As our military analysts grasp at a strategy, I wonder, is God also waiting, like us? Is God waiting to see, what will My people do? Will they come back to Me? Will they take heed of the terrible, unutterable blow they have suffered and decide to forsake their acrimony? Will those who know I direct all deeds on earth go out of their own comfort zones to reach out to Jewish brothers and sisters who need to know they, as well as their soldier sons and daughters—who lay down their lives to protect My people—are loved and cared about?
How can we reassure them from our bedrock of faith, helping them understand that God has a plan for His people which assures us victory in the end? Will we comfort their bereaved among our own? Will we undertake initiatives of kindness in their communities, not just our own, so they will know that they are not alone? Will we try to build authentic personal bridges with those who live and love differently from us, and are holy, incomparably beautiful Jewish souls?
Is God also waiting to see, will those who live their daily lives remote from our Rock and Redeemer turn towards Him? The unspeakable deeds of which we were subject in this massacre were catastrophically foreseen by our prophets in our own Tanakh. Will they open a Book of Psalms, or draw strength from prayer, giving merit to the whole nation? Will they undertake to learn what God expects of them as Jews, as well? Our suffering Is not random but part of a divine master plan to bring about our ultimate redemption, when we are worthy.
Can we overcome and turn the direction of this tragedy unfolding with genuine, full-bodied spiritual unity?
Is God simply waiting along with us to see what His nation will do?
Rivkah Schwab is a writer who immigrated from America, raising her family in Israel.