September 2006 Bulletin Message

For Your Consideration
Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro

August 4, 2006

The images are everywhere. The news is always on. It’s hard to complain seriously that we’ve got it bad because of triple digit temperatures, when our brothers and sisters in Israel leave their homes by the thousands and spend weeks in shelters.

The images are everywhere. CNN can’t seem to stop showing pictures of the Lebanese who are victims of this war. What happened in Kana seems to be the ultimate indictment of Israel.

But the images on television don’t tell the whole story, and we Jews must not forget that. We mustn’t forget that, only one day after Kana, Israel’s papers and airwaves were filled with anguished debates about the moral implications of what had happened. In Israel’s largest daily, the lead editorial proclaimed: “In a national sense, we are all guilty, because small nations are nations of collective responsibility. This killing is on the head of all of us.” And it went on to say that what Israel must do is take responsibility and ask forgiveness.

Imagine hearing those words from either Hezbollah or Hamas? It wouldn’t happen and it hasn’t happened.

This war is tragic. This war is painful because it was initiated by Hezbollah and Hamas after Israel had evacuated the land both groups claim as their own.

But this war is also a struggle that Israel will not lose and cannot lose. It is a battle in which our people affirm their simple right TO BE. It is a battle during which we have to say again and again – Am Yisrael Chai – The People of Israel has a right to be. Israel is alive!

(Dear Friends – Every one of us has surely been inundated with news and views about the war. During the last few weeks and on into September, I will be placing some materials I value on our website. Check what is there. www.sinai-temple.org . Some of it will be material you haven’t seen. Amidst all the hoopla, I hope what you find on the website will offer some clarity.

Prior Bulletin Messages from the Rabbi are available on this site.