From the Rabbis' Desk: The Crisis in Israel

Dear Friends–

When we came to the Shalom Hartman Institute this summer, we knew that the theme of our studies was going to be “War and Peace in the Jewish Tradition”. This has unfortunately been a rather prescient topic. From the tragic kidnappings and murders of the three young Jewish boys to the awful spectre of six Jews who brought shame to us all through their retaliation and murder of a Palestinian boy, our first few weeks in Israel have been filled with too much violence.

Now it seems that this violence is only escalating as rockets continue to fall on towns in the south of Israel and Israel is forced to protect its citizens by once again entering into the Gaza Strip in Operation Protective Edge. One of the oddest, most surreal features of life here is just how disconnected we can feel from the danger and violence that is taking place close by; for good and for bad this means that life continues to go on in a very normal way for us even as protests rage in East Jerusalem, rockets fall on the south of Israel, and the IDF begins its fight in Gaza to protect our civilians in the south.

In an inspiring shiur by our teacher Micah Goodman this morning, we looked at the two messianic images of Ezekiel and of Isaiah. In Ezekiel we find an image of war–where our enemies will be destroyed and where our victory will be overwhelming. But the prophet Isaiah offers a counterbalance to this–with an image of a future that is not one of violence but instead one of peace, where the lion will lay down with the lamb and the world shall no longer learn to make war.

As we sit in our safe and peaceful homes–whether in our cozy apartment in the German Colony neighborhood of Jerusalem or in Central Illinois–let us pray that even as we engage in a just and defensive war, we can recommit to working toward the peaceful world of Isaiah; May we remember that while war may be a necessary evil, it is still an evil, and even necessary violence should never be glorified; May our soldiers defending us and the civilians in the south be protected even as the rockets of Hamas fall on them, but may we also remember the lesson of Raba from the Talmud, that our blood is no redder than the blood of the other; and may our souls be wide enough to include prayers for all of those who will tremble in fear during another sleepless night–Israeli and Palestinian, Jewish and Arab.

If you are interested in keeping up with what is happening here in Israel, we recommend HaAretz and The Times of Israel. In addition, Daniel Estrin has been doing phenomenal reporting on the situation here for various NPR programs, most notably All Things Considered (disclosure: he is a childhood friend of Rabbi Daniel’s).

Please don’t worry about us–we are safe and happy here in Jerusalem–and engaging in deep and meaningful learning.

bivracha (with blessings),

Rabbis Daniel and Karen Bogard

–

May it be Your will, Adonai our God and God of our ancestors, that You abolish all wars and bloodshed from this world and extend a great and wonderful peace in the world. Nations shall not lift up the sword against one another, neither shall they learn to make war any more. May all the inhabitants of this universe acknowledge the one great truth; that we have not come into this world for friction and dissension, nor enmity and jealousy and vexation and bloodshed. We have come into the world solely that we might know You, eternally blessed One.

And therefore have mercy upon us that through us the written word will become a reality. “And I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down untroubled by anyone; I will give the land respite from vicious beasts and no sword shall cross your land.” (Lev. 26:6) “But let justice well up like water, righteousness like an unfailing stream.” (Amos.5:24) “For the land shall be filled with devotion to Adonai as water covers the sea.” (Is. 11:9)

(Based on the prayer of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, from Siddur Ha’avodah She’ba’lev, Service of the Heart.)

From the Rabbis' Desk: The Crisis in Israel