A couple of days ago, a non-Jewish
acquaintance asked what he could say in Hebrew to his friends in Israel, in
this time of great pain and struggle. The words “chazak ve’ematz” – be strong
and courageous – immediately came to mind. These are the words Joshua spoke to
the Israelites as they prepared to cross the Jordan River into the land of
Canaan for the first time. We read them last week in the haftarah for Parashat
V’Zot Hab’rakhah – the only parashah that we outside of Israel never read on a
Shabbat – only on Simchat Torah. And it was on Simchat Torah in Israel, but which
they celebrate on the same day as our Shemini Atzeret, last Shabbat morning, that
they read those very words – even as the air raid sirens were wailing, even as
Israelis and non-Israelis along the border with Gaza were being raped and murdered
in their homes and in the streets and being kidnapped into Gaza. Yes, they read
those words. Chazak ve’ematz – be strong and courageous.
I thanked my acquaintance for the question,
and told him to say those words in the second person plural – chizku v’imtzu.
Be strong and courageous in the face of horrific losses and barbarism. The
losses will continue to mount. Bodies are still being discovered. Sadly, some who
were injured last week will not survive. More IDF soldiers will die in the days
and weeks to come – and likely more Israeli civilians as Hamas and Hezbollah
continue with their terrorist rocket attacks. And yes, innocent civilians in
Gaza will die as well, even as IDF struggle to restrain themselves, to maintain
their principles of "tohar haneshek" (purity of arms) and
"havlaga" (restraint).
So for the people of Israel and for those
who support Israel from the safety of the United States and elsewhere chutz la’aretz,
outside the land of Israel, the words “chizku v’imtzu” take on a double meaning.
Our Israeli brethren need to be strong and courageous in combat, in defeating
Hamas and other terrorists – but also, to be strong and courageous in resisting
the temptation to descend to the same level as the terrorists –killers bent on
wanton destruction and chaos.
More than a few people in Gaza and Iran, as
well as in New York and Detroit, celebrated the murders and mayhem of a week
ago. To celebrate the deaths of innocent civilians is a chillul hashem – a desecration
of God’s holy name. They are as barbarous as the actual terrorists. It is
reveling in chaos – the tohu va’vohu of the beginning of Creation that we will
read about in the morning.
For us to maintain the idea of chizku v’imtzu,
to be strong and courageous, means that we too must not descend into the chaos.
Creation is the act of turning chaos into order. If we are going to create
peaceful and just societies, we must act with the restraint necessary to change
chaos into order. To turn war into peace.
Harachaman
hu yivarekh otanu, kol yosh’vei teivel, kulanu, yachad b'virkat shalom
May
the Merciful One bless us, all the inhabitants of the world, all of us, as one,
with the blessing of peace.
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