The approaching holidays of Tishrei raise doubts in the hearts of many this year. We are engaged in a difficult war against our enemies. More than a hundred of our sons and daughters are still kidnapped by the cruel monsters in Gaza. More than sixteen hundred families have lost their loved ones in this campaign. Tens of thousands of residents of the south and the north are still unable to return to their homes.<\/p>\r\n
Is it time to celebrate?<\/p>\r\n
In fact, this dilemma has accompanied the Jewish people throughout history. Haters of Israel in all generations have targeted acts of violence against Jews on holidays and festivals. The Nazis were particularly skilled at this. They sought to harm not only the Jewish body but also its spirit. To take away from the Jewish people its soul and the sources of its strength.<\/p>\r\n
The Jewish response throughout the ages has been to celebrate in spite of everything. Despite the hatred and wrath of our enemies. Not to give them what they want. Even in the extermination camps, the Jews made great efforts to celebrate the Jewish holidays, even with the meager means at their disposal.<\/p>\r\n
Because this melody cannot and must not be stopped!<\/p>\r\n
The happy one wins.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n After the Holocaust, good Jews proposed leaving an empty chair at the Seder table, in memory of the six million. The Lubavitcher Rebbe rejected the idea. He explained that the memory of the Holocaust requires separate attention, and should not be confused with the atmosphere of a holiday or a festival. He also said that this is exactly what the Nazi tyrant wanted, that there should be empty chairs in Jewish homes. It is appropriate to do the opposite: Do you have room for another chair? Don't leave it empty, but invite another Jew to the Seder table.<\/p>\r\n This is the Jewish response to anyone who seeks to disable our holidays.<\/p>\r\n Indeed, when it comes to mere parties and entertainment, there is certainly room to reduce them, out of identification with the people's pain. But Israel's holidays are not parties. They are sources of strength and power. These are precious days that give us spiritual assets that are necessary on days like these. The holidays are essential to our resilience and the determination of our war, and we must celebrate them with greater intensity and vigor.<\/p>\r\n We saw the soldiers singing and dancing before entering Gaza. They knew full well that this was a war, and that naturally there would be some who would not return. The singing and dancing were not meant to 'make people happy', but rather to fill the soul with strength and power, to raise morale and to go out into battle with confidence. No one wins a war out of depression and despondency, but rather with joy and youthful vigor.<\/p>\r\n To ask in prayers<\/strong><\/p>\r\n The High Holy Days are precisely the time to pray to our Father in Heaven and ask for everything we all desire. In fact, everything appears in the prayer cycle: "Frustrate the plans of our haters. Frustrate the counsel of our enemies. Consume... the sword, the captivity, and the destruction of your covenant people. Make sacrifices for your holiness. Avenge the shed blood of your servants.".<\/p>\r\n Rosh Hashanah includes festivities and tears, honorable feasts and prayers with a broken heart. It is also the historical Jewish story \u2013 \"In your blood I live.\" Our existence combines pain and growth, loss and building. Each such element deserves the right attention, and there is a time for everything. But the holidays must be celebrated and drawn from them strength for the entire year.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9 \u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc \u05d4\u05dd \u05de\u05e7\u05d5\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05db\u05d5\u05d7 \u05d5\u05e2\u05d5\u05e6\u05de\u05d4. \u05d4\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05dd \u05d7\u05d9\u05d5\u05e0\u05d9\u05d9\u05dd \u05dc\u05db\u05d5\u05e9\u05e8 \u05e2\u05de\u05d9\u05d3\u05ea\u05e0\u05d5 \u05d5\u05dc\u05e0\u05d7\u05d9\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea \u05de\u05dc\u05d7\u05de\u05ea\u05e0\u05d5, \u05d5\u05e2\u05dc\u05d9\u05e0\u05d5 \u05dc\u05d7\u05d2\u05d5\u05d2 \u05d0\u05d5\u05ea\u05dd \u05d1\u05d9\u05ea\u05e8 \u05e9\u05d0\u05ea \u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea\u05e8 \u05e2\u05d5\u05d6","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":936027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[138],"tags":[6238,7302],"class_list":["post-936026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-138","tag-6238","tag-7302"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n