I’ve spent the morning talking to friends, calming nerves, reassuring. Civilians here are visibly nervous. We check up on one another. I’ve found safe housing for people living in the Tel Aviv area. We know there is a great army encamped about us. Our loved ones are assembled at the fronts to repel them. We know that through misinformation and propaganda, the world turns against us. We hold life….all life precious. We are created in the image of G-d with a certain dignity. The loss of any innocent life anywhere pains us greatly.

The people of Israel are completely united. We have Jews, Christians, Bedouins and Druze fighting side by side to defend our Land. We have faith in G-d. There are several interesting things I’d like to bring to mind: the Gaza massacre in Israel occurred on 7 October. I feel this was no coincidence and hear me out. It was a Shabbat, a holy Shabbat, also Simchat Torah. On this holy day, the end of our fall feasts, we celebrate the Torah, the gift of the Five Books of Moses given to us at Sinai. We finish the last chapter of Moses and roll the scrolls back to the very beginning and start reading Genesis 1:1. It is supposed to be a time of great rejoicing. For the Catholics, October 7 was the Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. It, too, is a holy day for Catholics. For those who know history, October 7, 1571, was another auspicious day. It. Was the Battle of Lepanto. The radical Islamic forces had waged jihad, holy war, on the West. They had infiltrated into Spain, Portugal, France and other points in Europe. Lepanto was a decisive battle in which the forces of all Christendom overcame the Islamic jihadists. It marked the day of their defeat. They have never forgotten this.

In Judaism, this Shabbat, we are reading Noah. As I stated in a post a few days earlier, the story begins : “in those days violence and lawlessness covered the earth.” In Hebrew, in Aramaic and early Arabic, this word is Hamas. (Despite what they say now, that it is just an acronym for another group of words). It stands. Hamas means violence, lawlessness. They are a people’s not ruled by a law, morals or ethics. But the story is Noah. He is righteous in the eyes of the L-rd. He is obedient to do what G-d commands. He makes his Ark of wood. He covers it inside and outside with a red, sticky pitch which will keep it afloat. Tradition says it took 120 years (no Home Depot nearby, folks). During that time, he tried to warn people as they mocked him. Noah equipped his Ark with food to last for a long time, with animals, with his family. And when the time came, the Ark closed and G-d did what he had to do to wash away the Hamas. Noah, Mrs. Noah and family came out to a rainbow.

During the Passover, the Children of Israel, under the bonds of slavery in Egypt, sacrificed a lamb. One lamb for a family. They painted the blood on their doorposts on their lintels. It must have been one hell of a night as the angel of death passed over. But in the morning, they emerged to freedom. We stay in the Ark. We stay under the blood on our doorposts. Every Shabbat we commemorate this at the Kiddush, e blessing over the wine.

We are nervous. Our bodies are doing weird things. But we are strong people this morning. The army, the whole army, is singing the Psalms and the praises of HaShem. We are prepared as much as we can possibly be. All we civilians have to do is close the little doors of our arks and wait.

We pray for an easy time. We pray for as few casualties as possible. We pray there is no escalation. We pray for no interference from foreign governments and militaries. We’ve got this one. G-d is in total control. He is in charge. We pray He goes before us. We are strong and courageous people. It’s been a long time, thousands of years, since we have truly been in a position to defend ourselves, but now we can. The IDF is the strongest army in the world. And the Spirit runs strong this morning as I get feed from different bases.

I am getting ready for Shabbat. Making challah. Preparing food. Showering. Putting on my good clothes to greet the Sabbath Bride. May it be peaceful, angels of peace, surround us. May it be quiet. May it be holy. I leave you with three songs:

you can look this one up on YouTube. “Kol ha’olam kulo. Gesher tsar meod:”

The whole world is a very narrow bridge. The main thing is not to be afraid, not to be afraid at all. -Rebbe Nachman

Roll into dark. Roll into night. Night becomes day. Day turns to night. And so it goes. Day follows night and joy comes int the morning. One day nations shall turn their swords into plows and there will be no more war.

And of course, my mind completely blanks on the third. But we are praying Psalm 83. Psalm 91, Psalm 121. We’ve got this one…. Todah l’haShem.

Ah yes! Of course. The beautiful prayer/song we sing every night:

Help us, Adonai, to lie down in Peace, and awaken us again, our Sovereign, to life. Spread over us your shelter of peace; guide us with your good counsel. Save us because of your mercy. Shield us from our enemies, pestilence, starvation, sword and sorrow. Remove all the evil forces that surround us. Shelter us in the shadow of Your wings, O G-d, who watches over us and delivers us, our gracious and merciful Ruler. Guard our coming and our going. Grant us life and peace, now and always. Spread over us the shelter of Your peace. Praised are You, Adonai, who spreads His shelter of peace over us, over all His people, Israel, and over Jerusalem.

Craig Taubman does my favorite version of this song. It can be found on all streaming platforms. Craig Taubman “Hashkivenu”. A beautiful, peaceful lullaby.

חזק ואןמץ!!! עם ישראל חי!!!! (Kha ZAHK’ v’ oh METZ) Strength and courage!
(Ahm Yisrael khai!) The people of Israel live.

More on Sunday…..a new and brighter morning