1.
On the evening of Israel's 76th Independence Day, I went to synagogue. I felt a deep need in the wake of the event of the past year to give thanks for something that cannot be taken for granted, something that we have not had for many generations: the opportunity to live in an independent Jewish state that can defend itself. That is, after all, what we are doing right now amid this war of Genesis that erupted on the day that we completed the Torah reading cycle and began it anew. Why is the October 7 massacre different from all the other acts of murder and pillage that we suffered in our exile when we did not have a national home? That on all other nights stained in red, we could only flee or hide, but this time we arose and fought back.
I went to Yeshivat Darom, a Torah high school, in Rehovot, and joined in prayers accompanied by music and dance that moved me to tears. We sang songs of gratitude and praise just like on the night of Passover. To tell the truth, Independence Day is even greater than the exodus from Egypt because this time we returned to the Land of Israel not after about two hundred years but after almost two thousand years, and we came not just from Egypt but from all four corners of the earth to which we had been dispersed throughout our history. And our national resurrection took place just three years after we lost a third of our people and our remnants managed to defeat seven armies that invaded our land and sought to finish off the work of the Nazis.
2.
We gave thanks too for being able to fulfill the moral imperative of eradicating evil from the world and removing the threat from our borders. Israel's ability to be "a light unto the nations," as the prophet Isaiah (49:6) said back in the eighth century BCE, is expressed today also by fulfilling the moral imperative of eradicating evil from the world and standing up to the axis of evil of countries that seek to enslave the entire free world, many of which have not yet awakened to the threat. The small State of Israel stands upright against all of this and blows a great shofar for the freedom of the world.
It takes time and patience. The years in which we have neglected the presence of the terrorist entities around us, have enabled them to grow stronger and build terror fortresses the likes of which humanity has never known. The Israeli public for the most part understands the threat and demands a decisive military victory, not a political cover-up and endless talk, but simply the elimination of the terrorists and their masters, wherever they may – above and below ground. King David taught us how it should be done: "I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till I destroyed them. I struck them down, and they could rise no more; they lay fallen at my feet" (Psalms 18:38-39). This is how an independent people that desires life should conduct itself.
3.
Who are we fighting against? Let us recall for those who may have forgotten or have suppressed what happened. Our enemies slaughtered us, raped our daughters, and then shot them in the head, decapitated our sons, and burned alive children and parents. They destroyed peaceful communities and kidnapped hundreds of people including infants. Many of the Jews who were murdered cared for the welfare of Gazans out of a desire for good neighborly relations: they helped them bring pipes for drinking water and hi-tech companies who donated money to the building of Gaza. They took sick Gazan children from the border to our advanced medical centers to save their lives. But when the day came, everything they did for their Gazan neighbors was forgotten, they were murdered with inconceivable cruelty. Remember! Do not forget!
"There is no peace…to the wicked" (Isaiah 48:22) or with them. There is no point in negotiating with them as it is clear to anyone with a head on their shoulders that the hostages who are still alive serve as an insurance certificate for the heads of Hamas. Thus, they will not give them up for as long as their demands, first and foremost an end to the war, have been met. We cannot agree to this. An end to the war before reaching its goals would be a resounding defeat for Israel and would encourage further acts of terrorism and mass murder.
4.
Jewish tradition knows how to handle the mourning process with profound wisdom and sensitivity. This same ancient wisdom teaches us that on a Sabbath or holy day, the mourners should put aside their mourning and rejoice in these special days. The pain is unbearable, but the fact that the mourners are part of the wider community celebrating special times gives them strength to overcome the pain and be part of the community.
This is no frivolous joy and does not mean pain should be forgotten or suppressed. "Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling," says the Psalmist (2:11). There are complex situations in which joy is mixed with fear and trembling. Joy over what we have achieved, together with the burden of responsibility for the tasks we have yet to complete.
Our sages taught us in the tractate Ketubot (17a), "One reroutes the funeral procession for burial of a corpse to yield before the wedding procession of a bride." The explanation for this appears in tractate Smachot (the word smachot in Hebrew means a joyous occasion and is a euphemistic name for the tractate that discusses laws relating to death) which states, "the honor of the living takes precedence over the honor of the dead." In the 13th century, Nachmanides clarified that the two mitzvot (honoring the dead and honoring the bride), stem from respect for God's creatures, and therefore one should do for the living before the dead.
The idea that emerges from this ancient wisdom is the optimistic faith-driven view that even in the darkest moments there is hope for correction and resurrection from grief, for "a crown of beauty instead of ashes" (Isaiah 61:3). Its significance is putting life over death, contrary to our enemies who sanctify death. Thus we can and should rejoice on Independence Day even though our dead are lined up before us and our hostages are still being held by Hamas because in historical terms the overall picture is infinitely better than what we experienced not so long ago.
5.
One could describe this as being somewhat similar to Yosef Haim Brenner's "Af Al Pi Chen" (despite everything). The author, who was murdered by Arabs in the 1921 Jaffa riots, did not try to beautify the tough situation experienced by the pioneers of the Second Aliyah at the beginning of the 20th century. He wanted to report what was really happening. However, he never stopped believing in the Jewish People and in the hope of a better future for it. This is "fertile despair." In his short story "Nerves" (1910) which deals with the challenges of the journey to the Land of Israel and life in the "meager sukkah" of the Jewish Yishuv at the time there is a moment where shortly before disembarking the ship as the city of Haifa reveals itself before him, the narrator "breaks" and confesses:
"Listen, do you know what I'm going to tell you? Both of us hate all those empty words about beauty that are bandied around us day and night, both of us know that they are meaningless and sometimes even tempt us to deny the existence of beauty altogether. Say what you will, though, I wouldn't know what else to call it ... it was beautiful then. The great sea was ravishing, and the bay in Haifa doubly so. You see, I really did believe in beauty then ... in the beauty of nature ... of the cosmos ... of something even higher than that." Indeed, the Land is an exceedingly good land.
