By Talia Carner

Oct. 7. A year later, I’m trying to find hope while the trauma is exploding. I’ve asked my Israeli friends what to say instead of “Shana tova,” which means good year. Now they wish for “a normal” year instead.

I started writing my newsletter while preparing to host a Rosh Hashana dinner for my family. My mind was on the 100,000 displaced Israeli families in the north while the world’s eyes have been on Israel’s south. The Galilee farms abandoned and millions of acres of land burned. The war on the Galilee has been raging for a year–except that it was on Israel’s territory rather than Lebanon’s. Until now.

My newsletter was almost ready when an attack from Iran shook Israel and every Western person who grasps the danger of the Iranian regime. (So far, over 100 attacks on U.S. targets in the Middle East have gone with no deterring response.) The existential threat to Israel paralyzed me. What words of courage could I offer?

Our resilience.

“We shall dance again,” said a former hostage captured at the Nova dance festival, where 365 youths were massacred and dozens of others captured. Our hope is in our resilience.

This year I rediscovered the wonder of our people: the unity, fortitude, and perseverance. I have been embraced by dozens of Jewish communities and thousands of readers on my book tour; was the recipient of hundreds of strangers’ benevolence when they rescued my novel from an antisemitic campaign to bomb it before publication; and I became a part of a community of writers who’ve taken action against antisemitism.

This year has been an emotional journey. My strength, though, came from you, and I will continue to be inspired by your unwavering commitment to who we are: a people believing in our right for sovereignty in the land of our ancestors. That is the definition of Zionism, and let’s not allow anyone to shame us for believing in the Jews’ right to exist–and to thrive. I am a proud Zionist.

Israel-born Talia Carner is an award-winning author of six historical and psychological suspense novels that shed light on social indignities and unexplored historical events. Formerly the publisher of Savvy Woman magazine and a lecturer at international women’s economic forums, this trailblazer of projects centered on women’s issues has turned her energies to fight for Israel.  She lives in New York and Florida. www.TaliaCarner.com