Rabbi's Blog

Dear Haverim,

We are all sitting shiva now for the more than 1400 murdered victims in Israel, while also saying a “Mi Sheberach” for the 199 Israeli and other hostages in Gaza!  We are all filled with sorrow, anger and anxiety for what has happened and what may come next.  There is so little certainty of how long the war will last and whether Israel’s stated goals can possibly be achieved.

There is also American Jewish anxiety over growing anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism here, and worry for what is negatively being said about Israel to our children, teens and college students, often by their fellow students, and even, sometimes, by teachers. The ignorance, disinformation and intentional hostility towards Israel and Jews can be overwhelming, and yet, we dare not let ourselves feel powerless and hopeless.

Israel is the victim.  We, here, are generally safe.  It is our Israeli loved ones who are in danger.  We are strong enough to handle the present level of anti-Semitism against us, when it arises, by working with our children’s schools, other parents, the ADL, and the legal system.  (Please report any anti-Semitic situation that you have experienced to the ADL immediately.)

Our focus should now be on Israelis.  They are the victims, and also the heroes.  During the worst single day of violence against Jews since the Holocaust, as October 7 is being described (although, sadly, not truly accurate, if you consider the bodies shot, gassed and cremated on many days during the Shoah), we need to honor the valor and courage of Israelis,  young and old, who saved others.

The heroism of young Israelis at the Supernova Music Festival, who were tragically murdered while saving others, the grandparents in their seventies who drove for hours to save their children and grandchildren, and the teens and children, who hid under corpses in bomb shelters, waiting for Hamas to leave – we must honor them as heroes.  The heroic soldiers, especially those too old to be obligated for reserve duty, who, davka,  still volunteered to fight – we must honor these heroes, too.

So much around us conspires to make us feel vulnerable, but what we really need is to feel empowered in order to focus on the hostages, to give donations, to explain to our children and grandchildren that they are safe here and to give them the strength to feel their pride and connection to the Jewish people and to Israel.

“Am Yisrael Chai”/”The Jewish People Lives” is more than a song, and “Never Again” is more than a slogan.  Both are declarations, like the Shema, about who we are, and for what we stand.

We are not alone.  We have the support of our fellow Jews and our non-Jewish friends, colleagues and neighbors

We want the war in Gaza to end as quickly as it can.  We want our hostages home as soon as possible.  We want to degrade Hamas, but also to limit the deaths of Israelis and Palestinians.  This present war is not any more about land; it’s about homicide, rape, torture and kidnapping.

One day, there will most likely be a “Two State Solution,” but Hamas’ murderous brutality has delayed that day for many, many years.

Israel must be forceful, but also prudent, and aware of the potential for this conflict to envelop much more of the Middle East.  This war must never be about revenge, but only long-term self-defense.

This Friday at 7:00 p.m., we’ll gather for Shabbat (the original topic has been postponed) to continue to discuss “Hamas’ War And Israel’s Self-Defense: Why Did It Happen, What Can We Do, And What Comes Next?”

Just as so many of us joined in a Zoom call eight days ago, and, then, last Friday night, in person, at a well-attended “Shabbat Service of Solidarity,” please be with us this Friday.  (RSVP here.)

As the Israeli poet, Moshe Dor, has written (in a poem that we read last Shabbat):

“There are just wars

And there are wrong wars

But every war is

Anguish and untimely death

And cripples smitten souls.

There are wars that break out

In daylight and those that begin

At night but every war

Is darkness even on sunny days

And even when flares

Turn night into day.”

Chazak, Chazak, V’nitchazek/Be Strong, Be Strong And Let Us Strengthen One Another,

Rabbi Arnie Rachlis