Iranian Attacks
As many of you know, I am on sabbatical right now (though I will be at KE this Shabbat). As part of my travels, Carol and I spent about 10 days in Israel visiting friends and family. We experienced so much pain and loss –posters calling the hostages to be returned line the ramp as you head towards passport control at Ben Gurion. My cousins took us to the memorial at the site of the Nova massacre where the victims are named and their stories told while music plays and people dance. We spent part of our Shavuot preparations in a bomb shelter as Israeli air defense shot down a Houthi missile.
But people are also alive, celebrating, and resilient. We went to a basketball game (Jerusalem vs Tel Aviv) and the fans screamed their hearts out for both teams. There was a missile alert during the game and play continued (the monitor board said the stadium itself was a safe area). At a bat mitzvah, people got an alert on their cell phones of a Houthi attack while the sisters of the bat mitzvah were speaking. We paused for fifteen minutes to see if there would be an air siren and then resumed with joy.
We left Israel on Sunday and got home last night. Within an hour of getting home, I read that Israel is attacking Iran’s nuclear sites and people are being told to go to the shelters. Ben Gurion Airport is closed indefinitely (though presumably for only a small number of days.) I feel guilty that my first thought was thank goodness I got home before my flight got cancelled. My next thought is: how are my family and friends? I know they are safe, but spending the night in the shelter is disruptive, exhausting, and frightening. Fifteen minutes is one thing; the whole night is awful.
And yet. That time we spent in the shelter before Shavuot? We got to know the other people in my cousin’s building. A little girl showed us her newly painted fingernails. A young couple talked about their camping plans for Shavuot. People looked for each other to make sure they heard the alarm and could make it to the shelter. These attacks are having a surprising impact, surely not the one intended of bringing people closer together, of forging a stronger sense of Israeli identity than ever before.
Iran is behind a lot of the extremism and violence. I suspect these preemptive attacks will be viewed positively by many Israelis even though most hope for the war to end as soon as possible. Perhaps this can end if the outside forces fueling the violence are stopped.
This morning I am afraid that my friends, family, a place that I love, is at risk. I pray for a real peace, a peace that allows Israelis to go to basketball games that aren’t doubling as bomb shelters. A peace where Gazans are free of the Iranian funded yoke of Hamas which has killed so many and caused so much suffering. A peace where young people go to parties and music festivals without fear. But mostly, I just pray that my friends and family are safe and well. Yes, for geopolitical reasons and deep connection to Israel. But mostly, because I love them and miss them so much.
Please God, protect, sustain, and keep safe the people of Israel and those engaged in its defense.
May it indeed be a Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi David Booth
