Unity.
It’s a mighty word and we will need all its power if we are to get through the unspeakable and unimaginable events of the past week, to quell our anger, disgust and sorrow.
Israelis, riven with disunity and discord, now have unity in polity and in purpose.
The courageous men and women of the IDF are now one, ready to plunge headlong into the hellscape that is Gaza, to sacrifice body and soul to avenge the blood of their innocents.
The rational world, for now, seems to be united with Israel. In the overwhelming darkness of this past week, Israel’s blue and white flag was emblazoned on the Eiffel Tower, 10 Downing Street and on the Brandenburg Gate. It was illuminated in Italy, Poland, Austria, Azerbaijan, Sweden and Spain.
It also lit up 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and its principal resident.
But above all, there is unity amongst the Jewish people.
In cities all over the world, Jewish men, women and children, Jews of all denominations, reform Jews, conservative Jews, orthodox Jews, non-believing Jews, leftist Jews and right wing Jews, have poured into the streets, showing that Jewish pride is strong, that Jewish blood is not cheap, that Am Yisrael Chai, the Jewish people live.
A microcosm of this global oneness took place at a community gathering in a synagogue on Manhattan’s upper west side.
The people in the audience were silent, you could hear a pin drop, but then they sang Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva, the hope, together. They were solemn and chanted the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, together. They recited verses from the book of Psalms and from Lamentations, and lifted their eyes upward, together.
They wept, together.
Their tears of sorrow were for a world where evil is so real and so incomprehensible.
Their tears of anger were for the complicit celebrities, politicians, students, academics and journalists, that make excuses for the bloodthirsty terrorists and the joy they take in the defilement and cold-blooded execution of Jews.
In the midst of our endless mourning and in our fear and trepidation for the days to come, our greatest strength will be our unshakable unity. It is the salve that will soothe the sorrows that ache so deep inside of us.
If there is a speck of light that can emerge from the depravity perpetrated against the Jewish people on 10/7, it is the bonds of solidarity we have now forged with each other.
Without them, we will never be able to wake up from this nightmare of nightmares.
It is that state of oneness that the psalmist of ancient times lauded, but we have disregarded for so long, too long.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.
May there be life, forever!
-Psalms, Chapter 133
