What We Can Learn By Listening to Stories of Those Who Have Been in Israel

The Book of Deuteronomy, D’varim, which we started reading this morning, relates the words of Moses to all of Israel prior to their entry into the Land of Canaan.  The journey up to this point has not been without trials and tribulations. Moses recounts how the people heard the frightful report of the spies who found fortified cities in the Land as well as children of giants. He confirms that his response to their terror was, “Do not break down and do not fear them…Hashem your G-d Who goes before you, He shall do battle for you like everything He did for you in Egypt, before your eyes, and in the wilderness, as you have seen, that Hashem, your G-d, carried you, as a man carries his son….”

Somehow reading that section of D’varim made me think about the reports of the fortified tunnels of Hamas, except those reports have not been exaggerated. The tunnels found, are mostly dug 18-25 meters (60-82 feet) underground, though one was discovered at a depth of 35 meters (115 feet). “That’s like a 10-story building underground,” one expert said. Think of the fear that could fill one’s heart just thinking of the number of terror attacks that could be launched from such fortifications.  Think about what fear or hatred could fill one’s heart just knowing about those tunnels.  Yet there are a few stories that I think bear repeating, because it shows the special relationship of Jews to G-d, to one another, and to all of humankind.

Story #1:  When I was in Israel, the discovery of the death of the three boys who had been kidnapped was made.  It was a very somber time in the country.  On that particular day, I took Jemma to day camp at the Chavat HaNoar HaTzioni, the Zionist Youth Village that housed the Ramah Jerusalem day camp.  We rode two buses and the silence was overwhelming not only on the buses but also at the bus stops.  It was as if each individual had suffered a personal loss.  After a third bus ride, I entered the Pardes building for my daily studies and as I exited the elevator, I saw 3 yarzheit candles lit near the pictures of the three boys.  The day of learning did not start in its usual manner, rather with a gathering in the Beit Knesset with words trying to make sense of the tragedy. The Rabbi who addressed us talked about how Judaism has responded to such evils and sadness by trying to increase the goodness in the world, not by becoming like one’s enemy.  The sense of unity in the nation at such a time of tragedy was very evident.

Story #2: Rabbi Abraham of Omaha’s Beth El Synagogue spoke on Thursday evening about his recent participation in the Conservative Movement’s Rabbinic Solidarity Mission to Israel. He was noticeably moved by an encounter the group had with Rachel Frenkel, the mother of one of the three boys who had been murdered.  She told the group that she does not want her other children to grow up hating Palestinians because of what happened to their brother.  Rabbi Abraham’s voice quivered when he shared that he wondered how she was able to find such inner strength while grieving.

Story # 3: Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat (where Aryeh (Leroy)Breslow lives) wrote about his visit to Tel HaShomer hospital to visit El-Yosef Malkieli, a commanding officer who suffered a near-fatal wound in his leg.  He and two of his young soldiers were standing by their personnel carrier (nagmash) when a hand-grenade was thrown in their direction.  El-Yosef instinctively reached out to catch the grenade, to absorb its impact and deflect its potential harm to his troops.  He was struck on his leg; he and his two soldiers were wounded and knocked unconscious.

When the soldiers were revived, their first words were, “How is Malkieli?  Please God, he’s alive!”  And when El-Yosef opened his eyes, his first question was, “How are my boys?  Where are they?”

Rabbi Riskin’s evaluation was that an army in which commander and soldiers care so deeply for one another’s welfare is bound to be successful.

What are we learning by listening to the stories coming from Israel? We are learning that choosing life is part of who we are.  If destroying tunnels means avoiding terror attacks of significant magnitude against civilians living in the South of Israel, then the mission must be accomplished with that goal in mind.  When young men are dying to protect their country from a terrorist organization that desires the elimination of the Jewish state, we learn that even in the valley of the shadow of death, solace can be expressed by a grandfather who says, “In this shiva house we do not weep; of course, we are overcome with grief but the dominant feeling in our hearts is pride and zekhut, the privilege of being able – in our generation – to sacrifice for Jewish future.” (grandfather of Yuval Heiman z’l).  When we see the growing tide of French Jews making Aliyah during a period when facing rockets in the Jewish homeland is preferable to facing violence in their country, we know the importance of having and maintaining Israel. When you have a conversation with a local Holocaust survivor who says she feels sorry for the ordinary men, women, and children who are being used by their government as human shields and can’t understand how Hamas can do that to its own, you know Israel is facing hatred even more unfathomable than found during the Holocaust.  Whether we have witnessed personally or heard stories about Israel’s overriding concern for ensuring the safety of its citizens and well-being of its children, we know that even where there could be great fear, there is also a sense of comfort about being in a place where rockets that are meant to induce a sense of terror cannot stop the zest for life and creativity.

May all of Israel find reward for its determination to not live in fear and to embrace life, to not succumb to the terror in its midst. May the hope which has been ours for two thousand years, and is now a reality, to be a free nation in our own land, continue to guide our thoughts, prayers, and actions. And may we soon be able to find ourselves able to say that the land is no longer ravaged by war.

Amen.