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Our Love For Israel
Rosh Hashanah, First Day
September 23,
2006
I find my love for something
greater today than it has ever been before. My love is greater
today because of its vulnerability we now see. I hope you
share this love with me and together we translate our love
into action so that it will survive for us and for our
children, and children’s’ children and generations yet to
come. The object of my love is Israel.
As you know, Janie and I spent a few weeks in Israel this
summer. We left for Israel just a week after celebrating
Elana’s wedding to Chanan Weissman our new son in law. Janie
and I are married for 8 years and I already have a son in law.
It’s magic. Two college graduates, one married, Samara is
driving all in 8 years.
Over the years, I have stood with countless couples under the
Huppah. I enjoy each one but I have to admit that I was
absolutely clueless about what went into preparing for that
day. I now have a clue after seeing Janie’s meticulous and
loving planning that went on for months. I wanted to surprise
Janie with a few days of absolute pampering in Israel and so I
did some research to find the premier spa in Israel. Once I
found the Spa in Israel it was difficult to get a room but I
juggled the dates and the reservations were set. Israel’s
premier Spa is the Carmel Forest Spa located just minutes away
from Haifa. Needless to say, we never made it up north to the
Spa. I didn’t get to surprise Janie because four days after we
arrived in Israel, Israel itself was surprised by a totally
unprovoked act of war by Hizbollah just over the northern
border.
There was no expectation of war in Israel this summer but on
July 14, 8 Israeli soldiers were killed, two Israeli soldiers
were kidnapped and tens of Katusha rockets started raining
down on Israel’s northern cities in an unprovoked attack by
Hizbullah. By the evening of July 14 Israel responded with a
determination to wipe out the Hizbollah threat and destroy all
of Hizbollah’s arsenal which had been growing for some six
years.
As I wrote in one of my e-mails from Israel, Hizbollah chief,
Sheikh Nasralleh called Israel a spider’s web - complex and
sophisticated but spineless and easily dismantled at the
slightest breeze. He mocked Israelis as caring more for their
pocketbooks and comforts and unwilling to endure any
hardships. He miscalculated. One million Israelis endured
tremendous hardships this summer for 35 days. Families were
displaced living with friends or family farther south. Our
friend David Bellin lives in one of Israel’s most northern
cities Maalot. He moved his family, wife and four children to
stay with his in laws in Hadera for the summer. Everyone who
could, left. One day I called David to see how he was holding
up and his always upbeat happy voice was missing. Some of his
neighbors in Maalot were killed that day. Residents of
northern Israel who could not evacuate, spent 5 weeks in
shelters without air conditioning, without sufficient food and
without seeing the light of day. Incomes were lost. The
harvest rotted on the vines and trees. Israel’s spine was
strong. Israelis up north were still tough. We have reason to
be proud of them and they are deserving of our respect, and
our support.
The Israeli press called Nasrallah a ben
mavet a dead man. Everyone believed it was just a
matter of hours or days until Nasrallah would breathe his last
and his terrorist threat would go up inflames. Israeli experts
spoke about Israel taking this opportunity and going into
Syria and Iran to get the job done and to truly eliminate the
threat to her security.
The only person I had told about Janie’s surprise Spa getaway
was Jordana. When Jordana called us in the opening days of the
war and asked with great concern if we were still going up
north hoping we weren’t, I thought, give it a few days and it
will all be over. Israel will get the job done. I wasn’t the
only one who thought along those lines. The story is that
during the Six Day War Prime Minister Levi Eshkol asked
Defense Minister Moshe Dayan what he was doing the next day.
Defense Minister Dayan said, we’re taking the Old City of
Jerusalem, the Golan heights from Syria and the Sinai from
Egypt and the Prime Minister said "Good. Then what are you
doing in the afternoon?" This summer was not to be another Six
Day War.
In the opening days of the war, the greatest surprise was that
the civilized world did not exercise its knee jerk reaction
and immediately condemn Israel for its military response. Even
Arab foreign ministers could not agree to condemn Israel as
they saw Hizbullah’s actions as an unprovoked act of war. It
almost seemed that the Messiah was but around the corner.
It took only a matter of days however for the world to return
to its more usual mode and see tiny Israel as the aggressor.
Nasralleh calculated perfectly. When he killed Israeli
civilians he won and when he maneuvered Israel into killing
Lebanese civilians he won. He set up a situation where he
couldn’t lose. He stationed his rocket launchers in private
homes, under apartment buildings, in mosques, hospitals. He
fired barrages of rockets with the express purpose of
terrorizing and killing Israeli civilians and used Lebanese
civilians as human shields. No nation condemned Hezbullah for
this cynical disregard of human life, men, women and children
but the world condemned Israel for trying to eliminate the
threat to Israeli citizens. There was no surprise here.
Nasrallah calculated perfectly. Even our Secretary of State
was snookered by the Sheikh and Israel had to fight with a
hand and a half tied behind its back.
Janie and I were in Jerusalem
during this time. We were very touched hearing that many of
you were concerned for our safety but somewhat embarrassed by
the concern as well. We were in Jerusalem. We sat outdoors at
night at restaurants enjoying the beauty and calm of anther
cool Jerusalem evening. We had no concerns for our own safety
in Jerusalem but we did have a terribly discomfited feeling
knowing that just a few hours drive up north Israelis were
fearing for their very lives and a bit farther north Israeli
boys were fighting and dying in Lebanon.
Each day I would turn on the
TV hoping to hear that Israel delivered the knockout blow and
the enemy threat was eliminated. Each day I would turn on the
TV and hear the number of Israeli civilians and military that
were killed that day. Each name was broadcast. Each picture
was shown. The place and the time of each funeral was
announced again and again. This is not a society that hides
its loss or its grief. Israelis are a family. After days of
hearing of these losses and Israel’s inability to deliver the
decisive blow, I felt for the first time a terrible fear for
Israel’s future. It was a horrible feeling and it was
especially painful feeling it in Jerusalem. In the Middle East
image is everything. If Israel came out of this war appearing
vulnerable it would embolden every enemy who shares
Hizbollah’s hatred of the Zionist enemy.
Then early Wednesday morning, August 2nd we received a call in
Jerusalem from Paula that Michael Levin from Holland Pa. was
killed in action in Lebanon. We knew Michael and his whole
family, his parents Marc and Harriet. Harriet participates
each year in our Yom HaShoah service as she walks down the
aisle with her brother Rob Solarski who is part of our Ohev
Shalom family, to light a candle in honor of their parents,
survivors of Auschwitz. Michael who grew up at TI in Bensalem
was here in Ohev Shalom often with his family and his many
friends here from USY, from Ramah. Michael had friends
wherever he ever was.
As soon as we heard, we
called Harriet and Marc from Jerusalem. I said to Marc and
then to Harriet "It is no exaggeration to say that Michael is
a hero." I felt this deeply. As I had felt that terrible fear
for Israel’s future and I saw how Israel was unable to deliver
that knockout blow against Hizbullah, it was clear that Israel
would have to sacrifice much to accomplish whatever advances
it could. At that moment, Michael Levin from Holland
Pennsylvania who made Aliyah and enlisted in the Israel
Defense forces and was accepted into the elite paratroopers
unit and gave his life for the land that he loved so deeply
was a hero.
Our last day in Israel,
Tisha B’Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, we
attended Michael’s funeral on Mt. Herzl where Israel’s fallen
heroes are buried. Michael had told his parents that should he
fall in battle he wanted to remain in Israel and be buried on
Mt. Herzl. Michael knew what he might have to give; his very
life. Harriet later told us that as they were flying to Israel
she hoped there would at least be a Minyan at Michael’s
funeral. My anticipation was more than a Minyan but how many
people could Michael had known after living in a country for
only a few years. We arrived at Mt. Herzl at 4:30 for the 5:00
service and already there was a sizable crowd. By the time the
procession began to the grave, there were hundreds upon
hundreds in attendance, Michael’s friends, fellow soldiers who
fought along side him and respected his courage and bravery,
young people and adults whose path Michael had crossed and
Jerusalemites and Israelis who never met Michael but came to
pay their respects to this young American whose dream was
always to make Aliyah and serve in the IDF.
Michael’s commanding officer spoke at the funeral service at
Har Herzl. He spoke directly to Michael and he said Michael
atah gibor You are a hero. You are a hero because
you chose to come to us, and fight for us and now you gave
your life for us. Again and again, that day and in the days to
come I heard Michael described as a hero. The story of
Michael’s life, his service and his death was front page news
in the New York Times and the Washington Post and throughout
the US. It was front page news the following day in Israel.
Attending Michael’s funeral was not a Minyan or a small
gathering but an absolute outpouring of more people than I
believe are even here today and we are quite a formidable
congregation. We stood under the late afternoon Jerusalem sun
for well over an hour and when the service was over, no one
could leave. His fellow soldiers sat at his grave and prayed
and wept and held on to each other. I heard Michael compared
to Hannah Senesh a great hero who had made Aliyah and then
lost her life during the Second World War trying to save the
lives of Jews in her native Hungary. I heard Michael compared
to Yoni Netanyahu who lost his life during the Entebbe Rescue
Mission on July 4,1976 exactly 30 years ago.
A member of our synagogue
Neil Greenberg visited Israel for a week at the end of August
and I asked Neil to visit Michael’s grave while he was in
Jerusalem. Neil’s cousin Joel was one of those Jerusalemites
who came to the funeral and knew where the grave was. In
Israel, the custom is to dedicate the monument at the
Sheloshim, the 30th day of mourning and so the stone was
already set. Neil told me on Michael’s monument are inscribed
the words "An American Oleh whose love for G-d and Israel are
eternal." Elana and Chanan are spending their first year of
married life in Israel. They attended the unveiling service.
They told us Michael is buried so very close to the grave of
Yoni Netanyahu. Yoni Netanyahu was Michael’s hero. Michael is
our hero.
We live in a world almost void of heroes. How many can we
count who give of themselves selflessly without constantly
calculating what’s in it for them? Michael is that hero. He
gave all that he possibly could, his very life for what he
loved with all of his heart and all of his soul and all of his
might. Along with others, I try, in some way, to find some
measure of comfort in Michael’s loss and I think about the
blessing of loving something with every fiber of your being as
Michael loved Israel. Janie and I think about Michael’s family
and we pray they find some measures of comfort in coping with
Michael’s loss in knowing that Michael made it to his promised
land and Michael is now a part of so many of us.
My love for Israel is greater today because I take a bit of
Michael’s love for Israel with me. Michael’s love was so
great, we can each take a bit of his love. Michael’s life and
his sacrifice should inspire us to love and to do and to give
of ourselves. None of us will ever be asked to give as Michael
gave but we honor his memory by expressing our love in our
deeds of support for the land that he is now a part of
forever.
Those thirty five days fell short of accomplishing the Prime
Minister’s initial goals but the Israel Defense Forces
accomplished much. Though Nasralleh declared himself the
victor from his undisclosed place of hiding, he also has said
in a form of apology to the Lebanese people that if he knew
what Israel’s response would be, he never would have initiated
his act of war.
A few weeks ago I had the joy of speaking to a local Hadassah
group. The name of the chapter is 18974. The great meaning of
this number in Jewish history is that it is the local zip code
of the Warminster Post Office and most members of the group.
It’s my zip code in Ivyland so I felt right at home. I urge
all women here, in addition to belonging to our Sisterhood to
belong to a Haddasah chapter, Newtown, 18974 and be a card
carrying Zionist. One woman asked me if Israelis are afraid? I
think more than afraid they are upset and angry that their
leadership let them down and that strategic changes are
necessary for Israel to survive. For Israel, this is a matter
of life and death.
Today, we are to take an accounting of our lives. We call
this cheshbon hanefesh
looking deep within and taking an accounting of our souls.
Israelis are surely taking an accounting on a national scale.
They are asking what went wrong this past July and August? How
is it that the Prime Minister said they would dismantle
Hizbullah and though Hizbullah is weakened it still has the
majority of its arsenal. Is Israel in the hands of competent
leadership in terms of the Prime Minister, the Defense Minster
both of whom have such limited military experience. How did
Israeli governments watch and permit Hizbollah to amass an
arsenal as large and threatening as it did? Why was the IDF
apparently unprepared to fight this war? Why were the soldiers
fighting without adequate provisions, thirsty and hungry. Did
Israel fight this war with a hand and a half tied behind its
back in not wanting to harm the human shields defending the
Hizbullah armaments or did Israel go overboard in bombing
apartment blocks and infrastructure without sufficient reason?
How did the government so neglect the residents of the north
who sacrificed and suffered during those 35 days?
In many ways, Israel is a terribly imperfect place but we
should be clear that Israel is not nearly as imperfect as much
of the world would condemns Israel as being. During this war
Israel bombed the Beirut airport and was condemned. Bombing an
airport is one of an army’s first goals in war to prevent the
delivery of more armaments to the enemy. One person who flew
into the Beirut Airport after the war was amazed that nothing
of the airport buildings was at all damaged. Israel bombed the
runway so no planes could enter but was careful not to harm
the airport itself. With the cease fire, Lebanon was able to
quickly repair the runway and the airport is fully functional.
The same is the case with Lebanon’s electrical system. The
same is the case with Israel’s attempt to spare Lebanese
civilian lives even at the expense of its own soldiers lives.
Israel wants nothing more than to live in peace with Lebanon
and the Lebanese people.
And so I return to the very beginning and I tell you that I
love Israel even more today and I hope you share that love as
well. I don’t love Israel because it is perfect. It is not
perfect. I love Israel for many other reasons. In my text for
this talk I described here some of the reasons why I love
Israel so but in its place I want to quote from the D’var
Torah of one of our Bar Mitzvah of this past Shabbat, Jared
Band who was part of our Israel trip, became Bar Mitzvah
during Hanukkah on Masada and Jared wrote " When you go to
Israel, you feel surrounded by our people. Hebrew is spoken.
There are Kosher Burger Kings with menus printed in Hebrew.
Every door has a Mezuzah! You feel comfortable like you belong
there." Jared said what I wanted to say beautifully and in far
fewer words.
We feel our love for Israel more deeply because we are faced
with Israel’s vulnerability. We can not see Israel as
invincible any longer. I am not the only one who has been
confronted by this alarming reality. On a front page editorial
in The New York Jewish Week, the editor Gary Rosenblatt wrote
a piece entitled "Thinking The Unthinkable." He opens by
writing "Forgive me, but for the last several weeks, I have
had a deeply disturbing thought that I can’t shake but have
not shared - namely that there is no guarantee the State of
Israel will survive forever. For someone who has grown up with
the Jewish state, not knowing a time when there was no safe
haven for Jews fleeing persecution and for Jewish souls
seeking a spiritual core, the very thought of a world without
Israel, G-d forbid, is too upsetting even to consider. The
ramifications of such a tragedy speaks to the essence of who
we are as Jews and how we relate to our people, our Creator
and ourselves."
This is not the first time I or we have felt afraid for
Israel’s future. I remember June 1967 and the first day of the
Six Day War. Jews flocked to their synagogues that night. I
did as well. I remember being in the Main Temple of my
synagogue amidst the feelings of fear and hope. What I
remember most is watching adults walk up to the Bimah and
place cash and checks in baskets to the newly formed Israel
Emergency Fund. I was just finishing 8th grade. I didn’t have
a check and not much cash but I watched and I saw and I
learned what Jewish adults do. They give. Now, 39 years later
we are the adults. We again fear for Israel’s future and now
it is our turn to step forward to give to the Israel Emergency
Fund of our generation because we find ourselves with fear and
with hope. Israelis who continued to work during the war are
committing themselves to give one day’s wages to help rebuild
and restore the northern part of the country. I have made that
same pledge and I invite you to join me in rebuilding the
lives, the homes, the cities, the businesses that were under
attack by hundreds of Hizbollah rockets for thirty five days
through our giving to the Israel Emergency Fund.
I believe Israel will get it right and will get it right in
time. We say there is no choice. Israel knows these thousands
of rockets in Hizbollah’s arsenal could be laced with
biological and chemical agents and the destruction could be
immeasurably greater. Israel was dealt a wake up call this
summer and Israel will now find a way to respond. That way
will cost Israel millions and billions of shekels and Israel
is now forced to spend an even greater percentage of its
annual budget on defense. Israel is in need of loans to be
able to build th defense it needs to survive and continue to
grow as a vibrant dynamic country. Thankfully, the United
States Government provides Israel with loan guarantees so she
can borrow money at favorable rates on the world market. Our
investment in Israel Bonds are loans to Israel and will
provide Israel with the means to defend itself and its
citizens and build a great future for its citizens and for
Jews throughout the world.
Ask any of the other 101 members of our synagogue who traveled
throughout Israel with Jared Band during the days of Hanukkah
this past December and they will tell you how deeply each one
is moved by Israel’s beauty, its people, its spirit, the
ancient memories and the modern vibrant society they have
built. I am happy to announce our next Ohev Shalom trip to
Israel will be Hanukkah 2008 leaving around December 24th or
25th. My only advice to you is when we announce our first
meeting sometime early in 2008, come to the meeting ready to
make give your deposit. Last year, our trip was sold out in
the first week. That is a statement of your love for Israel.
If possible, don’t even wait for Hanukkah 2008. Go before. Go
then. Go after.
Speaking of leaving for Israel, Samara is leaving for four
months of study as part of 11th grade at Akiba Hebrew Academy.
We wish Samara a Niseeah
Tovah but its a bit of a bummer because the plane
takes off Tuesday night the 26th and Samara’s birthday is the
27th which means she loses7 hours of her birthday but landing
in Israel on your birthday is a pretty big present.
This past January, the
Palestinians voted and they voted for a Hamas government which
is committed to destroying Israel. The Lebanese voted to make
Hizbollah part of the Lebanese government. Hezbollah, a proxy
for Iran, is committed to Israel’s destruction. Now it is time
for us to vote. We hold the ballot (Israel Bonds Pledge Card)
in our hands. It is time for us to vote for the survival of
the Jewish State for our generation and for generations to
come.
I shared with you my fear and the fear that has been felt by
others. The fear comes with the fact that there is no
guarantee that Israel will survive forever. Fear can paralyze
us and fear can mobilize us. Let this fear mobilize us. I ask
you, in your love and in your deeds to help rebuild what has
been destroyed and not only that but to continue to grow and
prosper and be the shining light it is for world Jewry.
By our deeds today and together with the deeds of the Jewish
people throughout the worldtogether with our brothers and
sisters living in the land of Israel may we merit G-d’s
protectivecare so that the unthinkable will never be. May
Israel will survive
l'netzach netzachim for ever and for eternity.
Am Yisrael Chai!
Amen.
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