Words From Rabbi White

Dear mitpallelim,

The following was sent to me on Sept. 23 by our former student at Herzliah, Prof. Shawn Aster, who lives with his family in Beer Sheva, has served in miluim in Gaza, teaches Tanach studies at Bar Ilan, and would often daven with us when visiting his family in Montreal.  I am reproducing it with permission:

For the last eleven and a half months, the Hizballah terrorist organization has been shelling and bombing northern Israel, destroying farms and schools, killing children in front of their parents and parents in front of their children. Hizballah has destroyed churches and maimed Christians. 

Israel has given eleven and a half months to find a diplomatic solution to end the attacks, which violate every principle of diplomacy, as well as UN resolution 1701. This resolution stipulates that no armed force operating outside the Lebanese government can operate in southern Lebanon. 

None of this has worked, nor has the world been particularly interested in the 60,000 Israelis who have been evacuated from their homes for nearly a year due to constant shelling in the destroyed schools, or in the universities and colleges that have been closed on the Israeli side of the border. 

In the last few days, Israel has moved to defeat Hizballah. The battle is sad, because Hizballah has totally infiltrated and penetrated every part of society in Lebanon. It has weakened the state of Lebanon and taken over its functions. For example, the government of Lebanon cannot provide electricity or pharmacy services. But Hizballah provides these services, to those in Lebanon who support Hizballah. And many do. Israel has repeatedly warned that it cannot and will not tolerate the repeated killing of Israelis by Hizballah. No one else is stopping Hizballah, and Israel has an obligation to do so. 

Hizballah members who hold Hizballah communications devices must know the risk  to which they are exposing their  family members and bystanders each time they stand next to them. You cannot at the same time hold a device which is used to summon you to attack Israel and at the same time profess to be concerned about the innocent people around you. It is tragic that people chose to join Hizballah, to carry these deadly communications devices, and to expose their children, friends, and neighbours to the risks of their behaviour. The analogy to a drunk driver killing his own children is apt. 

This attack on Hizballah's communication network came immediately before several waves of Israeli bombing of Lebanon, destroying Hizballah rocket launchers, many of which are located in private homes. Hundreds of Hizballah members, sympathizers, and their family members, have been killed. Thousands of Lebanese have wisely fled the areas where Hizballah is strongest. A good friend who just came back for a short break from the north tells us that Israel's firing today on Hizballah's positions in Lebanon is the strongest it has ever been. Hizballah is being dismantled, Israel is not being dismantled.  I will return to this point: this is a zero-sum game. Either we dismantle Hizballah or Hizballah dismantles us.

The current war is one of no choice. Israel cannot continue to absorb the deaths of dozens of citizens and soldiers every time Hizballah choses to fire from Lebanon. The point of the attack is not to convince Hizballah to stop, but to deny Hizballah the possibility of attacking Israel and continuing to kill Israeli Jews, Christians, and Druze. Hundreds (not thousands) of Hizballah missiles have been fired in response at Israel, reaching the centre of the country. We accept this with resilience. We need to uproot Hizballah's ability to kill us. And if that means that we need to absorb rockets for a limited period, we will do so. 

For years, we have been hearing about how Hizballah's rocket arsenal is massive, how Hizballah can knock out all of Israeli hospitals, electric production, airports, medical centers, thus bringing Israel to its knees, killing tens of thousands. Well, thank God that hasn't happened. Probably because many of Hizballah's leaders are dead, its communications system exploded, and its rocket launchers knocked out of action. There is a zero-sum game here: either the people in the grocery store frequented by Hizballah members die, or the people in the grocery stores in Israel die.

Here in the south of Israel, as in the centre, life continues as normal (because the rocket launchers of Hamas in Gaza have been dismantled, as have the longer-range rockets of Hizballah, not because either group is being "nice.") We hope for quiet, but we need sustainable quiet. We need an end to Hizballah's Iran-backed ability to kill. And your kids and your elected officials need to hear this.

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WE CONTINUE WITH A HAFTARAH OF CONSOLATION: "For Zion's sake I will not be silent... her righteousness shall go forth like a bright light...and nations shall perceive your righteousness."

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Chevra Shaas Kiddush is sponsored by: Chana Devora & Yehoshua Haimovici, of blessed memory our beloved father, father-in-law & grandfather, Yosef Haim ben Zimra 'Papa' z'l.

Irwin Miller observes yahrzeit for his grandmother Miriam on 28 Elul; Stanley Goldstein observes for Frayda Wittenberg on 1 Tishrei Morris Zimelstern observes for his father Nathan on 2 Tishrei. May the neshamot have aliya.

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Shabbat shalom, shalom `al Yisrael, Rabbi Menahem White