The people huddle in their homes, waiting for the worst to come. Too many families already mourn loved ones killed in the violence. The people turn against each other. Their leaders have engaged in corruption and promoted hatred. Now, an external enemy crouches at the door.
We have just entered the Nine Days — the period from the beginning of the month of Av until Tisha B’Av, which marks the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem, as well as other calamities of Jewish history.
I imagine our ancestors waiting in horror, as the walls of the city have been breached, blood is flowing in the streets, children are starving, and — perhaps worst of all — they don’t know when it will all end. No wonder Eicha, the Book of Lamentations read on Tisha B’Av, comments that this fate was worse than that of the biblical city of Sodom, “which was overthrown in a moment, without a hand striking it.” (4:6)
This week, Israelis have been stockpiling food and water, preparing safe rooms, and waiting in terror for Iran and Hezbollah to strike in retaliation for the assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders last week. Officials say an Iranian attack will likely come within the next day. Sirens sound regularly, and Hezbollah fire has already wounded Israelis in the North.
Meanwhile, families in Gaza await relief from the ongoing assault, which has already left tens of thousands dead and many more hungry and homeless. Families of hostages despair as Netanyahu torpedoes yet another chance to make a deal. In the West Bank, Bezalel Smotrich has gradually consolidated his office’s control of the occupied territories, another step toward outright annexation. Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians in Jenin and Aqaba in just the last 24 hours have left at least 15 Palestinians dead, including a 14-year-old boy. The possibility of a wider regional war looms, though it is a terrifying prospect and in no one’s best interest.
There’s no sugarcoating how difficult this moment is. For months, we have hoped, prayed, and advocated for cooler heads to prevail, and for a bilateral ceasefire that will bring home the hostages and end the war that has already killed far too many Palestinians and Israelis.
But Tisha B’Av is not a moment for false hope. Next Monday night, many of us will sit on the floor in the darkness, chanting the verses of Eicha, reciting kinnot (elegies), and simply sitting in the pain of destruction.
That doesn’t mean that hope won’t come. To be Jewish is to believe always that redemption will come.
But sometimes we have to sit in the pain, along with our community, knowing also — as the midrash on Eicha teaches again and again — that God is mourning and crying along with us.
Then, as now, there are many chances along the way to change the trajectory of history. In this week’s haftarah, the last of the “haftarot of rebuke” leading up to Tisha B’Av, the prophet Isaiah scolds us, “Your rulers are rogues /And cronies of thieves” (1:23).
Then, as now, we suffer from the choices of rulers who put their own egos and careers ahead of the wellbeing of their people. Few in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, or Iran would have chosen this destructive path, and yet it is ordinary people who bear the consequences.
Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cronies are continuing to escalate tensions and are making a hostage deal increasingly impossible. Instead, they seem hell-bent on keeping Israel in a state of war. This weekend, Israeli news reported on a meeting in which Netanyahu screamed at security chiefs who pushed back on his insistence on adding new conditions to the deal on the table. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly told him, “There is no security reason to delay the deal. Since we’re speaking candidly, I am telling you that you are making considerations that are not beneficial to the matter,”
Israelis deserve better. Palestinians deserve better. As does everyone in the region.
Once again, thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv this past Saturday night to urge Netanyahu to make a deal. T’ruah continues to echo their voices to call for an end to the war. Last month, we gathered 200 American Jews, including dozens of rabbis, in front of the Capitol building before Netanyahu spoke. Our action — and the message that there are rabbis who refuse to choose between the lives of Israelis and Palestinians — made the New York Times, The Washington Post, AP, and many other outlets.
We continue to organize advocacy meetings between rabbis and their Members of Congress because elected officials need to hear that Jews do not support Netanyahu’s endless war.
Last week, we issued a statement urging accountability for those accused of torturing Palestinian prisoners in Sde Teiman, horrifying behavior that is “an absolute violation both of international law and of the Jewish insistence on the dignity of every human being, created b’tzelem Elohim (“in the image of the Divine”).” We condemned the mob that stormed the detention center, another symptom of the lawlessness encouraged by messianic radicals in government.
As always, our moral voice is louder with your support. Right now, we are holding our annual Shofar Society membership drive. Giving monthly is a great way to show you’re with us for the long haul. As we prepare for the challenges of 5785 and beyond, we need your support more than ever.
In this frightening moment, my prayers are with all those innocent people in harm’s way, whether they are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, or anywhere. Right now, we are sitting together in grief and fear. But redemption will come, and we will continue to work to build that future together.
In solidarity,
Rabbi Jill Jacobs (she/her)
CEO, T’ruah