In the history of the Jewish people, Jews have experienced many horrific crises and tragedies; some of the biggest ones include the exile from Ancient Israel way back when in the age of the Temple, and more recently, the terrible Holocaust by the Nazis led by Adolf Hitler. Yet, after facing enemy after enemy, the Jews have somehow prevailed and survived, while their rivals have shrunk and disintegrated. For example, both the Babylonians and Romans dismantled after having strong empires, and the Nazis experienced military and economic collapses that destroyed their party. Furthermore, Jews were even able to establish their own independent state of Israel in 1948, while holding off neighboring Arab enemies of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon and maintaining independence. Given all this information, many wonder, how have the Jewish People survived? There are multiple different opinions and answers to this question, however, there is one that stands above all, as it shows how interconnected Jews are, and how much they care about protecting Israel and Judaism.

            To start, some people believe that Jews simply survived because the grace of luck was on their side. However, this answer offers a very undetailed and even lazy reason as to how the Jews survived, using no logic; surely, after hundreds of years of facing enemies and overcoming them, luck cannot be the explanation as to why the Jews were able to withstand the crises they were put through.

            Other people believe that Jews have survived because God was on their side. This answer offers extreme hope for the future of the Jewish people, as it assumes that God will always be there for them, ready to protect them, as God is on their side. The problem with this answer is the fact that it is very religious-based, using no logic to support it. While it is something very nice for an everyday Jew to believe, it cannot be the conclusion utilized as to how the Jews have survived.

            Rather, a more plausible explanation as to why the Jewish People have survived, overcome their enemies, and have their own country in Israel, is not due to the grace of luck, God, or any such spirit or entity. It is because the Jewish nation, as a whole, never lost hope in themselves and persisted through their struggles. Throughout the entirety of all the crises the Jews have been through, the Jews have never lost hope in surviving and have always fought back whatever they were facing, in some way, shape, or form. To demonstrate, when the Jews were exiled by the Babylonians and Romans from their land, they did not lose hope in surviving and being given back freedom, which allowed for the Jews to overcome these empires. During the Holocaust, when it seemed as though the Jews would be all but extinct in the coming years, many Jews, such as David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, carried on the hope of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine and continued the duties of the Zionist Congress, which would eventually lead to the State of Israel just three years after the Holocaust ended in 1945. Shortly after Israel declared independence, when many neighboring Arab states declared war on Israel, somehow, even though they were relentless, Israel emerged victorious because they never lost hope in maintaining a Jewish state in Israel, the land to which they are most spiritually connected. In this way, the history of the Jewish people is actually a history of persistence and hope.

            So, how did the Jewish nation survive as a People? Sure, while they may have had some luck, and perhaps God was on their side, the real and most concrete answer to this question is because Jews never stopped fighting for themselves and never lost hope in the Jewish nation. They always maintained unity and were always committed to the Jewish People as a whole. Still, to this day, Jews all across the globe, in Israel or in the Diaspora, are incredibly bonded and united. Recently, two sisters and a mother in the Dee family, who live in Efrat, Israel, were shot and murdered in a terrorist attack. The father of the two sisters and husband of the mother requested that Jews around the world make a specific brownie recipe that one of the sisters deeply loved and made (very frequently) in honor of the family. Jews, all over the world, bonded over a brownie, showing how interconnected Jews are. The unity that bonds Jews together enables their strong hope and persistence in surviving and maintaining a nation, which is what has allowed the Jewish nation, as a People, despite all the enemies and crises they faced, to survive and remain strong.