I came to Israel in February 2005 from Los Angeles. Technically, I am still “finishing” my aliyah, but in truth, something in me arrived long before my plane ever landed.
Independence Day has never been abstract to me. It has always lived in my bones.
My grandparents met in a work camp. Out of that place, out of that reality, they found each other. Later, in a displaced persons camp, waiting to learn where life would take them next, America or Israel, they got married. They had my father there, in a place that was meant to be temporary, uncertain, suspended between survival and possibility. Eventually, they were sent to Pasadena, California, where life began again.
I grew up knowing that story. Not as history, but as inheritance.
I know this experience is not mine alone. Many others carry stories like this and understand it in a way that does not need explanation.
When I was 15, I went to the camps myself. I saw what I cannot unsee. I felt what does not leave you. There is a before and after to that kind of witnessing. But what surprised me was not only the weight of it. It was the fire. Something in me became clearer, sharper, more certain. I could feel fear in other parts of my life, insecurity, self-consciousness, all the normal things. But never about being Jewish. That was the one place I felt completely grounded. Proud. Certain. Grateful.
Israel, to me, is where that certainty takes form.
When I entered college, my brother moved to Israel and joined the Israel Defense Forces as a lone soldier, where he excelled as a paratrooper and a sniper. Seeing him, and the soldiers and people around him, lit my fire even more.
A fire is lit: A sense of pride and certainty in Israel
Six years ago, I started an Instagram account called Antisemitism Today, which now reaches over 121,000 people, something I do not take lightly. It began as a therapeutic outlet, a place to share what I was seeing about antisemitism around the world when I had no one to discuss it with, and it became a way to build a community and help others stay informed and stand with greater confidence. It has always been a passion project, but after October 7, something shifted. The scale changed. The urgency changed. And so did people.
I saw people searching, asking, wanting to understand. People who had been distant, perhaps, from their identity, suddenly stepping toward it, suddenly feeling that fire light within them.
Independence Day sits right in the middle of all of this.
It is not just a celebration. It is a line in history where something changed. A moment where “running” was no longer the only option. Where survival was no longer dependent on the decisions of others. Where Jewish identity was no longer only something to protect, but something that could stand, speak, and defend itself.
For me, this day is not separate from my grandparents’ story. It is not separate from what I saw at 15. It is not separate from what I witness now, every day, in the world.
It is all connected.
Independence Day is the realization that the story did not end in the camps. It continued. It built. It returned. It rooted itself in a place where being Jewish is not something you explain or hide or justify.
It simply is.
This is what Independence Day means to me. It is why aliyah was not just a decision, but a direction. Here, I am not searching for where I belong. I am living it. Here, I have built a life where I can do what I care about, see what I need to see, and stand in my identity without hesitation. My friends feel like a breath of fresh air because they understand this without explanation. I do not take that for granted. I feel lucky. I feel grateful. And more than anything, I feel an overwhelming sense of pride to call this place home.
This is what Independence Day means. We are no longer running. We are home. And we will defend it with our lives.
The writer is a digital marketing strategist and advocate focused on antisemitism, online discourse, and contemporary Israeli and geopolitical issues. She founded the Instagram platform AntisemitismToday in 2020, where she shares news updates, analysis, and educational resources on modern antisemitism and public conversation. Alongside her advocacy work, she is developing a series of children’s books that help young readers build emotional awareness, resilience, and a strong sense of identity.
Source:
www.jpost.com
