A worldwide peace treaty where travel is possible seems very distant right now. The news this week continues to be frightening. The images on the television and internet even more so.

I believe in travel. I love to travel. I have lived and worked internationally. Those experiences have enriched my life and I encourage others to do so. I believe that travel and encounters with people who are different from us actually bring peace. I work passionately for mutual understanding.

Yet, this year I cancelled a trip to Kenya and then the organizers cancelled the entire program. I advised someone not to move to London. I have friends who did not travel to Mexico. Flights have been rerouted over Europe to not fly over the Ukraine. Badly aimed missiles from Gaza shut down Ben Gurion airport for a short time. All of this makes me very sad.

But continuing to hope seems to be what makes a Jew.

The national anthem of Israel is called, “HaTikvah, The Hope.” Edmund Fleg sums up being a Jew this way:

I am a Jew because
Judaism demands no abdication of the mind.
I am a Jew because
Judaism asks every possible sacrifice of my life.
I am a Jew because
wherever there are tears and suffering the Jew weeps.
I am a Jew because
     whenever the cry of despair is heard the Jew hopes.
I am a Jew because
the message of Judaism is the oldest and the newest.
I am a Jew because
the promise of Judaism is a universal promise.
I am a Jew because
for the Jew, the world is not finished;
 human beings will complete it.
I am a Jew because
for the Jew, humanity is not finished;
  we are still creating humanity.
I am a Jew because
Judaism places human dignity above all things,
 even Judaism itself.
I am a Jew because
Judaism places human dignity within the oneness of God.

Jews pride ourselves on diversity of opinion so we do not have a creed per se. Rambam wrote the Thirteen Principles of Faith which is included in Orthodox siddurim, prayerbooks and recited daily. For me, Edmund Fleg’s formulation is much closer.

With the news the way it is, it was suggested this was the wrong year to write about peace. I disagree. It is precisely because of the news that I have to write about peace. There has to be another way. We, as Jews, have to help find another way (even as some of the world is convinced that Jews are the problem, not part of the solution!).

Yet, Jews must do more than hope. More than pray. Jews are told to “Seek peace and pursue it.” Psalm 34:14. Pursue carries with it a sense of obligation, a need to actively run after it. We can’t wait for it to come to us. We have to go find it. We have to make it happen.

The verb is the same as the verse we read towards the end of Deuteronomy, “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof. Justice, justice shall you pursue.” (Deut 16:20).

Connecting these two verses, I think means that by living a just and righteous life we are pursuing peace. By modeling that life of justice we bring peace.

So I pray for peace, even when there seems little hope. May G-d who makes peace in the high heavens, make peace upon us, upon all Israel and upon the whole world and let us say Amen.” And I actively work for peace, locally with events like i-Fest and my participation in clergy councils and internationally. I refuse to give up. I am a Jew.