Prolonging The Conflict

Israeli-distributed candies in the West Bank bear the slogan
'Here are some sweets because Hamas is making life bitter in the West Bank.'

For more than a month, Hamas and Israel have been doing back and forth both on the ground and in the conference room. Papers and missiles have been exchanged on a regular basis with no realistic end in sight. Those that haven’t been keeping current on the conflict probably don’t realize that it has been that long… it seems as though this is one of those unfortunate wars when we lose sight of the beginning.

During this prolonged conflict, ceasefires have come and gone and holidays have passed by without peace prevailing. Tisha B'Av offered little respite during this time but hope remained palpable as people reflected on the loss, the strife, the anger, the fear. What are usually marked as days unlike other in the surrounding blocks of the calendar, were a continuation of the same emotions dominating the regional psyche. For Jews, this was just another event to mourn during this sorrowful day.

Tisha B'Av, the Fast of the Ninth of Av, is a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, many of which have occurred on the ninth of Av.

Tisha B'Av primarily commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av (the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.; the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.).

Although this holiday is primarily meant to commemorate the destruction of the Temple, it is appropriate to consider on this day the many other tragedies of the Jewish people, many of which occurred on this day, most notably the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and from England in 1290.

It is during these times of what is usually holy celebration and reverence when the claws are drawn throughout the world. The back and forth between conflict and ceasefire, holiday and conflict, has the world in an uproar for all the wrong reasons. So who is to blame? Unlike many of the protests and ‘reports’ Israel is not to blame for the elusiveness of peace.

Every ceasefire that has been negotiated and strong armed have not been times for the people of Israel to break or the IDF to relax. They have served as perpetual countdowns to the next rocket to sail over the boarder at innocent civilians. This FACT seems to be lost on the world. However, as we have reflected on what has seemed like a prolonged period of mourning, we have kept in the forefront of our minds that, while the situation is tenuous, it will pass and be but a memory which we will forever remember. We are strong, we will fight, and we will not allow the world to destroy our land or expel our people. Hope will prevail and peace will once again return to our land.

When Prayers Go Unanswered

Ever since the news reported their disappearance, we have been hoping, praying, and some pleading for the safe return of Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, 16, the three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped on June 12. Yesterday, all those words that each of us kept repeating seemed to fall short as reports quickly spread that those three boys were found murdered with the last whispers of one of the victims recorded by a phone call placed to 100, Israel’s emergency hotline. “They’ve kidnapped me.”

This national and international tragedy came to a tearful conclusion today… while difficult for me to express, the first line I read in a Times of Israel article today perfectly captured that whish we are all experiencing:

“Despite frantic prayers and more than two weeks of desperate searching, the saga of the three kidnapped boys ended Tuesday with the mourner’s kaddish, the traditional prayer for the dead, with three families clasped in prayer and an entire country standing behind them.”

I heard the news, debates, and questions on the radio all morning and watched as the news streamed across my screen all day but until I read my email this evening I wasn’t even sure I would be writing this post (I encourage you to read the email pasted below from Rabbis Shraga Sherman & Mendy Cohen of Chabad of the Main Line). There are few words that can be said at this time that mean anything. It may be difficult for some to understand, and I have had to explain it a few times, but our connection to Israel is not just to a piece of land. We are one with Israel in body, mind, heart, and soul. No matter where we are in this world or where we are in life, we are one. These are our boys.

Unfortunately, as we still mourn we know that soon we will be defending ourselves to the same people that now offer their condolences because we are allowed to mourn and suffer tragedy but we are not allowed to fight back and defend ourselves against future tragedy. It is this constant back and forth of the emotional pendulum that also binds us together but, right now, we mourn. We silently remember ‘our boys’ and ask that our renewed prayers are heeded… let them be the last.

B"H

Shalom,

Yesterday, we all heard the tragic news from Israel. There are few words. Only grief. Sadness. Pain. For 18 days, the Jewish world was so united. We became one family. Our differences and labels of affiliations were pushed to the side. These 3 boys united us. They made us one. Eyal, Gilad and Naftali became our sons... our brothers... No, we never met them but they were OURS... We prayed, we cried, we demanded, we posted - BRING OUR BOYS HOME! It was OUR boys. The power of this unity deserved a different ending. Deserved a reunion of the Jewish world with their boys. Deserved an all night/all day dancing session at the Western Wall celebrating their safe return to their new large family, the family of Klal Yisroel. But it was not meant to be...

We are left heartbroken... numb... in grief... and angry...

First, we must mourn. There is a need for us to realize it is okay to cry and mourn the loss of a loved one... it is beyond words of consoling... it is real pain and tears... We lost 3 children... 3 brothers... As those families are now sitting shiva, we too feel that the deep sense of loss and the love we have for these children and their families.

It is only after we mourn that we will need to deal with our anger. The united Jewish family will have to stand strong and give the Land of Israel the support they will need and deserve.

Today is also the 20th yahrtzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, On the anniversary of a tzadik’s passing, all the light that he planted in this world—his teachings, good deeds, and everything in which he invested his life and being—all this shines brightly, so that anyone connected to him can receive blessings of life, happiness and wisdom. Today more than ever the world needs the comfort, the insight and the fortitude which the Rebbe taught us.

I have pasted below an article just released by Rabbi Jonathan Sachs, very well said…

Just as we mourn together today, so may we very soon celebrate together. May there be many Simchos by all of us, with the ultimate Simcha, the coming of Moshiach. May it already take place.

Rabbis Shraga Sherman & Mendy Cohen

P.S. - There will be a Farbrengen this evening at 9:15 p.m. (Chabad of the Main Line, 625 Montgomery Ave, Merion) marking the Rebbe’s 20th Yahrtzeit. It is a good time for us to be together and hear words of strength and inspiration. Please join us.

In memoriam Eyal, Gilad and Naftali from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

This past Shabbat we read the parsha of Chukkat with its almost incomprehensible commandment of the red heifer whose mixed with "living water" purified those who had been in contact with death so that they could enter the Mishkan, symbolic home of the glory of God. Almost incomprehensible, but not entirely so.

The mitzvah of the parah adumah, the red heifer, was a protest against the religions of the ancient world that glorified death. Death for the Egyptians was the realm of the spirits and the gods. The pyramids were places where, it was believed, the spirit of the dead Pharaoh ascended to heaven and joined the immortals.

The single most striking thing about the Torah and Tanakh in general is its almost total silence on life after death. We believe in it profoundly. We believe in olam haba (the world to come), Gan Eden (paradise), and techiyat hametim (the resurrection of the dead). Yet Tanakh speaks about these things only sparingly and by allusion. Why so?

Because too intense a focus on heaven is capable of justifying every kind of evil on earth. There was a time when Jews were burned at the stake, so their murderers said, in order to save their immortal souls. Every injustice on earth, every act of violence, even suicide bombings, can be theoretically defended on the grounds that true justice is reserved for life after death.

Against this Judaism protests with every sinew of its soul, every fibre of its faith. Life is sacred. Death defiles. God is the God of life to be found only by consecrating life. Even King David was told by God that he would not be permitted to build the Temple because dam larov shafachta, "you have shed much blood."

Judaism is supremely a religion of life. That is the logic of the Torah's principle that those who have had even the slightest contact with death need purification before they may enter sacred space. The parah adumah, the rite of the red heifer, delivered this message in the most dramatic possible way. It said, in effect, that everything that lives - even a heifer that never bore the yoke, even red, the color of blood which is the symbol of life - may one day turn to ash, but that ash must be dissolved in the waters of life. God lives in life. God must never be associated with death.

Eyal, Gilad and Naftali were killed by people who believed in death. Too often in the past Jews were victims of people who practiced hate in the name of the God of love, cruelty in the name of the God of compassion, and murder in the name of the God of life. It is shocking to the very depths of humanity that this still continues to this day.

Never was there a more pointed contrast than, on the one hand, these young men who dedicated their lives to study and to peace, and on the other the revelation that other young men, even from Europe, have become radicalized into violence in the name of God and are now committing murder in His name. That is the difference between a culture of life and one of death, and this has become the battle of our time, not only in Israel but in Syria, in Iraq, in Nigeria and elsewhere. Whole societies are being torn to shreds by people practicing violence in the name of God.

Against this we must never forget the simple truth that those who begin by practicing violence against their enemies end by committing it against their fellow believers. The verdict of history is that cultures that worship death, die, while those that sanctify life, live on. That is why Judaism survives while the great empires that sought its destruction were themselves destroyed.

Our tears go out to the families of Eyal, Gilad and Naftali. We are with them in grief. We will neither forget the young victims nor what they lived for: the right that everyone on earth should enjoy, to live a life of faith without fear.

Bila hamavet lanetzach: "May He destroy death forever, and may the Lord God wipe away the tears from all faces." May the God of life, in whose image we are, teach all humanity to serve Him by sanctifying life.

Rabbi Akiva, Bar Kokhba, And The Zohar = Party Time!

I remember when my wife and I were planning our wedding that one of the first things that the Rabbi checked was if the date we wanted fell within the counting of the Omer. It just added another consideration to the date selection. Fortunately, our preferred date was one that fell just beyond the Omer so we were able to proceed without changing a date that just happened to work out for us.

Today we celebrate the day within that period, Lag Ba’Omer, when there is a short respite during this period of mourning and reflection. For those of you unfamiliar with this period on the Jewish calendar, here is a little information (about the holiday, significance, and observance) from the Judaism section of About.com:

Lag Ba'Omer is a minor Jewish holiday that falls between the holidays of Passover and Shavuot. "Lag" is a combination of two Hebrew letters: lamed and gimmel. According to Hebrew numerology, lamed stands for the number thirty and gimmel stands for the number three. These two numbers are significant for Lag Ba'Omer because it is celebrated on the 33rd day of Counting the Omer.

The Significance of Lag Ba'Omer

Lag Ba'Omer is a joyous holiday but no one is sure what it celebrates. The Talmud mentions a plague that is thought to have killed 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva's students during one Omer, and some have suggested that Lag Ba'Omer is celebratory because the plague abated on the 33rd day. Others have suggested that Lag Ba'Omer is connected to Rabbi Akiva's support of Simon Bar Kokhba, a Jewish rebel leader against Rome. The Romans responded to Bar Kokhba's revolt with incredible brutality, but perhaps Lag Ba'Omer was a day when either the Jews won a victory or there was a brief respite from the violence. (Ultimately, Bar Kokbha's rebellion failed.) The military connection is supported by the tradition of taking children to open fields to play with toy bows and arrows on Lag Ba'Omer.

Observing Lag Ba'Omer

Lag Ba'Omer is a time during the Counting of the Omer when people can celebrate. While the Omer is a time of mourning, on Lag Ba'Omer marriages can be performed, children are taken to parks to play, and people often gather for large bonfires. The fires represent the light of the Torah.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar (an important Kabbalistic text), also died on the 33rd day of the Omer. In Israel many people commemorate his death by visiting his grave in the northern town of Meron. The anniversary of his death is a day for celebration because it is believed he revealed the secrets of the Torah to his students before he died.

While this is not one of those clearly defined holidays found on the calendar, it is still an interesting one to consider. The counting of the Omer is a period unto itself during the year and a time when many people step back and take stock of what they have in this life. The days of celebration immediately before and after this block of time are ones that invoke change in the family and in the community. Lag Ba’Omer is a day of celebratory solace when life continues to progress, unions are celebrated, and, in many communities, children take an important step in their life with their first haircut. While it may seem small to some, it is an important day on the calendar and one that should be made to stand out among the other days of the Omer.

So, while the bonfires burn, and the piles of ash continue to grow, remember the joy and the hope that this day represents. Also remember the period in which this holiday falls and embrace the changes that have, are, and will occur on this day. It is an island of joy among a sea of sorrow with faith guiding us to the shore of this remote paradise. Tomorrow the counting of the Omer continues but with the peace and hope of the day still fresh in our minds and hearts. And soon, like all times of mourning, this period will pass, life will continue, and celebrations, large and small, will fill our days.

A Day In Elizabethtown

Normally I would be sleeping in on the weekend especially with a busy week ahead of me. However, this morning I found myself having very bitter thoughts toward my alarm clock as it repeatedly refused to shut up at 6:30 this morning. My wife wasn’t pleased either.

I was up and on the road by about 7:15 with at least an hour and a half drive ahead of me. It was time to head to the Secretary Seminar in Elizabethtown. I have been to this particular Masonic Village before so I knew which way I needed to go and, more importantly, which way not to go. I arrived about 10 minutes before the session was about to start, wove in-between the brothers rushing to a meeting of the Academy of Masonic Knowledge, and immediately found a seat in the back and pulled out my computer to fill in the repetitive moments with a few items that I needed to take care of for the week ahead.

Overall, mush of the information that was covered comprised of things that I have picked up along the way but there were a few moments when things were clarified and I was finally able to move forward with projects that have persistently been pushed back. The most important aspects included the digitization of lodge records which we can now proceed unhindered in our goal of making our records more accessible, compact, and efficient. In addition to this back office knowledge, I learned more about the efforts to shorten the lodge meetings and, therefore, making my job during stated meetings a heck of a lot easier. It is nothing that is difficult to begin with but now there is a lot less time involved.

The upgrading of the online database and email was the most prominent topic of presentation and discussion throughout the day. While there are many changes coming that are designed to make things more efficient, I am going to hold off on forming an opinion until the beta test which I signed up for. There were many good and dedicated men in the room and I had the pleasure of getting to know a few of them.

One of the most dedicated men that I was fortunate to meet during my time in Lancaster County was not present at the seminar. After the meeting concluded, I stopped by to visit with a three times Past Master of my lodge to pay my respects. His wife of 59 years had passed away during the week and I wanted to make a point to let him know that we, his brothers, are there for him should he need us for anything. It was a difficult visit but one that made the trip worth the effort and made me glad that I chose this day to attend the seminar over all others. After all, we are more than a fraternity, we are brothers, we are family.  

Mourning An Anniversary And Celebrating A Birthday

Fifty years ago today the world stopped as President Kennedy’s motorcade sped through the streets of Dallas in a futile effort to save his life. It is one of those moments that becomes seared into the minds of those who lived through it much like 9/11 will forever haunt my generation. It makes you look at the world a little differently when you see the pattern of tragedy and the regularity of its occurrence in our history.

Whether it is a single life lost or the lives of many, they are all equally tragic and the questions will still stumble from the tips of our tongues about what we could have done differently. There will always be people unwilling to accept the reality of tragedy and there will be ones who go too far in the emotional response to such heinous acts. However, one thing we should keep in mind as we attempt to cope and recover is that we can’t rely on others for answer.

As President Kennedy said, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.”

If you come to the same conclusion as others after searching yourself and finding what makes sense in your own mind that is one thing but simply accepting the suppositions of others without the effort of original thought is what President Kennedy warned us about. Simply going along with the crowd does not make us free, in fact it makes us unable to grow both as individuals and as a nation. Agreement isn’t enough without the ability to offer your own means of drawing that conclusion.

Such has been the case in recent years with the frequent calls for gun control, the same lobbying that occurred in the wake of President Kennedy’s assassination. Why is it that in the past fifty years we have learned about every detail of one man’s life but we refuse to learn about society and the murderous motivations of people? Why are we so willing to glorify one man for his accomplishments but unwilling to condemn one coward for his actions? JFK didn’t make every Irish Catholic a Saint so why does a person who commits a murder with a firearm make every firearm owner a criminal?

I have read the articles leveraging this anniversary of mourning as a call to action for more gun control which is why I have made the statements above. But this is also a day of great contradiction which makes me wonder how well informed some of the antigun people are as today marks the birthday of Eugene Morrison Stoner who was born on this day in 1922 (we will celebrate his birthday tomorrow). For those of you who don’t know, Stoner was the genius behind the AR-15 platform which was designed just eight years before the world went silent.

So, on the same day that we mourn a great loss we also celebrate a tremendous innovation. Well, some of us mark the birthday of Stoner while other, those filled with hate, would rather eliminate this many from the history books. Kennedy and Stoner, one really has nothing to do with the other beyond a simple date… just like the actions of one deranged man has nothing to do with the rest of us.