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Rabbi Sendor in Israel

To this I give heart and therefore I have hope posted August 3, 2014
Love Truth and Peace posted July 23, 2014
Weather Report Sunny with Occasional Rockets  posted July 13, 2014
Operation Protective Edge and Parshat Pinchas posted July 10, 2014

“To this I give heart and therefore I have hope.”
August 3, 2014
In the Gemara Ta’anit 30b it says: “All those who mourn over Jerusalem will merit to see its joy.” Rabbi Meir Simcha HaKohen of Dvinsk, in his Meshekh Hokhmah, raises a challenge to this statement and offers an answer from two verses from Lamentations: “I remember deeply, and my soul is downcast  within me. Yet to this I give heart and therefore I have hope (3:20-21).” To cry over the past is usually considered foolish – what happened, happened. A wise person will acknowledge the pain, then toughen up quickly and move on. But if there remains a possibility for constructive repair and a positive outcome, then mourning and crying for the past has value – to remind us of our ultimate goal and to keep inspiring us and spurring us on to work constructively towards it. This is what the Gemara means: our mourning over the destruction of Jerusalem and our nation and over our exile and dispersion shows our empathy and our connectedness to our People and our Land and our Destiny, and directs our passion and dedication and efforts to keep rebuilding.

The events of this fearsome summer drive home this point with a vengeance. The tragedy we commemorate in Tisha B’Av is not ancient history, even though it occurred 1,994 years ago.  This summer shows we are still suffering directly from our Exile, from the destruction of our nation and being driven off our Land, such that despicable, immoral and inveterately violent people seized the opportunity to inhabit our Land. In returning to our Land, we have to battle them continually in order to keep building a just, moral, peaceful and spiritually advanced society. [Someone delicate souls may object to my characterization of Hamas in Gaza. A soldier at minyan in Efrat this morning, who returned for Shabbat from Gaza and is running back today, told us about seeing Hamas shooting its own people in the streets, men, women and children, to keep them from leaving battle areas the IDF was asking them to clear for their own safety. These people are violent to the core]. Dealing with such people was precisely our challenge during our first entry into the Land under Yehoshua, during our second entry under Ezra and now yet again.  Just as in those earlier Aliyot, in which the lessons we learned in our struggle against fierce enemies deepened our connection to Ha-Shem, to the Land and to each other, so, too, today.

Last Tuesday in Tzfat there was a funeral for a young hometown soldier, Staff Sgt. Eliav Eliyahu Haim Kahlon, zikhron kedoshim livrakhah, 22 years old,  killed in action in Gaza. The Chief Rabbi of Tzfat, Rav Shmuel Eliyahu, told us later at a gathering that he had been down at the border with Gaza a few days earlier, visiting the troops. Someone asked him to give a Berakhah to these soldiers who were about to go in to fight in the streets and tunnels of Gaza. Even though that’s his job, as a Rabbi, still – he felt the awesome responsibility, to be real and meaningful and not glib, and did not know what to say. Then one of the soldiers, Staff Sgt. Eliav Eliyahu Haim Kahlon, said that he was from Tzfat. Rav Shmuel Eliyahu went over to him and gave him a hug. And he said: “this hug and this Berakhah is not just from me. It’s from all Am Yisrael, because I have been sent here to you by Am Yisrael. It is a hug from the Jewish People for each and every one of you, for what you are doing to protect every man, woman and child of Israel.” Then Rav Eliyahu hugged as many soldiers as he could. Staff Sgt. Eliav Eliyahu Haim Kahlon was killed later that night. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Tzfat, attended by thousands of people. Rav Shmuel Eliyahu, heart-broken, told Eliav’s parents that he was deeply sorry his hug and his berakhah could not protect their son, but he was grateful to have hugged him shortly before he died, and that thousands of people have come to hug him now.

Of all the lessons Israel has been learning in this war, maybe this is the deepest: our empathy, our sense of solidarity and unity as one People, one Family. This is the antidote to the poison of  “groundless hatred” and the peevish and small-minded social divisions that the Hakhamim tell us was the root cause of the destruction of the Second Temple, and have been plaguing us ever since. The desperate struggle of this time urges us to feel our connection to Jews everywhere, embattled in Israel, embattled in Europe, embattled around the world.

Let’s use the opportunity of this Tisha B’Av to join together to help make a real difference in this battle. Dan Shimshak has alerted me that Yitzhak Sokoloff, originally from Sharon, now in Efrat, is in the process of raising $10,000 for donations to a group of several IDF reserve units comprising several hundred soldiers who have just entered Gaza and who are in real need of head-lamps to be able to see and also keep their hands free for immediate reactions to dangerous situations. His organization Keshet Israel is in close contact with these units and has determined that the need is immediate and legitimate. Theoretically the army should have provided for this itself, but that is spilt milk at the moment. Keshet itself is not a philanthropic organization, but it is their practice during national emergencies to use their connections and expertise to  identify places where immediate intervention can have the most impact. This is such a case. If the need changes, these organizations will respond accordingly and use our support in the most effective way.
So, in order to make a (U.S.) tax-deductible contribution for Lights for Life or an equally urgent and effective purpose, please do one of the following:

Make your donation by credit card through PayPal to  Torat Reva Yerushalayim, and click on the "Make a Donation" button.  T.R.Y. is a U.S. recognized 501 C 3 non-profit, which has generously offered to pass on all donations to these projects at no cost. Please write "Lev Echad" or "IDF" in the PayPal "purpose" box.  Please then e-mail info@keshetisrael.co.il to inform them of the donation and to tell them how you wish your money to be spent. Keshet will advance an equivalent amount of its own funds in order for the funds to be immediately available.
 
If checks are easier for you, they can be sent to:
Torat Reva Yerushalayim
C/o Alan Sokoloff,  
180 East Prospect Avenue #142
Mamaroneck, NY 10543.

Along with this substantive support for the Israel Defense Forces, Rabbi David Stav of Tzohar in Israel asks that Shuls and Jewish Organizations in the U.S. prominently and proudly display the Flag of Israel at this time. Tisha B’Av is also a good time to write letters to our President and our representatives in Congress in support of Israel. Attending effective rallies in support of Israel is vital. This war is being fought not only in the Land of Israel but around the world, in a struggle for the hearts and minds of Americans and Europeans whose support for Israel is important. It is also a war for the hearts and minds of Muslims world-wide. The Western world is still slow to realize that this struggle is not just about Israel and the Palestinians, it is a war against Islamic fascism and terrorism that threatens all human civilization. We need to get this message across.

May the Ribono shel Olam protect the men and women of the Israel Defense Forces who are fighting on behalf of all of us, may He protect Am Yisrael around the world, may He help us in our fight against forces of darkness and cruelty, and may He help bring peace, compassion and enlightenment to this suffering world, with the coming of the Moshiach and the building of the Beit HaMikdash. Speedily. In our Days.  
Rabbi Meir Sendor

 

Love Truth and Peace
July 23, 2014

“Thus says Ha-Shem: the fast of the fourth and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth will be times of joy and happiness and good festivals for the House of Judah: just love truth and peace (Zekhariah 8:19).” The Gemara Rosh Ha-Shanah 18b identifies the fasts of the fourth and the fifth months, counting from Nisan, as the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av, respectively. Traditionally, the period of the Three Weeks between these fast days is considered a time of trouble for Am Yisrael, and this is painfully evident right now in the fierce war going on between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza. The intense urban warfare against a vicious, immoral and deeply entrenched enemy in the alleys and tunnels of Gaza is taking every bit of military ingenuity Israel has developed. From what we hear, we are making progress but we are taking casualties.

 Some might say it’s not a good time to be fighting this fight, during the Three Weeks. But according to R. Yitzhak Luria, z”l, the Three Weeks are a time of deep Tikkun, a time of great opportunity for Am Yisrael. R. Moshe Alsheikh, the Rav of the Shul that R. Luria attended in Tzfat, a Shul that still stands today with a sweet and friendly Kehillah, expounds the verse from Zekhariah to mean that this period can be a time of great fixing for Am Yisrael, when we love Truth and Peace. The First Temple was destroyed due to lack of Truth, lack of Torah. The Second Temple was destroyed due to lack of Peace, lack of peaceful Unity among the Jewish People. When we strengthen our commitment to Torah and to Unity, this period of time can become a time of victory and joy.

The unity and solidarity of Am Yisrael was expressed sorrowfully but powerfully this week with a pair of funerals for Haylim Bodedim, Lone Soldiers killed in action, young people without family in Israel, who made Aliyah on their own and joined Tzaha”l – because they felt their oneness with the Jewish People and our destiny. Shawn Carmeli from Texas and Max Steinberg from California, zikhron kedoshim livrakhah, Ha-Shem yinkom damam, gave their lives to protect Am Yisrael. They did not have family in Israel – but 20,000 people attended Shawn’s funeral in Haifa, and 30,000 people attended Max’s funeral at Har Herzl, the military cemetery in Jerusalem.

MK Dov Lipman, who spoke at our Shul several years ago, gave a moving eulogy at Max’s funeral in which he thanked the Steinberg family for the sacrifice their son made for Am Yisrael and turned to thank Max directly: “Max – now it is time to say goodbye – but before we do so I turn to you as a representative of Knesset, and on behalf of the citizens of Israel and Jews around the world, to say thank you. Thank you for protecting our children, thank you for protecting our State, thank you for protecting the Jewish People, and thank you for showing us that a regular American boy from California can raise himself to the level of Jewish and Israeli hero.” Rabbi Lipman went on to challenge us all: “Max, all of us will try to continue your legacy – and every day ask ourselves as you did – what can we do for our State, what can we do for our nation and what can we do to make the world a better place?”

I can tell you that right now, what is deeply and gratefully appreciated by the Israelis we meet, and by all Israelis, is support and encouragement from Jews around the world. This is something we can all do to help Israel in its battle for survival. The shameless propaganda campaign going on in the media and at the UN, orchestrated by Muslim communities and their lackeys around the world, vilifying Israel with outright lies when the Palestinians are clearly the aggressors trying to terrorize Israel with rockets and murderous kidnapping and putting their own people in harm’s way, adds insult to the injuries Israel is suffering. It also weakens support from Western governments, and this is dangerous. When Israelis hear, and they do hear, that Jews of Boston (and Sharon!), of New York, of Los Angeles are demonstrating in support of Israel and speaking out in the media to set the record straight; when Israelis see embattled Jews in European cities standing up in self-defense and defense of the State of Israel; when Israelis see Jews around the world standing up for the truth in social media, they are heartened and strengthened in their righteous fight against an evil culture and ideology that threatens the entire world. There are also Muslims around the world who know the truth and see through the lies and propaganda but need encouragement to stand up and speak out against the bullies in their midst who have perverted their religion with violence and oppression and rabid intolerance. (For an example of a courageous Muslim commentator trying to speak out against Muslim self-deception and the lies of the Palestinians, see the article “Muslim Double Standards Abound,” http://www.meforum.org/4756/muslim-double-standards-abound by Tarek Fatah in the Toronto Sun, July 15, 2014,) And our government needs to hear our voices in support of Israel – not just the strident propaganda of tribal Muslims and their useful idiots.

Here in Tzfat, I have to admit that we are in a bit of a bubble – sort of like being in Sharon. The war is not obvious from here. So far, we seem to be out of range of the rockets from Gaza and Hizballah in Lebanon is staying out of the fight for now. But the signs are all around. Minyanim are a little harder to get – because the young men are off fighting in Gaza or guarding the borders with Lebanon and Syria and taking intermittent fire there as well. We also see Israeli families from Sderot and Ashkelon and Ashdod and Be’er Sheva and communities of the South who have rented apartments and hotel rooms up here in Tzfat to escape the constant rockets. And we get thanked by local residents just for being here in this difficult time – a little embarrassing, but, well, we do feel it’s important to be here. And just like you all in Sharon, between teaching and volunteer work we are glued to the internet for every shred of news from the front.

The Three Weeks are a time of danger and a time of opportunity. This is a time for us to speak the Truth and to show our Unity for the sake of Peace. May Ha-Shem protect and help the Israel Defense Forces to victory over an immoral enemy, and fulfill the prophecy of Zekhariah, that:  “the fast of the fourth and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth will be times of joy and happiness and good festivals for the House of Judah: just love truth and peace.”
Rabbi Meir Sendor


Weather Report Sunny with Occasional Rockets
July 13, 2014

In the Gemara Taanit (28b) there is a discussion of the significance of the Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz. One of the tragedies of the day was the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem. The Gemara objects that Jeremiah 52:6-7  says “in the fourth month (Tammuz), on the ninth of the month… the city was breached.” Rava answers “no difficulty: this (the ninth day) refers to the First Temple, that (the seventeenth day) refers to the Second Temple.” We fast on the Seventeenth, since the destruction of the Second Temple is the tragedy we still suffer from directly. But the whole period is a time of sober reflection on the meaning and impact of these events, inaugurating the Three Weeks that culminate in the Fast of Tisha B’Av.

As it happens, the current round of persistent rocket fire from Hamas in Gaza that has been increasing in intensity and range began on the tenth of Tammuz. Commentators such as Daniel Gordis have drawn comparisons between the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem and the nature of rocket fire that also gets past walls. The Iron Dome, effective as it has been at intercepting rockets with the most dangerous trajectories, is not Iron and not a Dome. It’s a permeable system. And that is as it should be. The lesson of the breaching of the walls of the First and Second Temples is that Am Yisrael cannot hide behind walls for protection. We are protected by our steady commitment to Ha-Shem and to Torah, called Emunah, including Mitzvot bein Adam le-Chaveiro, interpersonal Mitzvot that direct our commitment to defending each other and standing up for each other, even giving our lives for each other. Our defense against the barbarians of Gaza is the just society that we have forged through Torah values rooted deep in our hearts,  values that include respect for human life, all human life. Throughout our history we have been challenged by enemies who test our core values, and vicious Islamists like Hamas, who are also diabolically  clever at manipulating gullible Westerners,  are just the latest iteration. We have to figure out how to neutralize them yet maintain our principles at the same time – for our own sake and for the sake of humanity suffering from the scourge of Islamism around the planet.

In Israel we have already been feeling the Three Weeks in a visceral way. Last Thursday, Anne and I were having coffee and tea with Roger and Marcia and Gavi Spellman at a small coffee shop in Baka, Jerusalem, when the Code Red siren went off. You have seconds to find shelter. We didn’t know what to do and neither did anyone in the shop, including the staff. The shop had a big glass window, so we figured we needed to get far away from that, so everyone crowded into the kitchen – not the safest place either, but the best we could do. So we sipped lattes and waited out the attack, which was real and included three interceptions and one explosion that did no damage.

On Shabbat we were with one of our daughters and family who live south of Jerusalem. The day was quiet until Mincha time, when the siren went off and we crowded quickly into their safe room. Israeli media is cautioned not to disclose the locations of rocket strikes with any specificity so Hamas can’t get feedback to recalibrate their trajectories, so let me just say that it was close enough. Today there are intense bombardments in South and Central Israel and strikes in the North. Israelis are trying to take all this in stride, but push is coming to shove. Even so, even though this is clearly war that requires a military response and not just a police action, the leadership and the army of Israel is committed to a morally just response, despite the lies and propaganda of the Arabs and leftist sympathizers demonstrating in Boston and Seattle and Paris and London. Marc Bailen sent me a moving letter from his daughter, who is a soldier on the front lines with a great deal of responsibility. She testified to the deep and thoughtful discussions that go on between Tzaha”l staff and soldiers at every rank about whether and how to respond to attacks in the most humane way possible to avoid unnecessary casualties. We can be deeply proud of these men and women who are defending Am Yisrael with their lives and their principles.

As we begin the Three Weeks it is time for active Tikkun: to act on our commitment to Am Yisrael. Here are some organizations that are doing important work right now supporting Israelis under attack, supporting Tzaha”l and providing honest media reports to counter the malicious propaganda being churned out by the Arab and leftist world.

http://www.levechad.org/#--  Lev Echad - Emergency Civilian Aid is a national volunteer organization, established in 2006 to mold thousands of Israeli civilians into an effective volunteer army trained for emergency situations. The organization deploys a civilian recruitment and control network, which is subject to the local authority and helps it deal with local and national emergencies. Since its establishment, the organization has operated over 15,000 civilian volunteers.

http://yedidim-israel.org/ Yedidim, Israel's premier social services organization, touches the lives of 6,000 children, teens, and young adults each year throughout 120 communities across the country. For over 20 years, Yedidim has been reshaping the lives of troubled youth and immigrant children in the hopes of building a better, safer, and more just Israel.

shmiraproject.com   The Hebrew word shmira means “guarding” or “protecting”. In modern Hebrew, shmira also means guard duty. The Shmira Project is an ongoing, grassroots program that pairs IDF combat soldiers with Jews around the world who do acts of kindness, prayer or Torah learning to increase the soldier’s spiritual merit and protection.
http://jewcer.com/project/fund-trips-for-children-under-rocket-fire

http://www.lonesoldiercenter.com/ supporting soldiers in Tzaha”l from the Diaspora. Israeli soldiers are deeply worthy of support but have a solid infrastructure here in Israel, while volunteers from the Diaspora are often on their own.

honestreporting.com --defending Israel from media bias.
It is also a good thing to band together with Muslims of good will and human heartedness to stand up against the perversion of religion for political violence and to promote peace and brotherhood among Jews and Muslims and all human beings. We support the initiative between Young Israel of Sharon and the Islamic Center of New England in Sharon to break fast together in support of peace.

Here in Tzfat, at Livnot U’Lehibanot where we are teaching and volunteering, Anne and I were talking with the secretary Tzivia Polsky, who expressed appreciation for the Iron Dome that has been protecting lives, but added: in Hebrew it is called the Kippat Barzel. BaRZeL stands for Bilhah, Rachel, Zilpah and Leah, the Mothers of Israel whose prayers are with their children in this time of danger and trouble. May Ha-Shem protect His People Israel, rebuild the Temple and bring peace to all humanity.

Rabbi Meir Sendor


 

Operation Protective Edge and Parshat Pinchas

July 10, 2014

In this week’s parsha Ha-Shem commands Moshe: “fight the Midianim and strike them, for they fought you with their strategies… (Num 25:17-18).” The Midrash Tanhuma cites this verse as support for the principle of self-defense: “if someone attacks you to kill you, rise up first to kill them.” The Hizkuni notes that the command is only to fight the tribe of Midian, not Moav. He explains that the Moavim, in challenging Am Yisrael, were only trying to defend themselves from what they thought was an impending attack. But the Midianim had no skin in the game. They were not being threatened, they initiated their attack out of spite and unprovoked violence. The Kli Yakar draws from this the principle that when it comes to just warfare, discerning the motives of the enemy is important. Warfare should be limited and targeted and matched to the intentions of the enemy.  The Or Ha-Hayyim adds that the wanton destruction, typical of the fog of war, is prohibited, unless there is a countervailing need for self-defense, in which case it is permitted, but only on limited terms, to accomplish what is required.

These moral and strategic issues are challenging Israel right now with great urgency. Hamas and branches of Fatah, without provocation, are both heaving scores of rockets into Israel daily, reaching major population centers as far away as Zikhron Yaakov (the Rosenbergs, Oxmans and Barads, Young Israel of Sharon families, live there). Hamas has attempted to send squads of suicide bombers and kidnappers into Israel in the last few days, but so far the attempts have been foiled. Israeli Arabs as well as Palestinians are rioting around the country. Israel Defense Force Reserves have been called up, including young men and women of our Young Israel of Sharon families who have made Aliyah, and Israel is bombing numerous targets in Gaza with precision munitions. Hamas is clearly trying to lure Israel into a dangerous ground offensive through the alleyways, warrens and tunnels of Gaza city.

Israel could lay total siege to Gaza and bomb them into the Stone Age without setting foot into that hellhole, without risk to Israeli life, and that would quiet the rockets, but it would result in severe civilian casualties and suffering. Instead, before bombing a Hamas leader’s home, they place a phone call to the family and warn them to leave the house – mamash! Some commentators are operating under the assumption that the Palestinian populace is unwilling hostage to the violence of its leadership and not complicit with that violence, so they should be distinguished from that leadership and protected as much as possible. This may be wishful thinking. On the night that the news came out that the three Israeli teenagers who had been kidnapped were murdered, while Israelis were in shock and mourning, there was celebratory gunfire and cheering crowds in Bet Lechem and other Palestinian towns around the country.

The rest of the world has no appreciation of the level of moral restraint exercised by the Israel Defense Forces. This restraint is not aimed at appeasing American or European opinion. It is the code of Taharat ha-Neshek, Purity of Arms, that guides the Israel Defense Forces in principle, that every soldier must learn and internalize, and it is an expression of the moral uprightness of Am Yisrael even under the stress of war, from the time of Moshe Rabbenu onward. As members of the Young Israel of Sharon sit here in Tzfat, in Yonatan, in Efrat, in Bat Ayin,  in Zikhron Yaakov, in Modi’in, in Hashmonaim, in Tel Aviv,  in Be’er Sheva, in Maalei Adumim and Kfar Adumim, in Yerushalayim and elsewhere in solidarity with all Jews of Israel, and some of our young members, men and women, have been called up, the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, give proof through these nights and days of violence that our humanity is still here. We are proud of our Israel Defense Forces and proud of our nation, an island of humane morality in a sea of barbarity. May Ha-Shem protect His People Israel and may our courageous soldiers show the world what it means to behave like human beings in the image of God.

BiVrakhah
Rabbi Meir Sendor

 

 

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