Guest Column

Editorial

What You Can Do
To Help Defend Israel

Tisha B'Av Laments
As Well As Challenges

T

isha b'Av, a holiday to brood the
worst of times and imagine a
better future, falls amid wartime
in the Middle East, providing a tangible
reminder of the darkest moments in
Jewish history, most notably destruc-
tion of the two Jewish Temples in bibli-
cal Jerusalem by the Babylonians and
Romans, respectively.
On Tisha b'Av, we also commemo-
rate the near 1,900-year-old disrup-
tion of the Jewish homeland and the
expulsions of Jews by the English and
Spanish in the Middle Ages. World War
I and the Holocaust also have baleful
ties to the Ninth of Av.
The holiday, a full fast day begin-
ning at sundown Aug. 4, reminds that
as much as we've done as a people to
improve the world, we must do even
more to earn the Divinely inspired
arrival of a peaceful messianic era.
Lamenting the destruction of ancient
buildings may seem hollow. But this
year, the experience will be charged with
the very real pain we feel over the plight
of our Israeli brethren having to fight
Hamas-fueled terror yet again.
"On Tisha b'Av, we don't only lament
the buildings that were destroyed, but
also the godly state
of the world that is
hidden from us in our
exile," says Rabbi Leiby
Burnham of Southfield-
based Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah's Jean and
Theodore Weiss
Partners in Torah pro-
Rabbi
gram.
Burnham
Revelation will come
only with the Messiah and the messianic
era and, according to Jewish tradition,
with the rebuilding of the Temple.
"But until that point in time,"
Burnham told the JN, "our history was,
is and will be marked with anti-Semi-
tism, the spilling of Jewish blood and
the world turning its cheek to the pain
of our people."
Tisha b'Av is a complex holiday to
grasp. Says Burnham, "The sages tell us
that the Temple was destroyed because
the Jewish people harbored baseless
hatred toward each other. That being
the case, by exercising baseless love
toward our brethren, we can change all
the pain and suffering of our exile."
That's a tall order.
But as a people, we Jews do seem to
battle one another spiritually as much
as we physically confront our enemies.
Working harder to bridge our religious
divide would mark a significant stride in

our quest for unity at least in terms of
mounting a common offensive against
the building waves of Jew-haters.

An Enduring Theme

Rabbi Paul Yedwab of Temple Israel in
West Bloomfield shares a story that
gives this rabbinic holiday of nationhood
mourning a smoldering context of Divine
intervention.
Years ago, Yedwab was program
director at the Union for Reform
Judaism Eisner Camp Institute in Great
Barrington, Mass. A daylong crafts and
educational project involved campers
studying the architecture of the Beit
HaMikdash, the Holy Temple. The camp-
ers then built a scale model, 3 feet by 8
feet, using Popsicle sticks and Elmer's
Glue.
That drizzly eve-
ning, the campers and
counselors encircled
the model inside a new,
metal pole barn. At one
point during the cre-
ative ceremony com-
Rabbi Yedwab
memorating Tisha b'Av,
a dance troupe poured
a libation of "water" (actually kerosene
to assure burning) onto the altar to
"celebrate" the ancient Ceremony of the
Water-Drawing.
When the following troupe, dressed
as Roman soldiers, finished its fervent
dance, one soldier threw a match onto
the model of the Temple. The resulting
conflagration momentarily leapt out of
control. The flames almost reached the
ceiling, but no one was hurt.
The camp cantor was sup-
posed to chant a few lines of Aicha
(Lamentations) as the fire self-extin-
guished. But it went on and on, as did
the cantor. Eventually, both faded to a
weary end.
"And wouldn't you know," says
Yedwab, "after all of that conflagration,
with flames reaching 15 feet in the air
and going on and on, when the flames
finally did recede, miraculously, there
was one short wall of the model still
standing. And when we looked closer, we
realized that it was the Western Wall!"
This Tisha b'Av, amid raging Jew-
hatred in expanses worldwide, let us
bless the holiness of the Western Wall,
the only surviving outer wall of the
Second Temple mount.
Tisha b'Av is the perfect holiday to
pray for a safe, secure Israel and the
beginnings of global order, concern and
equanimity in our time if a true messi-
anic era is to come.

❑

I

n the current conflict between
the Hamas terrorists and Israel,
supporters of Hamas and the
Palestinians are claiming that Israel is
committing "massacres" and "slaughter"
in the Gaza Strip, murdering civilians
and starving the population.
Pro-Israel advocates need to respond.
Every person can be an effective Israel
advocate. Now that the world is paying
attention, we need to educate
and advocate to our friends,
neighbors and co-workers, as
well as to the news media and
government officials. Here are
some facts to get you started:

Israel Hamas Conflict

-

Since July 7, Hamas terrorists
in Gaza have indiscriminately
fired several hundred rockets
and mortars from Gaza into
Israeli cities, targeting civilian
populations in cities as far away as Tel
Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa.
Israel's response, targeting Hamas
rocket launchers and terrorist facilities,
is intended to defend the security of its
citizens by preventing these attacks.
Israel goes to the greatest lengths to
minimize Palestinian civilian casualties,
but that is hard to do when llamas puts
its rocket launchers in or next to hospi-
tals, schools and mosques.
Before it attacks terror sites, Israel
actually warns civilians to get clear of
them. But llamas puts its own people at
risk, hiding among them and even using
them as human shields.
In 2014 thus far, llamas and its ter-
rorist partners in Gaza have fired more
than 1,000 rockets at Israel. Millions of
Israelis are being forced into bomb shel-
ters; schools are closed; business is cur-
tailed; and public activities are canceled.
In addition to countering rocket and
mortar fire from Gaza, Israel is threat-
ened by cross-border incursions from
Hamas.
The United States, along with the
European Union, has designated llamas
a terrorist organization fueled by an
extremist ideology and openly seeking
the destruction of Israel.
Increased sophistication and range
of Hamas rockets is due to continued
attempts by the Iranian regime to smug-
gle weapons to Hamas.
The only long-term solution to this
conflict is a negotiated, two-state solu-
tion that will allow Israel to live side-by-
side in peace and security alongside an
independent nation state of Palestine.
Israel's partners in an agreement must

renounce violence and disarm. llamas
does not meet that criteria and remains
a terrorist group.

Other Threats To Israel

If we want Americans to appreciate the
threats facing Israel's very existence, we
must first explain the dangerous neigh-
borhood in which it lives.
Israel is the only Jewish country, but is
surrounded, unfortunately,
by countries and peoples
who are not friendly to Jews
and Judaism. Even though
it is committed to peace, six
decades after its establish-
ment, Israel has to continue
to struggle for its survival.
Israelis are democratic and
want peace. The Palestinians
choose leaders who are nei-
ther democratic nor peaceful.

Concerning Iran

The international community must stand
together in determination and tenacity in
this confrontation with a nation that calls
for Israel's destruction and is on a quest
to develop nuclear weapons.

Israel's Right To Exist

Israel's right to exist is not debatable;
Israel was created by the United Nations
in 1948 and has been a member in good
standing of that organization ever since.
Is there another U.N. member whose
credentials are threatened?

Peace

Most Israelis recognize the claim of
Palestinians for a national identity and
future state. Israelis want peace, and
most accept a two-state solution in which
the Jewish State of Israel lives side-by-
side in peace with a Palestinian state.

Fighting Global Terrorism

Israel is an ally in the United States' fight
against terrorism. In political debate, we
accept no less than an outright condem-
nation of terrorism as an immoral act.

U.S. Israel Relationship

-

The U.S.-Israel relationship is key to
Israel's survival. The two countries
work together on regional defense,
against international terrorism, com-
bating radical fundamentalists, as allies
in the U.N. and on developing anti-
missile technology.

❑

Dr. Richard Krugel is president of the Jewish

Community Relations Council of Metropolitan

Detroit. He lives in Bloomfield Hills.

JN

July 31 • 2014

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