We are all still numb and in shock after the unthinkable occurred on Simchat Torah 5784, October 7, 2023. As the shock wears off, and we begin analyzing the current situation–of Hamas trying to destroy the Holy Land and the entire Jewish people, and the world siding against Israel, as usual–it’s natural for us and for our students to ask: Who can we depend on now? Who will give us information and guidance? Who will offer us emotional support? Who will help the injured, the families of the fallen, the soldiers once again in harm's way?
We know that we cannot depend on the world at large, even if many individuals proffer their support. We cannot depend on the media, social or otherwise, to give us a clear picture of what is happening on the ground in Israel. We cannot depend on international bodies and governments to help us cope with the atrocities we have witnessed.
But!
We have so much we can depend on.
We can depend on:
Our God. God has never yet forsaken us. When I was a child, I asked my mother, a Holocaust survivor, “Where was God?” She said to me, “He was right there with us,” and I nearly shouted at her, “How can you say that?” She quietly responded, “I’m standing here, aren’t I?” What I now understand as an adult is that she didn’t mean that there were no Jews who perished or suffered unspeakably during the Holocaust. She meant that God never has and never would abandon God’s people, the Jewish People, and God saw to it that even through extreme personal suffering, we as a nation endured. So it will be now, even as we mourn our fallen.
Our Torah. The ancient foundational texts that comprise our tradition and the Jewish texts written since then, throughout the ups and downs of Jewish history, will guide us and help us figure out what to do. They will give us succor in our current grief and reassure us that this has happened before and that this, too, shall pass–with the Jewish people remaining intact. A good place to begin is the Book of Psalms. If we’re angry at God or in deep despair, study chapter 22. If we want to invoke our wrath on our enemies, look at chapter 83. If we believe we can depend on God through it all, read chapter 20.
Our long legacy of moral and ethical behavior. Yes, we have killed innocent Palestinians. However, we do not celebrate the death of any of God’s children. As Proverbs instructs us, “בִּנְפֹ֣ל א֭וֹיִבְךָ אַל־תִּשְׂמָ֑ח וּ֝בִכָּשְׁל֗וֹ אַל־יָגֵ֥ל לִבֶּֽךָ׃–If your enemy falls, do not exult; if he trips, let your heart not rejoice.” Whether our enemies rejoice over our losses or not, we will not behave in kind. The world, to a large extent, hates us, and it is frankly immaterial. We need to be the best people we can be under each and every circumstance.
Our Jewish community. The stories of heroism, kindness, and strength abound. $388 million dollars collected in 10 days through the Jewish Federations of North America is a metric of which we can be proud. The global, national, communal, and individual acts of chesed outweigh anything seen elsewhere in the world. Whether it is people from the diaspora opening their vacation homes to refugees from the South, restaurateurs kashering their kitchens so that they can cook for the soldiers, community vigils and prayer gatherings held in innumerable places around the world, or collections of items that survivors and soldiers need, we are there for one another in times of great pressure. [Would that we were, at all other times also. But that is for another day…]
As Jewish educators, we bear the burden not only of taking care of each other but of raising our students in ways that they will continue to be proud, fearless Jews. God is there for us, our Torah is there for us, and we are there for each other. As God said to Joshua, as he was preparing to go into battle, חזק ואמץ–be strong and courageous. This is the bracha that we give all of our educators now. We all need to gird ourselves to be strong and courageous now and into the future, for as long as it takes us to stop hearing the sirens and to walk safely and securely on our streets in Israel and around the world.