Why we can’t sleep
The November 29th, 1947 UN vote to establish the State of Israel had passed. At three or four in the morning, still wearing his dirty clothes, young Amos Oz crawled into bed. Moments later his father got into bed with him, not to scold him for still being in his clothes, but to tell him how when he had been a boy, students at his Polish school had stolen his pants.
“And when his father, grandpa Alexander, went to the school to register a complaint, the bullies refused to return the torn trousers but attacked his father, grandpa, in front of his eyes, forcing him down onto the paving stones in the middle of the playground, removing his trousers too, and the girls laughed…” It was a story of utter humiliation. “Then his father told him, “Bullies may well bother you in school or in the street someday … but from now on, from the moment we have our own state, you will never again be bullied just because you are a Jew… Not that. Never again. From tonight that’s finished here. Forever.” – A Tale of Love and Darkness pp. 345-346
On Saturday, a kidnaped boy, perhaps six years old, was bullied and terrorized and humiliated because he is a Jew.
And this is why so many of us are finding it so hard to sleep at night.
Moreover, we aren’t sure why – for some – our being helpless seems so important. Helpless in two ways: 1) utterly humiliated, and 2) with none to help.
Thank God, we’re not helpless. And we never again will be.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 11 at 7:45PM: join me for a virtual gathering for parents on the theme of How To Talk With Our Kids. That Zoom link is here.
May today be a safer day for our people, and may we each step forward to support those who are suffering the most.
Am Yisrael Chai,
Rabbi William Hamilton
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