Remembering Fallen Family

5/13/24

Today, we remember the thousands of innocent lives who have been killed in Israel, particularly the 1200 mercilessly slaughtered on October 7 and the hundreds of brave IDF soldiers who lost their lives in the subsequent war defending our people.

I am not an Israeli. I am an American, or British by birth. But these are my people.

If, in any year, one might feel connected to Jews in Israel and elsewhere around the world, this year, in light of the brutal terrorist attacks and subsequent rise of antisemitism, I, and I suspect many of you reading this email, feel more connected than ever.

Einstein, upon reflecting on the murder of his people during the holocaust, observed: "I am not a German but a Jew by nationality." While many of Einstein's thoughts are above and beyond me, this comment of his resonates deeply.

The idea that we are one family is fundamental to Jewish belief and tradition. And just as one might support their own biological brother or sister under attack, Jewish people should always proudly stand on the side of their family.

While there are many varying opinions on how this war is playing out, I'll leave that to political commentators. It's not the job of a family to be impartial jurors. It's the job of family to stick up for your brothers and sisters, through thick and thin, when popular or otherwise.

So today I mourn the mothers who were shot in bed, the fathers killed in front of their kids, the little boys and girls mowed down in car rammings, the young men and women butchered at a music festival, the elderly grandparents who were slaughtered in their kibbutz, and the brave soldiers of the IDF who sacrificed their lives protecting our people.

In the words of the Av Harachamim prayer recited on Shabbat: "May our G-d remember them with favor together with the other righteous of the world, and avenge the spilled blood of his servants."

How it all ends, only G-d knows. But in the interim, I'll be there for my people.