Offering Support to Jewish Friends

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have family in the south of Israel and not one of my non Jewish friends reached out to me.

Did they know that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have texted some close friends to let them know I'm thinking about them. I don't even know what their politics are - for all I know they may want a 2-state solution. I know they wouldn't want carpet bombing of Gaza and innocent children killed, either. But I also know that many of them have relatives who live there, or can trace lineage to Holocaust survivors, which necessitated the existence of Israel. I'm not Jewish but if Israel didn't exist the lineage of my children would not have existed. It doesn't matter what my political opinions are for a solution - while most of my friends are liberal I think most are also at a loss how to end this conflict as much as our leaders are. They are just in pain and in fear, so I reach out just saying I'm thinking of them.

Thank you! This is the right answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m an American Jew and I feel totally opposite to OP. I’ve had several non-Jewish friends reach out to me and I’ve been incredibly touched by their concern. In contrast, I would have totally found it weird had they reached out to me after ever synagogue shooting. Synagogue shootings in the US have been on a much smaller scale and usually the cause of one or two mentally ill or misguided individuals.

Here, we’re seeing the worst terrorist attack in ages and the atrocity itself is just horrifying. And the reaction of so many in the world was just silence at first, not outrage as it should have been, while people digested the news. And there have been many outspoken individuals who support Hamas and blame Israel. How could anyone justify mass murder of innocent peace-loving civilians? You don’t see a lot of people defending these one-off gun man who commit shootings in the US. What happened in Israel and the world’s reaction was terrifying to me as a Jew. And hearing from friends who aren’t Jewish telling me they are thinking of me and see how horrible all of this is - well, it means a lot to me.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone with a handful of Jewish friends, who deeply empathisizes with the pain and is enraged by hamas terrorism… yet also rarely posts on social media…

I feel somewhat harangued into reaching out or posting to show my support. It seeks showy/artificial as INEVER post on socials.

I'm also not a post-on-social-media person. I agree that it feels impersonal/artificial. But I'm all for personal outreach to friends to check in on how they are feeling. Honestly, it would mean more to me as a Jew to hear from a couple of non-Jewish friends and family just asking if I am ok and if my friends in Israel are safe. It would make me feel less alone and like the world is indifferent to Jewish suffering.

[Anonymous]

Our church had a rabbi speak at our service last night. He also lead us in prayer for the victims of the terrorism and for the Israeli military. People were crying. Our pastor is going to speak at their Shabbat services tomorrow. We stand 100% with our Jewish brothers and sisters.

[Anonymous]

If I knew that my Jewish friend had relatives or close friends in Israel, I would check on them. Most of my Jewish friends have been here in the US for several generations and never talk about Israel to me except if they went on a trip there. All their close friends and relatives live in the US.

[Anonymous]

Just sharing my perspective (I can’t speak for everyone. I am Jewish and grew up in a very Jewish area and have many friends on social media who are Jewish, but also lots who are not. After George Floyd lots of people of all backgrounds were posting. When Russia invaded Ukraine, lots of people were posting. During me too lots of people were posting, and so on and so forth. Yes, it’s a bit performative. But the overall vibe was we are in this together and we offer our support. This week, in my feed, lots of people were posting… but they were all Jewish. It was very conspicuous to me. The non Jews were not saying anything. I didn’t need their personal condolences but their silence felt eerie to me, like maybe they were keeping silent because they actually thought it was ok what happened or justified. We got impassioned letters about every other topic from the school system, but nothing for days about this (and then some really lukewarm messaging). In the absence of support or condemnation of the attack, we noticed this was not like all the other incidents where violence was called out. It added discomfort to an already very upsetting situation.

[Anonymous]

Our family is not Jewish, but we’re heartbroken over what happened in Israel. I cannot even watch the news. So, so tragic. Yes, we are all in this together and we offer the people of Israel our thoughts and support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just sharing my perspective (I can’t speak for everyone. I am Jewish and grew up in a very Jewish area and have many friends on social media who are Jewish, but also lots who are not. After George Floyd lots of people of all backgrounds were posting. When Russia invaded Ukraine, lots of people were posting. During me too lots of people were posting, and so on and so forth. Yes, it’s a bit performative. But the overall vibe was we are in this together and we offer our support. This week, in my feed, lots of people were posting… but they were all Jewish. It was very conspicuous to me. The non Jews were not saying anything. I didn’t need their personal condolences but their silence felt eerie to me, like maybe they were keeping silent because they actually thought it was ok what happened or justified. We got impassioned letters about every other topic from the school system, but nothing for days about this (and then some really lukewarm messaging). In the absence of support or condemnation of the attack, we noticed this was not like all the other incidents where violence was called out. It added discomfort to an already very upsetting situation.

FWIW, non-Jew and my instinct has been to reach out. Yet there have been multiple posters in threads here who’ve made me feel like that could be received badly, as though I’m accusing people of having dual loyalty or something. Which is not remotely the intent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not Jewish, and the difference to me this time is that I have seen social media posts after this attack that specifically say “your silence is noticed”.

I'd be pretty much done with anyone who posts that.

It’s ridiculous. People posted that with regard to BLM and George Floyd. I thought it was ridiculous then and think it’s ridiculous now.

Same. Post your outrage if that is your thing. My thing is writing letters and donating money without fanfare. Silence does not always mean consent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not Jewish, and the difference to me this time is that I have seen social media posts after this attack that specifically say “your silence is noticed”.

I'd be pretty much done with anyone who posts that.

It’s ridiculous. People posted that with regard to BLM and George Floyd. I thought it was ridiculous then and think it’s ridiculous now.

Same. Post your outrage if that is your thing. My thing is writing letters and donating money without fanfare. Silence does not always mean consent.

I’m not one to post either so I hear you. But I think the point is lots of people post about every one of these events and this one came along and the frequent posters…said nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just sharing my perspective (I can’t speak for everyone. I am Jewish and grew up in a very Jewish area and have many friends on social media who are Jewish, but also lots who are not. After George Floyd lots of people of all backgrounds were posting. When Russia invaded Ukraine, lots of people were posting. During me too lots of people were posting, and so on and so forth. Yes, it’s a bit performative. But the overall vibe was we are in this together and we offer our support. This week, in my feed, lots of people were posting… but they were all Jewish. It was very conspicuous to me. The non Jews were not saying anything. I didn’t need their personal condolences but their silence felt eerie to me, like maybe they were keeping silent because they actually thought it was ok what happened or justified. We got impassioned letters about every other topic from the school system, but nothing for days about this (and then some really lukewarm messaging). In the absence of support or condemnation of the attack, we noticed this was not like all the other incidents where violence was called out. It added discomfort to an already very upsetting situation.

FWIW, non-Jew and my instinct has been to reach out. Yet there have been multiple posters in threads here who’ve made me feel like that could be received badly, as though I’m accusing people of having dual loyalty or something. Which is not remotely the intent.

NP. i'm jewish and my family lives in a yishuv 15 miles from gaza. i have been barely functional since saturday and have been so incredibly thankful for the large number of non-jewish friends who have reached out to me and who continue to reach out to me, even this evening. i feel "seen" in a way that i never have before. please reach out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an American Jew and I feel totally opposite to OP. I’ve had several non-Jewish friends reach out to me and I’ve been incredibly touched by their concern. In contrast, I would have totally found it weird had they reached out to me after ever synagogue shooting. Synagogue shootings in the US have been on a much smaller scale and usually the cause of one or two mentally ill or misguided individuals.

Here, we’re seeing the worst terrorist attack in ages and the atrocity itself is just horrifying. And the reaction of so many in the world was just silence at first, not outrage as it should have been, while people digested the news. And there have been many outspoken individuals who support Hamas and blame Israel. How could anyone justify mass murder of innocent peace-loving civilians? You don’t see a lot of people defending these one-off gun man who commit shootings in the US. What happened in Israel and the world’s reaction was terrifying to me as a Jew. And hearing from friends who aren’t Jewish telling me they are thinking of me and see how horrible all of this is - well, it means a lot to me.

+1

This. I was really touched 2 non-Jewish friends reached out. One i had not been in touch with for a while. Really sweet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have family in the south of Israel and not one of my non Jewish friends reached out to me.

I'm sorry about this. Could they be worried that you'd want to discuss the larger situation? There have been some great examples here of people expressing sympathy for friends' deep anxiety and family members, but some friends may want to avoid having to weigh in on the whole situation with the Palestinians?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our family is not Jewish, but we’re heartbroken over what happened in Israel. I cannot even watch the news. So, so tragic. Yes, we are all in this together and we offer the people of Israel our thoughts and support.

+1000000
Same 🇮🇱