In Parashat Vayera we conclude Abraham’s 10 tests with the Akedah, or binding of Isaac. We therefore read in Pirkei Avot 5:4, “Our Father Avraham was tested with ten trials and withstood them all.” Rabbi Judah Lowe ben Bezalel (the Maharal) in his commentary on Pirkei Avot writes about Abraham’s “tests” as being more like an examination, inquiry or investigation, whereas for Pirkei Avot itself the tests are about a personal trial or experiment, a learned experience of one kind or another, how did life "try us" for this or that? Why does it matter? Because life is a trial and we must respond to its lessons, that is just the way things work.
Recently the Jewish Voice of Peace went through such a test, a test that many liberal Jews face, one that speaks to many in Reform Judaism I’d think. As a group, the Jewish Voice of Peace actively calls Israel out as an apartheid state, protests for for ongoing peace with the Palestinians and lobbies to end Israel’s occupation of the land to be Palestine. They are not alone in this mission. Yet after the events of October 7th, a chapter of the BLM movement, whom the Jewish Voice of Peace stood behind ferociously, said, “When a people have been subject to decades of apartheid and unimaginable violence, their resistance must not be condemned, but understood as a desperate act of self-defense.” This statement was made on October 9th, only two days later, to give justification to the inhumane massacre and kidnapping of innocent Jewish people, from babies to the elderly, by Hamas. Groups like the Jewish Voice of Peace now have to ask the questions: who are our friends, who cares enough about what we stand for that they will stand with us, who feels Jewish pain or has that been sacrificed on the altar of political hierarchy? The question that we may ask is, is Jewish life in Israel (well all Jewish life) now somehow less valuable than Arab life in Palestine?
It almost seems like what happened on October 7th was yesterday's news and the news of today is the war in Gaza, viewed by many as Israel’s disproportionate relentless attacks that are devastating the people of Gaza, which in turn have seen mass demonstrations both here in America and abroad. How can we not be tested? How can we not be concerned about what we see on our college campuses or by various threats made to Jewish organizations? How can we not be concerned about the human toll in Gaza of the innocent who are caught in the middle? We learn from Nachman of Breslov that famous saying, “The whole entire world is a very narrow bridge, and the main thing is to have no fear at all,” a saying that applies to our world now as Jews and Jewish communities. The diversity of views that include the ones we embrace, or disregard, are near, they are upon us, and we can escape their presence. We cannot escape how the world views or presents Israel in the media, but we must always remember that even if you disagree with Israel’s policies politically, the value of life is always greater than an ideology that views life as expendable; the value of life has unfortunately become like a narrow bridge. Although it's readily available online, the ongoing brutality of Hamas and their value of life and loss, it is not mainstream news. Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior member of the Hamas political bureau, was asked in an interview on Russian TV about the tunnels under Gaza; Marzouk said, “the tunnels built in Gaza were meant to protect Hamas'' and for the residents of the [Gaza] Strip it "is the responsibility of the UN to protect them." Likewise, it has been reported by multiple sources that according to the U.N. the gas needed to operate hospitals to care for the sick is being confiscated by Hamas to use to fire missiles into Israel.
I can go on, but this is the bottom line: Hamas has sacrificed their own sons and daughters, in this case the people of Gaza, who they have been elected to protect and serve. They failed their test and there are many who cannot see that or have just elected to turn their heads for their own political agendas and/or alliances. Recently a Jewish Los Angeles based lawyer called out the New York City based Democratic Socialists of America as “a political organization that believes in three things: affordable housing, raising the minimum wage, and the wholesale murder of Jews.” While the last view was an exasperated frustration, it was the result of those who have so quickly turned their backs on Israel let alone others, as we saw with the BLM quote above, who make justifications for Jewish deaths on October 7th.
We are all being tested. Our test is to question our loyalties, not give up our convictions. Our test is to be faithful to Israel even though we may have problems with the government. Our test is to never forget and never stop advocating for peace, either for Israel or the Palestinians. Our test is to always balance our criticism with our conviction and not to sacrifice our Jewish values on the altar of world pressure. Our test is to stand our ground and make room for others who share a different view but value life just as much as we do. It's tough to be business as usual right now, but as thankful as we are that Abraham would not sacrifice his son, we must be just as deeply saddened that Hamas sacrifices their own children based on what they consider a just response. Like I said, we are all being tested in one way or another, it's a narrow bridge.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Adam Ruditsky
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