Recently, I was reading a speech made by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in July, 2006 at an Israel solidarity rally. This was at a time when Israel was stuck fighting in both Gaza and Lebanon—something that almost 18 years later is continuing to happen.
The Oslo accords, while a great effort and hope for peace, unfortunately directly resulted in the first Palestinian suicide bombing in Israel.
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All of our efforts for peace have been met with violence; whether it was giving back Taba, removing the Jews from Gush Katif, or as mentioned above, the Oslo peace process.
In the words of Rabbi Sacks, “Every gesture of goodwill undertaken by Israel has been seized on by its enemies as a sign of weakness.”
This past Monday night, I attended an event at an organization that prepares meals for those in need, and we had the privilege of preparing 600 meals in 2 hours. While this was truly gratifying, for me the highlight of the evening was listening to Din Tessler share his experience from October 7th.
Din is a 22-year old young man from the city of Holon, who was at the Nova festival as a security guard. Din shared with us about his efforts to save lives, his extreme fear for his own life, the incredible panic of watching so many get killed, not knowing where the bullets were coming from, and ultimately his personal miracle of surviving such an atrocity.
Din asked us all to cherish life, to find out what’s important, to hold family close, to have our priorities straight, to develop a close relationship with God, and most importantly, not to lose faith.
Even though Israel has grown exponentially during the past 18 years, the hate and desire to harm us has also grown.
I think the key is to know that peace simply isn’t an option, and that we must protect our own, keep them safe, and protect ourselves from our enemies.
Yet ultimately what Israel is about is unity, community and family, and what we can do to show our solidarity with Israel is to not only support it, we must also live by its purpose by being faithful to our families and communities, truly making them our priority.
Lastly, never give up since Am Yisrael Chai.
