Yesterday, I visited my mother in her hospital room shortly after her undergoing a rather serious operation. (She is doing well, and I appreciate all the kind wishes and prayers that have been offered on her behalf.)
When I first saw my mom, as she woke up, she had an immediate question: "What's happening with Israel?"
I wasn't surprised.
My mother exemplifies a generation that remembers when there was no Israel, and its recreation was a living miracle. For her honeymoon, she and my father traveled to Israel, and they poignantly recall how they were not permitted to visit the Old City in Jerusalem, regardless of their American citizenship, because they were Jews. From 1948,until Jerusalem's reunification in 1967, Jews were not allowed access to their Holy Sites.
When my mother was giving birth to her second child, she insisted on a radio being with her at all times, as Israel was engaged in the Six Day War. Yesterday, she noted with sadness, how little has changed in the last 39 years.
Part of being a Jew, is waking up each morning, and asking: "What's happening with Israel?" Our Jewish homeland is part of our collective soul, and her pain is our own. As Hamas and Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria, have re-ignited the newest of battles, we must stand with our Israeli brothers and sisters. Israel must defend its citizens, and her sovereign status as a whole and secure nation.
This Shabbat, our prayers are with Israel, and it is appropriate to recall the powerful lyrics of Bob Dylan's Neighborhood Bully, as we understand what it is that Israel confronts.
May God help bring Peace to us, the Household of Israel, and All Peoples.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Mitch
