Words fail, heart breaks

Rabbi Ariana sent the following message to Hinenu membership on Sunday night, October 8. Following the message, click for more resources to take action:

I wanted to drop a line to join you in heartbreak at the news of war in Israel and Palestine that began over Shabbat. This is a nightmare. If you are just plugging back into the news and internet after Shabbat and Yom Tov, go slow, there is a stunning amount of news that waits for you.

Many people in our community have family, friends, and loved ones in Israel and Palestine. Continue to keep me and our community updated as to their wellbeing--we pray that they are as safe as can be, and that safety covers all soon and in our days. Share their names with us, that we can speak prayer over them together. You are not alone.

In moments like these, we often feel a deep urgency to respond, even as we are unsure of what action to take. I know that I cannot write a d'var Torah that will end this war. I know that no $18 donation to Magen David Adom or the Red Crescent will stop the flow of injuries and death. From a place of grief and activation, I wonder what to DO, what to SAY, what to POST that will help. In the time ahead (please God, let it be moments not days not weeks...) I believe the path forward for our action will be made clear. I want to encourage all of us to sit with grief and despair at war and to acknowledge the urgency to do something comes from deep care for human life. The first step is connecting with one another, with words however imperfect, so that as we move we can move together.

In the coming days members of our community involved in organizing efforts will be sharing out more resources. I am available for pastoral counseling and support, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

There are countless statements flowing from American Jewish institutions explicitly or implicitly making it clear that Jewish Israeli lives matter more to them than Palestinian lives. This too feels devastating, soul destroying. As a Jewish community that is committed to life and liberation we have a moral obligation to not get swept up by body count math, and to not minimize the violence experienced by any person regardless of where they live. Palestinian and Israeli lives are being destroyed and forever changed by this war, by this Occupation, by the decisions of militaries that treat their civilians like pawns. War and Occupation are death dealing forces. I join with you in praying for a just peace to cover all.

I appreciate the framing from Jews for Racial and Economic Justice who said "We are angry that leaders continually choose extremism, violence, and occupation...We recognize that attacks on civilians by Hamas are neither justifiable nor unprovoked. This has been the deadliest year for Palestinians in decades of occupation and of the stifling blockade of Gaza."  This war and loss of life is in the context of so many decades of death and brutality, and we hold that all at once.

May our prayers ascend for all caught up in the war machine. May we see an end to this violence soon and in our days.

Rabbi Ariana

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