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From the Rabbi's
Desk..
What can I write about the crisis in Israel that you have not already read or heard. Anything I write would be like preaching to the converted. We are all deeply troubled.
Last week on Shabbat I said that the war has become very personal for me and indeed for all of us. I walk around in a state of pervasive sadness and anxiety. I can imagine the fear and anxiety of parents and families whose sons, husbands or fathers are in Lebanon, locked in fierce battle.
Last Shabbat two of my grandchildren in Israel were evacuated from their summer camp (Ramah-Noam) in Hadera. They had to run to the shelters during Kabbalat Shabbat and again during Shabbat dinner. The rocket which struck Hadera was the furthest strike in Israel. In the shelter the kids heard the explosions and several had to be taken to the hospital with anxiety attacks and breathing problems. While in the shelter, the kids started to sing Shabbat songs which, they later said, gave them strength and courage.
The war became very personal for the entire Conservative and Ramah community in Philadelphia. Michael Levin, a young man who grew up in USY and Ramah made Aliyah after a summer of Nativ in Israel. He entered a combat unit in the IDF and was killed in Lebanon last week. A few weeks earlier this summer, he came home to visit his parents and his friends at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. It was painful to watch the TV coverage of his burial in the military cemetery on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem.
When I was in Shul in Jerusalem, an announcement was made offering to help families in which husbands, sons or daughters in the Reserves were activated and told to report to their units. The Congregation was mobilizing to help with children, elderly parents, shopping, and whatever else was needed.
It has become very personal because so many of us have family in Israel, parents, children, grandchildren, several in the army, brothers and sisters.
It is very personal when I have to decide whether or not to wear a Kippah when walking to Shul on Shabbat. I have to think about the neighborhood especially since there have been a few troubling incidents in the area.
Israel is waging war against radical Islam whose adherants are determined to bury 'us.' Shocking revelations from London this morning clearly indicate that the 'us' is Israel, Jews everywhere, Americans and the western civilized world.
Who would have ever thought or imagined Hezbollah would become such a potent fighting force...all under the 'watchful' eyes of the United Nations. Indeed, they 'watched' as Hezbollah dug in armed and fortified itself. No one expected the war to go on so long or the loss of life to be so great. The death toll is staggering and all of Israel is in mourning. Yet, Israelis, left, right and center, are united in their determination to eradicate the threat of Hezbolla. The definition of victory for these purveyors of evil, is to inflict pain. To inflict pain is to be victorious. Our tradition and our civility calls to us; "Hazak!...Hazak! Be strong, Be strong and strengthen each other."
The New Year is upon us. May it bring comfort and peace. Shana Tova
Rabbi Albert Thaler
*Written before the cease fire resolution was adopted.
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