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Chaverim y'karim - dear friends,
I received an email the other day with a link to a podcast. It's a new podcast for me.
First off - it comes from the Orthodox Jewish world.
I know - I just sent a blogpost last week from an Orthodox Jewish writer. You probably think I'm trying to convert you - or myself. I'm not. I simply believe in looking and listening around for as many resources both to reaffirm and push as well as to reassure and question. I admire this podcast because the host and guests are asking where did their community get something right and where did they get it wrong. Please God, we should all be so reflective.
More on the podcast in a minute.
When a movie is more than just a movie.
Below you will find the link, as promised, to a very powerful movie about the destruction of the Second Temple. The producers of Legend of Destruction understood that the Second Temple was destroyed not only because of Roman aggression but also because the Jews of the First Century CE were unable to work together to fight their common enemy. The 90-minute movie is excellent and well worth your time. We will discuss the film at Noon on Tuesday, August 13th, on Tisha B’Av. Our study will also include a few prayers and melodies for the day.
The movie was especially painful to watch because it reflects a reality we are facing right now. On the one hand, this last week has been so incredibly long and worrisome because Iran and Hezbollah have explicitly said they will strike and they will strike hard. That alone is enough to wake any of us up in the middle of the night. But alas there is more. Just as our ancestors were worried about the threat from the Romans, as with today, they worried about the threat of internal division as well.
Baseless Hatred
Just as 2,000 years ago our ancestors were in the midst of a civil war as they waged a war against the Romans, so too, today Israelis are in the midst of a kind of civil war. The fighting within Israel has reached an all-time high, well really an all time low. Let me explain.
Throughout the year you may have heard reports that Israeli soldiers have been abusive of Palestinian prisoners. Of course, I want to believe that the reports are not true — but there have been many reports. And as we all know, “where there is smoke, there is fire.” Last week the story exploded in Israel when eight reserve soldiers were arrested by the military police at Sde Teiman base in southern Israel. They were arrested because they were suspected of sexual abuse of a Palestinian detainee.
After the arrests, a mob of far right wing activists and lawmakers broke into the base and demonstrated. They also stormed the Beit Lid base, where the suspects were being held and questioned.
This news story is horrific for more reasons than I can expound. First, I am appalled and profoundly saddened that these kinds of things happen in Israel's army - the army of the Jewish people. I want to believe that Israeli soldiers always do the right thing. The good news is that the IDF has a Code of Ethics called Tohar HaNeshek Purity of Arms. The bad news is that there have been instances in which Israeli soldiers violate that very code.
The situation goes from bad to worse when I read about far-right wing activists and lawmakers who somehow believe that Israeli soldiers should not be subject to a code of ethics, and who somehow excuse this heinous behavior.
None of us knows how this will all play out - so we are left waiting ... waiting to see what happens with Iran and its proxies, soldiers held for trial, soldiers serving interminable reserve duty, soldiers asked to do the most difficult of tasks to protect their homeland and fight a justified war justly.
And that brings us to the podcast I mentioned earlier:
Orthodox Conundrum: Arrests and Mob Violence at Sdei Teiman. I think you will find it meaningful - either way, let me know! I am always open to discuss whether you liked it or not. First off, it is a window into a world many of us only know from a distance - if at all. You will hear important viewpoints examining both the realities and hardships of war and where lines must be drawn in the sand: morally and legally.
As we are in this time period of mourning the destruction from 2000 years ago, we would be wise to consider how are we complicit in overlooking the wrong-doing of our people and where are we capable of uplifting our people in this time of need?
As we enter this new month of "Menachem Av - may there be comfort in Av", I wish you a chodesh tov - a good month,
Rabbi Mark Cohn
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And that being said, I turn you to a podcast dropped this morning - Dan Senor with Haviv Rettig Gur on Call Me Back, Israelis anticipate the response.
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