What a Difference a Word Makes

After a long hiatus from writing these reflections we returned to a situation that warrants more than the occasional thought. So, I am writing again just a few days since my last communication with you. Thanks to the many of you who wrote expressing your concerns. Believe it or not, just a word of encouragement is very heartening and most appreciated.

Living in Israel this past year has taught me that Hebrew is much more than grammar and vocabulary. There is an ethos to the language expressed through the nuances of expression, inflection, syntax and word choice. How an idea is expressed can communicate as much as the words themselves. Yesterday the Hebrew language media referred to the present conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon as the “fighting” in the north (l’himah ba-tzafon), today the language changed to the “war” in the north (milhamah ba-tzafon). The subtle change of wording (both derived from the same Hebrew root) conveys the heightened state of gravity in the situation. No longer is this simply a military operation it is now a more advanced conflict. Several hundred rocket and katyusha attacks have begun to take their toll.

Throughout the day Hezbollah has been launching rockets and katyushas (of increasing range), even hitting a train depot in Haifa killing eight and wounding over fifty civilians. Many of these rockets are launched from private homes, putting Lebanese civilians directly in harm’s way when Israeli warplanes and artillery target the launch sites. That is Hezbollah’s cynical modus operandi—it uses civilians as human shields then cries out against Israel’s brutality in targeting innocent non-combatants.

This calculated tactic of Hezbollah is encouraged by those nations and international bodies that describe Israel’s self-defense measures as “disproportional response” to Hezbollah’s rocket attacks and the abduction of the two Israeli soldiers last week. I wonder if any other country in the world would have acted less forcefully to such a wonton act of aggression? Perhaps I am becoming too cynical, but I have come to expect such foolishness from the states of the European Union and from the jaded voices of the United Nations.

Despite the gravity of the situation, or perhaps in response to it, there is amazing calm here. The population from Tel Aviv north has been advised to stay indoors, preferably in secure rooms or shelters. Hourly there are advisories on the television outlining procedures to be followed in the event of hearing a warning siren. And, with all this, life goes on incredibly normally.

NFTY, the Reform youth movement has some 600 teenagers in the country. The itinerary has changed to keep them safely away from the north, but none have gone home. Last night my wifeand I joined our friends at their home hosting about three-dozen NFTY parents who are here visiting their kids. On Tuesday night we are hosting a program in our apartment for about 15 NFTYites because their social action program in Haifa had to be relocated to Jerusalem. In no time at all the NFTY staff was able to recruit Reform rabbis and educators in the capital to volunteer their time and their homes to create alternative programs. That same spirit is replicated all over this country as people here reach out to others in a myriad of small but significant ways as an expression of national resolve at this time of crisis. No one is daunted; no one is cowed by the threats spewed our way from Hezbollah and from Iran. This country is more united than ever. That is Israel. That is why I am so proud to be an Israeli and grateful for the opportunity to live here.

Please take a moment and offer a prayer for those families who have lost dear ones. Pray as well for the healing of those wounded in body, mind and spirit. Also, ask God to watch over our military personnel who risk their lives to protect us. And, it is not in dissonance with those prayers to ask God to take pity upon those innocent Lebanese and Palestinians who have been made to suffer because of the callous actions of the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists.

Shalom from Jerusalem