Sergeant Major Ben Kerido shares real time, first person updates from the front lines of Gaza during Operation Swords of Iron
The sun had already dropped below the horizon, ushering in Shabbat, or the Jewish Sabbath. I have to admit, though. Here in the Israel Defense Force it doesn’t feel much like Shabbat. One of my favorite aspects of Shabbat is how quiet and tranquil my community becomes. Indeed, it seems like even the local stray cats embrace the concept, lounging lazily in the sun and waiting for leftover chamim (cholent, or bean and beef stew) to be thrown out into the nearby dumpster.
But this Shabbat of the Torah portion Lech Lekha (October 27-28) was far from tranquil or quiet. The first and primary stage of the ground incursion into Gaza by IDF troops in order to further annihilate Hamas had begun. And, correspondingly, our mortars platoon and the rest of the Israeli armor and artillery forces in the region began a very heavy bombardment. The barrage was brutal… jarring even.
The bombing started in the middle of our evening tefillah, or prayer service, to welcome the incoming Shabbat. At a certain point during the recitation of the poetic Lekah Dodi, “Welcome my Beloved (Shabbat),” we turn around and gaze behind us. And in this case we faced both the artillery as well as Gaza. The normally uplifting melody was punctuated by brilliant flashes of ominous orange light followed by deafening booms.
Similarly, it was as though the explosions themselves answered the recitation of Kaddish. “Yitgadal – Boom! – Yitkadash – Boom! – Shmei Rabbah – Boom! – … May [the Almighty] mercifully make peace for us – Boom! – and all Israel – Boom! – Omaine.” – Boom! – It seemed oddly ironic – even oxymoronic – to request that the Most High bless us with peace in a time of warfare.
But perhaps that’s a hidden message that can be drawn from this unique Shabbat experience. The Torah tells us at the beginning of Bereishit (Genesis) that the cosmos was filled with darkness and chaos, and then the Almighty created order and ultimately gave us the gift of Shabbat HaKodesh, the Holy Sabbath, by “resting” on the “seventh day.” Sometimes tranquility first requires strength. Sometimes peace first requires war.
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