Rabbi Nehamia Lavi

Yesterday at four o'clock they came to take him. My son. An armored company commander in the IDF reserves. They took him to fight again in Gaza. They took, and we gave him. We gave – with trepidation. We gave – with care. We gave – in silence, we gave – and our hearts skipped a beat. We gave – and this unspoken fear hung in the air. But we gave. We gave – because the mission has not yet been completed. Because the threat and horror must be eliminated once and for all. Because we must fight at this time. Despite, and maybe because of, the fear. Because of the fear of the knock on the door. Because of the fear of bereaved mothers and wives, and crying fathers, and orphans and brothers and friends. Because of the fear of never seeing him again. Because of the fear of bereavement. We tried it all. We sold security and values in return for quiet. We attempted agreements with child murderers. We shook hands. We smiled at them with clenched teeth. We accepted Nobel Prizes for Peace. And we accepted. We accepted so much. We even lied to ourselves that restraint is strength, and only if we show restraint, we will buy ourselves peace. We lied to ourselves with amazing determination that our enemies are like us. All they want is some land and livelihood and a peaceful life. They are like us, our enemies. They are logical. A little quiet is all we asked for and we defended ourselves to death. We believed that we could fight against this fear with walls. Fear of bereavement. Fear of pain. We built an Iron Dome and an Arrow missile. We built smart fences and bypass roads. We placed our wonderful daughters to watch the enemy’s face (our murdered, kidnapped, raped daughters) and built an illusion of peace and security. Because we didn't want to give what was most precious to us. But we were wrong. We were so wrong that this time we have sworn “no more”!!! We are ready to give and ready to risk and ready to cry and ready to never see one again. To eliminate evil. To fight evil to the bitter end. To sow fear in their hearts. For as long as heinous murderers are able to crush the skull of a 14-year-old shepherd boy, they have no fear. As long as they are able to rape our daughters, shoot in our streets, run over, stab, and shoot, they have no fear. So, we have to, we must, and so we will. We will fight them to the bitter end. Until we sacrifice ourselves. To the end. Until the very end. Can you hear us, leaders? Can you hear us, Cabinet members? Can you hear us, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu? This is an historic hour. It will not return. Destroy the enemy in the north. Destroy the enemy in the south. Destroy the enemy in the east. Do not hesitate. Do not consider the immediate price. Now it's our turn. Now it's your turn. Be determined, as our sons are determined. Don't consider the 'whether'. Only consider the 'how.' Fight them. Eliminate them. Hurt them. Remove the threat from our streets. Do not listen to the world powers. History has shown that they have done so much more for so much less. Be brave. Don't stop the war. Empower the war. Now in the midst of the Passover holiday, they came to take – and we gave. We put our hands on his head and gave him the ancient blessing. May God bless you and protect you. May He deal kindly and graciously with you. May He bestow Divine favor upon you and grant you peace. We did not bless you to go in peace. We demanded, go to war. Go and destroy our enemies. Pursue them and catch them and release our hostages. Then, only then, we will all walk together in the land of the living. Amen.

Rabbi Nehamia Lavi

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