I was born to a Jewish mother and father. I was raised a Jew. I was raised to love Israel. I was taught that Israel is our Jewish homeland. I learned that over millennia, various kingdoms invaded Judea and slaughtered, enslaved, and/or exiled us. I spent the last 60 years asking why. I had a basmitzvah. I carried and read from the Torah. I was the second woman in my synagogue to do so. I learned to daven and lead the morning prayers in summer camp. My friends and I weren’t generally accepted as part of our white, Christian public school. We were Jews. We had pennies rolled at our feet. A swastika was painted on my locker. The Jews hung out in “Jew corner” and the females were not permitted into any of 6 high school sororities. We weren’t allowed into neighborhood country clubs, so we started our own. In college, swastikas were drawn on our dorm room doors, carved into desks in the library of the guys’ dorm and burned on the library ceiling. A couple of years earlier, at 17 , I spent 6 weeks with Machaneh (Camp) Ramah in Israel. I stepped off the plane, bent down, kissed my hand, and touched the ground. This was the land of my forefathers, the land of my people, our safe haven, our home - my home. It would be 43 years before I returned to Israel… over 4 decades before I returned home, this August, 2026. You cannot take the Zionist out of the Jew, certainly not this one. I would die for my faith, my people, and my G-d. I would die for Israel. Israelis may or may not feel the same about Jews in the Diaspora, but I will defend and protect Israel with all that I have until Hashem takes my breath. You cannot take the Zionist out of the Jew, not this one.