Dade's Battlefield Part Deux

Last year I yearned to attend the re-enactment of the 1835 massacre of Dade's Army by the Seminoles. It was not to be due to hubby's bout with Prednisone but this year we finally made it. The sun shone brightly, the weather was perfect, and for a few brief moments I was sent back in time to witness the start of the Second Seminole War and glimpse a bit of how life looked and sounded almost two hundred years ago.

Being on the side of the under-dog is a bit of a Jewish trait and I must have inherited it because I could not help but empathize with the Seminoles, even as the last Army man fell. Told to leave their ancestral homes in beautiful Florida, the place where they learned to live with nature and respect the beauty of the "Breath-Maker" for exile on the dusty plains of Oklahoma and a reservation, what choice did they have but to defend themselves and their homeland?  With Israel on my mind so much lately, I could not help but see similarities.

Last night I pondered why it is that Jews overwhelmingly vote for and fund Democrats even when administrations seem to slight Israel, ignore BDS and UN censures, and even withhold arms shipments in a time of war. I got my answer in this article from The Jewish Daily Forum. Well said! There are too many good and true quotes for me to pick out just one or two.

I don't think it was too much of a stretch to relate the eventual almost-destruction of the Seminoles (not withstanding their victory in December 1835) to the persecution and near-annihilation of Jews in the 20th century. Yet both peoples survived and even the Seminoles now thrive in their native Florida.

And so do I...

;-)