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Rabbinic Insights

Holy War

San Diego Jewish Times, August 11, 2006


By Rabbi Wayne Dosick

The columnists of this distinguished bi-weekly paper write on a 10-day deadline. During the summer months, knowing that I will be traveling, I often write three or four weeks in advance of the publication date. So, my article, "It's Up to Them — And Us," in the last issue, was written before the recent events in the Middle East, and, while timely and accurate, did not reflect the current situation. Similarly, this article, written more than a week before it will be published, cannot predict the events that will unfold day by day — often hour by hour — between Israel and her neighbors. I hope that the general principles that are articulated here will stand the test of time. But, who knows? And, since this is the annual Education Issue of this paper, we begin by saying:

Come children — children of all ages — and listen to a story of our people and our land.

I shudder to say the words, but the reality is before us. Our beloved Israel is at war. Not a military action. Not an incursion. War.

Rockets and missiles are falling on Israeli towns and homes. Israeli citizens are dying. Israeli towns are empty, for their citizens have fled to safety. Israelis are living in bomb shelters, fearing for their lives. Young Israeli men and women are on the front lines of combat. The existence of the land and the people is at stake.

Does this sound like the litany of the biblical book of Lamentations, the eyewitness account of the destruction in 586 BCE? It certainly carries eerie echoes.

We weep — for then, and for now. Why? Why?

 "Too long have I dwelt with those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when they speak, they are for war." (Ps. 120: 6-7)

 We tried to convince ourselves that their mothers want peace for their children just as our mothers want peace for our children.

 But they sent their children to be "suicide bombers" to kill our children in discos and pizza parlors.

We thought we could find the men and women of peace and good will, and be in "dialogue" about solutions to our mutual problems, or at least to share our mutual pain, or at the very least to see the each other’s humanity.

Sometimes it worked. A few personal relationships were built. There were flickers of hope. Let's talk of peace. We all talked. Let's sing of peace. We sang — any one of dozens of songs of peace. They could not sing of peace, for they do not have even one song of peace.

For years we tried to convince ourselves that we had "partners for peace." We tried to convince ourselves that if we conceded enough — "land for peace;" 96.4 percent of all the land they wanted; a "two-state solution" — we could have peace.

They turned away all our offers. "When they speak, they are for war.”

They do not want peace; they do not want a "two-state solution." They want a one-state solution. Their state. They want to wipe Israel and the Jewish people off the face of the earth.

1948. 1954. 1967. 1973. 1982.

 Every time, the same. Let's destroy Israel.

"Too long have I dwelt with those who hate peace."

This time, Israel made a pre-emptive strike (provoked by the pretext of the captured soldiers) to wipe out the strongholds of the terrorists who lob missiles into Israeli towns.

It is good that Israel took this action, because, truth be told, Hezbollah has demonstrated much more strength, much more firepower, than Israel thought it had. Wiping out the Hezbollah strongholds has been much more difficult than Israel anticipated.

So, if Israel had not taken this action, and Hezbollah had struck first, Israel would have been in much more dire danger than expected.

Don't forget. In the north of Israel the narrowest point is only 40 miles across. If Hezbollah were to cut off the north of Israel at that point, there is little doubt that they would not be willing to exchange "land for peace." Israel could be severed, and there would be little recourse except all-out war.

Israel has done right in seeking to destroy the Hezbollah strongholds, and, if she can, to destroy Hezbollah itself.

There are painful consequences to war. We are distraught when any human being dies in war; we are broken and bereft when the ones are our people. And we weep when innocent civilians die in the crossfire. Cana, where almost 60 Lebanese women and children were killed by an errant Israeli bomb was tragic. Yet, Cana was a mistake — a mistake of war. Innocents got caught up in the fire. Mistakes — even tragic mistakes — happen in war.

But, remember, we try to tell the world, a mistake of warfare is far different from purposefully sending suicide bombers into the streets and the restaurants of Jerusalem to kill— just to make a political statement, just to terrorize, just to kill.

And, a painful consequence of this war is that Israel has created refugees, whose houses and towns were destroyed, and in whose hearts, hated for Israel will fester and grow. One woman, who was leaving Lebanon and heading with her two children to Jordan said, "I was happy that Israel had helped get rid of the terrorists in our south, and I am happy that we now have a democracy in my country. But, Israe1 has destroyed my home; I have to leave my land. I am going to teach my children to hate Israel for what they have done to us, and when they are old enough, I am going to send my children to destroy Israel."

As they say, "With friends like this..."

This war is likely to draw on for awhile longer. The world is putting very little pressure on Israel to cease-fire, because the world is actually grateful that Israel is taking the action to root out these evil terrorists. Israel is doing the world — and, especially, the Middle East — a great service.

What if the war spreads — to Syria; to Iran? What if there are threats of "weapons of mass destruction" — real, not imagined?

The world will stand on the brink of World War III, and all of civilization as we know it will be at stake.

Will that happen? Some biblical literalists think so. A few alarmists think so. Most think that a way will be found to step back from utter devastation.

But, that still leaves Israel with neighbors who want to destroy her. For, even if Israel is completely successful in this war, even if all the terrorists are wiped out, there is no one on the other side who is calling for peace. New terrorists will grow up, and the cycle of violence will continue.

Israel is doing a magnificent job defending her right to exist and defining the reality of her existence. There is much, much more work to be done to shape the parameters of her future, and the future of the entire Middle East — which, right now, is murky and frightening.

It is surely a task that is worthy of the best minds and the best hearts in the world today. We can only hope that wisdom will come forward, and that new possibilities will emerge.

Meanwhile, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." For the sake of our brothers and sisters who live in the land — and our cousins across the man-made borders — pray for peace.

This is the first of two articles on this subject. Please come back to this column in the next issue for the continuation.

Rabbi Wayne Dosick, Ph.D., the spiritual guide of the Elijah Minyan, an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego and the Director of the 17: Spiritually Healing Children's Emotional Wounds. He is the award-winning author of six critically acclaimed books, including Golden Rules; Living Judaism; and Soul Judaism: Dancing with God into a New Era.