What Are Anti-Zionists Protesting?

Answer

When I lived in Jerusalem, I used to take my shirts to be pressed at Itzik’s laundromat. He did a great job and was very fast. They said about Itzik that he would iron like a lion in Zion.

So what does Zion mean? The literal translation is “sign” - a symbol, a demarcation, an object that represents something else.

Zion is the Jewish people. We are a sign. Understand that and you’ll understand our secret. You’ll also understand those who love us and those who hate us.

A sign is not there for itself. A sign has a message to convey about something else. If you see a sign on a highway with a picture of a kangaroo on it, it’s not there for decoration. It’s there to warn you to look out for wildlife on the road. If a house has a “for sale” sign out the front, the sign is not for sale, the house is. If you come across

a sign with an arrow pointing right, don’t look at the sign, look right. The purpose of a sign is to draw attention not to itself, but to something beyond itself.

The Jewish people are a sign pointing upwards. Everything about us points to a higher power. You can’t explain Jews without G-d, and you can’t understand Israel without faith. In every chapter of our history, right up until today, you see an unmistakably divine fingerprint. Somehow our little nation always ends up at the centre stage of world events.

Somehow our tiny piece of land is the focus of all the nations of the world. And somehow whatever happens to Jews anywhere has an impact on Jews everywhere.

That’s because our story is not about us, it’s about something higher. Every Jew on the face of the earth is a walking sign of the One above. We are here to bring a message, not by preaching, but merely by existing as Jews.

This is why people love us. And this is why people hate us. A Jew is not just a Jew. A Jew is a symbol of G-d, the G-d who took us out of Egypt, gave us the Torah and brought us to the Promised Land. Those who love the G-d of the Bible love the Jews. Those who hate that G-d, hate the Jews. They may say they only oppose Zionists, but we know what

they mean. They can’t stand seeing the sign that points clearly to G-d, who gave us the Torah and the land of Israel.

It’s not always easy to be a sign of the One above. But there can be no greater gift. We have infinity in our soul, we have G-d on our side, and we have good people the world over who believe in us. We stand strong and proud, doing our job as Itzik did - iron like a lion in Zion.