My friend Rabbi Arie Hasit is a Masorti (Conservative) Rabbi in a small town in Israel called Mazkeret Batya. He has always been my teacher, but over the course of the last 503 days he has been a voice of sorrow, a voice of hope, and a voice of reason and understanding amidst the horrors of Oct. 7th and onward. I wanted to share his words with you today since I am at a loss. This week Arie wrote:
"The Talmud teaches us that one must “bless” over the bad just as one does over the good. Sometimes, like today, the same news is both of those things. We have known for a short while that of the 33 Israeli hostages due to be released in the first stage of the hostage deal (which I very much pray will continue), only 25 of them are living. Rumors have abounded, but we didn’t know for sure who will be returned to a possibility of a new life and who will be returned to allow their loved ones to start mourning properly.
It is so clear today that “to bless” is not to praise. It is not to thank. It is to acknowledge that our universe is beyond our comprehension.
This week, we received a list of six hostages who will be coming home alive. Thank God. Every one of them is a gift, and we are grateful for the impending return of Hisham, Avera, Omer, Omer, Eliya and Tal.
It is so clear today that “to bless” is not to praise. It is not to thank. It is to acknowledge that our universe is beyond our comprehension. That we have moments of simultaneously feeling overwhelming joy and devastating sadness. To bless is to say that an infinite God means feeling the whole range of emotions. All at once. These coming days are going to be a roller coaster of emotion. Pain and joy. Everything at once. Life itself."
Today feels that way, as I watched the coffins carrying the bodies of Kfir, Ariel, and Shiri Bibas and Oded Lifshitz returned to Israel. The worst news possible and our worst fears realized. What words can be said that have not already been said? What comfort can be found in their return? There is no repair for this, and revenge is not the answer. 502 days in captivity - in Gematria (numerology) שבר - brokenness/shards. We are broken and in pieces. May their memories be for a blessing - we will always remember.
In the face of despair and horror we cannot remain frozen. We must try to do the best we can. We cry, we hold each other, and we gather. Tonight I will be at our neighboring synagogue Tifereth Israel at 5:30 pm for our Columbus Daily Egalitarian Minyan Maariv to say Kaddish for the Bibas family and Oded. We will stand and sing, even though we know that what we feel, what Yarden Bibas must feel, is l'eila min kol amira, beyond all words.
I also encourage you, if you are looking for comfort, for community, for something to hold onto, to join us this Shabbat at Agudas Achim or at your local synagogue. Be together.
Today I was going to share the new video for our wedding niggun, but some days are not the days for radical joy. Some days are days of mourning. This video is our new melody for Hamal’achc Hago’el (the angel who redeems/protects), the blessing that our ancestor Jacob gives to his grandchildren, and the words that Jews have been singing as words of blessing and comfort for many years. Today we offer it as a blessing for all children, and as an offering to Kfir and Ariel, now angels themselves. I learned that today in Netanya, Israel a new baby boy was born and named Kfir Ariel. We will always remember.
Shabbat Shalom,
Josh
Thank you so much for this. I am leading services this Friday night and was struggling to find some words to express how we are feeling in this moment.