WEIN ON-LINE: The challenge of gratitude
By Berel Wein

(June 1) Remembering how the state saved our lives
should shape our attitude towards it in this hour of
national confusion 

While I was in the US recently, I saw a newspaper article
about a popular local rabbi who saved a congregant's life
by administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation when the
man collapsed during services. 

Of course the man was enormously grateful, and thanked
God and the rabbi for restoring his life to him. 

But no matter how grateful we are at the actual moment
of salvation, the emotion fades with passage of time and
circumstance. Being eternally grateful and treasuring the
gift of a second chance is a daunting challenge. Many
physicians have saved someone's life and then had
difficulty extracting their fee. I am reminded of that story
of a doctor who performed emergency lifesaving surgery
on a patient who later asked how much he should pay
him. The doctor answered: "Pay me half of what you
were willing to pay a moment before the surgery
commenced." 

In almost all life situations, where the normal response
should be undying gratitude, selfishness, forgetfulness and
ingratitude somehow rear their ugly heads. This is as true
for groups and nations as it is for individuals. In the midst
of all of our current internal and external woes, there is a
general mood of intense dissatisfaction in the country. We
have yet to achieve the significant peace breakthrough
that we hoped for and that has been so smugly promised
by our leaders. 

The continuing surge of burdensome and cruel labor
strikes coupled with the unrelenting cultural and religious
strife produce despair and frustration. We feel we have
little to be grateful for, and if we take the reporting and
editorials of the daily press to heart (which I, for one, do
not), we end up thinking there is little hope. 

But we forget that the State of Israel has saved millions of
Jewish lives, whether physically, emotionally or socially.
We should look in our rear-view mirror to see where we
were barely more than half a century ago. The State of
Israel, which has experienced so much hardship, has been
a beacon of salvation for Jews the world over. It literally
saved us at a moment of despair and darkness unequaled
in our history since the destruction of the Temple and
Jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago. 

This basic historical fact has been submerged by
vexatious day-to-day problems. Hence, our current
mood of angst and pessimism, our loss of idealism, and
our waning sense of hope. 

BUT it need not and should not be this way. We should
be willing to "pay" the State of Israel at least 50% of what
we were willing to pay for its coming into being when the
Jewish people were prone on the mat of history 52 years
ago. What we need is a new infusion of idealism and
vision, hope and optimism, faith and tenacity. 

Our enemies mistakenly believe that time is somehow on
their side - that we will somehow tire of the struggle and
move to southern California. They are confident that we
will not be able to stand up to their ever-increasing
demands, and that eventually our will to survive as a free
Jewish people in our ancient homeland will collapse. 

But all of Jewish history refutes that ill-conceived and
malicious hope. Until now, we have been able to say:
"Tenacity, thy name is Israel!" 

Gratitude for life strengthens tenacity. I would hope that
the man whose life was saved by his rabbi gained a new
and deeper appreciation of his spiritual leader. I am
certain that he will be a staunch supporter of the rabbi in
his endeavors to help build a stronger Jewish community.
I would hope that he would not become a carping, critical
individual because of the ordinary human imperfections
that are part of us all, even rabbis. 

Remembering and appreciating past lifesaving provides
the will and strength for cool judgment, far-seeing vision
and necessary tenacity. Putting the State of Israel, its birth
and development, and its accomplishments in perspective
will allow us to appreciate that it has saved our individual
and national lives. And remembering how the state saved
our lives should shape our attitude towards it in this hour
of national confusion. 

The cardinal goal of Jewish life has always been the
saving of lives. It is by this standard that the State of
Israel must be judged. Its continuing lifesaving capabilities
must be appreciated, enhanced and strengthened.