It’s been a terrible few weeks. Rockets and missiles. Sirens and invasion. Hundreds of civilians dead, dozens of soldiers gone. The endless checking of news sites and Facebook feeds. The endless worrying. How are our friends and family? Are the safe? Are they suffering? Is this just the latest round? Will this ever end?
And beyond the fighting, our Israel is wracked with angry mobs on the streets, Israeli v. Israeli, incitement, price tag, terror. My friend and colleague Rachel Liel wrote to me this morning about Israeli Arab citizens being fired from their jobs around the country, a story that isn’t even in the media yet. What is happening to this place we love?
It’s almost too much. It’s hard to hold it all. It’s easy, tempting even, to despair. But at times like these it’s always good to remember your Heschel. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote that, for the Jewish people, the greatest sin and the most unaffordable luxury is despair. We have no time for it. We can’t afford it.
And for me, right now, the best antidote to despair are the thousands of Israelis who, even as the fighting rages, are working to push back against the forces of racism, incitement and intolerance. Who, even as the missiles fall, are working to make sure that the most marginalized Israelis have shelter and support. Who are doing the difficult work of monitoring human rights during wartime, a thankless task that is absolutely critical for a liberal democracy to function. Who are working to build a shared society based on shared bonds of citizenship between all Israelis, Arabs and Jews.
Their work is often under the radar and absent from the headlines, but these Israelis are heroes to me. They are the NIF community, and I am incredibly proud to stand with and support them at this critical hour. They are a light in the darkness, and a reason for hope.
Rabbi Stanley A. Ringler: “Pray not for Arab or Jew, for Palestinian or Israeli, but pray rather for yourselves that you may not divide them in your prayers, but keep them both together in your hearts.”
Beautiful , inspiring words – Kol ha kvod lahem for your incredible , important work. Keep the faith of peace. B shalom b’kvod rav / ma’a Salame
How sad regarding what is happening, how wonderful to hear your inspiring
words…to know that there are those who truly are ‘keeping the faith’!
Hatikvah for all people…starting in Israel and with their neighbors who share not only the land but the future!
I was shocked when two people who I admire and respect SHOUTED at me this week (and one threatened to cancel my lease) for expressing the fact that I am liberal and left wing and do not support this war. Is it too much to ask of others here to respect freedom of expression and thought? After all, we all have the same goal- peace, one way or the other. and yes, the added stress of television programs blaring all day long, adding insult to injury
I live in Israel and i see adifferent picture. Thousand attending the funeral of the two American boys who died. The funerals are haeld in silence nd mourning. No shouts. Large numberss of people visiting the wounded. Packages being sent to soldiers. People inviting those in the South to come and stay with them in safer places. In Kfar Saba where I live I was in the Meir Hospital and Jews and Arabs work and visit there with no tension.
I think most Israelis feel that we have come together to face this crisis. The emphasis is on unity and not disunity. It is felt in the political wrold as well with few exceptions