Stop the Fighting

Dear friends, 

My nieces and nephews hear the sounds of rockets falling. My parents, walking or driving along, hear the alarms, and either rush into the entrance room of some building, or lie down on the ground with their heads covering their heads. Thank God I’m past the age when my friends are at the Gaza border, awaiting orders to invade. I am filled with fear for those I love in Israel. 

I have never been to Gaza, nor do I have friends there. But my heart goes out to the people there, I fear for them, pray for them, call my representatives primarily on their behalf. They suffer the worst burden of this conflict. They are in the gravest danger.  

In this war, my Palestinian friends in Israel are in danger too. Not only from the rockets from Gaza, but from Jewish fanatics. Before the rockets and the bombs were beatings of Arabs and other provocations perpetrated by right wing organizations supported by the government. In my hometown, Jerusalem, there were nightly attacks on Arabs for weeks. Those led to terrible retaliations and riots, including on Temple Mount, where the Israeli police shot stun grenades into Al Aqsa Mosque, the holiest Muslim site in the holy land. That was a (preventable) point of no-return. All this leaves us not only with a war in Gaza, but with the biggest confrontation between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel in decades. Today many were injured in these confrontations, and one Jew and one Muslim were beaten to death by mobs. 

Less than a month ago, on Israeli Independence Day, I shared with you the terrifying thought that because we happen to live in that rare historical period when a Jewish state exists, we have no choice but to take part in its story. I hate to come at you so soon after, when you are probably still chewing on that suggestion, but I still believe that to be true. As Mordechai says to Esther: 

“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place... And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” 

You and I are in the king’s house. We are in the United States of America. If anyone has any power over the one agent who has control of Israel/Palestine, the Israeli government, it’s our government. We should not remain silent. We should demand that our representatives do everything in their power to stop this violence by restraining the Israeli government. If you are concerned for the safety of Israelis as I am, know that we are privileged to live in a period when Israeli military response is not in danger. The residents of Gaza, Israel and the West Bank are in danger. So what’s on us is to call our representatives, to come out to the streets, to post and yell and pray in all the ways we know how - that Israel restrain itself, that the violence stop.  

Obviously Hamas must restrain itself too. Obviously, the Israeli government does not function in a vacuum. Obviously, there is plenty of blame to go around. But I tell you this from the depths of my conviction: my family and friends’ survival in Israel depends on the American demand for restraint.  

There is a lot more to say about what led to this situation. We will talk about it more in the coming months. But for now there is one prayer, one call that I have: Stop the fighting now. 

Perhaps more importantly, if you have friends or family in Israel/Palestine - check in on them, send them your love. Let them know you’re thinking about them. And if you would like to speak with me about this painful situation please do reach out. 

With love and prayers for a quick end to the fighting,
Rabbi Misha