                       A Voice from Hebron
                      by Gary M. Cooperberg
                        January 21, 1996
  How Important is a Symbol?       

          When I was a child in school, I remember the pride we had in the American flag.  I
learned how the symbol of our country needed to be treated with respect.  In the morning it was
raised with pomp and ceremony.  At nightfall it was lowered.  In inclement weather it was taken
down.  
     Perhaps this sense of dignity and respect for the flag has gotten lost in our generation.  I
really don't know if things are different in Israel, or whether the indifference toward the flag
which I see here is simply a reflection of a change in respect for the national symbol in other
countries as well.  In any event it still hurts me when I see a tattered remnant of what was once
the Israeli flag flying over an army camp.  When it occurs to someone that the flag is no longer
recognizable as such, they simply replace it with a new one.
     My wife, Andrea, took her feeling of pride in our flag and decided to do something about
it.  After the murder of Yehuda Partush and Nachshon Hoss, who were gunned down in a
passenger bus near Kiryat Arba, a flag was set up as a memorial at the site of the murder.  Within
two months the flag had turned black with filth.  Andrea complained about it to the authorities,
and, when nothing was done, she personally got a new flag and replaced the dirty one.  Once she
got started, nothing could stop her.  The city council building also had an Israeli flag mounted at
the front door.  It too was a tattered and shameful remnant.  When her calls to change it went
unheeded, again she took the initiative and removed the old flag which was replaced with a new
one.
     Last week, just before Shabbat, we were driving on the road which connects the two
neighborhoods of Kiryat Arba.  In the side of this road is an army camp.  Andrea happened to
notice the absence of the Israeli flag.  She stopped the car and pointed this fact out to the soldiers
on duty who were surprised to realize that she was right.  Within two hours two new flags were
flying over the camp.
     And, just before this past Shabbat, which heralded the PLO elections in Hebron,
accompanied by a large contingent of Shabbat guests in Hebron, Andrea called the authorities in
our holy city and suggested that the flags in Bet Hadassah and Avraham Avinu be changed for
new ones so that our guests and the TV cameras could be greeted with Jewish pride.  She was
disappointed in the attitude shown by many of the Hebron stalwarts who seem to have lost pride
for our flag.  In these times of confusion there are many who forget that the flag is not a political
symbol, rather a national one.  If we give up on our flag, we give up on our country.  So Andrea
continued to bug everyone she could until she eventually succeeded in Hebron as well.
     On the day of the PLO elections, that Shabbat, Andrea and I joined the Jewish crowds
who walked through our city.  We went to Machpelah and then to Tel Romeida where an
elaborate Kiddush was prepared for a thousand guests.  Wherever we went, we saw our beautiful
flag fluttering in the bright sunlight, silently boasting that, elections or not, Hebron is still a proud
Jewish city.
     It is easy to understand why so many good people are losing hope these days.  Our own
government has passed many red lines: It has officially rejected our right to Eretz Yisrael on the
other side of the Jordan river;  It has recognized the right of a manufactured people to attempt to
replace the Jewish State with an Arab one;  It has rejected our Divine obligation to settle the Land
of Israel; It has actively aided our most implacable enemy, the PLO, politically, financially and
militarily, and literally given them control over much of our holy inheritance.  It has deliberately
weakened our defenses even within the very heartland of our country.  
     Is it any wonder that many good Jews have lost respect for our flag?  We all watched the
mockery of the peaceful implementation of "autonomy" in Gaza, Jericho, and Shechem where our
peace partners took our flag and burned it.  This flagrant expression of contempt for the Jewish
State, which should have triggered an end to negotiations with the PLO and the return of all of
our "goodwill gestures," instead was deemed "understandable behavior."    
     Before we had "peace" with the PLO, it was against the law to display a PLO flag. 
Today, with our many new "sacrifices for peace" we can see the symbol of the new terrorist
nation, which proposes to replace the Jewish one, flying all over the place with no restrictions.
The PLO proudly displays its new flag on its cars and over buildings on the main roads.  The flag
which, just a short while ago, was illegal, is now an inviolable righteous symbol of our "partners
in peace," while the blue star of David has become a provocation.
     The world may, indeed, be a mixed up confused place, but we Jews dare not get caught up
in the confusion.  If there is one consistent factor in this crazy world, it is the eternity of the
Jewish People.  We have no right to give up on the dream of Zion or the Promise our G-d made
to our father, Abraham.  It is our obligation to raise high the flag of Israel and stand behind it.  If
those who presume to lead our country have lost hope in our future, then they do not deserve to
be our leaders.  But our pride and faith in our Jewish future must remain strong and independent
of even the follies of our hapless leadership.
     Just as my wonderful lifetime partner, Andrea, never misses an opportunity to tell anyone,
be it a government official, a Jewish soldier, or even a personal friend, that we all have an
obligation to be proud of our flag, and treat it with respect, so too should each and every one of
us cling tightly to our sacred role. Just as a flag is the symbol of a nation, the Jewish People is the
living symbol of the G-d of Israel.  It is our obligation to live up to that sacred role by becoming
worthy of being the banner of light which will guide all the families of the world into an era of
redemption and genuine peace.