It's not easy to write a column in a week like this.
The ink is mixed with tears and emotion takes over the mind, every message about another death of our brothers on the front breaks the heart and breaks through the barriers of tears. The thought of dozens of families who have joined the circle of bereavement, of a new widow carrying the son of the slain in her womb, and of a 4-year-old orphan who asks why her father hasn't arrived yet, makes it difficult for us to conduct a normal routine, and fascinates us all with what is happening in Gaza. Our bodies may be on the home front, but our hearts are on the front lines.
""All her pursuers overtook her among the Egyptians.".
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We became accustomed to supernatural leadership in the first few weeks, we experienced visible miracles in the face of the missile barrages and there was a feeling that angels were shielding us with their wings and taking care to divert the missiles to open areas. Even when interception fragments fell near gas balloons and missiles landed on houses, miracles occurred when no one was hurt.
We almost got used to all of this, but then we entered the difficult and bitter period of "among the Egyptians." On the 17th day of Tammuz, we were informed of the first casualty in the operation. Feelings of comfort took the place of feelings of revenge, and slowly we realized that the ground operation that we had all longed for had a price.
Message followed message and more soldiers were taken from us, the heart was torn with each family that joined the circle of bereavement and the eyes were tearful in front of the pictures of the heroes who were taken from us, heroes who gave their lives for us, heroes who in their death commanded our lives.
But it was precisely out of the darkness that light came. The shared fate and the sense of bereavement peeled away the layers of discord from the people of Israel, and our people were revealed in all their glory.
We have become one people, a special people.
On the afternoons when we were informed of the combined attack that took the lives of 15 soldiers, I arrived at a relative's wedding. The feelings were difficult and it was not easy to rejoice at such times, but then when I heard the mohel recite the blessing, "And I will pass over you and see you wallowing in your blood and say to you, 'In your blood I live.'" I understood that this little baby is the victory of the people of Israel, the blood of the circumcision is the answer to the blood of the dead, and the slogan 'In your blood I live' has accompanied the people of Israel throughout its entire existence.
This is what unites us, and this is what makes us unique.
Do you have a tassel in the office?
In the evening I arrived at my club, after the lesson one of the boys approached me and asked if I had a tzitzit in the office, "I listened to the lesson and I feel sorry for the soldiers. I want to take it upon myself to wear a tzitzit in their honor." I hugged him and was moved, "You have seen this with Israel," I turned to the boys, "We are all one man and we all feel a partnership and commitment with our brothers on the front lines. Who else wants to take it upon themselves to accept their success?""
What happened there amazed me. Each boy took on a different subject, one took on tefillin and the other took on strict observance of Shabbat laws, one on honoring parents and his friend on strict observance of blessings.
I came out of there strengthened.
I understood that it may be possible to harm the Jewish people, but they will never succeed in breaking their spirit, and the more they harm our bodies, the stronger and more powerful our souls will become.
In the evening prayer, I already addressed the Creator of the world in simple words; 'Father, it's true... During the period between the Egyptians, the standard of justice was stretched, taking public sacrifices from us as during the destruction of the Temple, but during that period the Temple was destroyed for the sin of gratuitous hatred. Look at how much gratuitous love there is among us, look at how much the people of Israel are uniting now, never stopping collecting supplies for the soldiers, never stopping praying for them, look at the tens of thousands of people who came to the funeral of the lone soldier, look at what a special people you have.
Don't we deserve redemption?
Isn't it time?
I also have a symbolic date, "Tisha B'Av 5774, closed?""
