"Israeli
Defense Minister calls up 30,000 reserve troops to active duty."
Hearing this news report while driving in my car in Beachwood, Ohio, I
feel scared and vulnerable. Why? News like this has been coming out of
Israel since 1948. I have lived there for 6 years and gone through
worse while living there. Because I have a child there now - that's
what's different. (Mind you, she says herself that she's not scared,
but that's only because she's not the parent!)
I heard this news while driving to a meeting at the Starbucks on Green and Chagrin. Walking into this all-American coffee shop, I see that the only open table is next to one occupied by two women in kaffiyas, and they're talking Arabic, loudly. I know what they're thinking about this latest middle-Eastern "scuffle"... This projection makes me feel angry inside. After all, how can anyone possibly side with a bunch of terrorists who are brazenly hiding behind human shields while targeting innocent civilians?
Then again, they're probably thinking and feeling the same about me... That might even be what they're discussing now!
In truth, this conflict makes no sense. It is a conflict of Biblical proportions. Fascinating, this is the week of the Biblical portion which foretells it! It is absolutely prophetic. Again. This year!
The Torah says (see commentary of the Ba'al Haturim connecting Parshas Chayei Sarah and Toldos) that the struggle between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael will continue and continue and continue, until a solution of Biblical proportions is realized: "The Messiah," world peace, the lamb finally laying with the lion... It's emblazoned in stone on the East side of Manhattan, on the walls of the UN headquarters...
What do we need to do to make this dream a reality?
