B'reishit 5784

I am furious. Like many of you, I am shaking inside with anger, mixed with grief, with pain, and with fear. I cannot stop thinking about the people taken prisoner. I cannot stop thinking about the babies, and small children. I cannot stop thinking about the elderly people killed, and the ones taken hostage. Judy Weinberg told me she was more upset about the children than the elderly, and I became even more angry about being forced to choose whether I would rather see young Jews slaughtered or old Jews slaughtered. Why must I even consider that?

I am angry, I know, at some of the wrong people. I am angry at the people, all over the world, but especially in New York, who celebrated the massacre as a great victory. Why especially in New York? I don’t know. I am angry at the politicians who said it was a terrible thing, but... Why does there need to be a ‘but’ in that sentence?

People use the word ‘but’ to say that Israel had it coming, because they tightly control the borders of Gaza. Forget the fact that Egypt also controls part of the border. Forget the fact that Israel has always let in food and medicine, has let out exports and workers. The only thing Israel has refused to let into Gaza has been weapons and things that could be used to make weapons. And even so, you see how many weapons Hamas has. How many rockets, how many guns, how many bombs. Is there anyone who thinks that if Israel had let Hamas import whatever they wanted, that there would be less violence now?

I am angry at those in Israel who allowed Hamas to flourish because that gave them an excuse to not negotiate with Palestinians. I am angry with those who read, or could have read, the Hamas charter, in which it blames Jews for every evil in the world, for World War I, for World War II, for the French Revolution, for the Russian Revolution, and still they do not condemn Hamas. 

I am angry with the right people, too. I am angry with Hamas. I am angry with Hamas, not only for for the murders, for the inhumanity they have shown last week. I am angry with Hamas for taking money that was meant for the residents of Gaza and using it to buy weapons. For taking concrete that was meant for homes and hospitals, and using it to build tunnels and bunkers. I am angry because of their actions this week that they knew would lead to the death of innocent Palestinians in Gaza, and because that was what they wanted, so that Saudi Arabia would not be able to make peace with Israel.

I am angry with Hamas for claiming to be a religious organization. They put their rockets in mosques, and then complain when Israel targets their mosques. This is a religious organization? In their charter, they say ‘Man is a unique and wonderful creature, made out of a handful of clay and a breath from Allah.’ How can they say that and not know what it means?

That idea is from this week’s Torah portion, B’reishit.

וַיִּ֩יצֶר ײַ אֱלֹקים אֶת־הָֽאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים וַיְהִי הָֽאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃

"The Eternal Gd formed the man from the dust of the earth, and blew into his nostrils a living soul, and the man became a living being."

The Torah tells us this story, not because this is the historical or scientific truth about how human beings came to be. The Torah tells us this story to tell us that every human being has a piece of Gd inside. Every human life is infinitely valuable. That is what religion means. And when Parshat B’reishit tells us that all human beings come from one couple, Adam and Eve, it is telling us that no person is more important than anyone else. That we are all brothers and sisters.

If you understand that, if you appreciate the sacred nature of human life, then you are religious. If you do not, you cannot be religious. 100%, this also applies to innocent Palestinian lives.

The Israeli army has always worked hard, harder than any other army, to prevent civilian casualties. Today’s order for civilians to move to the South of Gaza is to prevent casualties. Even so, there have been, and there will be, civilian casualties. This is a tragedy. If criminals are holding up a bank, sometimes the police come. If the criminals do not surrender, and the police shoot, and an employee of the bank is killed, legally, the police are not liable. Legally, the criminals are to blame. Morally, the police must do whatever they can to keep the non-combatants safe. But never to fight criminals is not a long term solution. To do that is to give up the idea of ever having peace.

I blame Hamas for the death of every innocent Palestinian. I know that this is the mirror image of those who have blamed Israel for the fact that that Hamas has slaughtered at least 1,200 Israelis. It is not the same.

I am angry today, and we are all angry. But to be a good person is to act compassionately, even when you feel angry. To be a religious person is to consider the sacred nature of each person, even our enemies. To be our best selves, we must act out of love, even when we feel hate. Israel does this when they try to attack Hamas without killing the innocent. Hamas did not do that. When they killed peace activists, babies, Holocaust survivors, and so many more, they acted out of hate. That is why there is no equivalency.

I am angry today, but I will not let my anger control me. I am sad, but I will not let my sadness keep me from praying. I am devastated, but I will not let my devastation keep me from working for peace. Today, I stand with my Israeli brothers and sisters, and with the innocent Palestinians, and despite how I feel, the only thing I will show them is love.