I am the Jew who was expelled from Spain in 1492 — long before Columbus ever sailed the ocean blue.
I am the Jew who was confined to the ghettos of Venice, taxed in France, beaten in Kiev, and humiliated in Poland.
I am the Jew who was hunted across Europe — after Germany, after the camps, after the smoke cleared.
I am the Jew Stalin called a parasite. The one Churchill shook hands with, then sold out. The one America left stranded on Europe’s burning shores.
I am the child of the Jew who was gassed. The one whose prayers were mocked. And whose rebirth in our ancestral homeland is now resented — because we dared to survive.
I am the Jew who did not disappear.
I am the Jew whose brothers and sisters in Israel walk with a Torah in one hand and a rifle in the other — not to impress you, but to remind you: we survived both the firing squad and the debate hall.
I am a proud Jew. A proud Zionist.
And for that — there are those that hate me.
To the United Nations and every finger-wagging diplomat: don’t lecture us about “proportionality.”
The Torah says:
“If someone comes to kill you, rise early and kill him first.”
— Talmud, Berakhot 58a
I am proud to be the Jew your grandfather may have whispered about.
The one your teacher may have warned you not to trust.
The one Hitler tried to erase.
But guess what?
I didn’t vanish.
I survived Auschwitz.
I survived the British detention camps in Cyprus.
I survived Babylon, Rome, London, Oslo — and every exile you buried us in.
I survived the love letters to tyrants.
I survived the arms deals with genocidal regimes.
And that is why I am proud of my Israeli brothers and sisters -
Who are not just survivors —but witnesses
and now weapons.
Forged in exile.
Tempered in fire.
Sharpened by betrayal.
To those that know who you are
I hear you chant for my death, then the complaints that I yelled too loudly when I lived.
I see you arming Hamas — and blaming me for the explosion.
You build statues of dead colonizers — and call us colonizers for returning home after 3,000 years.
But I am not afraid.
I am a loving Jew — but never mistake that for weakness.
I will dance at weddings and cry at funerals.
I will share and laugh at jokes and live and love life
I will welcome you for Shabbat and pass you the salt.
I will help connect , collaborate , contribute and build communities
But if you come for me or my people —
You’ll meet the fire that still burns in the Jewish soul.
We are the nation that lit candles through exile, through empire, through darkness — and still lights them every Friday night.
I am a proud Jew.
I am a proud Zionist.
And now you know exactly what kind of Jew you’re dealing with.
Am Yisrael Chai.
The People of Israel Live
Adapted from *I Am a Damn Jew—And I Am Pissed Off*
By Yonah Elias
May 21, 2025