September 2024 Message

Lizzie and I were so grateful to be in Israel this summer.  We had wonderful visits with our Sinai friends as well as with family.  We took a powerful trip to Nir Oz, one of the kibbutzim attacked on October 7 and we spoke about the impact of the trip on us and our friend Nitzan and family a couple of weeks ago.  One of the wonderful aspects of being in Israel after the last year and so many news reports about anti-Semitism and rallies calling for death to Zionists is that you go to Israel and there are so many Jews there! No worries about hiding your Jewish star or kipa. Hebrew is everywhere, Jewish heritage is all around you.  It is so great.  On the other hand, what is so challenging about being in Israel is that there are so many Jews there!  I mean, it’s enough already with the pushing and shoving, and everyone has an opinion, which they and they alone know is the correct opinion. 

We left Israel amidst anxiety over what was happening in Israel as well as the United States.  We returned with a sense that Israel is quite demoralized due to this war and the government’s seeming lack of concern over returning its kidnapped citizens but to a very changed political dynamic in the United States.  It’s fascinating that a midrash on the Torah portion of the week was quite prescient (given that the midrash was written over a thousand years ago) regarding the events that occurred over these last few weeks.

In Midrash Tanhuma, a midrashic compilation from the early middle ages, God says to Moses (Numbers 31:2:) “Exact vengeance for the Children of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered unto your people.” Rabbi Judah said, “If Moses had wanted to live for several [more] years, he could have remained alive; as the Holy One had made his death dependent upon the vengeance against Midian. Rather Moses immediately ordered Israel to follow the command of God, despite knowing he was bringing his own death much closer.  This shows you the praiseworthiness of Moses, for he did not say, ‘In order to stay alive, I shall delay the Children of Israel's vengeance on Midian.’ [Rather] immediately (in vs. 3), ‘Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of your men for the army, and let them attack Midian.”

Without passing judgement on whether we would consider a war of revenge on Midian to be just or not, let’s just acknowledge that Moses, faced with an opportunity to engage in personal ambition – to stave off war in order to stay alive longer - or to do what was deemed necessary by God and avenge the seduction of Israel into idolatry by Midianites and Moabites, Moses chose to place his personal ambition secondary to the needs and, from the Torah’s perspective, the good of the nation. He chose not to put off the war just so that he could stay in power longer. This is why the outstanding characteristic for which Moses is known is humility.

On July 21 we saw a comparable act of humility and courage in our own country.  President Biden, dealing with the natural frailty that comes with age and the concern that the country’s perception of that frailty made him unlikely to defeat Donald Trump, chose to give up his personal ambition for the good of the country.  For most people in their 80s and 90s it’s hard enough to give up driving when loved ones suggest that might be safest, it is so much harder to imagine giving up the most powerful position in the world when you still believe you have the capacity to do it.  And not only that, but given all of President Biden’s accomplishment in 3 ½ years, he must have been terribly hurt to have people telling him basically, get off the stage, you’re done.  But he did the right thing for the country and I think a lot of this pent-up positive momentum for the Vice President is actually a response to the positive views about the policies and spirit of the country under President Biden but for which he could no longer be the messenger.  Of course, there is also the fear of the other guy.

Now compare this to a different world leader who has not made the choice that Moses did.  That leader is none other than, sadly, Benjamin Netanyahu. As of this writing, it may be that finally Netanyahu may be forced by internal and external politics to accept a deal to bring the hostages home by ending the war in Gaza.  We can only pray that when you get this bulletin that this has happened.  But I can assure you that the view of much of Israel today is that what began as a necessary war in which Israel’s very existence was at stake has become a political war which the current prime minister has refused to end because he is aware that the minute the war ends and the hostages come home, if any are still alive, his political career is dead. The army’s failure and his failure in ignoring the threat from Hamas, while his government was focused on supporting the extremist settlers in Judea and Samaria should have automatically disqualified him from continuing as the nation’s leader.  The defense and security establishment in Israel have been clear that they have weakened Hamas as much as possible militarily, the rest of the strategy to defeat Hamas must be through political decision making.  Yet time and again, the news from Israel is that it is Netanyahu who has thrown out last minute objections to the agreements on the table as the families of the hostages continue to suffer. 

Such an ironic contrast that an American president follows the ancient wisdom of our great prophet while the Jewish leader of Israel chooses personal ambition over the needs of his people.  May the leadership of Israel finally do what is necessary to bring our people home so that they may celebrate the New Year with their families, for the families whose loved ones are dead to be able to bury them with dignity, and for the people of Israel to begin to heal.  As the prophet Isaiah declared, “Tzion tipadeh b’mishpat”, Zion will be redeemed through justice.