From the Rabbi's Desk

The world is founded on certain principles. Some of them are scientific laws of nature and others are fundamental values all of humanity needs to live by. We expect that, in the end, the good will prevail and the evil will fall. We expect when people do good, the world is made better, and when people do bad, the world is made worse and that those who did the bad will suffer. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work like a well scripted movie. Things don’t always work out in the end or go as planned. The world is both fair and unfair all at once.

Today’s a day we’ve all feared since October 7, 2023, when we sat in our homes and cried as we watched the news. We were drawn to two beautiful boys who hadn’t even had the chance to live their lives yet. Ariel and Kfir Bibas were two young brothers who stole our hearts and we prayed each day for their safety and return, along with their mother, Shiri. Now we know those prayers did not come true. They were murdered by Hamas in cold blood. How anyone can argue that it’s okay to murder people for national or political gain is beyond me. How one can claim the murder of babies and children fulfills those ambitions is simply immoral and counter to all we hold dear.

The Bibas family was murdered for one reason and one reason only – they were Jews. This had nothing to do with land and nothing to do with nationalist aspirations. Shiri and her recently released husband, Yarden, lived just meters away from Gaza. They were part of a community that didn’t wish ill on their neighbors. They didn’t seek to harm Gazans or to see them denied rights. But none of this mattered to the brutal terrorists. Their innocence did not matter. Their views did not matter. Their age did not matter. Their gender did not matter. All that mattered was that they were living in Israel. All that mattered was they were Jews. And now they are gone.

There are no words to adequately sum up the pain and hurt we feel today. There’s no comfort that can be provided to Yarden Bibas and the rest of their family. The cruelty of Hamas having known they were dead for so long and keeping the world waiting and wondering should never be lost on any of us. This is a group who has not a single moral fiber in their bodies. This is a group that sought the destruction of their own people to assure the destruction of our people. They didn’t care about Palestinian children or women or elderly people. They hid safely in their tunnels and left the civilians above ground to deal with the power of the Israeli Army.

This week we’re reminded of the legal concept of an eye for eye and tooth for a tooth, עין תחת עין שן תחת שן, and while that might feel like what we want right now, it’s not what will make any of this right. The תורה / Torah is not actually talking of retributive justice but of restorative justice. It’s not that we want others to suffer because we have suffered. It’s that we want to bring this to an end and begin to feel safe and hopeful again. As long as Hamas continues to present a risk to us, none of this will happen. There can never be a world where Hamas is allowed to exist because their existence is a direct threat to all of humanity, beginning with us… the Jews. There cannot be a world where terror is rewarded and innocence is ignored. A world like that only brings more Ariel and Kfir Bibas’.

Today is awful. Today is hard and twisted. Today is a day that should not be. And yet it is a day and it is real. We must confront the evil that has brought this day upon us. We must recognize the evil that exists in the world and name it so we can cease to live in fear of it and ultimately defeat it.