There are no words to describe the utter sense
of sadness, loss and outrage we all feel on behalf of the Shaar,
Frenkel and Yifrach families. What these families have been put through
is indescribable and the dignity and grace with which they have confronted this tragedy is nothing short of inspirational.
Last week I participated in a rabbinic conference call with Racheli
Frankel, mother of Naphtali z"l who told us that the sense of Achdut
(unity) and Ahavat Yisrael (love of one Jew for the next) were "not just
clichés" but something she was truly feeling from Jews all over the
world and something she asked us rabbis to continue to promote here in
the United States. She wanted something good to come of this terrible
situation and I feel we owe her at least that.
Racheli said
she felt tremendous love and support from all segments of society, from
the Charedim (ultra-orthodox) and their prayer gatherings to the
Chilunim (secular). Yair Lapid, Israel's Finance Minister went to visit
the families in an article was quoted as saying to the mothers: "I
haven't prayed in six years.
I haven't gone into a synagogue since
my son's bar mitzvah. When I heard what had happened to your sons, I
turned my house upside down to look for my grandfather's prayer book. I
sat down and prayed." Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that because
of what was happening he was going to begin observing Shabbat and
publicly said he would not answer his phone until the stars come out on
Saturday night. President Shimon Peres said and I quote: "three
families like this can lift up a nation to heights previously unknown
and I'm not exaggerating. It's been several days that Israel has been
different, unified, joined, praying, fighting". One of the other mothers
(Bat-Galim) said that a chatan, a groom came to her home on the morning
of his wedding to encourage them and Racheli referenced a large prayer
gathering in Talmon organized by both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Chief
Rabbis of Israel. She ended the conference call with her prayer that
the current sense of unity should serve as a tikkun, as a spiritual
rectification for the divisiveness spoken of in that weeks' Torah
portion, Parshat Korach. And so in our sadness and outrage we
shouldn't lose the sense of love and unity that was somehow brought
about and which is so often missing from our community.
We should also recognize one more unique value for which Judaism can truly be
proud: our love for life and basic sense of humanity. Could you ever
imagine a Jew celebrating the abduction and murder of a child, even one
from our enemy?
It's unheard of in the Jewish community because
ultimately Judaism celebrates life. The Torah is a guidebook to filling
our lives with meaning and purpose.
By celebrating the kidnapping
and murder of innocent children our enemy has shown their true colors
and demonstrated that the God they worship is not a God of life and love
but one of hatred and death.
Ultimately this is a tragedy of
immense proportion and the Jewish people will never be the same without
our three boys. But the way these brave families and Jews from all
over the world have reacted to this huge blow only strengthens the
treasured Jewish values of unity and love for life. May our continuing
to celebrate life through Torah serve to elevate the souls of Eyal,
Naftali and Gilad, zichonam livracha. May their memory be a blessing and
may their families be comforted amongst all the mourners of Zion and
Jerusalem.
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