We perceive change when what we consider a constant somehow seems different. Sometimes, change can lead to crises at times, as it requires us to alter our routines. We go to a place we’ve visited before, we realize that it once looked different—this street was not there before, there used to be a store here, this or that building was or was not there yet. True, of course: we ourselves are part of these changes in the world and change happens all the time. So it is reassuring to know that there are some things that accompany us through life, despite all the changes. They offer us support and remind us that this world is not created anew every day, but changes bit by bit. It is important to create such things that really stand the test of time and do not get lost in the change, because they create points of orientation in spite of all change. This perspective becomes more comprehensible when we consider the course of world history, especially with a perspective on the many crises, we witness in it.

What does all of this have to do with a commitment to Israel Bonds? Since I first read the early Zionist writings of the German-born philosopher Leo Strauss, written in the 1920s, I have seen how, even before the establishment of the State of Israel, there was a struggle in the Jewish national movement over the relationship between the “eternal” and the “temporal”, between theory and practice. Ideas are eternal because they are not initially bound to the material world. Only their realization, their practice, inscribes them in time. For Israel, this concept persists to this day, and it also played a role when, under David Ben Gurion, the Israel Bonds program was developed to help build the young and penniless State of Israel. They were not just to be government bonds, but a vehicle that would enable individuals to support a project that would outlast themselves. This is the value that a bond expresses:

And it is a manifestation of the spirit of the state of Israel: that crises, defined as anything but routine, can be solved, can be coped with – even the most devastating and saddening ones. It is a current of thought.

It was in 2017 that Michael Grauss brought me to Israel Bonds. A lot has happened since then: It started with a stay in Texas, and there in Austin and at Camp Young Judaea, itself part of Jewish history on the way to a state of its own; it went to Israel, and there to Haifa, Tel Aviv, to Jerusalem, where between 3,000 years of Judaism, the founding of the state in 1948, and the innovation nation of the 21st century, history is being made every day. We traveled to London, where we discussed the importance of Israel to Britain at the House of Lords. My involvement with Israel Bonds also took me to the site of the greatest crime against humanity, the former Auschwitz concentration camp, where we participated in the March of the Living and met youth from around the world who want to preserve memory, as well as Shoa survivors who want to pass on the memory. The span of these places could not be further apart, but they are part of the same story.

Ignoring change is not an option.

These dimensions – constantly threatened yet able to establish a life full of joy and productivity – collided painfully on October 7th, 2023, when Israel was attacked by Hamas terrorists who infiltrated the country, killed, tortured and kidnapped toddlers, children, women, people at the life-celebrating Nova music festival, elderly people – among them those who spent their life establishing peaceful relations between Israelis and Palestinians. Despite this, the fundamental truth remains unchanged: The people of Israel are alive and resilient.

For the New Leadership division in Germany, engagement means communicating and explaining to the public these many aspects that are relevant to Israel's present. Therefore, we have organized events that deal with the present Israel, the economic importance of Israel, the reporting on the Jewish state in the media, the lasting threat to Jews in Europe and much more. In doing so, we were not only able to come into contact with special people, but also to bring special people into conversation; not least among these are the participants of the events.

To come back to the beginning: We live in a world that changes every day. Ignoring change is not an option — neither is simply surrendering to change. We are a constant for ourselves, even when we change. To others, we can be a constant or we can be a change. If we face change by understanding it as an element of life, we can maintain constants in life and create things that stand the test of time. This is what we learn from Israel.

Anti-Semitism however is an existential threat to every Jew worldwide. Anti-Semitism is a question being asked to world history: Is Jewish existence possible on this planet? Jews, after letting the world answer this question many times, took a stance for themselves and answered world history by founding the State of Israel.