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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Parshat Pinchas – Thanks For The Reminder Dad

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Rabbi David Bibi is the Rabbi of the Sephardic Congregation of Long Beach and has taught in many community Synagogues. He has written and edited a weekly newsletter “Shabbat Shalom from Cyberspace” for 19 years, and can be reached at DavidBibi@gmail.com.
Rabbi David Bibi is the Rabbi of the Sephardic Congregation of Long Beach and has taught in many community Synagogues. He has written and edited a weekly newsletter “Shabbat Shalom from Cyberspace” for 19 years, and can be reached at [email protected].
“What is the Jew?…What kind of unique creature is this whom all the rulers of all the nations of the world have disgraced and crushed and expelled and destroyed; persecuted, burned and drowned, and who, despite their anger and their fury, continues to live and to flourish. What is this Jew whom they have never succeeded in enticing with all the enticements in the world, whose oppressors and persecutors only suggested that he deny (and disown) his religion and cast aside the faithfulness of his ancestors?! The Jew – is the symbol of eternity. … He is the one who for so long had guarded the prophetic message and transmitted it to all mankind. A people such as this can never disappear. The Jew is eternal. He is the embodiment of eternity.” Leo Tolstoy

Towards the end of this week’s Perasha, when the nation is starting to prepare to enter Eretz Yisrael, Hashem commands Moshe: “Go up to this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to Bnei Yisrael. You shall see it and you shall be gathered unto your people.” Moshe, out of concern for Am Yisrael, asks Hashem to appoint an able successor to lead the Jewish people into Eretz Yisrael with the request: “May Hashem, G-d of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the assembly who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall take them out and bring them in; and let the assembly of Hashem not be like sheep that have no shepherd.” Hashem answers: “Take to yourself Yehoshua bin Nun, a man in whom there is spirit, and lean your hand upon him.” Yehoshua, is the appropriate choice. Our sages liken the face of Moses to that of the sun and the face of Joshua to the moon. After the sun set upon Moses’s death, it will be time for the moon to shine.

As the sun sets on one generation, a new generation takes the mantle. Each new generation looks at themselves as the moon and merely a reflection of the light of those who preceded them. If we are the moon and they are the sun, then in trying times it is best to reflect on what those who came before us would have said and what they would have done. On days like this, I wish I could walk into my dad’s office a few steps from mine and ask him what he thought. Having grown up during the depression, and having served the nation during World War Two and lived through much of the century, he pretty much saw or experience most everything we can imagine. I wish I could turn to him or to Rabbi Abittan and gain a better appreciation of the situation from his very unique perspective.

As I write this, my son Moses just landed in Israel. As he departed the airport, sirens rang out sending him back to the terminal. More than 100 Hamas rockets were fired or intercepted today and tonight over Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion, Givatayim, Raanana, Caesaria and Yavne, as well as southern Israeli cities. The IDF called up another 40,000 reservists after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered Operation Solid Rock expanded against mounting Palestinian rocket assault. Moses was to spend the night in Tel Aviv and the next few days in Jerusalem. Instead he is traveling up to Sefat. B’H they are being very cautious and Hashem will watch over them.

We were so hopeful last week that Eyal, Naftali, and Gilad would be returned to their parents. Who imagined that they had been murdered even before anyone knew that they were kidnapped? We were so sure that it was impossible for Jews to act so despicably in kidnapping, murdering and burning the body of a 15 year old boy. We offered theories of it being an honor killing perpetrated by the boys own relatives. After all that’s what Arabs do. Just look at Pakistan in the news this week where the father of a pregnant Muslim woman who was stoned to death and four other men were charged with killing her after she married against the family’s wishes. This is what they do. This is not us. We were sure that the murder of this boy couldn’t be us.

It looks like we were very wrong. So do I dare venture to speculate again?

Why the sudden escalation by Hamas? In our minds they need to be embarrassed that the top suspects in the kidnapping and murder of three boys are Hamas people. But they are not ashamed. It appears that the massacre makes them heroes in the eyes of Palestinians. How sick? But what else can be motivating them?

Hamas is broke. They have not paid their people for months. Syria stopped covering subsidies.

Egypt has barred arms- transfers from Gaza as well as much of the trade through the tunnels. Qatar recently offered to cover Hamas’ entire back payroll, but without Abbas signing off, that won’t happen. Is Hamas channeling anger and frustration toward Israel or do they hope to collect funds from someone in exchange for a cease fire? Is this a Mafia like shakedown?

Do the Israeli government and IDF hope that the operation and staged offensive will in the long run destroy Hamas’ logistical and strategic infrastructure? Are they willing to put their lives on hold for a month and stage a limited ground incursion and targeted assassinations so that can restore some semblance of quiet to the residents of the south? Let us pray that Hashem will continue to protect his people and lead our soldiers.

And we must show support to the people; The Nation of Israel whose inner strength has for years served to encourage and motivate us. At these times it’s up to us to return the favor. And when they see us or our children still flying in to Ben Gurion, still touring the Old City, and still supporting them, it supports that inner Sabra strength.

The world hates them. The world hates us. We are treated with a double standard. The people of Israel need to know that we are with them and that we are one.

And how do they and we react to the world?

It gets tiring reading the lies. Look at the Arab and Muslim press throughout the world and it almost seems ridiculous the lies upon lies which are penned.

At the same time, we must admit that against our ability to even comprehend, a few bad apples do tend to reflect poorly on the whole bunch. The actions of those extremists who brutally took the life of a little boy, has shamed us to the core. We are in shock. Nothing justifies this hideous crime. The way that these killers have presented us negates everything that is Jewish. And it gives ammunition to our enemies. We’ve given them a truth to build their lies on.

I remember complaining to my father a few years back. Why can’t we respond in kind? Why can’t we just carpet bomb them? Why do we phone them to leave their homes moments before missiles are fired? They think nothing of directing rockets at schools, yet we do everything we can to prevent loss of “innocent” life. The same hospitals that save their lives become targets. Why can’t we set aside our scruples for a moment?

And my dad answered. We can’t be like them, because we are Jews.

He showed me the following written by author Eric Hoffer in May 1968, about a year after the Six Day War, in an article he wrote for the Los Angeles Times titled “Israel’s Peculiar Position:”

“The Jews are a peculiar people: Things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people, and there is no refugee problem. Russia did it. Poland and Czechoslovakia did it. Turkey threw out a million Greeks and Algeria a million Frenchmen. Indonesia threw out heaven knows how many Chinese–and no one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel , the displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees. Everyone insists that Israel must take back every single Arab. Arnold Toynbee calls the displacement of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the Nazis. Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms. But when Israel is victorious it must sue for peace. Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world.”

Thanks for the reminder Dad.

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