From this shattered past came a nation determined never to return to the ghetto, never to let another nation push us down, keep us back. Here in Israel, suddenly we were freed from the persecution of the past. We became the glorious fighters of the Hagana, defenders of our homeland and of our right to self-determination. In our haste to redefine the meaning of a Jew, we rebelled against the world demanding of us anything which we did not want to give.

Masada became a monument to our past and to our future. It stands tall for we have vowed never to let it fall again. The divided and once forbidden Jerusalem stands united and we have promised it will not be divided. And in the City of the Patriarchs another, although perhaps lesser known injustice, has also been righted.

When the Mamelukes conquered the Land of Israel in the 13th century, they forbade Jews from entering the Cave of Machpelah, the resting place of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rivka, Jacob and Leah. Instead, Jews were allowed to advance only to the seventh step along the staircase that lead to the eastern entrance of the building.

The 7th step, like the Mamelukes and the Romans, the Greeks and the Ancient Egyptians, Haman and Amalek and Hitler, has faded into non-existence. But recently, as I stood outside the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, as I saw the ancient alleyways twisting around Abraham's final resting place, I realized that we are returning to the ghettoes from which we were freed. The ghetto mentality, the need to please others even to the point of indignity and destruction is returning.

Arafat said that no Israeli soldier would be allowed into Hebron after the Israeli army surrendered...withdrew...redeployed. What of the issue of hot pursuit, an internationally recognized right of a sovereign nation? Gone. What of the extradition of Palestinian murders as guaranteed by the Oslo Accords? Unfulfilled. Guns that we gave to the Palestinian police have been used to attack us. Our soldiers are under siege in Bethlehem near the Tomb of Rachel, pinned down by stones and fire bombs.

For now, Masada is safe but Jerusalem and Hebron are in danger. The notion that giving in to Arafat's demands will bring peace is based on the same misguided notion of collaboration as that of Chamberlain conceding to Hitler. Any delay, any hesitation on our part is immediately met with threats of violence and days of rioting, and yet there are still those who believe that just one more step, just one more withdrawal, just one more promise will appease the endless appetites of a man and a people who have sworn on our blood that they will have our heart, Jerusalem, our soul, Hebron, and our bodies, all of Israel.

And through each day and night as I hear about explosions in a Tel Aviv cafe, bombs detonated mere seconds away from our children in Netzarim, and Arafat's calls for violence until "Jerusalem is returned to the Palestinians," I wonder, will the day come when we are once again forced back to the 7th step?
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