Rabbinic Reflections: Issue 221

July 26, 2024 - 20 Tamuz 5784

Parasha Pinchas: Ten Simple Truths

Dear Friends,

I hope this correspondence finds you well and enjoying the summer. I look forward to welcoming you this Saturday morning, my final Shabbat at CBIOTP, when we will join for Shabbat services beginning at 10:00 am. As always, our services will be available on our regular Zoom prayer link and will be followed by a “scoop of egg salad and a cup of coffee” (quoting our Executive Director, Craig)!

As I compose this reflection piece on Wednesday, the 294th day of Operation Charvot Barzel, we direct our thoughts and prayers to our brothers and sisters defending the Holy Land, we pray for the safe return of the 120 hostages (40 presumed dead), we yearn for the return home for the 90,000 displaced Israelis, and we pray for eternal peace.

The Torah, in our tradition, is described as the Torah of Truth:

צִדְקָתְךָ֣ צֶ֣דֶק לְעוֹלָ֑ם וְֽתוֹרָתְךָ֥ אֱמֶֽת׃

Your righteousness is eternal; Your Torah is true. (Ps.119:142)

In the spirit of this biblical text, allow me to share with you ten simple truths that require our ongoing attention and consideration.

These truths must guide us as we continue on our individual and collective Jewish paths:

1. Before October 7, the world agreed that terrorism was unacceptable, women claiming rape must be believed, and any country has the right to self-defense. This thinking does not apply to Jews and Israelis.
2. Israel, by any historical analysis, is the homeland of the Jewish people. This statement is factual based on archeology, anthropology, religious literature, cross-cultural documentation, and reason.
3. Ethnic cleansing of the Jews has occurred throughout the Middle East based on population statistics. Here are population numbers of Jewish communities in those countries (comparing 1948 to the present day): Morocco 265,000/2,000; Algeria 140,000/50; Libya 38,000/0; Yemen 63,000/50; Egypt 75,000/20; Tunisia 75.000/1700; Syria 30,000/100; Lebanon 24,000/100; Iraq 150,000/10; and Iran 100,000/9,500. The loss of Palestinian lives since October is tragic, yet not the result of an intentional Israeli action of ethnic cleansing, but rather due to a stated explicit strategy of the Hamas leadership.
4. Egypt shares a border with Gaza. The border fence of Egypt/Gaza makes the Texas/Mexico border look like a joke. In the international community, Egypt is not expected to devote its resources to the sustenance of the Gazans, nor are they accused of “occupation” based on their desire to secure their country’s border.
5. In every third-party research poll since Oct. 7, both West Bank and Gazan Palestinians overwhelmingly (75-90%) endorse the murderous actions of Hamas. The majority of the population is not in favor of a Two-State Solution, but rather directs its efforts to a one-state solution, which does not include the Jewish people.
6. Netanyahu has acted in self-interest and not in the interest of the hostages or the people of Israel. Nonetheless, years from now, history will reflect positively on his fourteen years of leadership, which has made Israel one of the most important countries in the world. His hardline stance on the war may eventually be perceived as a sagacious approach that secured the country for the next decade.
7. History teaches us that regardless of Netanyahu’s speech to Congress and regardless of any clandestine meetings amongst representatives of Israel and Palestinian leaders, lasting peace will not be achieved until an organic process of finding a new young voice for coexistence emerges within the context of Palestinian nationalism. The Gazan community needs to shift its national identity from that of victimization to the framework of taking responsibility for building its future alongside a strong Israel.
8. While Yeshiva might be great for some, peace will endure only when a new Israeli educational model emerges mandating joint Arab/Jewish schooling from an early age.
9. October 7th was an inflection point for the Jewish community in these United States. Every Jew, religious or not, must reassess their connection to Torah values, the Holy Land, education, and their active involvement with the Jewish dream of America.
10. Despite demographic trends including lower birth rates and reduced synagogue affiliation, our Shuls remain as the center local meeting ground for any subsections of the greater Jewish community. Do not take them for granted. Support. Participate. Contribute.

As we enter into this Shabbat, I will add one additional personal truth (for which I am grateful):

I have been blessed with a loving wife and three wonderful daughters who are my pride and joy. They have encouraged me to devote myself over these last five years to CBIOTP. The relationships that I have forged here at the Shul, I will take with me forever.

Please accept my final blessing: I bless you with joy, health, success, harmony, prosperity, learning, growth, contentment, and happiness.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Eric L. Wasser, EdD, Hon DM.
Tel: 201-562-5277
elw613@gmail.com

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