We are living in days in which light and darkness are mixed together. We are witnessing times when the lines between good and evil seem to be blurred, or totally non-existent.
When terror raises its ugly head, there are many well-meaning people who would rather try to explain away the root causes of this evil than confront and stop its rampage. This desire may be seen as laudable, and even logical, except that hesitancy regarding direct confrontation with evil is perceived by that evil simply as impotent weakness. Yet, in a world wherein confusion reins, it is this trend of avoidance that is taking hold.
A perfect example of this attitude was presented recently by Britain's Conservative Party leader David Cameron, in his speech to a British and American audience on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attack. Cameron said that "neoconservative" policies (read: the War on Terror) lacked "humility and patience" and "represented a view which sees only light and darkness in the world." He disparaged references to an "axis of evil" as unsophisticated, saying "foreign policy decisions are not black and white."
Yet, terrorism for the sake of terror cannot be anything but darkness. The purposeful murder of innocents, for whatever ideal, cannot be construed as light. In a world suffering under a fog of confusion regarding values, everything becomes relative and simple truths are deemed "unsophisticated."
In this part of the world, clear thinking becomes critical for survival. Twenty years of the same type of cloudy judgment by Israel's leaders has sown much pain and heartache in this battered land. Yitzchak Rabin, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon and even Binyamin Netanyahu have fallen prey to the lure of easy, yet unattainable, solutions. By so doing, they have all tilled and prepared the ground that nourishes evil and terror.
However, in the midst of all this pain and heartache, the people have, by necessity, become stronger and more determined. In the midst of sorrow, they have had to make decisions to reach beyond it, to the positive and the good. It is that optimism and strength that will eventually guide this people to safer and more secure harbors.
Staff Sergeant Amsa Masholmi, 20 (H.y.d.), killed in Lebanon recently, belonged to one of the best-known families in Gush Katif. Amsa and his 16 siblings grew up in Netzarim, the family home until the Disengagement a year ago. Amsa's friends say he underwent a personal crisis in the wake of the disengagement from the Gaza Strip and even considered leaving the army. Amsa's father, Yehoshua, said that his son had no doubts about this mission of the Israel Defense Forces, though. Three years ago, Amsa moved into a trailer in Ofra, where he completed high school and met his future wife, Yonat. They married about a year ago, and Yonat gave birth to their daughter last week, after the death of the baby's father.
The Masholmi family, overwhelmed by darkness, still speaks publicly in terms of Israel's Divine destiny and of this people's future. In the midst of the pall that has overtaken the family, they have reached further and have not lost their faith in the coming light.
Lieutenant Colonel Emanuel Morano (H.y.d.), one of the commanders of Israel's most elite units, Sayeret Matkal, was killed in a secret operation deep inside enemy territory. The mission's purpose was to prevent the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to the Hizbullah. He is survived by his wife Maya and their three children, and four brothers. To this day, military censorship will not allow publication of his picture in the media, yet whispered accounts of his bravery and modesty have inspired songs and legends within the army.
Several days before the military operation that took Emanuel Morano's life, a missile took down an Israeli helicopter, killing five young men. Very shortly after this disaster, Morano was sitting with his men on another helicopter on their way to another mission. Emanuel asked one of his comrades, "What would you do if we were, G-d forbid, hit by a missile and we had ten seconds left to live?"
The fellow soldier said, "I don't know, I guess I'd be sad and I'd close my eyes and wait for it to happen."
Emanuel thought for a moment and said, "I would say 'Shema Yisrael'. If a man has only seconds left to his life and yet he still fills them with meaning, then his whole life has meaning. Each stage of our existence is simply the step before something greater."
Emanuel Moran has moved on to the next step after living a life filled with meaning and purpose. The soldier who related this incident to Emanuel's family said that those words have never left him, and have greatly impacted and changed him.
Lior Tibi was wounded in the last war and has been recuperating in the intensive care ward of Rambam Hospital ever since. Lior's sister was engaged to be married and the wedding date was fast approaching, yet his family would not and could not leave his bedside.
The family thought they would have to postpone the wedding, but then Rambam Hospital offered to help. The whole wedding celebration was moved to the hospital. Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan, the rabbi of Rambam Hospital, and the family's rabbi together conducted the wedding under a hupah set up beside Lior's bed. As both officiating rabbis were Kohanim (hereditary priests), they blessed the new young couple and the bride's brother Lior in a ceremony awash with sadness and joy, hope and pain.
Such is the reality of this period of the people's journey to their destiny. The birth pangs of this nation invariably involve a painful mixture of destruction and hope. In order to survive the destruction, one must continually focus on vision and hope. Never before have the choices been so clear and evident. These are choices between the yearning for anonymity and for self-effacement by part of our people, and the courageous and faithful resoluteness of the healthier and more vibrant part.
As we enter the season of the Days of Awe, we must remember that Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) is not only the Day of Judgment, but it is also a time of choices.
We must, in the midst of hardship, choose to focus on vision and destiny, rather than on hopelessness and fear. We must decide to connect with that which is noble and courageous in our people, and distance ourselves from the cowardly, self-serving actions of those who claim to be our leadership.
In these days, we bless each other with the traditional blessing, "May you have a good and sweet new year." As faithful Jews, we believe that all things are ultimately for the good, but we pray that G-d allows us to also sense the sweetness of those same things.
May we all be inscribed for a good and sweet new year.
When terror raises its ugly head, there are many well-meaning people who would rather try to explain away the root causes of this evil than confront and stop its rampage. This desire may be seen as laudable, and even logical, except that hesitancy regarding direct confrontation with evil is perceived by that evil simply as impotent weakness. Yet, in a world wherein confusion reins, it is this trend of avoidance that is taking hold.
A perfect example of this attitude was presented recently by Britain's Conservative Party leader David Cameron, in his speech to a British and American audience on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attack. Cameron said that "neoconservative" policies (read: the War on Terror) lacked "humility and patience" and "represented a view which sees only light and darkness in the world." He disparaged references to an "axis of evil" as unsophisticated, saying "foreign policy decisions are not black and white."
Yet, terrorism for the sake of terror cannot be anything but darkness. The purposeful murder of innocents, for whatever ideal, cannot be construed as light. In a world suffering under a fog of confusion regarding values, everything becomes relative and simple truths are deemed "unsophisticated."
In this part of the world, clear thinking becomes critical for survival. Twenty years of the same type of cloudy judgment by Israel's leaders has sown much pain and heartache in this battered land. Yitzchak Rabin, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon and even Binyamin Netanyahu have fallen prey to the lure of easy, yet unattainable, solutions. By so doing, they have all tilled and prepared the ground that nourishes evil and terror.
However, in the midst of all this pain and heartache, the people have, by necessity, become stronger and more determined. In the midst of sorrow, they have had to make decisions to reach beyond it, to the positive and the good. It is that optimism and strength that will eventually guide this people to safer and more secure harbors.
Staff Sergeant Amsa Masholmi, 20 (H.y.d.), killed in Lebanon recently, belonged to one of the best-known families in Gush Katif. Amsa and his 16 siblings grew up in Netzarim, the family home until the Disengagement a year ago. Amsa's friends say he underwent a personal crisis in the wake of the disengagement from the Gaza Strip and even considered leaving the army. Amsa's father, Yehoshua, said that his son had no doubts about this mission of the Israel Defense Forces, though. Three years ago, Amsa moved into a trailer in Ofra, where he completed high school and met his future wife, Yonat. They married about a year ago, and Yonat gave birth to their daughter last week, after the death of the baby's father.
The Masholmi family, overwhelmed by darkness, still speaks publicly in terms of Israel's Divine destiny and of this people's future. In the midst of the pall that has overtaken the family, they have reached further and have not lost their faith in the coming light.
Lieutenant Colonel Emanuel Morano (H.y.d.), one of the commanders of Israel's most elite units, Sayeret Matkal, was killed in a secret operation deep inside enemy territory. The mission's purpose was to prevent the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to the Hizbullah. He is survived by his wife Maya and their three children, and four brothers. To this day, military censorship will not allow publication of his picture in the media, yet whispered accounts of his bravery and modesty have inspired songs and legends within the army.
Several days before the military operation that took Emanuel Morano's life, a missile took down an Israeli helicopter, killing five young men. Very shortly after this disaster, Morano was sitting with his men on another helicopter on their way to another mission. Emanuel asked one of his comrades, "What would you do if we were, G-d forbid, hit by a missile and we had ten seconds left to live?"
The fellow soldier said, "I don't know, I guess I'd be sad and I'd close my eyes and wait for it to happen."
Emanuel thought for a moment and said, "I would say 'Shema Yisrael'. If a man has only seconds left to his life and yet he still fills them with meaning, then his whole life has meaning. Each stage of our existence is simply the step before something greater."
Emanuel Moran has moved on to the next step after living a life filled with meaning and purpose. The soldier who related this incident to Emanuel's family said that those words have never left him, and have greatly impacted and changed him.
Lior Tibi was wounded in the last war and has been recuperating in the intensive care ward of Rambam Hospital ever since. Lior's sister was engaged to be married and the wedding date was fast approaching, yet his family would not and could not leave his bedside.
The family thought they would have to postpone the wedding, but then Rambam Hospital offered to help. The whole wedding celebration was moved to the hospital. Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan, the rabbi of Rambam Hospital, and the family's rabbi together conducted the wedding under a hupah set up beside Lior's bed. As both officiating rabbis were Kohanim (hereditary priests), they blessed the new young couple and the bride's brother Lior in a ceremony awash with sadness and joy, hope and pain.
Such is the reality of this period of the people's journey to their destiny. The birth pangs of this nation invariably involve a painful mixture of destruction and hope. In order to survive the destruction, one must continually focus on vision and hope. Never before have the choices been so clear and evident. These are choices between the yearning for anonymity and for self-effacement by part of our people, and the courageous and faithful resoluteness of the healthier and more vibrant part.
As we enter the season of the Days of Awe, we must remember that Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) is not only the Day of Judgment, but it is also a time of choices.
We must, in the midst of hardship, choose to focus on vision and destiny, rather than on hopelessness and fear. We must decide to connect with that which is noble and courageous in our people, and distance ourselves from the cowardly, self-serving actions of those who claim to be our leadership.
In these days, we bless each other with the traditional blessing, "May you have a good and sweet new year." As faithful Jews, we believe that all things are ultimately for the good, but we pray that G-d allows us to also sense the sweetness of those same things.
May we all be inscribed for a good and sweet new year.