4 | NOVEMBER 23 • 2023 J
N
PURELY COMMENTARY
essay
Prisoners Cannot Free Themselves
I
’d like to quote a parable from
our Jewish Talmud: “Rabbi Hiyya
bar Abba fell ill. Rabbi Yohanan
came to visit him and said to him:
Is your suffering dear to you? Do
you desire to be ill and
afflicted? Rabbi Hiya
said to him: I welcome
neither this suffering
nor its reward, as one
who welcomes this
suffering with love
is rewarded. Rabbi
Yohanan said to him:
Give me your hand and Rabbi Hiyya
bar Abba did so. Rabbi Yohanan
stood him up and restored him to
health.
“Similarly, Rabbi Yohanan fell ill.
Rabbi Hanina came to visit him and
said: Is your suffering dear to you?
Rabbi Yohanan answered: I welcome
neither this suffering nor its reward.
Rabbi Hanina then said to him: Give
me your hand and Rabbi Yohanan did
so. Rabbi Hanina stood him up and
restored him to health.”
Why did Rabbi Yohanan wait for
Rabbi Hanina to restore him to health
— since he was able to heal his student
Rabbi Hiyya? Why did he not stand
himself up? They say: Prisoners cannot
free themselves from prison.”
Many of us are suffering today
because of the events of Oct. 7, which
have unleashed such tragedy, hurt, and
great emotional and mental distress,
in addition to the real physical injuries
and death of too many people in Israel
and Gaza. We are reminded of the 85th
anniversary of Kristallnacht — the Night
of the Broken Glass — when the Nazis
held riots and massacres throughout
Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia,
burning 267 synagogues, destroying
many businesses and homes, killing 91
Jews and taking 30,000 as prisoners. For
Jews, it is remembered as the beginning
of Hitler’s Final Solution whose ultimate
goal was to eradicate the Jewish people
from this Earth.
Today we are aware that without the
joint efforts of the Allied armies, the
Jewish people may not have survived.
“Prisoners cannot free themselves from
prison.”
Probably the most famous prisoner
in the Bible was Joseph, who was falsely
imprisoned for years in Egypt until
a series of events led to his release.
His dream-interpreting abilities were
remembered by a former prisoner
who had been returned to his job as
Pharaoh’s chief butler, and his skills were
then needed by Pharaoh himself.
As we know, Joseph not only became
Pharaoh’s prime minister, but was able
to save the Egyptian people and their
neighbors from death from a terrible
famine. Of course, we also understand
that there was Divine intervention here,
that Joseph’s life was saved and he was
promoted all because of a Divine plan
that was not visible to him or others at
the time of his imprisonment. “Prisoners
cannot free themselves from prison.”
And today, as the war rages in
Israel and Gaza, we are painfully
aware that 240 men, women and
children — the elderly, the sick,
the very young — are being held as
prisoners in underground tunnels by
the terrorist organization Hamas —
kidnapped from their homes as they
were just awakening on Saturday,
Oct. 7.
Already a month has passed, and
the Red Cross has not been able
to visit them. I cry out and ask for
your support: Bring the hostages
home safely! The world must hear
this message clear and strong from
those of us who stand for justice
and peace. And we pray that God
will also hear our voices and answer
us with mercy and love. “Prisoners
cannot free themselves from prison.”
In a metaphorical way, we have all
become prisoners of this darkness, these
expressions of hatred, these forces that
threaten to divide us or arouse fear in
us. The only way to find the light and
our way out of this tunnel of darkness
is to offer each other a hand, to lift each
other up, to stand in solidarity together
and speak up for peace. But a peace that
is real, a peace that means we have each
other’s back, that we will not stand for
violence or hate speech against anyone!
That we can live and work together,
prospering and enjoying the beautiful
diversity of our country. And the same
should go for the people of Israel and
the people of Gaza. Terrorism will not
be tolerated here and certainly not there
— or anywhere in our world!
Dorit Edit, rabbi at Temple Beth Israel in Bay City,
gave this speech at a Vigil for Unity and Hope
on Nov. 9, which was organized together with the
Saginaw Interfaith Alliance and the Saginaw Islamic
Center. There were speakers from Islamic, Hindu,
Jain, Methodist, Lutheran, and Jewish faiths for about
80 people at the Anderson Educational Enrichment
Center in Saginaw.
Rabbi Dorit
Edut
Rabbi Dorit and members of Saginaw Interfaith Alliance
and Temple Beth Israel of Bay City at Vigil for Unity and
Hope.