An Observant Zionist

Israeli blue nails and prayers for my friends, met and unmet

A lot of my Jewish friends, especially the ones I’ve met since October 7, are of the observant variety in one way or another. I remember the first time Ari mentioned that he would be turning off his phone for Shabbat. I thought he was so cool… and indeed he is! I think if I were a Jew I would be on the observant side. I remember reading an email accidentally sent to me from a Jewish teacher friend of mine responding to one of his students who was looking for a wife. He said he was looking for someone who was observant, open to keeping a kosher home centered around the Shabbat. I’d be great except… I’m not Jewish.

But I am an observant Zionist. Now what does that mean, you may ask?

I bet many of us who are not Jewish but have put ourselves out there in our support of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide ask ourselves that question. What does it mean to make Zionism a part of your daily life when you are not Jewish?

Is it a religious practice? For me it is. I pray formally in the morning and evening for Israel, but I also pray at different times all day long. Sometimes I’ll take a quick moment between explaining lessons and dodging thrown water bottles at work to look out the window and pray for the IDF. I pray for the hostages, and for the healing for those who have returned, for peace for those who have buried or wait for their loved ones’ earthly remains.

I write in support of Israel. I’m going to come out with some much bigger things soon… let the suspense sink in… but I try to write as much as I can, even if it’s a little bit, to keep it up.

I retweet Zionist tweets. I tell everyone I know to read and listen to Gadi’s podcasts and articles (except my students, I never bring politics or religion into work, unlike a lot of teachers who bring their pro-Pali, anti-American views into the classroom. Fortunately no one at my school does anything of the sort. We are totally focused on teaching the kids to read, write, do math and function.)

I try to keep up with the news and with my fellow Zionist bloggers of all sorts. I sometimes write about other things, both because other things interest me (and I hope you too) and because when I’ve seen my feed saturated with good articles about the same thing, I don’t want to write yet another article about it. Many people do a very good job of covering current events, and sometimes I have nothing to add but a heart and a “Great post!”

I also engage in silly little gestures that make me happy, like painting my nails as the Israeli flag. My father was the first to figure it out when I showed up at Thanksgiving 2024 with all blue nails except for one white silver accent nail. “It’s the Israeli flag,” he said. Yup. Dad was so proud of me as a Zionist. I’m so grateful that that would be his last memory of me. A proud Zionist who was with him until the end.

”Gaza Lives” is now spray painted all over the sidewalks of the main street of my neighborhood. Best of luck with that, think I. I’d love to get some blue sidewalk chalk and write Am Yisrael Chai all over, but I value my life. I pick my battles. I do wear my Star of David when I’m not working and I wore and Israel scarf in the winter. I am the only person I have ever seen in my neighborhood wearing anything openly Jewish or pro-Israel, amidst a sea of white people wearing keffiyehs.

I cuddle my Israeli blue scarf at night and use it as a prayer shawl when I pray and sit zazen. I named it after Ari’s real name. Don’t tell him. He’d think I was weird. Well, that ship sailed quite some time ago.

I remember the day I got that scarf, getting ready to go to the Harvard-Yale game to represent Elis for Rachael, an organization that pushes Yale for mental health reform. I am on the board and we had a big event followed by tabling at the Game. Everyone thought I was just being all pro-Yale with my blue scarf. Only my college roommate got it, I’m pretty sure. Well beyond Zionism, my college roommate usually can figure out what I’m up to. That’s the whole point of having a college roommate, right? (Hi SFS!)

If I had money I’d give to Israeli causes but as it is I have no money but I write better than most, so I write. I used to be quite afraid for my safety but I’m not as much anymore… knock on wood. The people who hate me don’t read the blog or the magazines I write for. As it turns out, people who wear keffiyehs don’t read the centrist or conservative press. What a relief!

I observe that Israeli men are the hottest guys in the world. I’ve thought this since way before I became an active Zionist. That’s observant. I observe things.

I’m about to get to a place where I can publish more. Finally. I’ve also had a long journey… an ongoing journey… of evolving politically in parallel with evolving as a Zionist. More to come.

Thank you for coming along for the ride. Your comments and likes and every subscription feel like little hugs! I’ll never be alone. Thank you for accepting me even though I was not born Jewish.

I will continue to proudly wear my Star of David and my Israeli flag nails!