Author: Rabbi David Levin

Shabbat Shalom-A Shabbat of Ambivalence

A Shabbat of Ambivalence

As we enter Shabbat, some hostages have been returned.  Their ordeal is far from over, but they are home.  Now we hope these souls begin the process of healing.

Traditionally we offer the Birkhat HaGomel, but their struggle is far from over.  The emotional toll will continue long after physical pain has subsided.  They have been brought through a perilous journey, but the journey to wholeness and peace has just begun.

The sentiment of the Birkat Gomel is a prayer of gratitude, but it is also wishful thinking.  May those who have struggled find refuah shleimah.

We also turn our thoughts to those who remain captive, pawns to be played in a horrible chess game in which victims are often sacrificed by others.  May they be safe and treated with basic humanity.  We pray for their safe return as well.

Shabbat Shalom

#BringThemHomeNow

 

 

 

Bring Them Home Now

We are anxiously hoping the current negotiations for the return of some kidnapped hostages will bring our people home soon.

It is a deal with the devil, but you do what you must do.

However, the devil is in the details, and the details are troubling.

We have been unable to get “proof of life” for all held captive. Why is this the case?  Is Hamas not in control of all the hostages? If true, it does not bode well for those remaining in captivity.

Why has the Red Cross been unable to check on the welfare of the hostages?  This, too, is an ominous sign that Hamas may not be in control and our people are not being treated humanely.

Why are the negotiations 3 to 1?  For every Israeli returned, three people are returned to Hamas.  This seems an admission, particularly by Hamas, that both sides value Israeli human life more than Palestinians’.

These issues are distressing, But the answers to these questions offer insights into how things will progress after this deal is concluded.

Let us bring home those we can and work to bring the rest back as quickly as possible.

 

Bring them Home

Every day the hostages remain captive is another day of anguish.

BRING THEM HOME NOW!

The families of the hostages have created the

Hostages and Missing Families Forum

They are selling pendants on chains.  The proceeds go to support the families.

 

 

These pictures are linked to the site.  Support them and display your allegiance.

Bring them Home Now!

#BringThemHome

 

 

 

Leaving Israel

On our last night in Tel Aviv, we had a wonderful dinner and began reflecting on what we saw and what it meant. As we stepped toward our bus, the sirens went off. And we swiftly moved to the shelters.

Israelis now measure distance in the time it takes a rocket from Gaza to reach a destination. On this trip, our distance was between 20 and 90 seconds. Tel Aviv is 90 seconds away.    But as I looked southward, I saw the flash of the Iron Dome taking out a rocket. I didn’t wait to see a second one. We were fine. But to say the least, it is an odd experience. I guess this is something that Israelis never get fully used to but learn to live with.

We entered Ben Gurion airport and were escorted to a particular security check-in. This esteemed bunch of American Rabbis were to be treated as VIPS. And the sirens went off. And swiftly, we went into the shelters, just like everyone else. The moment passed, and we all emerged, but Ben Gurion didn’t return to normal. Security and travelers engaged in the typical dance that is done at departure. But this time, it seemed different.   I felt discomfort. The airport routine wasn’t quite the same. The dance was off by a beat. The process seemed longer, as though the thorough checking still needed double-checking. The ramp leading to the departure area was lined with pictures of hostages, just like the ramp on the arrival side. The message was to remember the hostages from the first moment you entered Israel and as the last thing as you left.

The airport was empty; El Al and Emirates were flying. One or two other airlines were on the board, but the major carriers were not listed, and half of the departure floor was empty.

We left a different place than the one I remembered from previous travels, and yet the emotional and spiritual connection remain strong, perhaps stronger.

 

 

Zichronam Livracha-Praying for the Dead

Among the more horrific scenes was a parking lot of about 200 cars.

As we approached, three teams from Zaka were leaving, those charged with collecting as much of the human remains as possible for burial.

The cars were burnt-out shells.   Little was left but burned metal and ash.  Zaka had its work cut out for it.  But as we looked more closely, they tended to their sacred task.  Cars were tagged, and each tag represented a victim they found.  Some cars had one, two, or more tags.  And some did not have enough to be identified.  But it was presumed that there were at least two people in each vehicle who died violently and painfully.

We gazed into a sea of death.  And as we waded into the lot, we were told there was a second larger lot.

May they rest in peace.

 

Mission to Israel Countdown t-2

Are you pro-Israel or not?

This is a moment of truth.  Which side are you on?

I am pro-Israel.  I believe in the State and its right to exist. I believe in its right to defend itself.  I believe Hamas is intent on Israel’s destruction; as such, it must be treated as an irreconcilable enemy that must be fought. But this battle comes at a price.

I grieve for the suffering of the Palestinians and pray that they, too, might find peace, dignity, and self-determination with a government that serves them.  And I am offended by the violence in the West Bank against Palestinians that seemingly slips under the radar but is no less egregious.

I disagree with Israel’s government and its policies.  But I set these aside for the time being.  Our focus must be on the current crisis.

I’m not too fond of reductionist thinking, but this is a simple binary decision.  You stand with Israel, which is now conflated with the Jewish people, or you do not.  This doesn’t mean we agree on everything (that will require the Messiah’s intervention), but world events have made it clear that the rest of the world has grouped the Jews with Israel.  We, therefore, must stand together.

We must stand for our values and deeply consider how those values are understood, especially in these challenging times.

Which side are you on?

Our lives are changed

All of our lives have been irrevocably changed as a result of October 7. The lives we thought we enjoyed before have had the veneer ripped away, and we are in a new and strangely familiar place as a people of history.

As many of you know, I am planning a trip to Israel with a few of my colleagues from the Philadelphia region through the generous support of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Our purpose is to learn, bear witness, and bring home the stories of what is happening to the people of Israel. We will start in Tel Aviv, and we will move South, meeting with families of the kidnapped, hostages, and others whose lives around the envelope have been changed forever.

I do not know what I will encounter. And I say that as someone who is struggling here in the Diaspora and as someone committed to the Jewish state. We have complex and conflicting moral issues to try and understand. It is like threading the eye of a tiny needle. Our tradition is well-versed in parsing, probing, and understanding how we maintain our values even when those values are challenged in the most extraordinary ways. But we have enjoyed the opportunity to study those texts, not live them in real-time, and here in lies the real challenge of what it means to understand what is going on Jewishly.

I will share the lessons I will learn and some wisdom that I hope will come from these experiences. But I will at least bear witness.

I have been asked repeatedly if I am nervous or scared about my trip to Israel, and I do have trepidation, but it’s not the trepidation of being physically hurt. It is the trepidation of everything that I have held dear, of everything that I have worked for, of everything that I believe in, being tested in a way that I never thought would be imaginable today.

The virulent Jew-hatred we believed was part of our history is now being expressed publicly and shamelessly; that is frightening.

I am privileged to know many people of Goodwill, and so many of them have reached out in this fraught time to offer their support and love. But there are so many others who have remained silent and too many others who have let their antisemitism erupt into the public space. We can no longer pretend that Jew-hatred does not affect us. It does, and we must now decide whether we stand for what we claim to believe and fight for those values and ideals.

I pray for the people of Israel, I pray for my Jewish brothers and sisters both there and here, and I pray for peace. Perhaps these things may come more quickly than the all-too-elusive Messiah. It is up to us to hasten their coming.