Not for the first time Israel is threatened by both internal and external threats.
Hezbollah in Lebanon are threatening a war of reprisal and Israel has responded by calling up a battalion and raising the alert levels in the north. The usual threats from Iran continue to persist and an escalating cyber warfare is ensuing.
Internally, the coalition government is falling apart and threatening new elections. It seems that whatever course of action is decided on by Netanyahu to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, which is threatening to get out of control, it is immediately undermined by the Knesset overturning the promulgations. Protests are occurring daily in the streets against Netanyahu and the cloud of corruption that surrounds him.
It is all the more important to reflect that during times of crisis we should double our efforts to talk and hear each other to try to find the common ground that we all share.
The words of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks ring truer than ever, that although Jews are an argumentative people this is a reflection of our diversity and part of our strength. No empire on earth has been able to defeat us when we stand together. On those occasions when we fought against each other we were conquered. When our differences are allowed to split us apart, then it becomes terribly dangerous.
With Rosh Hashana approaching, let us choose to remember that the shared history that we Jews have experienced over five millennia provides us with many commonalities that we should be focusing on.
During a time when the Cancel movement is rewriting history and cancelling out the past, we should be affirming our proud history of providing the world with a moral compass and doing mitzvot and Tikkun Olam to transform everyone’s life for the better.
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