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SHAVUOT SERMONS
SHAVUOT YIZKOR 5784
In an exceptionally daring mission, reminiscent of Operation Entebbe—which was an Israeli counter-terrorist mission in Uganda in 1976 that rescued civilians hijacked by the PLO—Israeli forces last Shabbat successfully rescued 4 hostages held by Hamas in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza. The daring daytime rescue operation, which took weeks of planning, caught militants holding hostages off guard in 2 different buildings in a densely packed civilian area. Eyewitnesses told CNN that they saw Israeli forces in disguise: “They were dressed in military uniforms like Hamas resistance fighters … but in reality, they were an Israeli special forces unit.”
The IDF said the units on the ground began the raids simultaneously at 11:25am Israel time on both buildings housing the hostages—Noa Argamani 26, Almog Meir Jan 21, Andrey Kozlov 27 and Shlomi Ziv 40, all of whom were taken on October 7th from the Nova music festival. Doctors later said that the rescued hostages were in, “a State of severe malnutrition.” Unfortunately, Almog Jan’s father died hours before his return. But Noa Argamani’s terminally ill mother can now see her before she passes.
It was chilling to watch the 45 second helmet camera video footage with Israeli soldiers calling out to the 3 male hostages: Hakol b’seder. Banu lachlotz etchem. (Everything is Ok. We came to rescue you).
The complexity of the operation was due to the need to simultaneously raid 2 separate houses to prevent the hostages from being moved or killed. A shootout started in one of the homes and expanded into a gunbattle on the packed streets of Nuseirat. The raging firefight almost prevented the hostages and the commando team from making it out alive. The Israeli Air Force came to the rescue and began striking dozens of militant targets in a bid to divert Hamas’s attention and give the hostages a fighting chance to get out.
By the time the hostages were brought to the Mediterranean coast and evacuated in helicopters, under 100 Palestinians died according to the IDF. But of course, Hamas says it was 274! This was only 48 hours after the Associated Press—usually not so friendly to Israel—exposed how Hamas reported death tolls are “at odds with the data.”
Unlike the reaction of the world after the Entebbe raid of awe and wonder, Saturday’s rescue was met with contempt. The mission was labeled by the UN, the European Union, and the media as a “massacre.” How dare Israel rescue its own citizens? Didn’t she know there would be casualties? The BBC asked, “Whether Israel gave a warning that the rescue raid was coming.” Seriously? A tip-off to terrorists? Perhaps read them Miranda rights too.
CNN, called this a “release of hostages.” No, it wasn’t. The hostages weren’t released, they were rescued! Kamala Harris revealed her true colors by not celebrating the rescue. She said she “mourns the loss of civilian lives.” Let me tell you about these “civilians.” Gaza civilians participated along with Hamas in the atrocities of October 7th. Gaza Civilians joined with Hamas in shooting at Israeli soldiers in the rescue last week! The hostages were held by Gazans civilians—one was an Al-Jazeera journalist, and the other was a doctor and they were paid to do so!
If these civilians are so innocent, why don’t they show us where the rest of the hostages are? If I knew my neighbors kidnapped people and I didn’t speak out, how innocent am I? The deaths of innocent civilians are on Hamas that started this war with atrocities on Oct. 7th and by hiding and shooting missiles from crowded civilian neighborhoods. Besides, all recent polls show that 71% of Palestinians support Hamas! At what point does one lose one’s civilian status?
It’s ironic, the Jewish people have been a light to the nations for thousands of years. Today we celebrate Shavuot—3,336 years since Gd gave us the 10 Commandments—one of which is, “Thou shalt not murder.” We didn’t want this war. If we weren’t hampered by the world, we would have finished it in a couple of weeks! The world put handcuffs on Israel. Gazans weren’t allowed to leave Gaza to safety in Egypt or Jordan.
The rescue was not without its tragic costs. Sadly, Arnon Zamori, a key special forces commander, was killed in action. He reminds me of Yoni Netanyahu of the Entebbe raid that was also the only one killed. Yoni’s brother Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu paid tribute to Zamori’s bravery saying “His bravery and sacrifice will not be forgotten.”
Today, as we are about to recite Yizkor, let me share with you a tribute to Arnon Zamori written by Amir Ofer, who was part of Entebbe rescue mission:
Friends, today Commander Arnon Zamora of the IDF was killed in the rescue of the 4 hostages in Nusirat. I wanted to share with you the experience I had with him. I did not know him. I was at a concert in the amphitheater in Mevsaret Zion a few years ago. There were several thousand people there. Suddenly a charming guy approached me, asked if he correctly recognized me and told me that he was an officer in the special forces (counter-terrorism) and he wanted me to come and lecture to his unit about Entebbe …
Fast forward—on October 16, 2023 [just after Oct.7], I received a call from him: “I have to talk to you.” … We talked for 2 hours. He told me in great detail how [on Oct.7th] they were surprised at the Yad Mordechai intersection, how 3 RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] missed him by millimeters, how his intuition to stop a few kilometers before the intersection and circle saved all his troop, how they fought like lions. How they loaded all the cartridges [in their weapons] 4 times on the 1st day and jumped from the intersection to Sderot, and from Sderot to Ofakim, and from Ofakim to Be’eri …
And all the time he asked, “how did you succeed, and we didn’t?” I saw before me a man among men, a true hero and also an exceptionally moral person. I told him—and I meant every word I said—that there was nothing to compare the situations, and that even Gd would not have succeeded in rescuing the people in Be’eri … You were truly heroes and you functioned in an extraordinary way under the most difficult conditions possible. Both a strategic surprise, also a tactical surprise, both fighting in an area full of civilians, and you were few among many. It is impossible to create a more difficult situation even in the simulator. You have surely saved your place in heaven, and more.” … We lost a real superhero.
T’hi nishmato tz’rura bachayim (May his soul be bound up in the bond of life). May Gd watch over the IDF and help them to bring a lasing peace to Israel. Amen!
SHAVUOT 1st DAY 5784
Ki va moeyd, the appointed time has come
Are you familiar with the famous Shlomo Carlebach song taken from Psalm 102? It comes from verse 14 which reads: Ata takum, t’racheym Tziyon, ki eyt l’chenana, ki va moeyd (You will arise and have mercy upon Zion, for it is time to be compassionate unto her, for the appointed time has come). Let’s sing it together. You can find it in your Siddurim on page 828, 4th line.
On October 7th, we suffered a horrific pogrom on a Moeyd, Simchat Torah, where we rejoiced in the Torah. And now—after 8 months of war whose sole purpose was to return the hostages taken and to make sure Hamas can never do this again—on another Moeyd, Shavuot, as we celebrate the giving of the Torah, we ask, “When will it end?” How many more of our young soldiers need to be slaughtered? How many more of our children, our young adults and elderly need to be taken captive? It’s time for Gd to arise and be merciful to Zion, to Israel, and have compassion on her and protect her … ki va moeyd, for the appointed time has come—because Israel needs her protection now!
he word Moeyd (appointed time) usually refers to one of the 3 major festivals: Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot. The appointed time—our moeyd this week, Shavuot—has come. So let us pray for peace in Israel and the return of the hostages as we express our joy in celebrating Shavuot—ki va moeyd (for the time has come).
I’ve been to Israel more than 10 times and have had many inspiring spiritual experiences there. But the most powerful—by far—was the time I spent a moeyd—a Yom Tov in Israel, Shavuot. I led a group to Israel that was there for Shavuot as well. On Shavuot night we had services and dinner at the hotel. After dinner, we walked to the Old City about 11:00pm to study Torah. It’s customary Shavuot night to study Torah all night since Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah. We studied with Gedaliah Fleer—a mystic and Breslover Chassid.
Can you imagine that at midnight the Old City was busy and alive with people gathering for study sessions? When the session with Rabbi Fleer ended about 4:15am, my group went back to the hotel while I walked with Gedaliah to the local mikveh, took a dip to purify myself and then descended down the Arab shuk to the Kotel (the Western Wall) to daven Shacharit vasikin—saying the Amidah precisely at sun rise which was at 5:32am. On the way, at about 4:45am, I hit a dead stop about a quarter of a mile before the security area to get into the Kotel plaza. It was packed with people going to the Wall. When I finally got through security and onto the steps descending to the plaza, I saw one of the most amazing sights of my life.
The Kotel plaza is a huge area that was created after Israel captured Jerusalem in 1967 to accommodate large crowds of worshippers. When I looked down at the plaza, I could not see the ground anywhere for it was so packed with people. I have been there on other occasions with masses of people. The largest was on Tisha B’av evening—mourning the destruction of the Temples. Then, the Jerusalem Post reported that there were 250,000. This crowd was much larger.
Let me tell you what went through my mind as I beheld this wondrous sight making my way to the Wall. Passover celebrates Gd’s love for us—how He took us out of Egypt. Shavuot celebrates our love for Gd in accepting His Torah. Shavuot is one of the 3 moadim, pilgrim festivals. The word moeyd in Hebrew actually means, “meeting.” 3 times a year on these 3 festivals Gd asks us to come to His house for a meeting.
On Shavuot, the festival that celebrates our love for Gd—at the Wall, the ruins of the Temple, Gd’s house—Gd asks us for a meeting, and I, along with at least 300,000 of Jews, showed up! The spiritual energy was so intense. These weren’t tourists; they were Jews—Ashkenaz Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Sephardic Jews, Yemenite Jews, baby stroller Jews, walker and canes Jews—all kinds of Jews! It was crowded, it was tight, but everyone was smiling, filled with awe. Being a part of this was the most spiritual Yom Tov experience of my life.
My friends, Israel is filled with such experiences. Most of us don’t have the wherewithal to live there. After October 7th and the war with Hamas, some Atlantans have gone to Israel to help in the fields and factories as the soldiers are fighting in Gaza. Most of us, however, will wait till things calm down to go and experience it. But on Shavuot, we do the next best thing. What is that? On a weekday Wednesday Yom Tov, while for everyone else it’s just another day, we come to shul—we show up on Gd’s day in Gd’s house! And we proclaim on Shavuot as our ancestors did at Mt. Sinai, Naaseh v’nishma—we will follow you Gd, whatever you ask of us!
And so, I pray the words we will soon say in the Musaf service: V’havi-eynu l’Tziyon ircha b’rina (Bring us to Zion Your City, in jubilation), v’liY’rushalayim beyt mikdashcha b’shimchat olam (and to Jerusalem, home of Your Temple, with everlasting joy). Why? Ki va moeyd, the appointed time has come. It’s time for Shavuot and it’s time for Hashem to arise and have mercy upon Zion, to be compassionate unto her. Let’s sing again: Ata takum, t’racheym Tziyon, ki eyt l’chenana, ki va moeyd (You will arise and have compassion upon Zion, for it is time to be gracious unto her, for the appointed time is come). Amen!
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