Since the march last week to support a ceasefire, the war is widening.  The governments of Israel and the US are ignoring the International Court of Justice and ignoring the will of the majority of the people.  On Democracy Now, Ha’aretz journalist Gideon Levy reports that Israeli media are mostly not covering the suffering of Palestinians, despite the fact that there is no censorship.  Media editors must simply believe that their readers do not want to hear the other side of the conflict and so their readers will never see and understand what people in Gaza are suffering.   

Here in the US too, people do not want to think or talk about Gaza.  It may be because they lack the tools for talking and have no way to discuss difficult issues without getting into verbal battles with their neighbors.  This could be one of our tasks – to create places and ways to talk, think, and maybe act.  Start at the local restaurants, including the more expensive ones.  Call or write to the restaurant owner and ask them to close their restaurant one day a week and post a sign that they will remain closed on that day until there is a Ceasefire in Gaza.  They might add on the sign that they support both Israel and Palestine.  But in any case, the fighting must cease.  

The response from the owner might be agreement, disagreement, or simply ignoring the request.  A follow-up request can be more to the point, indicating that we may arrive and hand out pamphlets to their patrons, though not supporting any one side but simply indicating where they might get better information than they will get on mainstream media.  As uncomfortable as this might be, it is the start of a wider conversation.  It moves beyond preaching to the choir and creates places for people to meet and talk on many issues.  There is a possibility that the community may still support that restaurant and make up for lost business.  

If God is present with us, then we are contributing to The Story with our daily decisions and actions. 

To sit and hear the reading of the Torah is both humbling and exciting, realizing that this is what our ancestors nearly 2.500 years ago were doing in almost exactly the same way and using the same words.  It fills one with awe.  Yet, we are a different people in many ways.

With the War in Gaza, Israel has lost its innocence.  No longer can Jews be the perpetual victim.  The Holocaust really happened, but that was during the time of our parents and grandparents.  That was their challenge.  We cannot be expected to fight the same fights that they did.  Our enemies are not even the same. 

Jews must not carry the burden of fears and hatreds of their fathers nor want to pass on these same fears and hatreds to our children.  To throw off the burdens of our fathers, we must forgive them for expecting us carry their burdens.  The cycle of life and death must allow each generation to start anew in some way or another, while still carrying the culture forward.  We cannot do to others what was done to us.  Otherwise we become the thing that we hate.