Amidst the turmoil and consternation of the past few weeks, yesterday's news from Gaza and Israel was singularly devastating. Hamas purportedly released four coffins of the bodies of hostages kidnapped on October 7th. The coffins of Ariel Bibas 5, Kfir Bibas, 1, their mother, Shiri Silberman Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, 84 (According to the IDF, the autopsy revealed that the fourth body, was not Shiri Bibas, but un unidentified corpse.) were paraded to cheering crowds at a rally organized by Hamas in Kahn Yunis.
These heartless images of grotesque celebration join the pictures of the gleeful terror made visible 500 days ago. Trauma and all its terrible consequences rears its head again and makes peaceful resolution more distant than ever. Anyone who ignores yesterday's perverse celebrations or justifies them in some way, chooses naivete and denial over truth.
The reaction in Israel is compellingly conveyed in this interview of the journalist, Matti Friedman, yesterday. I urge readers of this message to open the link and listen to the "Call Me Back Podcast" interview with himHERE.
It is a tragic irony that Oded Lifshitz was an ardent peace activist who ferried Gazan patients to Israeli hospitals for treatment before 10/7. I mourn him and mourn humanity's inability to rise above cruel resentments that fuel this terrible conflict.
In this week's portion, Mishpatim (Exodus 21-24:18) we read, "When you encounter your enemy's ox or ass wandering, you must take it back to him. When you see the ass of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must nevertheless raise it with him. (Ex. 23:4-5) The Torah acknowledges the reality of enemies, but it binds us to behaviors of restraint, decency, and common humanity toward our enemies. Amidst this world descending into countless cruelties, we cannot forget this Torah teaching.
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
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