All’s Well That Ends Well

 I was in New York for almost a week, for the annual Chabad emissary convention.  The energy was amazing.  The power of unity was palpable, as Rabbis from around the world shared the incredible outpouring of support for Israel that we are experiencing among the entire spectrum of our people.  (Over 1,000 Rabbis joined via live telecast from Israel, because they did not want to leave their posts.)  

Together we mourned our brothers and sisters who were so brutally murdered, injured and captured by our enemies.  Together we prayed and resolved to encourage each other and Jews around the world to stand strong and proud, to defy all our enemies and continue to build Judaism and Jewish life.  Together we honored our heroic soldiers who are literally giving their lives to protect our people, and together we committed to support our people in Israel and around the world with all the power that the Rebbe vested in us, as Chabad does.

 

We heard moving stories about our colleagues’ efforts, working day and night, often putting themselves in real danger, in order to help our people. Observant or not, Ashkenazi or Sephardi, rich or poor, young or old – all Jews are worth sacrificing for.  

Perhaps the most moving account were the words we heard from the emissary from Sderot and his young son.  Sderot, they said, used to be a sleepy unknown town, and now they were thrust into the front lines of the war.  They resolved to stay no matter what it takes to fulfill their mission of helping Jews.  The son, maybe ten years old, brought us all to tears as he proclaimed his commitment to his people regardless of danger.  If you can, I encourage you to watch the incredibly moving and powerful talk here: (The boy’s talk begins at minute 7:45, but the whole video is just amazing.)

 

You have not heard me, or many of my Chabad colleagues, use slogans like “we stand with Israel.”  Someone asked me why not?  Truth is I had to think about it for a moment, and I realized that to me it’s not a slogan.  It’s in my DNA and in the DNA of every man, woman and child in the Rebbe’s army.  We don’t just stand with Israel, we are Israel.  We grew up all our lives recognizing that Hashem, the Torah, the nation and the land of Israel are all one.  

When a Jew is in danger, we are in danger.  When the people and the land of Israel are attacked, we are attacked.  And when we pray and do Mitzvot, we do it for all of Israel, because we are truly one.

 

Our history in Gaza didn’t start recently.  Our ancestors Yitzchak and Rivkah were forced to abandon their residence in Israel due to a drought.  Yitzchak’s parents, Avraham and Sarah, faced the same dilemma a generation earlier, and found much needed food in Egypt.  

Yitzchak thought Egypt would be helpful for him and his wife too, but Hashem told them not to go to Egypt.  Yitzchak had been offered as a sacrifice to Hashem, and it was therefore not appropriate for him to leave the Holy Land.  Instead he went to Gaza, which would eventually become part of Israel. 

 

The Philistines who lived in Gaza at the time hated him.  What had he done?  He was a Jew.  And he was successful.  They hated him and they were jealous of him.  Yitzchak started to set down roots in the land in order to pave the way for when his children would inherit the land.  He started digging wells which, not surprisingly, were contested by the locals.   

Yitzchak knew that it was pointless to negotiate over the ownership of the wells.  His father before him had made a covenant with that same nation, and they were not honoring it.  Avraham also dug wells, and the Philistines filled them in.  Yitzchak saw that these people were willing to hurt themselves and deny their own people water as long as Avraham could not get any.

 

So Yitzchak doubled down and dug another well, and when they got the message that he wasn’t going anywhere, they finally accepted that the well was his.  He named the well Rechovot, which is the name of the city today.  Because of his resolve, Avraham’s wells, which he dug again, also remained.  Eventually the king of Gaza personally came to visit him asking for a peace deal - on Yitzchak’s terms.

 

This is what we will read in the Torah this Shabbat.  May Hashem bless our people with strength to remove the scourge that wants nothing but our destruction.  May He avenge the blood of our brothers and sisters, may He heal the injured, and may He bring all our hostages home safely.  

May He give us the strength to withstand the evil outside pressure to give up and allow our enemies to rebuild their terror operations.  May He protect every one of our soldiers, our people in Israel, and all the Jews around the world.  And may He finally bring true redemption, and true peace for us and the entire world, and may it happen immediately.