5767 Rosh Hoshanah Sermon
by Noa Zalud, visiting from Israel
Shalom to all of you, my new friends, and L’Shana Tova
During the High Holidays, according to our machzor, God in heaven is occupied in dealing with “yes or no” questions: who will live and who will die, who will be sick and who will be healthy, who will succeed and who will fail…
God will judge. God will decide.
But, we are told:
Heaven belongs to God, and the earth is entrusted to human beings. And here, on earth, where issues often are so complex, our responses less often are as simple as yes or no, black or white, win or lose.
The question we as Israelis, are so often asked, of course, is: “Did we win or lose in this recent fighting?” The question itself is so problematic.
Despite the terrible tragedy that war entails for so many, war, in this age of rapid sound bites, has become equated with a sports competition, with a football game. We hear talk of offense and defense, of second efforts, of comebacks, and most importantly, did our side win or lose.
From a great distance, like from heaven, we are easily tempted to skip the details, and leap to the yes or no answer. While sitting in the peaceful woods of Vermont, preparing this sermon, it’s easy to understand how so many of my new friends in America, seeing Israel from a distance through TV and the newspapers, are tempted to seek a one word answer to the question: Did Israel win or lose?
But living in Israel all my life, and breathing the details—even to the smallest ones, I can say with some certainty that war is not like that. War is a tragedy.
How can it be a victory for anyone if tens of thousands of our people and innocent families in southern Lebanon, were displaced from their homes, if hundreds of our soldiers and citizens have been killed, if countless more live in fear? How can it be victory if our neighbor's children were killed?
War is not a football game.
More than once during this recent fighting, I found myself thinking about the ancient prophets, those mediators between God and the people of Israel. The prophets always were speaking about justice and injustice, about war and fear, about peace and hope, about social rights, about our responsibility to help the poor and the needy. They spoke often about the hypocrisy and dishonesty of those who prayed to God and worshiped God, but who, at the same time, cheated in trials and ignored the rights and the needs of the weak and poor.
And I was wondering: If we had another prophet alive today,
what would he or she say to the people of Israel?
I believe he would say that we were just in our fighting, but that military force can not be the only way.
As the prophet Amos then said:
The strong will not master his strength.
I believe the new prophet would say that we have to trust our true strength as a nation and as a people, a strength which does not depend solely on arms and weapons, but just as importantly on wisdom and on seeing the big picture.
I believe he would say that the recent fighting has revealed how wrongly our country has dealt with its poor, the only people left in the north during the missiles attacks. These families and individuals had no proper protection, they could not afford the cost of seeking safety in the south, and the government was very late in providing them with any assistance. I have been told by some of you that the poor in New Orleans experienced something similar one year ago.
As the prophet Isaiah said:
Vindicate the victim, render justice to the orphan, take up the grievance of the widow.
Above all, I believe the new prophet would call upon us to work tirelessly for peace, and to look to the future with hope, rather then clinging to the negative experiences of the past.
As the prophet Amos said:
Seek good not evil, so that you may live.
Government leaders and politicians can easily get support from the majority to start a war. I believe you also experienced that truth in this country.
Why?
In Israel it is because so many people were disappointed so many times, and they are afraid that another peace initiative will lead to another disappointment. So they prefer to use force, with the illusion that it will provide a solution.
I believe the new prophet would tell us that the only sustainable way out of any kind of crisis, national or personal, is to maintain our hope, our tikvah, for a better future.
Which of us hasn’t experienced some crisis in our personal relations with loved ones?
In such situations there often is a sad history of harsh words spoken, and sometimes harsh actions committed. Dwelling on these past words and actions will only fill us with despair, and not permit us to built a new trust. The only way is to look forward, and seek, creatively, a new vision based on hope. Hope and expectations are the building blocks from which a new vision is born.
And with vision, there can emerge the necessary steps toward reconciliation and peace—first small ones, then larger ones, with each step acknowledged and celebrated, and with our progress also providing us with a resiliency, that will strengthen us during the difficulties and setbacks, that also are inevitable; a resiliency that will encourage us to maintain our hope, and maintain our diligence in working for peace, for justice and for equality.
As the prophet Isaiah said:
Zion will be redeemed through justice.
Amen
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