(My apologies for the delay...)
One of my favorite improv games is “In a… With a … While a…” A scene can play out, for example, “In a spaceship, with a monkey, while a Goldberg sitcom family celebrates a Bris.”
Here is another version of what, I felt, was an “In a… With a … While a…” scenario.
In a Kibbutz (Saad, during Rosh Hashanah), with a group of miluimniks (reservists), while Israel is at war.
While this scene played out, I observed it, and experienced it, in “wide-shot” and in “close-up.”
The wide-shot: Rosh Hashanah. Our liturgy proclaims: “Today is the inception day of the universe.” It is interesting to note that the Genesis universe-birthing story is not written from the human perspective, but rather from God’s. The verse states that God named the first unit of time “Day One.” All other days are serial … second day, third, fourth, etc. So why not “first?” Because “one” only becomes “first” after there is another. And from God’s perspective, at that moment, looking forward, the next was yet to come.
This difference is not limited merely to enumeration. It foreshadows a shift in how we perceive events over the course of time.
In the 1980s Israel fought the “Lebanon War.” In 2006, after Israel fought another “Lebanon War,” the previous war suddenly changed to the “First.” And now, in 2023-2024, apparently, we are fighting a “Third.”
My perspective differs from the above. Israel has never really fought a war against Lebanon, nor has Lebanon fought a war against Israel. The first war was between Israel and the PLO (and other terrorist groups) who occupied (by force) southern Lebanon. The PLO is not Lebanon. As a result of this war, the Iranian-backed Shiites established the Hezbollah. The “Second Lebanon War” was not between Israel and Lebanon as a country, but against Hezbollah. And now this third “round” is once again not between Israel and Lebanon, but really between Israel and Iran, only it is being fought on Lebanese soil.
My hope… my hope is that this war will not be called “Swords of Iron,” nor the “Third Lebanon War,” and not even the “Last Lebanon War,” but rather the “Last Israeli War.” How might this happen? I am not sure. But perhaps a message from Rosh Hashanah can help pave the way. This holiday is, in many ways, the least “specifically Jewish” holiday. It is a day that focuses on all of God’s creation and highlights the equal nature of all humanity. By focusing on our shared past and commonality, it allows, and beseeches us to yearn, for a day when “All humankind call out Your name,” and “the recognition of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas.”
The close-up: Rosh Hashanah. This year I was not privileged to be with my family, but I was privileged to be with my brothers-in-arms. I did not benefit from my Mitzpe Nevo community, but I did benefit from the community of Kibbutz Saad. For the first time in over ten years, I did not merit to blow the shofar for others in shul, but I did merit to blow for myself in nature, and then for other soldiers as well. I typically spend most of the day in shul, but this year for the most part I was in a guard booth. This year we are at war, but the truth is that last year Israel was at war too… only we didn’t know it. This year, at least, many eyes have been opened. Most years, I spend the days with my fellow Jews, but this year…
One of the things that I most appreciate about miluim is the richness of the social tapestry. It brings together people from all points of the social-economic-academic-ethnic spectrum. And in addition, many times there are role reversals, where a manager suddenly becomes a simple foot soldier, and an employee suddenly becomes a high-ranking officer.
At one point I was sitting around a table with four other soldiers. Here is the religious-ethnic breakdown: One religiously observant Jew (me), one secular Jew, one Muslim Bedouin, one Druze and one Karaite (yes – there are about 30,000 in Israel today). Here is a geographic-urban breakdown: one from a Judean community (a.k.a. West Bank settlement) (me), one from a Galilean village, one from a southern town, and two from central Israeli cities. Here is a military background breakdown: one tank soldier (me), one anti-terror combat trainer, one desert tracker, one prison guard for dangerous criminals and terrorists, and one infantry soldier. And here is one last one: All volunteers, all wearing the same uniform, and all fighting for the same purpose.
From this close-up perspective, I return to the long-shot. How appropriate for me to be with such a group on Rosh Hashanah. For 364 days a year we focus so much on what makes us different and unique. But for one day a year it is a good reminder to recall that “Today, the universe was conceived.” To quote Rabbi Sacks, “Our differences shape our identity. Our commonalities form our humanity. If we were completely different, we could not communicate. If we were all completely alike, we would have nothing to say.”
Shana Tova!
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