Israel

I swore when I started blogging that I would not get political, but I hope we can all agree that the threat against Israel is real and that our brothers and sisters in the Promised Land need our prayers.  Thank you.

The Struggle in Israel

Andrea Seewald

As we are all aware,  the IDF has begun a serious series of attacks on rocket sites and terrorist leaders that will hopefully lead to greater security for the State of Israel, but as I write these words, no one knows how long the fighting will continue or at what price. Just this morning, three precious souls were taken from us in Kiryat Malachi by terrorist rockets, and the Tel Aviv area has come under fire.

The challenge for us is that we are not on the front lines. We are not the ones under rocket fire, we are not the troops that may be sent into Gaza, nor are we the ones living with the terror of sirens that are being heard in more and more parts of Israel. Our charge at this time is to be mishtatef be-tza’aran shel tzibur, to learn to identify with and feel the pain of Klal Yisrael as a whole.

 

Our goal, then is to keep the consciousness of the pain of our brothers and sisters front and center. It means adding to the quality and quantity of the mitzvot that we do— adding extra learning, extra davening, working that much harder on our relationships with others— like we would do if, Heaven Forbid, tragedy was on our doorstep. It means having them in mind when we daven. It means giving tzedakah, both for their needs and in general in their merit. (I am proud to say that our PZ community has already raised close to $5000 for communities affected by Hurricane Sandy!) It means being advocates and ambassadors for Israel—in the media, and to family and  neighbors and colleagues— when the almost inevitable media onslaught begins against the “ferocious” tactics Israel takes to defend her citizens.

Click here for two pages of special tefillos  and readings from Tehillim  that can be printed out and used by yourselves and your families to help focus our prayers for our brothers and sisters in Israel.  I would ask particularly as we go into Shabbos, that women have the IDF and the people of Israel in mind when they light candles, and that everyone should consider adding at least one chapter of Tehillim to their davening or daily routine as a way of being connected at this time of crisis.

Hashem Oz le-Amo Yiten, Hashem Yevarech es Amo ba-Shalom.

May Hashem give strength to His Nation, May Hashem bless His Nation with peace.

Rabbi Daniel Yolkut

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