Blog

A Blog Series by Josh Scharff

Josh Scharff is a TI community member and Development Coordinator and Student Rabbi at The Daniel Centers for Progressive Judaism currently living in Tel Aviv, Israel.
 

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2023

Six Days and Everything Has Changed
What the past days of fighting have broken, both physically and conceptually.

This past week we read Parashat B’reshit, the first portion of the Torah that recounts the creation of the world. The Kabbalists teach that in the moment of creation, God filled ten vessels with divine light. However, these vessels were too fragile to contain such an overwhelming powerful light. They broke open, split asunder, and all the holy sparks were scattered like sand, like seeds, like stars.

Just as these vessels shattered due to the sheer power of their contents, so have so many Israelis and Jews around the world been shattered by the indescribably horrific reality of the attacks that began only six days ago. Every conversation opens the same as it did before this war: mah shlomcha - how are you? But that question has become rhetorical. We are all broken in a manner that we have not been before.

Much has been written about the atrocities carried out, the loss of life, the shattered families and communities that can never be put back together. Please, do not turn away from this, inform yourself as much as you can about these horrible acts. I would like to focus elsewhere and share with you some thoughts about something else that has been shattered in the past days. Many deeply held conceptions and paradigms that Israelis and Jews around the world held have been turned upside down. The spiritual wound this has inflicted and will leave will play a central role in what will be and the work we must do once this terrible war comes to an end.

The first conception that was shattered is that the defense establishment, including its armed forces, intelligence service, and security apparatus, can and will defend Israeli communities on sovereign soil. The names of communities like Nahal Oz, Be’eri, Kfar Aza and others serve as terrifying memorials that this is not the case. Families hid for hours in safe rooms as terrorists moved with impunity through their communities, texting friends, even journalists begging for intervention by the army. No help came. In effect, for the first time since the 1948 Independence War, Israeli communities fell to an invading force. The consequences of which were paid by women, men, children - people of all ages who were tortured, murdered, and worse by Hamas terrorists. What can the Israeli nation do if the “strongest army in the Middle East” is not responsive to potential threats? As we now know, there were intelligence reports that something out of the ordinary was taking form in Gaza? What can the Israeli nation do if, when a crisis comes, the response is not swift and devastating from those tasked to protest them?

The second conception is that of the responsiveness of the Israeli state. The Israeli state since its inception in 1948 has positioned itself, and is seen by its citizens, as the ultimate problem solver for issues facing Israeli citizens. Even through decades of right-wing, more capitalist, less interventionist governance, this conception of the role of government in all civilian matters from housing, to the price of goods, to security still holds. What we have seen is that the government with all its resources and ministries who are supposed to be the ones responding to a crisis, are simply not. The level of incompetence of so many of the individuals chosen to serve as ministers, tasked to serve the public and place its needs before all else, has been appalling. Since its establishment earlier this year this government (of which I will readily admit that I am not a supporter) has been focused primarily on issues that, whether you support or oppose, exacerbated already existing divisions in society. Their focus on promoting their own parties’ ideological interests or demonizing their political opponents has come at the expense of doing the actual work that they were asked to do. And, when crisis came, they were not and are still not able to respond in a way that the citizens deserve. The only bright spot through this failure is the incredible work that the Israeli citizenry took upon itself to organize, to unify, and to aid those who are most in need at this time. As my good friend and colleague Rabbi Galit Cohen-Kedem wrote: this awful government does not deserve its wonderful citizens.

The third conception which has shaken me and so many of my Jewish friends and family is the stunning silence of so many that we considered friends and ideological partners. It began as the terror attacks unfolded and shifted and became more grotesque as the gruesome details came to light. Many of the same people with whom we had marched, prayed, and cried in the face of injustice and war in recent years fell silent. When it was Jewish lives that were stolen, when it was the Jewish State that faced threats from an enemy who abhors the West and all of the progressive values we cherish - the silence was stunning and damning. Those who we look to for moral leadership from university presidents, journalists, politicians, and other public figures, for so many of them a simple statement that ‘Hamas is a terrorist organization and we condemn their actions’ was suddenly an impossible challenge. As images and videos of killings, abuse, and kidnappings were published for the entire world to see, there were individuals who claimed to be on the side of justice and human rights who came to contextualize those acts. Even worse, they cast doubt that they actually had taken place, as if they were part of some grand conspiracy to gain sympathy for Israelis and Jews. Perhaps the writing has perhaps been on the wall for some time now. In so many so-called progressive spaces there was room for all, except for Jews. I will admit that I, like many of you perhaps, tried to overlook this reality because of ideological convenience. But no longer. The antisemitism that has been allowed to perpetuate in these spaces can no longer be tolerated and there must be concerted efforts to weed it out.

So much has been broken, shattered in the last week. The seventh of October, 2023, will go down in history as an inflection point in Israeli history and in Jewish History. What was is not what will be. While we may be shattered in this instant, we will build and begin to collect the many scattered pieces of our People. Indeed, as our tradition teaches, we are commanded to put as many of the broken pieces of the vessels of creation back together as we can in a process known as tikkun olam - repairing the world. May Shabbat B’reshit present us with the opportunity to begin to build the world anew. May the one who blessed our Mothers and Fathers grant his people Israel strength to do what we must in the challenging days to come, and bring us swiftly days of peace.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2023

Helplessness is a crippling sensation. At 6:30 am on Saturday, October 7, I looked at the faces of my neighbors gathered in the stairwell of my Tel Aviv apartment, ranging in age from elderly to newborn, and that is what I saw. As the blare of the siren rang out and we just simply waited for the inevitable boom, ideally of the Iron Dome interceptor to ring out above our heads to signal to us that we could return to our homes. Shortly after this first round, I traveled to a good friend’s home to spend the day with her and her family because they, unlike my building, have a bomb shelter. There we spent more hours feeling helpless: running to the shelter as sirens blared overhead and as report after terrifying report came in through various news sources about the events happening several dozen miles south of us along the Gaza border.

We were just five of millions of Israelis gripped by helplessness yesterday. And, friends, we were the lucky ones. Along the Gaza border, the residents of small towns and the kibbutzim were not so lucky. I will not mince words here so you may want to read through before discussing with younger readers. The towns along the border were invaded and occupied by Hamas militants. These armed men killed indiscriminately, soldier and civilian alike. They went house to house, searching for their Jewish occupants, and executing many of those they found. Others, without regard for age or sex, were taken hostage and dragged by their captors back into the Gaza strip, their arrival a cause for celebration for many Gazans. Hundreds have been killed, dozens have been kidnapped, and dozens more are still missing, leaving their families with no knowledge of the health or whereabouts of their loved ones. We will not know the full extent of the carnage until this war comes to an end, may it be Adonai’s will that it will end soon.

October 7, 2023, will be remembered as an inflection point in Israeli history. Whatever was before will not be what comes after. Long-held conceptions about Hamas, its abilities and its desires, have been shattered. The widely held conception that Israeli communities were secure from attack because of advanced technology deployed on the borders was shattered. Most painfully, the conception that whenever an Israeli was in trouble that help, whether the army or special forces, was never too far away was also shattered as families spent eight, ten, and twelve hours locked in their shelters without electricity, calling friends and reporters begging for help - but none came.

Friends, Israel will win this war. That victory will come at a very high price, one that has already been paid by too many. As I write this the number of confirmed dead has eclipsed 1,200 and wounded nearly 2,400. I fear that many more will be lost in the days and weeks to come.

Please, friends, do not turn your eyes away from this conflict. If you will allow me, a few suggestions for how you can help:

• Reach out to your Israeli friends and family. It is a small thing, but it will mean more to them than you can know.
• Call and write your representatives to send messages of support for Israel so Congress and the government will give Israel all of the tools it needs.
• Find an organization that is gathering funds for food for soldiers and families whose loved ones have been drafted.
• The Jewish Federation of St. Louis has opened an Israel Emergency Fund to provide services and support. Donations can be made here.

While there is much fear, confusion, and pain, there is not a single Israeli who doubts that the Jewish state and the Jewish People will come out victorious from this conflict. May it be Your will, God of our Mothers and Fathers, that those who defend the people of Israel be safe from harm and may they return swiftly to the embrace of their loved ones.

יְהוָה עֹז לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן יְהוָה יְבָרֵךְ אֶת־עַמּוֹ בַשָּׁלוֹם׃
Adonai oz l’amo yiten, Adonai yivarech et amo va’shalom
May Adonai grant immense strength to his people, and ma­­y He bless them with peace.