In support of Israel

 Dear Friends and Family,

The rally for Israel was canceled today out of safety considerations.

These are remarks I would have like to have heard at the rally.

Today is Simchat Torah, the celebration of the completion of the reading of the Torah, and the start of reading the Torah again, from the beginning. This circularity of time, the hallmark of Judaism.

It is fitting that we are gathered hear to today in solidarity with Israel. The Torah reminds us that hatred towards Jews, and the cruel and wonton murder of Jews is as old as biblical times. The Torah teaches that in each generation, amalekites will arise, to cowardly attack from behind, in order to slaughter the most vulnerable, defenseless Jews – the young, the infirm, and the elderly. From Haman, to Hitler to Hamas, the pattern repeats.

So far, 700 innocent civilian souls have been slaughtered by Hamas, and an untold number of civilians and soldiers in captivity, undoubtedly undergoing the most inhumane, brutal torture. Right now, because of the unprovoked and unprecedented murder of innocents, the civilized world stands in solidarity with Israel.

Yet if past is prologue, voices will soon ring out, condemning Israel, for the loss of Palestinian lives, cruelly used by Hamas as human shields, for propaganda purposes. Some in the media are already laying the groundwork for anti-Israel sentiment. Some are no longer reporting the loss of human lives in Israel, but instead are reporting the combined loss of lives of Israelis and Palestinians. This morning, on CNN, Thomas Freidman, a reporter for the New York Times, blamed Israel, not Hamas, for the current conflict. Mr Freidman proclaimed that the number one person he would indict for the war between Israel and Hamas is a member of the right wing Israeli government.

What Mr. Freidman does not understand or accept is that anti-Semites do not murder Jews because of some provocation. Anti-Semites murder Jews, because they are Jews, because they hate Jews.

This will be a long battle. It will be violent and bloody. Undoubtedly the images coming from this war will be disturbing. This time the Jewish community around the world must speak with one voice in support of Israel to give it the time needed to fully accomplish its mission.

In biblical times it was God’s mighty hand and outstretched arm that defeated the enemies of Israel. This time it will be Israel’s mighty hand and outstretched arm that will rid the world of the scourge of Hamas, relegating it to the dustbin of history alongside Haman, Hitler, and all others who sought the destruction of the Jewish people.

Am Yisrael Chai. Israel lives, and it will always be so.