Cantor Lee Years ago for a college assignment I asked Rabbi David what his earliest memory was. He said it was when he was 3 years old. Sirens were sounding outside his family’s apartment in Israel. All the windows had to be covered with dark paper and no lights were allowed to be put on. As Rabbi David has always said, this is just a part of life, this underlying threat of attacks. Many US young adults who signed up for summer programs in Israel have and are still experiencing this first hand. I guess the closest we in Florida come to this fear for our safety is when severe hurricanes hit and unfortunately when schools are locked down.  

Rabbi David Over  the centuries, as world religions evolved,  they have  become less fanatic and violent (with the exception of the antisemites of the world- a disease  that does not seem to have  a cure.) Christianity certainly went through changes.  Islam is different. While  there are of course moderate Muslims, as far as I know, there hasn’t been any adaptation of their draconic laws or any modern interpretation for a modern world including the  violent antisemitic passages in Moslem holy books.   

Iran as we all know has been a violent  explosion waiting to happen for years. The ayatollahs are leaders of an extremely religious  fanatic regime.  This regime will not hesitate to completely eliminate the state of Israel. It will be considered  a great religious  obligation which will please Allah.  As  the ayatollah once  said: “ It only takes  one nuclear bomb.” This is key  to understanding  the frame of mind of the Iranian Muslims in power who are terrorizing their own people in order to stay in power.

This is a conflict between two civilizations with opposing  and competing values.  Israel's struggle to survive is not new, neither is the threat of total destruction. As the threat of nuclear disaster, courtesy of Iran, became very real for the Israelis, I was taken back to the 1967 war when the large armies of Egypt, Syria  Jordan and  Iraq were ready to eagerly pounce  on Israel. I remember the tension, the fear, the sirens piercing through the nights and yet I remember the calmness of the IDF as they amazingly eliminated  those armies  one  by one. 

In the Israel-Iran war the heroes are not only the IDF that along with the US air force  dealt devastating blows to Iran’s  nuclear and ballistic  missile program. The heroes are also the Israeli citizens who day in and day out have had to endure  life in shelters, death and the destruction of neighborhoods all over  the country. 

I remember the horrific  war of 1973  when huge  Egyptian and Syrian armies invaded Israel from both north and south  and started advancing towards Tel Aviv. As  a soldier, I experienced the sinking feeling that the existence of the State of Israel with half of the world’s Jewry was on the line. 

Last month we celebrated  77 years of Israel’s  Independence. Years of struggle against  enemies with unthinkable barbaric intentions. On October 7th, a year and a half ago, we all got a taste of what could have happened during any of those wars…   

So here is our Jewish little secret of survival. It is our iron strong Jewish spirit, our DNA of 3,300 years of survival power, our absolute knowledge that we the Jewish people ordained by the almighty G-D  to bring peace and justice to a tumultuous  and violent world  and maybe  most importantly,  our unwaivering Hope. We are the custodians of mankind’s  hope for a peaceful  and tranquil world. May we all see a peaceful world soon in our days. for the sake of our children and the generations following them.

Shalom,

Rabbi David

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