A few days after meeting Rachel , I was in synagogue . So many familiar passages were hitting my ears differently . The historical importance to Jews of Tzion , of Israel , jumped off every page . As I sang the mi chamocah prayer leading into the amidah , I was taken by the faith of our ancestors that the God who redeemed the Jewish people at the Red Sea , would redeem us again in our hour of need .
As I came to the closing berachah of that page , Baruch atah adonay ga ’ al Yisrael , I read it differently than ever before . The intent and the grammar yield , “ Praised is God , Redeemer of Israel .” But I interpreted it in the spirit of the testimonies I heard from the displaced Israelis stuck in a hotel in Zichron Yakov . What they were saying to us was : The State of Israel , a place that Jews could finally call “ home ” after 2000 years of wandering , exile and persecution , is itself the source of our redemption . It is also the source of the bravery , resilience and hope of every Israeli .
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