Beautiful and Painful

As there seems to be a never ending supply of news from the war in Israel, many important headlines tend to be overlooked. One headline this week that I think should have gotten a lot more attention was from the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. He reportedly said that Israel currently finds itself on a seven-front war! Let that digest. It's rare for a country to fight a two or even a three-front war. A seven-front war has been unimaginable. Gallant told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, "We are in a multi-front war. We are being attacked from seven different arenas: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran." He later added that Israel has responded to six of these areas. Another news item about the war that is not at the top of the news cycle but nonetheless worthy of attention is the economic toll. Every day costs the Israeli economy in the area of 300 million dollars. Let that number sink in. The generosity of North American Jews has been remarkable. In just the first month of the war, it raised a billion dollars. The Jewish Federations of North America is responsible for $602 million; the rest came from various groups and friendship associations. I am not aware of any campaign in the Jewish world raising one billion dollars in a single month. It sounds beyond incredible. The reality is that money would last about three days in this war. At the end of this week, we will be entering the thirteenth week of the war and Israeli officials are preparing the public for several months ahead. Of course, the highest cost Israel continues to pay is in human life. Nearly every day brings reports of deaths to IDF soldiers. I am struck by so many photos of the fallen. Their faces project optimism, happiness, and strength. They paid the ultimate price so the Jewish People can continue to live in its embattled ancestral home. Amidst all the mind-numbing pieces on our news feed, an anecdote stood out to me as both exceptionally painful and exceptionally beautiful simultaneously. Several days ago, the heartbreaking news broke that Yotam Haim was among three hostages mistaken for terrorists and accidentally killed by the IDF in Gaza earlier this month. Iris Haim, the mother of Yotam addressed the soldiers of the unit that mistakenly killed her son. She said, "I wanted to tell you that I love you very much, that I hug you here from afar, and I know that what happened is not your fault at all. I ask you to take care of yourself." She added, "the soldiers are doing the best thing in the world that can help us, as the people of Israel. We all need you healthy". This war has brought forward tremendous amounts of both pain and brotherhood. Our People's faith has been tested for thousands of years and again in our times. As 2023 comes to a close, we pray for better headlines in 2024. Have a Peaceful Shabbos, Rabbi Yaakov Fisch