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ROSH HASHANAH 1st Day 5785
What We Did On Our Summer Vacation
I usually don’t speak about Israel on the 1st day of Rosh Hashanah. I try to focus on how each of us can use Rosh Hashanah to envision a better life in the coming year. But what is happening in Israel weighs so heavily now on our hearts, how can I not speak? I have no better way to begin then with this prayer we say on behalf of the hostages: Our brothers, the entire house of Israel, who are delivered into distress and captivity … May Hashem have mercy on them and remove them from distress to relief, from darkness to light, from captivity to freedom, now speedily, and let us say, Amen!
Sing with me: Acheynu kol beyt Yisrael…
A Sephardic prayer—Achot Ketana—begins Rosh Hashanah with the phrase: Tichleh hashana v’kil’loteha (Let the [old] year and its curses end). And this past year was certainly a year of curses. What started in Israel on October 7th with the horrific killings and kidnappings, has continued till now with Israel in a seemingly endless war on 2 fronts, with Israelis still being held hostage, and with anti-Semitism on the rise everywhere. And these past few weeks has seen an escalation in the war with Hezbollah and Tuesday’s missile attack by Iran.
Right in the middle of all this Cheryl and I, along with many family members, went to Israel for the Bat Mitzvah of our granddaughter Ali. Crazy, right?! Weren’t we afraid? All the airlines except El Al cancelled flights to Israel and our Delta booking just happened to have an El Al connection from Rome to Tel Aviv so we could go. And the night before we left, Ben Gurion airport was closed—fearing retaliation from Hezbollah because of an Israeli attack. Yes, we were anxious, but we went. And Cheryl will tell you that she felt safer on the streets of Jerusalem than on the streets of Atlanta!
Today I want to report to you about what we did on our summer vacation because it was the most meaningful vacation we ever had—in so many ways. And our eyewitness testimony will give you a real understanding as to what is happening there—much better than Fox News, CNN or MSNBC.
We arrived in Jerusalem to find almost no tourists. After all, the airlines cancelled their flights. The 1st family event was a visit to Ir David (the City of David). This is an archeological site just south of the Western Wall outside the current Walls of Jerusalem by the Dung Gate. It was King David’s Jerusalem, his capital and home. We went deep underground through the Siloam or Hezekiah’s Tunnel—carved out 2,700 years ago to bring water into the city underground in the event of an attack. Spend some time there and you’ll uncover real archaeological finds. Just the week before they found ancient seals from King David’s palace with 2 names of David’s advisors on them as recorded in the Bible. Why is this important? Well, the Palestinians claim Jews were never in ancient Jerusalem—that the whole story of King David is fiction!
The day before the Bat Mitzvah we went south to the scene of the Nova Music Festival where Hamas 1st attacked at sunrise on October 7th and killed 364—with 40 taken hostage. There were posters of the dead, the hostages, and the wounded on stakes. Commemorative artwork was all around. I began to cry minutes after I got off the bus and didn’t stop till I left! Being there, seeing how and where this happened is now seared into my soul!
But we had no more time for tears. The family had arranged for us to sponsor and make a BBQ at the Army Base just outside Gaza for 150 soldiers—some of whom had been there for 5 months! They were so appreciative to get a break from army rations. Some of them had been on the streets of Gaza that day. Their stories, the singing and dancing we did were memorable. This base was also attacked on October 7th. They showed me their little synagogue riddled with bullet holes. The Holy Ark had bullet holes. Bullets went through the doors, the curtain, hit the Torah cover and out the side. But the actual Torah scrolls were not hit. Miraculous!
The next day was a family Bar Mitzvah and our granddaughter Ali’s Bat Mitzvah at the Western Wall—the most holy site in the world. Again I cried. We were so proud … and felt so privileged just being there.
We visited a childhood friend of Cheryl’s from South Africa now living in Kibbutz Gezer—Sheli Siegel and her husband Lee. Lee’s brother Keith was taken hostage along with his wife Aviva on Oct. 7. His picture is on the door to our sanctuary. Aviva was released in a hostage exchange in November. Lee and Sheli are passionate advocates for the remaining hostages. Lee gives media interviews almost every day and speaks with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken weekly. He said to me something so profound: “It’s so hard to live emergency every day.” They are also passionately anti-Netanyahu, accusing him of not making enough concessions to reach a deal to free the hostages.
On the other hand, the next day we visited another of Cheryl’s childhood friends—Daliah and her husband Gaon Cababia. They are passionately pro-Netanyahu and believe if Israel concedes too much, it will only encourage more Oct. 7 type attacks! Both friends want the same thing: the release of the hostages and peace—they just differ on how to get there.
We went to Tel Aviv to visit Hostage Square which has a mock tunnel set up so one could feel what it’s like for a hostage to be stored in that cramped space. While in Tel Aviv we went to the Shuk haCarmel outdoor market to buy gifts. The atmosphere is a sensory overload of sounds, smells, and vibrant colors. Among the lively stalls, I found a single, shuttered stall with a simple sign: “This Kiosk belongs to Elkana Buchbut, who is still held captive in Gaza.” And in that moment, I felt the weight of what it means to wait for someone’s return. Behind its shutters were goods left untouched, waiting for the day Elkana would come back to reclaim them. This simple act of holding onto something for another carried a message of hope and faith.
The final leg of our trip was especially meaningful to me. It took us to Tiberius on the Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee. We went there because it had the only hotel with a waterslide for the grandchildren. We were the 1st tourists to check in to this hotel in 6 months! Can you imagine? However, the hotel wasn’t empty. It housed hundreds of displaced people who had to leave their homes because of Hezbollah rockets raining down on them almost every day near the Lebanon border. These people live with little hope. We would go home a couple of days later. But their homes are damaged with little hope of returning to them. Their jobs are non-existent, and their cities and towns are in shambles. Will they ever be able to rebuild? However, despite everything, their spirits are strong, and they have not given up. Shabbat with them was sweet with an ufruf for a coming wedding. Life must go on.
My friends, the toll that Israelis are taking in this war is severe. With soldiers away for many months at a time, there’s no one to support their families. There business are deteriorating. There’s a high rate of suicide among Oct. 7 survivors, and a high rate of divorce among displaced Israelis.
This is why the news a couple of weeks ago of Mossad’s single greatest operation of all time—Grim Beeper—was so welcome. It had to be the most hilarious, effective and targeted military operation in world history. It was an operation we are told was 15 years in the making. Apparently, a Hungarian shell company was formed that signed an agreement with a Taiwanese manufacturer. About 6 months ago, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah—may he rot in Hell—told his followers that because Israel was hacking their iPhones, they should switch to pagers. The Mossad sensed an opportunity and somehow that Hungarian company made a deal, and Mossad was able to insert a small explosive in 4,000 of them before shipping to Lebanon—such that when the battery was prompted by code to heat up, it exploded!
Since October 7th, Hezbollah has fired almost 10,000 missiles into Northern Israel—forcing the evacuation of 80,000. Hezbollah had 200,000 missiles 3 weeks ago. But Israel’s brilliant actions of the past 2 weeks has wrecked Hezbollah, its missile stores and its effectiveness. What you may not remember is that in 2006 Israel captured southern Lebanon because of similar attacks into northern Israel. It retreated only with the UN guaranteeing that it would remain demilitarized. Of course, the UN—who effectively works for the Arabs—soon looked the other way.
I ask you, should we not smile at these pagers? It would take a heart of stone not to laugh. The people who were injured from the pagers and the walkie-talkies the next day were Hezbollah operatives. They didn’t buy them at retail stores. They were given to them by Hezbollah. It was the most specific targeted strike in the history of urban Warfare. There’s nothing immoral about laughing over terrorists who get their privates blown off from the pagers in their pockets.
As it says in next Shabbat’s Torah portion (Deuteronomy 32:43): “Harninu, Rejoice O nations with Gd’s people for He will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take Vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for His land and His people.” Blowing up the privates of 2800 terrorists in a simultaneous pager attack deserves not only laughter—it deserves celebration! It’s funny; it’s effective. Besides, it’s been such a crappy year, and we need to laugh!
Not surprisingly, the usual cast of Israel haters and antisemites—instead of praising this operation that specifically target evil terrorists while sparing civilians—condemned Israel. Some—along with Leon Panetta—label the operation as “a form of terrorism.” Where was their outrage at the 10,000 rockets that were fired into Israel by Hezbollah? Where was their outrage at Iran shooting hundreds of missiles into the middle of Israel? Where is their outrage at what’s going on in the Congo? And when Did Self-Defense Become a War Crime?
So yes, we’ve had a moment to smile. As quickly as the pagers blew up, the funny memes and jokes exploded all over the internet. Here’s a small sample:
- Greg Gutfeld quipped that before Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly, to make sure the pro-Hamas protesters wouldn’t show up late, he offered to page them 1st.
- Pagers are usually stored in one’s front pocket. With news that exploding walkie-talkies had also injured and killed terrorists in Lebanon, one read: “No more walkie. No more talkie!”
- Hezbollah had shot a barrage of rockets into Northern Israel a couple of days before the beeper attack. No civilians were injured because they had all been evacuated. The rockets did kill some chickens at an abandoned farm. The joke around Arab media was that Hezbollah took out the chickens, while Israel took out the eggs!
We all sympathize for our people in Israel. But Israel needs more than our sympathy—it needs our empathy. Empathy is not just when you feel FOR someone—that’s sympathy. Empathy is when you feel WITH someone. If you can think of pain as a burden on someone’s shoulder, it doesn’t come off with your words. It’s not enough just to look at one carrying a burden and say, “I’m so sorry for you.” The best thing is for you to stand next to them, put your shoulder underneath their burden and carry it with them. As Gd says in Psalm 91: Imo anochi b’tzara (I am with you in your distress). Be with them, help carry their burden.
Israel has been at war now for a whole year! Every Jew experiences it too. If you’re not living in Israel, you’re asking yourself, “Well, what can I do?” The natural response is to feel for the people of Israel—which is great. But it’s not enough. We need to empathize, to feel with them in their distress.
How would you feel if it was you or your husband or son or wife or mom or dad that’s now going to battle in Lebanon or on the streets of Gaza? Ask yourself what would it feel like if it was your relative living near Gaza or fighting in the north or living anywhere in Israel right now? If it were your kids in a bomb shelter crammed together not knowing what’s going on. Imo anochi b’tzara—feel with them in their distress. Why? Because at the end of the day, this is our battle too.
It’s so inspiring to see now a rush among Jews to go home to Israel. That’s one of the reasons Cheryl and I were so determined to go in the midst of it all. In the month before we came, we know of 2 families from Atlanta that just picked up, said goodbye to their family here, and moved to Israel! This year 30,000 Jews moved TO Israel! Wow! Many Israelis living in America got called up by their Israeli army units to reserve duty in Israel. They left their businesses, hugged their wives and kids and soon were in Gaza or Lebanon.
Israeli dads are now giving their kids kisses and hugs—not because they’re going on a business trip for 3 days. They’re going to battle! Right now, Israeli kids are saying Tehillim for their dads! Right now, children, spouses and parents are looking out the window asking: “When is my loved one coming home?” I saw a video of an Israeli soldier who said the blessings for the Bris of his son from his phone on the streets of Gaza!
Why? Because they feel a responsibility to defend Eretz Yisrael and the Jewish people. Even though they may be tired, even though they may be scared, even though they may be homesick, even though their business may need them, even though their family needs them—even though a million things.
This isn’t just their war. This is a war against the Jewish people! Eretz Yisrael is the Jewish state—our homeland! That means we are a part of this land even if we don’t live there. I’ve had the privilege to take 10 groups over the years to Israel. Again and again I heard it said, “I’ve been all over the world, never have I felt so connected to a place. How come it feels like I’ve been here before?” I would reply, “It’s because your soul is from here.” So, we don’t just feel for the people of Israel, we feel with them.
It takes more than guns and planes to win Jewish wars. Ultimately, it is Hashem, the Shomer Yisrael (the Guardian of Israel) who wins wars for us. And you—wherever you are in this world—as a Jew you need to sign up for duty.
For some of us, fighting means praying. You’re far away and don’t have enough money to give. What do you do? Pray every day. For some of us, it’s learning Torah. For some of us, it’s doing kindness. One of the blocks to receiving Gd’s protection is disunity. Maybe my making up with a friend thousands of miles away from Israel will bring a merit to the soldier who’s being fired upon. Maybe my fight is to go deeper into my pocket and give a little bit more so that Israeli soldiers have the supplies they need. My friends, do not watch the war from the sidelines.
Our tradition teaches that Gd gives jobs to everyone. Israelis know their jobs, but do we know ours? Maybe my job is to increase my spirituality. Maybe my job is to increase my kindness to others. Maybe my job is to stand up for the Jewish people when I hear antisemitism. Maybe my job is to give charity … or maybe my job is all these things. If you reach into your heart, you’ll know your job, and now—on Rosh Hashanah—Gd’s asking you to do it.
If you’ve ever done any level of introspection, you know deep down where you can grow. And if you commit yourself during this war to stretch yourself and grow your soul—especially when it gets a bit uncomfortable—the merit of your growth as a Jew can impact a fellow Jew on the front lines even thousands of miles away. You never know if it’s your deeds that are protecting him.
My friends, I’ll give you a moment now to think of at least one or 2 ways you can grow this year … [Pause] … Do it now for the merit of your people. Report for duty. Man your stations.
On Tuesday, Iran shot 181 ballistic missiles into Israel. Iran, you forgot one thing. Am Yisrael Chai (The nation of Israel will live). Why? because the people of Israel are manning their stations. And hopefully with that, we’ll be able to see the return of the hostages, the end to this war, comfort and consolation for its victims, and a blessed and successful New Year—more wonderful than we ever could imagine.
Let’s end with our prayer for the hostages: Acheynu kol beyt Yisrael … Amen!
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