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since 1945. We witnessed atrocities on an Our own son, Daniel, who fought in the answers. We are all in the dark. Only G-d
unimaginable level, with more Jews mur- Gaza Envelope on that fateful Shabbat, is has the solutions.
dered in a single day than on any day since one of the hostages presumed to have been We must not ‘waste’ this challenging time
the Holocaust. As a people, we suffered a taken captive in Gaza. of crisis. We must transform our suffering
terrible blow.
The world after Shabbat Simchat Torah into a time of mercy and goodwill.
5784, October 7, 2023, must not be the same
The covenant as what it was before. It needs a complete Transforming darkness to light
recalibration; a more enlightened Jewish
What unites us is not a social contract as world must rise from this darkness. Chanukah is the only Jewish festival to
articulated by Rousseau and Hobbes, but take place in the heart of winter, during
a totally different and uniquely Jewish We must conduct our political and public the darkest and longest nights of the year. 1
idea: covenant. It is one of the most revo- interactions in a totally different manner. The Jewish response to darkness can only
lutionary principles of the Bible. Covenant The culture of mutual denigration must be light – rekindling the menorah lights in
means a connection that does not stem end. Destructive splits and baseless the Temple and bringing the light of the
from personal interest and the preser- hatred gave rise to internal implosion and chanukiah to every Jewish household.
vation of private rights but rather from national fragility, which the enemy could
mutual destiny, purpose, trust and eternal sense and identify with ease. Ancient Greece is seen by our Sages as a
kingdom of spiritual darkness, while Israel
commitment to the divine and historic is viewed as the kingdom of spiritual light.
task that we bear. Hashem Himself, so The culture of self-justification, accusa-
to speak, bonds Himself to this covenant tions and finger-pointing is a corrosive The light of the spirit can and must tran-
scend the darkness of the physical world.
and links the Jewish people’s destiny to impulse that only weakens us and eats
the spiritual destiny of humanity. G-d away at us from within. We’ve experienced Darkness descended on Israel on Simchat
enters the covenant and calls on the entire it for years in Israel and, to put it mildly, it Torah. Yet the light of Hashem, His Torah,
Jewish people to bind themselves to Him has not led to any positive results. the incredible courage and heroism of our
and to each other with bonds of mutual The time has come to regroup and press soldiers and civilians as well as the power
care and love, for the sake of the Jewish restart, heeding the words attributed to of our common spiritual fate and destiny
people and the entire human race. Albert Einstein: “Insanity is doing the will transcend this darkness.
same thing over and over and expecting
Within a few nightmarish hours on Octo- different results.” Jewish unity is the flaming torch that
ber 7, our mutual covenant of fate that will guide us through the darkness. The
had been profoundly compromised was Woe to us if we revert to the same behav- motto of Israel facing this conflict is “ד ַחַַיַ ְ� בְּ
renewed once more – through unbear- iors of recklessness and belligerence, of ַ חַ ֵ�צֵּ ַנַ ְנַ, together we will win.” If there is one
able suffering, horrific scenes and shared self-righteousness and canceling the views thing Jewish history has taught us it is
remorse. of others. This wonderful unity must con- that genuine Jewish unity is our spiritual
tinue – not only during wartime but, most Iron Dome.
No more were we split into camps of sup- importantly, after the war is over. Creating
porters and opponents of legal reform. No a new political culture of consensus, empa- With G-d’s help, we will not only win but
“Just Not Bibi” or “Only Bibi,” no left and thy and broad agreement must dictate all usher in the next stage of Jewish redemp-
right, no ultra-Orthodox and secular, no of our country’s major decisions at every tion, when all of Israel will stand together
as one people with one heart. No one
reservists and those refusing to serve, no stage of the war and beyond. Obviously, at
coalition and combative opposition, no some stage, after the war and, please G-d, knows for sure what the solutions will be
Israeli Jewry and Diaspora Jewry. going forward. But we do know that the
the attainment of all our goals, there will best way to overcome the hurdles ahead
Once again, we are one people. One be a commission of inquiry. That will be a is to face them together.
national unity emergency government. big test for Israeli society. The commission Together indeed, we will win.
should be composed of people free of any
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis returned political agendas and personal interest ה"זעבְּ ַחַ ֵ�צֵּ ַנַ ְנַ ד ַחַַיַ ְ� בְּ ק ַרַ
from overseas to defend their homeland, and void of any pre-ordained outcomes.
and thousands of global Jewish leaders are It must be acceptable to as broad a major-
coming to support us and to strengthen ity as possible, or it will not be trusted. It 1. The Torah’s calendar is linked to the northern
themselves. Every day, solidarity groups must be part of our society’s rehabilitation hemisphere, where Biblical and Talmudic history
from all around the Jewish global commu- and not an encore to its deterioration. Not transpired.
nity arrive in Israel. Though people nor- a committee that will deal only with mili-
mally flee from war zones, three hundred tary and political failure, but a forum that
thousand Israelis have returned during will be part of a process to rebuild mutual
the war, growing the Israeli population trust and solidarity, the very foundations
by 3%! “Who is like your People Israel, one of a healthy society.
nation in the Land?” (Shmuel II 7:23).
With enough humility and generosity of
No longer are we “a people spread out and spirit, I believe it possible to usher in a Rabbi Doron Perez
divided,” as Haman said of us, but one renewal of our national covenant. No one is the Executive Chairman
People, united at last. But what price we person or sector has the exclusive pos- of World Mizrachi.
have had to pay. session of truth, and no tribe has all the

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