1.
There was something a little strange about the ambulance siren that sounded in the distance during the Torah reading on Simchat Torah in the Shaarei Chesed neighborhood of Jerusalem. For a moment, the thought crossed my mind that it might be an alarm, but since none of the worshippers in the Vatican minyan at the Kahal Hasidim synagogue showed any signs of panic, I thought I was just imagining it. At those very moments, the reader solemnly read the last verses of the Torah: "Blessed be you, O Israel! Who is like you!".
The exclamation marks, of course, do not appear in the body of the verse, but they appeared in the voice of the reader. In the process, I glanced at Rashi, who makes the verse even more moving: "Blessed be Israel - after he had recited the blessings to them, he said to them: Why should I recite everything to you? Everything is yours.".
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Wow. We all know the blessings that are recited over and over again in the Torah reading of Simchat Torah: "To Benjamin he said: The friend of the Lord will dwell in safety," "To Joseph he said: Blessed is the Lord's land," "To Zebulun he said: Rejoice, Zebulun, in your departure," etc., etc. But actually after all the detailed blessings of the "And this is the blessing," Moses says: What is there to say and detail? It's a waste of time. It's all yours. Period.
And here comes the second part of the verse: "A people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help, and the sword of your pride." Your salvation is from the Lord, explains Rashi. He is the sword of your pride. So it is true, there are those who will not accept this: "And your enemies will deny you" - but, Moses promises us: "And you will tread on their high places!". Again, the exclamation mark is in the voice of the reader.
In the terrible days that have passed since Simchat Torah morning, I try to find encouragement in this verse. And I'm sure I'm not the only one. After all, many, many went out to the battlefield accompanied by the blessing of Moses our Lord.
2.
And another thought that crossed my mind this week: Every Shabbat, after reading the Torah, Ashkenazi communities say the Av Harachamim prayer. "The Father of Mercy, who dwells on high, in His immense mercy He will visit with mercy the pious, the upright, and the innocent, the holy communities who have given their lives for the holiness of God.".
More than once, when this shocking prayer, composed after the riots of 1918 and 1919, was said, I was struck by how irrelevant it is to the times we live in. True, painfully, Jews are still being murdered for the sanctity of God, but this terrible description – "holy communities that gave their lives for the sanctity of God" – is something that belongs to distant history, to exile. There are individuals, and in particularly difficult cases, even families, such as the terrible massacre of the Fogel family in Itamar or the Gavish family in Alon Moreh.
But entire communities? That won't happen in our generation. Never again.
So this coming Shabbat, when they say the prayer for "the holy communities that gave their lives for the sanctification of God," it will be, much to the horror, the most contemporary there is: the holy community of Be'ere, the holy community of Netiv Ha'esra, the holy community of Nir Oz, the holy community of Holit, the holy community of Nahal Oz, the holy community of Kfar Aza. Entire communities that gave their lives for the sanctification of God. The beloved and pleasant ones in life and in death were not separated. May our God remember them favorably with the rest of the righteous of the world.
3.
""Where were you when you heard about..." I think that in the case of the Simchat Torah events of 1944, the question would be asked in a slightly different way. Not "Where were you?", but "When did you understand?".
Because of the sanctity of the holiday and Shabbat, we didn't receive all the information right away. It took time to arrive. And in the meantime, terrible and horrible rumors were circulating. By the way, looking back, it turns out that this was a very rare case in which the reality was much more difficult than all the waves of the most delusional and unfounded rumors.
I personally understood that this was indeed a very serious incident when a small vehicle burst into the festive alleys of Sha'arei Chesed, filled with dozens of worshippers, including many Jews from the United States who come to Israel to make a pilgrimage for the holiday of Sukkot. Inside, I recognized Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner, a resident of the neighborhood. His vehicle stopped for a moment because of the crowds on the road, and I took advantage of the stop to ask him if the situation was as serious as they say.
He replied with one chilling sentence: "Much worse than that. Pray.".
4.
Eisner rushed to the Gaza Strip, and I slowly entered the Ziv seminary for converts. In recent years, the hakafot there have been the happiest thing in the entire region. People from all over Jerusalem (and actually from all over the country) come to be moved by the hakafot of the young people who, until a moment ago, did not know the Torah and now dance with it, embraced and glued to it.
But this time the atmosphere was completely different. Not "Shishhu and Rejoice" but prayer songs with tears. "Ana Bo'uk," "Vehi Sha'amda," "Brothers, all the house of Israel." At those moments, no one knew exactly what was happening in the south, but it was clear that this was a serious incident, because immediately after the first alarm, the students went up to their rooms to turn on their phones, and then the calls for the reserve units started coming.
Every few minutes, another student who had been picked up by his unit entered the beit midrash and came to say goodbye to the rabbis and friends and receive a "Mei Shebirach" (He who blessed) before heading off to battle. Another student, another student, another student. Roy ben Rinat. Ilan Pavel ben Helena. Tomer ben Sigal. Itamar ben Orit... It became a kind of regular ritual that made the heart tremble every time: the picked-up soldier receives the heavy Torah scroll in his hands, stands in the center of the circle, the entire yeshiva (or what was left of it, after so many were picked up) sings him a song of encouragement, and Rabbi Eliyahu Ilani, the head of the yeshiva, gives him a long "Mei Shebirach" (He who blessed) with great intention, including personal additions for each student.
Many have tears in their eyes, but no one breaks down. On the contrary, an atmosphere of faith, of strength. Of "Do not fear, Israel, do not be afraid." Of "Save your people and bless your inheritance." Of "May this hour be a time of mercy and a time of favor from you.".
5.
And more on the subject of prayers. Attorney Rami Goren writes to me: "I wanted to write to you two weeks ago that one of the times I glanced at 'Patriots' I heard you talking about Brigadier General Ofer Winter and what they did to him for daring to mention the name of God and a number of verses in his letter to the soldiers before going into battle at Protective Edge. I thought it would be worth bringing to your attention the blessing of the late Rabbi Shlomo Goren to the IDF soldiers at the beginning of the Six-Day War as a blatant contrast to the heavens.
""The Six-Day War began on Monday morning, and an official announcement was made at 8:10 in a radio broadcast that exploded on all the networks (at that time there were only Kol Yisrael – Channels A and B – and Galei Tzahal): 'Listen to the announcement of the IDF spokesman: Since the early hours of this morning, fierce battles have been taking place between Egyptian air and armored forces that were moving towards Israel and our forces that came out to stop them.' Shortly thereafter, at about 8:30, my father went on air on all the networks and broadcast the blessing of the Chief Rabbi to the IDF to open the campaign. When you listen to what is said, it is simply hard to believe that this is in the same universe that Ofer Winter lived in. I am attaching the original recording for you. I think it is worth bringing to the public's attention that there is no sin in such a blessing, and that those who are considered mythological national heroes lived with it in complete peace.".
6.
I listened to the historical recording and was surprised. Even my generation, who were born long after the Six-Day War, can quote by heart what Rabbi Goren said immediately after the liberation of the Western Wall. Actually, it's more than quoting. Over the years, we have heard the recording of the liberation of the Western Wall on various occasions, so many times, that we literally hear in our heads the voice of Rabbi Goren blessing and shouting: "Menachem Zion and builder of Jerusalem!" And now it turns out that three days earlier, at the beginning of the war, Rabbi Goren had also spoken (by the way, with no less passion than at the liberation of the Western Wall), but this passage is not at all familiar.
So here are the words that were beautiful and strengthening for that fateful hour, the beginning of the Six-Day War (including in Gaza) 56 years ago, and are also beautiful and strengthening for this difficult week and this campaign. Please imagine them in Rabbi Goren's pathos-filled voice:
""Soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces on land, in the air, and at sea. The Lord is with you, heroes of the army. 'Hear, O Israel, you are approaching war today against your enemies.' Here comes the great day for the people of Israel, as you march this day toward the great and decisive campaign to save Israel from its enemies who rose up against it to annihilate and destroy it. Dear soldiers, the eyes of all Israel are now upon you, 'Do not let your hearts faint, do not fear, do not be hasty, and do not be dismayed by them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you.' Go in this strength and save Israel. 'Please, the Lord, please save! Please, the Lord, please succeed!'".
artist.
