"ALL NECESSARY MEASURES"

    Israelis, from the Army to the average citizen were told to take "all necessary measures" - to be safe, to be prepared for increased rocket fire, for survival in a world again hostile to any Jew who dares to fight back, to resist slaughter, who defies the hatred emanating from so many, and for life. The right to live free from constant existential attack. 

After the Six Day War, an Israeli victory changed the outlook of the world. It was succinctly expressed in a song from a play of the time. "A Jew, Who is a Winner, is a Disgrace". The world had a mantra which allowed them to feel oh so charitable and smug. The poor Jews, nearly destroyed in the Holocaust, in which the world colluded, be it implicitly or complicitly, via collaborators or silent bystanding policy, were given a sop - a lopsided state, one that could never survive. 

When the Arabs refused even that sop, they attacked and oh dear, the first strike against Israel - who was victorious at great human cost. war again in 1967. And when they soundly defeated the Arab attackers, they also defeated the rest of the world who had allowed a blockade of the ports of Israel, deserted Israel at a moment of dire need. Despite the expected cataclysmic outcome expected, witnessed in the mass graves dug into the park lands of Israel, they confounded the world and won. The echoes from that victory continue to resound, aided by the continual application of double standards against Israel, fed by eternal Jew hatred, nourished by the moral flaws of nations, their continued refusal to 'play' fair. 

Yesterday 800 more rockets were shot indiscriminately into Israel. Not aimed at defense sites, but purposely shot at random targets of civilians, cities and towns, small villages and kibbutzim in the heart of Israel and along the southern border, absolutely within the "recognized" borders of the country. No word of condemnation heard, nary a whisper. However, when Israel sent carefully, precisely aimed rockets back at launch sites, purposely situated among civilian areas, all the better to claim Israel 'kills' children, the condemnation rose to a roar. Not of those who situated their children in positions of danger, had them play in heavy traffic, so to speak, but against Israel who 'knocked' on roofs with warning unarmed rockets and then shot off defensive rockets. 

And the world screamed. Such giants of humanity, Iran, which just hanged two men for "blasphemy", now the head of the Human Rights Council of the UN - what a farce, succeeding Russia, another stalwart of rights - not - and the world complied, again trying to vote to condemn Israel. How dare they survive, those pesky Jews? 

How dare they resist? How dare they continue to maintain their right to a land of their own? How dare they!!! Worst of all, how dare they keep their civilians safe with warnings, with shelters, with closing schools, a preferred target of the terrorists, and not die in world preferred "equal' numbers to the Palestinians due to the locations of their missile launching sites. How dare they not 'exercise restraint' against enemies who pray every day for the demise of Israel and its Jewish population? And do their oh so very best efforts to make that so!

Yes, Israel is not perfect; it has fault lines within its society, the same as any other nation of the world. So what is different? The fact that this nation, its very fabric and raison d'etre a strong moral, historical, Biblical imperative truth, offends people. It refutes their antisemitism, demystifies their Jew hatred, and challenges them to justify their moral lapses, their continued attacks.

No, folks, Israel will continue to take all necessary measures. Despite its internal confusion at present, the people of Israel will always unite to save their nation. The Jews of the world will gather alongside, for they know, etched into their souls, their very psyches, installed there by millennia of hate and discrimination, that despite their loyalty to their lands, to their long histories in those nations, to their nations, the one and only place they can always find refuge and acceptance is Israel. Sorry, but that is the way it is.

Tired, exhausted, defiant, determined. Stubborn as the day is long, squabbling with siblings, but united against enemies, within and without who would see them gone.

Perhaps that is why I can look at a young Jewish boy, just bar mitzvah this week, celebration party postponed until he is healed, healthy and whole, and see a hero, a strong, stubborn Jew, knowing he can fight, he will fight, with the backing of his people and so many others. He is a symbol of what is right and wrong with this world, a world which boasts of advanced weaponry, all the better to kill, rather than fund the necessary impetus for defeat of hatred, of inequities, of climate damage, of awful afflictions, of all that is wrong and so desperately needs to be made right in this challenged world of ours.

I am so happy to report progress with Yitzy and his heroic, brave battle. The tumor has been measured and found to have shrunk somewhat in size. A step in the right direction. A victory buoyed by the prayers of so many, Jewish, Christian, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim and Buddhist and atheists. It matters not, only the best wishes and the positive vibes and prayers, all directed, together, to the same post office box.

It is with that togetherness that Yitzy will emerge whole and safe.

It is only with that same degree of togetherness that can do what we must. Only that way.

It is a time when together

 we can right the wrongs of the world.  

Together we can achieve it all. 

Together we can

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen.