graphic footage at the advice of my friends and family in Israel. I was doing what I could to assist with the education efforts, but seeing imagery was nothing Adi or I was ready for. Until yesterday. I would like to thank Paramount Plus for releasing the devastating but phenomenal documentary, “We Will Dance Again.” Absolutely worth watching, despite how difficult it is to watch. The film’s firsthand interviews educate the ignorant, and the wealth of raw footage from that day makes it impossible to look away.
I feel slightly less isolated in this cruel world knowing that a mainstream platform is streaming this. It may seem trite, but that provides a glimmer of hope that someone seems to be listening and supporting us in our time of need. A young, non-Jewish nursing student at my hospital told me that he and his girlfriend watched it, and had a long conversation after. He said that he has watched countless war movies, but this still deeply affected them both.
I feel slightly less isolated in this cruel world knowing that a mainstream platform is streaming [“We Will Dance Again.”] It may seem trite, but that provides a glimmer of hope that someone seems to be listening and supporting us in our time of need.
After Sept. 11, 2001, the country rallied around each other with hugs. After Oct. 7, 2023, we Jews were waiting for the embrace that never arrived. After Oct. 7, 2024, I hope that more people will react with empathy for us, and that up will remain up, and right will no longer be wrong.
Boaz Hepner works as a Registered Nurse in Saint John’s Health Center. He moonlights as a columnist, where his focuses are on health and Israel, including his Chosen Links section of the Journal.
