The current war being fought in Israel and in Gaza has galvanized us all. The tragedy of war is terrible. The deaths, the bloodshed, the shattered lives and families, the casualties, the trauma — the long term impact.
But war (as much as it is unwelcome) can also teach us important things and indeed it would be insensitive and cruel to ignore its lessons. Nobody wants war – and it is our sincere hope and prayer that we never need to learn these lessons in such a dark way again – but once it has been thrust upon us we must take responsibility for our actions and reactions. So even if we are not in the region of the physical war, even if we are thousands of miles away from the front lines, we too are fighting a war.
One of the most important things that war does is it compels us to crystallize our values and our beliefs. It makes us really question our very existence and why we are here, doing what we do. It breaks us out of our comfort zones and usual routines and reveals what lies beneath our conventional security blankets. It challenges us to bring out our inner resources of passion, unity and strength.
Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this critical discussion as we dig deeper to explore the questions that this war presents before us: What do you stand for? What are your values? What are you willing to fight for?
May God protect the soldiers and all of the innocent people, and may we finally merit world peace. In the meantime we need to do our part in fighting for what is good and against what is evil.
