Today I found myself in a heated debate with several of my students. The topic was the army and to which army we pledged our allegiance. I found that both sides made incredibly compelling arguments about their feelings towards where they would fight if the need arose. While most students put Israel first, others felt strongly that if you live in a country (America), then you should protect that country as much as it has protected you. However, the real question is, “What protection are we speaking of?” While Israel is very far away from us in distance, the beliefs that they fight for are the very beliefs that we hold near and dear to our hearts right here in America. The life of a Jew in America is strongly correlated to the things that are being fought for in Israel. Our religious freedoms in America exist because people are willing to take a stand for our beliefs in our homeland. Whether or not our residence is in this country or another, our hearts will always be in Israel. And as we all know, without a heart, we cannot go on. Therefore, I look forward to the continued debate in my classroom, and I hope that it will result in many more wonderful debates in the future because the most important thing is not who you fight for, but that you believe in what you are fighting for.
