Bereshit 5784/2023 -The Crisis in Israel: What Caused It?

Unfortunately, it is not an exaggeration to claim that we are now in our darkest hour since the Holocaust. The ghastly massacres of Jewish men, women, Holocaust survivors, children including even the decapitation of infants on sovereign Israeli soil have shocked the civilized world. Americans, too, have been killed and taken hostage. In the coming weeks there will be much time spent examining the intelligence failures which allowed this to happen. It is not my job, nor do I have the expertise to comment on intelligence failures.

However, if we take a step back we can see two moral failures which allowed for this crisis, one internal, the other external. The internal failing was the failure to negotiate in a civil manner regarding judicial reform. The cantankerous debate was largely void of genuine dialogue and often devolved into sinat chinam, the baseless hatred which was responsible for the destruction of the second Temple, according to the Talmud. The Jewish state’s enemies saw Israel as a wounded animal to be devoured.

The external failing is as old as the world itself- moral relativism- that is the inability to distinguish right from wrong.

The expulsion from Eden of the world’s first couples for eating of the forbidden fruit is correctly understood as an admonition not to defy the divine will. Though we commonly refer to the tree that bore the forbidden fruit simply as Etz Hadat “The “Tree of Knowledge,” the Torah refers to it as Etz Hadat, Tov V’raah, “The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” The cunning snake informed the woman (later named Eve) that the benefit of eating the forbidden fruit was that she would be “כֵּֽאלֹהִ֔ים יֹדְעֵ֖י ט֥וֹב וָרָֽע like God, knowing God and evil” (Gen. 3:5). In other words, she would be able to distinguish between good and evil just as God can. From this perspective the story of the expulsion serves as a reminder that God has blessed humanity with the ability to differentiate between good and evil. While it is laudable to use God given intelligence to succeed professionally, enhance culture, the first use of our intelligence is to make ourselves as Godlike as humanly possible by distinguishing good from evil. After all, what is the good is success or creativity if it can not be harnessed for the good. It shouldn’t be forgotten that the Germany of the 1930’s from which the Nazis emerged was a highly cultured society.

To his credit President Biden has distinguished between good and evil in word and deed. His denunciation of Hamas’ actions as “sheer evil” has earned him even the praises of Israeli detractors who believed that he up to now has not been sufficiently supportive of the Jewish state. US munitions are being sent to Israel and US naval might is being displayed in the eastern Mediterranean to deter Iran from trying to capitalize on the situation.

Yet, one doesn’t need prophetic abilities to realize that as Israel continues to take the necessary action to “crush and destroy” Hamas as declared by Prime Minister Netanyahu, a chorus of politicians and media outlets at home and abroad will condemn Israel for the use of heavy handed and disproportionate force.” Several weeks ago while discussing the concern of collateral damage, should the US arm Ukraine with cluster bombs, an MSNBC analyst flatley responded “war is war.” Yet, when Israel causes collateral damage it is roundly condemned, for war crimes even by those who give lip service to the Jewish state’s right to defend itself. This, despite the fact that the Israeli government goes to greater lengths than any other military in the world to minimize civilian casualties, as noted by Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware in 2014. Note that Israeli’s extraordinary efforts means exposing its soldiers (many of whom are 18 and 19 years old) to greater harm.

Conversely, though Hamas adherents claim to be “People of the Book” they ignore the biblical polemic against human sacrifice taught by the Akediat Yitzchak, the binding and near sacrifice of Isaac narrative of Genesis. Instead, they sacrifice their own children by using them as human shields. The sad thing is many politicians and a large portion of the media blame Israel for the tragic death of these human shields which only encourage the use of more human shields. Those who fall for Hamas’s ruthless ploy and lay the blame on Israel instead of on the terror group, have blood on their hands by condemning innocent Palestians to death as future human sacrifices. If there is anyone the people of Gaza need to liberate from – it’s Hamas.

While my default is to speak diplomatically and measure my words, this is not a time for such restraint but rather a time for unambiguous moral clarity. Those who blame Israel for the death of Palestianians who are exploited by their own leadership as human shields are either genuinely uninformed or being deliberately dense. The latter are guilty of anti-semtism in that they are holding the world’s one Jewish state to a double standard that would handcuff the nation in its ability to adequately defend itself and lead to its destruction.

Though in the weeks ahead Israel will come under tremendous pressure to accept a ceasefire, Israeli leaders have made it clear that a return to the status quo is unacceptable. Years of tolerating varying levels of terror from Gaza has only served to embolden the terror group. The strategy of “mowing the grass,” periodically weakening Hamas, has tragically proven insufficient. Unfortunately, even as the Sunni Arab states are lining up to make peace with Israel and reaping the rewards of the new Middle East Shimon Peres dreamt of, no peace partners have emerged from among the Palestinians. This should be of no surprise as 2 Palestinian state didn’t emerge in Gaza after the Israelis unilateral withdrawal in 2005. Every opportunity to improve the lot of the Palestinian people including peace offer after peace offer have been brushed aside in favor of continued violence. Unfortunately, it appears that a peace partner will only emerge after Hamas is so soundly defeated that they come to understand Israel is here to stay. What can we 6,000 miles away do besides offering prayer and providing financial & emotional support to our brethren in Israel?

When you hear reports like the one NPR led with on its 8:00 am news summary on Wednesday- protest! After stating that the conflict was in its 5th day it was reported that both sides have been accused of “war crimes” by human rights groups. Some would defend this introduction as an attempt to be even handed and keep an open mind. Don’t be fooled! This was clearly meant to muddy the waters and distract from the “sheer evil” that Hamas is perpetrating in a warped version of Islam, from the requisite actions Israel takes to defend its citizens. When you hear politicians make moral equivalents between Hamas rocket attacks on civilians and Israeli blockades that prevent Hamas from rearming – protest! And also educate your friends, so they too can join you in speaking up on behalf of Israel and human decency. In other words, be an ambassador for Israel. Humanity was endowed with intelligence and created “like God” in order to distinguish between good and evil. As an Or Lagoyim, Light unto the Nations, it is our job on one hand, to show the world how to have an open mind, while on the other hand, not openings one’s mind to the point that it leaves a hole in the head and one loses the ability to distinguish between good and evil. Right now that means loudly rejecting moral relativism, which blurs good and evil and instead embracing good by actively supporting Israel.

Am Yisrael Chai