What does it mean to wish each other a Shabbat Shalom when we are in the midst of an awful war? Here in Israel, everyone, secular and religious, shopkeepers, taxi drivers, soldiers and their parents, all wish each other Shabbat Shalom from Thursday night onwards and, right now, it actually feels poignant and beautiful to do so. It is aspirational, and also invites us to experience, even if for some moments, some kind of inner and outer peace, even while living in the fear and anguish of this time.
This has been an exceptionally intense week with my 3 day solidarity mission coming to a close on Wednesday night, as those of you on the zoom know. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency published an article about our Solidarity Mission here
Thursday was a day of reconnecting with old friends, teachers and cousins in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It felt so good to be able to hug them and offer them various treats to help comfort and hold. The #sendthemhomenow campaign that desperately seeks the release of the 239 hostages in Gaza is felt on every street, in every bus stop and store, with the faces of the captives screaming out from 1000s and 1000s of posters demanding that we stop and look and take action if we can. I spent a couple of hours outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, which has a stirring installation of a perfectly set Shabbat table with 200 empty chairs. As I sit at the Shabbat table tonight with friends in Jerusalem, we will be thinking of these empty places in homes throughout Israel and beyond, and the anguished hearts of their families. Rachel Goldberg, the mother of Hersh, last seen with one arm missing in the back of a pick up truck heading for Gaza, said: "I feel like I am walking around without a heart."
Last night I had dinner with my cousin, whose son is serving on a base outside Ashkelon near the Gaza border, and I slept in his bed, which felt a bit surreal. This morning I met my dear, old friend Rebecca and we had a deeply restorative and much needed swim in the sea, which though technically not allowed for fear of rocket attacks, is a necessary cleansing for body and soul. After the swim, we sat on the roof deck eating breakfast as Rebecca received a text on whatsapp from her soldier daughter Shaya, saying "I'm going in. No phone. I love you." If it is not obvious, the meaning was painfully clear to this anguished mother. Shaya is a combat paramedic and, at a moment's notice, she went into Gaza. My friend immediately burst into tears. What parent wouldn't? This is the daily reality for so many here and it is unbearable. Nevertheless Rebecca drove me to the station for me to catch the train back to Jerusalem. Minutes after I got back to my friend Nigel's apartment in Jerusalem, another text: "just heard that she's out. welcome to the roller coaster of our lives here." So, yes, we need to breathe. We need to hold each other close and we need not just to say Shabbat Shalom to one another, but to feel the possibility of what Shabbat can be.
I have seen some awful things this week and I have also met some remarkable and inspiring people. In Parshat Vayera, this week's Torah reading, there is a repeating motif of lifting and opening eyes to see something that may have been there all along, or may have just appeared at the last moment. Abraham lifts his eyes and see three people who turn out to be angels and he greets them. He lifts his eyes again to see the place from afar on which he is being asked to sacrifice his son Isaac, and again he lifts his eyes and sees the ram caught in a thicket by its horns that saves the life of his son. Hagar, banished into the hot desert with her son Ishmael close to dying of thirst, has her eyes opened by God and she sees a well of water and gives her son to drink and saves their lives. Angels weave their magic all over these texts and allow us to see what was not possible a moment before. On Shabbat, before we make Kiddush, we sing Shalom Aleichem and welcome the Ministering Angels to our Shabbat tables. May we somehow welcome angels this Shabbat that help us see beyond what seems possible right now, and may nourishing wells of water appear and save us. Many have the tradition of sending these angels, messengers, out into the world to those who need them. We send angels to the hostages and to the soldiers and their families and to all the innocent, good-hearted people caught up in this war, in this violence and pray that the forces of evil and terror will be driven from our midst.
Let's try to see the world with Shabbos eyes tonight!
I wish you and those you love and all of us a Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Marc
PS - many people are asking what we can do to support Israel. There is much to do, especially in the hostage release campaign and we will be providing some information and ideas, but for now, please visit our Israel resources page here
