I am sitting here with one eye on my phone and the other on the computer screen. It seems if they let her flight leave, Lauren will be on the last flight out of Ben Gurion Airport before the air space is shut down. She texts me that Israelis are completely calm, and the announcements are the usual ones….” Welcome to El Al”, etc. But nothing is normal. Not that it has been normal for many months now.
BUT this is indeed an escalation that none of us could have imagined just two weeks ago. Not that you don’t know, but I need to write the words just to believe it myself: Iran is actively attacking Israel, our Homeland. Missiles and drones are heading to Israel.
I believe that Israel is ready. And I believe that this will be painful in new ways. We will have to see how Israel responds, but I believe that they will respond. And I also know that we all need to take a deep breath and be ready to triple down on the solidarity we have already manifested since October. We must because we know how the world will twist the narrative within hours if not minutes of this attack. Israel will do whatever she needs to do to defend herself; and our congregation will continue to stand steadfastly behind our brothers and sisters. We cannot and will not be deterred. We cannot and will not. Plain and simple.
As always, we will lead and communicate early and often.
Do not waver. There is no room to do so.
As I conclude, Lauren just wrote to me from the air. It seems she is indeed on one of the last flights out. I am relieved, but both of us also feel horrible because she gets to come home, while our brothers and sisters are there defending themselves and defending us here.
Please pray with me for our Homeland and our People.
With love,
Matt
On behalf of:
Rabbi Karen Glazer Perolman Rabbi Leah H. Sternberg Cantor Lucy B. Fishbein Cantor Howard M. Stahl Marc Rothstein Karen Feldman
Temple B'nai Jeshurun 1025 South Orange Avenue Short Hills, NJ 07078
