We interrupt the series of postings of the good, the bad and the ugly for in the light of day this morning, I am not seeing very much good around. Yes, there are glints of good here and there. Within family and friends. The miracle of our nation, Israel. However, within the world, dear God in Heaven, where are we to look for more, in our desperate need for more. Tonight and for the next three days, the two days of Rosh Hashanah and the day of Shabbat, the people of Israel, Your people, will be calling out to You. They will be praising You and where will You be?
J'accuse! J'accuse! with tear filled eyes and pleading voice, and fear filled trembling heart, I call out as Emile Zola cried out to the people of France at the debacle of the Dreyfus Affair. And so I call out to You. WHERE ARE YOU?
How many times? How many more times are we to undergo this horror? Metula, Kiryat Shemona, Tel Aviv, the ravaged South, and what is next - Jerusalem, Your city, the city whose name incorporates Peace? Rockets by the thousands rained down from the skies. Bullets and knives are wielded at ground level. Is there an end to this? Can we even see, imagine, a positive end?
And where are the outcries? Where are the calls for Hezbollah to stop? Where are the forces of the nations of the world roaring in outrage as Khomeini proudly announces that he ordered the attacks? Either we are inundated with thunderous silence, or worse, with vocal approval. Along with that is the almost outrage that when the dust cleared and continues to clear again and again that we have survived and refuse to capitulate. Why is the world not shouting against the horrific attack, its ever-ongoing existence and the animosity propelling it? The goal - the extermination of Israel, all Jews, the successful culmination of Hitlerian ambition.
Alan Paton wrote Cry the Beloved Country. I borrow his title. Today I weep. I weep for Israel, my beloved country. Once I had. once I had another beloved country, the U. S. A. But that country has spurned my love. What else is one to think when a judge can reinstate permission for a group of those calling for death of Israel and for all Jews, who stand to pour salt into the wounds of October 7 as they call for a repetition, who absolutely deny the loss of life on October 7th within villages, small communities, and a dance festival!! And so I weep.
Even as I weep for the endangered and slaughtered of my people, I weep also for those fools who enable, support, and stand with those who call for their own death. When they have been drained dry, of no more use, their fellow chanters will throw them, kick them, to the walls. Gleefully. This has been a certainty through the millennia, for those who collaborate with the enemy against their own, are at the end, Ipso facto, part and parcel of their own people and suffer the same fate. The train is coming for you as well.
From the depths, Oh Lord, I, we call You. Once again, Your people feel the agony of being designated target. Of a determined attempt to exterminate us. Your people. Your people. 24/7 constant checking on the continued existence of the state of Israel. The one tiny little Jewish nation state. Its existence so irritating to others. So much so as to induce implicit and complicit cooperation and sharing in the open and oft stated goals of terrorist groups and nations. How and why are You unaware or unfeeling of all the woes besetting us?
When the BBC Head of News can say the following with straight face and aggrieved tone, proclaiming her innocence, the innocence of her news staff, denying the over 1500 breaches of biased reporting, what is left to say?
“But BBC News does not and cannot reflect any single world view. In this war, we cannot be a place where any side feels that their perspective prevails. Our job is to report fairly and impartially, to report without fear or favour. Our duty to public service journalism means we will always hear from a range of perspectives“
And then continues to spew forth bias.
Last night in Israel an entire nation was locked down, under red alert, all in bomb shelters. Nobody knew what was, is, to follow. This morning more of the same. Those nations and heads of nations who have been speaking mealy mouthed for a year, encouraging the outrages against Israel are now facing their own red alert. It is a case of 'fer or agin'. Nothing more, nothing less. It must be acknowledged now in the face of all of the failures, that if Israel had been allowed to fight the war, as it should have been, that this entire year of horror would have been truncated, lives saved and our hostages home and safe with us. The tragedy of the stupidity and the hypocrisy of the nations of the world is astounding.
We, the people of Israel, know well that history repeats itself replete with lessons unlearned and unheeded. We know that when the time is ripe, those who sought to destroy us will themselves be destroyed. Beasts receive their well-deserved consequences. In the relativity of time, through the millennia, a time of woe might be worth less than the blink of an eye. However, for those living through it, dying because of it, it is an agony of centuries. Even armed with the knowledge. that the wrath of G-d will finally appear, we will always continue to raise voices and demand answers as to why and why and why again.
From the depths of despair hear the echoes of history and the agonies of Your people. What is the purpose of the seemingly eternal animosity towards the Jewish people? Is it because we believe in You? Because they too believe in You but wish to deny it? From nomads of the desert under Abraham to the family woes of Jacob and Isaac, to the jealousy of the brothers, and the painful sounds of the cries of Joseph, betrayed by his brothers and as he awaits his fate. Through slavery in Egypt. Exodus and return to the homeland. Destructive wrangling in the family. Loss of their nation. Millennia long Diaspora. Always with the longing to return to Zion. And finally, a return. The land of Israel, the state of Israel, proud, feisty, determined.
There was always one constant throughout the history of the Jewish people. Always the sound of voices of suffering, of torment beyond human comprehension. Always the calls to G-d to hear, to come, to rescue, to revenge. Always, eventually, an answer but too often so overlong in coming. Why is that the case, Lord? Why must it ever be so? Why do You not listen harder, better?
The next 10 days are days of atonement. 10 days during which Your people shed tears, hold their cracking hearts together, tremble in fear and grief and call out to You to hear and aid. We wonder and we question and question again. Why do we have the haunting picture of two adorable redheaded little boys, victims of hate. Why yet more families awaiting news of kidnaped loved ones? Perhaps never to return. A nation always under siege. Why?
Where the hell are You, G-d? We hear the echoes of the dead calling from beyond the grave. Zechor. Zechor. Remember the horror. Remember, avenge let our deaths, our bloodshed, not be in vain. If we, with our human ears, can hear their voices, why can you not? Where is the fulfillment of Your promise that You will avenge Your people, their spilled blood soaking the earth. You promised. We call out to you, Avinu Malkenu, Our Father, Our King. Our Master. Do what You promised. Keep Your word.
We promise to do better this year, to not repeat transgressions of the year past. We ask, we plead, we pray, we dare to demand- You do the same. We know there is much room for improvement within us, in our thoughts and deeds, but please, You do some thinking as well.
We promise to do better. We know that there are bills to be paid and we will pay, but payment implies service in return. We need that service now.
Dear Lord, You have been neglecting us. I don't know where the hell You are now, but You certainly are not here, with us. Not in full mode. Yes, Your hands sheltered many, but God in Heaven, wake up. See the full picture. Ignore the deniers. See the truth. See with Your all-knowing and seeing eyes and ears and minds. Deal harshly with Your powerful hands with all the enemies of your people. Reward the Righteous who stand with us.
Allow us to all shelter beneath the wide span of Your shield.
For the next three days there will be no new postings. On Sunday I will return, G-d willing, with another posting. Hopefully there will be a mairacle by then and the war will cease. Fairly, rightfully. I hope and I pray that our voices will break through and the Lord God will hear it. Full volume. and return back to us through His promises to us. Take us in hand and develop one walloping permanent punch to those who wish to destroy His people. We so do wish to call out praise, to say we never should have doubted you. But Hashem, Hashem Elokeinu, Our God, how much longer? We are humans. We are weak. We cannot withstand what You can. Lend us Your strength. Be with us. We are with You, always and know that from the depths when we call you, when we plead aneinu, answer us. A great voice, reassuring in its power and magnificence: I am here for you". And once again we will be able to say with full conviction. 'And so it came to pass. Yad Hashem, the Hand of the Lord in all its grace and glory."
May we all share a new year of peace and health, of love and kindness, with understanding and tolerance.
Shana Tova Umetuka. A good and sweet year. Amen. V'amen. Ken yehi ratzon, May He so desire.
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