After a season of introspection and heartrending prayers leading up to the Yom Kippur fast, High Holy Day 2024 recently concluded and eight days of festive family time were spent in a sukkah, a flimsy hut. In Israel, the holidays of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret culminated in a challenging year. The cycle was complete.
Attacked on Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah 2023, Israel continued to battle on multiple fronts while celebrating Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah 2024. When the sun set and the holiday ended this year, a second round of dancing with the Torah commenced in synagogues and public squares throughout Israel. Our losses were mourned while our trust in the future was celebrated fervently. Simultaneously, we learned that five soldiers had given their lives fighting for the future of our people in its historical homeland.
The next day, eight more names were announced. Then, four additional soldiers fell in Lebanon during the course of yet another day. Most of the dead were reserve duty soldiers who left behind widows and orphans. These families will never be the same. We share the pain of our bereaved brothers and sisters. But we remain resolved to continue the battle for our existence.
Sukkot is celebrated by eating, singing, dancing, and sometimes sleeping in a temporary dwelling built for the occasion. Moving into the hut manifests the fragility of life and the lack of control we, as mortals, have over our destiny. This Sukkot, among both the religious and the secular, many discussions focused on what Israel had experienced and accomplished since October 7, 2023, and the challenges we still face.
A typical list of topics might have included the following: The number of funerals of soldiers attended. The number of visits to those in mourning. The number of months that reserve soldiers have been required to serve while their families, wives, and children are left to fend for themselves. The virulent antisemitism that Israelis and Jews in the West are experiencing. The number of hostages (101) still held by Hamas, many of whom are no longer alive. The level of squabbling between Israeli politicians causing an expanding stain on the fabric of Israeli society. The selflessness of our brave soldiers. The selfishness of segments of Israeli society who refuse to assume their responsibilities as citizens of Israel.
SUCH DISCUSSIONS are a natural reaction to a crisis situation that continues to fester with no end in sight. The impressive military achievements of the IDF include the destruction of Hamas as a fighting force and the elimination of much of the command structure of Hamas and Hezbollah, such as Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Hassan Nasrallah. These assassinations were punctuated by this past weekend’s successful attack against military targets in Iran including air defense systems and missile production facilities.
Normalcy is absent, but the people are resilient
Nevertheless, missiles and drones continue to damage and kill people in northern Israel. Terror attacks using bullets, knives, cars, and trucks are a daily occurrence. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis remain displaced or live with their eyes on the closest bomb shelter. Children are kept home from school and farmers still cannot tend their crops. Normalcy is absent from significant regions of the country and Israel is becoming more and more isolated. But history and Sukkot teach us that we are a resilient people and that by remaining united, by eliminating internecine backbiting, and by focusing our energies against our enemies we will come out of this battle as a strengthened nation.
How can such unity be achieved? Remaining united is not simple for Israelis. The Jewish people are depicted in the Old Testament as a stiff-necked people. The historical sport for our brothers and sisters is arguing. We have perfected this sport over the 2,000-year exile from our homeland.
Why do we argue? Because as a people we strive for the truth. In the Talmud, epic disagreements between the learned rabbis are probed from every direction until an ultimate decision is reached. These rabbis, while arguing vehemently, retained admiration and respect for their adversaries and ultimately were able to reach a position that all could accept. The key to attaining unity is sagacious leadership. Leadership that understands that winning an argument is futile if it leads to enmity.
Benjamin Franklin stated in his autobiography that he was able to gain the trust of his rivals by carefully choosing non-confrontational language in his debates and avoiding the appearance of hubris and arrogance.
Menachem Begin, a paradigm for Jewish pride and resistance, refused to attack his fellow Jews even when his own forces were being fired upon. He understood that Jewish unity was paramount if a Jewish state were to survive.
Two thousand years ago Hillel the Elder stated, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And being for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” Seventy-six years after Israel’s re-founding, its leaders need to meet the high standards set by Hillel, Franklin, and Begin. Our future depends on prescient decision-making. It is time for self-interest to be subjugated for the common good.
The writer is a distinguished emeritus professor of biochemistry and chemistry at the City University of New York. He lives in Rehovot and has two grandsons in the IDF. The opinions in this article are his own.
