Rabbi Wendy Pein's Blog

On Friday, October 6, 7:00 PM, Temple Israel celebrated Simhat Torah, and our community read, rejoiced and celebrated the cycle of the reading of the Torah. We read verses from the Book of Bereshit, the Book of Genesis, which includes the creation story, a story emphasizing light and goodness. The next morning, we awakened to a darkened world as we learned of the horrible terrorist attack launched against Israel by Hamas.  There are “eyn milim”, no words, to describe the tragedy of lives lost, hostages taken, and injuries incurred by civilians and the military. Even as I write this, the casualties mount, and our sadness and disbelief increase.  This is worse than the Yom Kippur War of 1973.

Many of us are unsure what to do and how to respond? How can we help? Knowing that it is upon us to support Israel in any way we can, the following is an evolving list of ways that we can respond during Israel’s time of crisis:

1. Demonstrate Jewish Solidarity 

• Attend local Westchester rallies that are demonstrating support for Israel. There will be a Northern Westchester Gathering in Support of Israel, hosted by Congregation Sons of Israel in Briarcliff, on Tuesday, October 17, at 7 PM. Please join us as Synagogues and Jewish organizations of Northern Westchester for a community interfaith gathering.
• Reach out to our brothers, sisters, family, and friends in Israel.  Let them know they are not alone and have our prayers and support (I am happy to report that Gil Avidan, last year’s Shinshin, young adult Israel emissary, has reported his safety.)
• Participate in Temple Israel’s Friday night Shabbat service, Friday, October 13, at 7 PM during which Rabbi Jaech will address the current war in Israel. 

2. Political Advocacy - Write to our Congresspeople to petition them to continue supporting Israel during this time.

• The American Jewish Committee is calling on members of Congress to speak out against this attack by Hamas and support Israel’s right to defense. Support this call to action here.
• AIPAC (American Israel Political Action Committee) has asked us to send a message to Congress by taking action here.

3. Philanthropy - Acts of tzedakah, righteous action, are needed now more than ever.

• Jewish Federation of North America has asked for donations to be directed here.
• The UJA Federation of New York has established an Emergency Israel Appeal to allocate resources to an array of relief agencies.
• Magen David Adom is Israel's sole national emergency, medical, ambulance, and blood service to Israeli society.

4. Study / Learn

• Stay up to date about the news from Israel.  I suggest Times of Israel.com as a source of reliable, up-to-date information about the war in Israel. They also have a daily Podcast.
• I recommend these recently published books about Israel and the Israel/Palestinian conflict:

Can We Talk about Israel?  by Daniel Sokatch

Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby

Catch 67 by Micah Goodman

• I highly recommend watching the recent film Golda. There are many parallels between the YK War of 1973 and the YK War of today in 2023.

5. Suggestions for processing this war with our youth:

We will discuss the war with our Wed. CJL students and provide a comforting space for our Sunday CJL students.  Older students will hear about the crisis from their peers, and parents should be prepared to discuss it with their child/ren.  

Limit Social Media - The Israeli government is recommending preteens and teens limit their social media so that the graphic images that may be posted - hostages begging for their lives - will not imprint images on their minds. Jewish educators are advising parents to watch graphic news footage about Israel away from their child/ren.  Help our youth recognize and demonstrate that there are other ways to support Israel/Israelis than scrolling through video footage online.

These are suggested ways to process the war with our children.

Here is also a way to approach the discussion with child/ren according to their different ages.

6. Invoke the Jewish Value of Hope:

Jewish educator Dr. Sivan Zikkai recently reminded Jewish educators on a webinar that, “Children have the natural ability to see/find hope during dark times.  The magic of childhood is that child/ren naturally dream, hope, and want to work for a better tomorrow.”  We can nurture this hope in our child/ren, and encourage them to find ways to bring light in this darkened world. Remind them that Israel’s national anthem is the HaTikvah, which means The Hope.

7. Pray

Prayer is how we give expression to our hopes for our world and try to tilt God’s will toward making those hopes a reality.¹ The shattered soul of Israel needs our prayers now more than ever. Historically, the Jewish people have turned to the Book of Psalms to express their hopes, prayers, and need for comfort:

Psalms:

Recommended are Psalms: 94, 120, 121, 122, 126, 130, 140, 128

A Prayer for the State of Israel and a Prayer for Peace

When we conclude reading a Book of the Torah, as we did on October 6, we chant,  חזק חזק ונתחזק “Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek” - “be strong, be strong, and we will strengthen one another.” We need to be strong, as we carry the vulnerability of Israelis in our hearts. Let us always be here for each other and stand strong, not only to pray for Israel but to take action as well.²

Praying for safety and peace in Israel, now and always,

L’shalom,

Rabbi Wendy Pein

¹ Rabbi Howard Siegel

² Rabbi Jeffrey Arnowitz

Some of these sentiments have been similarly expressed by colleagues in the Reform and Conservative movements. I thank these colleagues for inspiring the language and suggested action steps in this blog.