Page 40 - HaMizrachi #9 Yom HaAtzmaut 5779

Rabbi Stewart Weiss

Israel's

siren song

ou may remember the pop song men and women of our holy armed But now we have an army, a navy, and
“Red Rubber Ball,” written by forces, including our eldest son Ari the best air force in the world. G-d has
Y Paul Simon and recorded by Hy”d, who fell in battle 17 years ago. blessed us with the finest soldiers and
The Cyrkle, a verse of which seems so they are sworn to our protection. They
appropriate for the moment: Sadly, these sirens evoke not only will not let us ever again be attacked
the past but the present as well. I feel with impunity. They have been to the
The roller-coaster ride we took is nearly at that the same ill wind that blew over death camps and marched to Birkenau,
an end; I bought my ticket with my tears, Europe, as the Germans emptied the wrapped proudly in the flag of Israel.
that’s all I’m gonna spend.... continent of its Jews in a brash and They fully understand what our enemies
brutal blitzkreig, is polluting our air once
These last weeks have been an emotional again. After too few years of respite, the are capable of and they form a wall of
roller-coaster for the Jewish people, term “Jew” has returned to its status as deterrence surrounding us. They live on
bringing smiles to our faces as we soared the ultimate curse word. Anti-Zionism the front, but they have our backs. They
to thrilling heights only to feel the is rampant, as marches to “liberate” are the definition of everything good
pit of our stomachs as we plummeted Jerusalem proliferate around the globe, that derives from sovereignty, and they
into the depths. The “bookends” of and Nazi symbols desecrate graveyards are the antidote to all the deadly ills that
this unique stretch of our calendar worldwide. Our enemies seek weapons flow from statelessness.
began with Pesach and the Seder night, of mass destruction that threaten our
as we celebrated our entrance into State, and even in “the home of the Before the last battle against the
peoplehood. It ends on Yom HaAtzmaut, free and the brave” there are mounting Germans began at Muranowski Square
when we shall rejoice over our rebirth as in the Warsaw Ghetto, Betar’s leader,
a proud and independent nation in our incidents of anti-Semitism. We turn on Pawel Frenkel, addressed his youthful
the news with trepidation; where will
own Land. soldiers: “Fellow Jews,” he said, “In all
the next outrage against our innocents likelihood, we will die young. But we are
Sandwiched in between these glorious occur? not doomed; the world will hear of us,
events are intense moments of sadness and we will yet have our place in history.”
and solemnity. These began on the But then I remind myself that, despite
last day of Pesach, when we recited all the signs of crisis around us, there is The sirens we sound at this time of year
the Yizkor memorial prayers for our a pronounced and powerful difference are a clarion call that evokes the days of
departed loved ones. A week later, we between then and now. In the years danger and despair, for we have indeed
went on to Yom HaShoa, Holocaust before and during the Holocaust, we traveled a long and winding road of
Remembrance Day, and seven days after were powerless, defenseless. We waited trial and tribulation. But the “last word”
that, Yom HaZikaron, Remembrance for some knight in shining armor to of this period, the last sound we hear,
Day for our fallen soldiers. come and rescue us, and he never is the ecstatic music of happiness and
appeared. He did not bomb Auschwitz’s joy which celebrates our re-emergence
Like many Israelis, I live between two rail lines, he did not open the gates to on the world stage as a proud and
sirens. There is the one which sounds on our desperate citizens seeking asylum. prosperous nation – Am Yisrael Chai!
Yom HaShoa, when I mourn my many He did not raise a hue and cry in
relatives who perished in Poland, and Congress; he did not join our ghetto
honor my mother-in-law, who spent her fighters as we rose up courageously
16th birthday in Auschwitz, and the one in Warsaw. No, he stood by silently, Rabbi Stewart Weiss is Director of the
which wails on Yom HaZikaron, in a cry and he willingly collaborated with our Jewish Outreach Center of Ra’anana
of commemoration for all the heroic oppressors in our destruction. jocmtv@netvision.net.il

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