“When you [an Israelite warrior] take the field against your enemies, and your God יהוה delivers them into your power and you take some of them captive.” (Deuteronomy 21:10)
Two very important ideas spring forth from the opening sentence of this week’s Torah reading.
The text says, “when” not “if.” This specific reading suggests that war is inevitable. 1. Already thousands of years ago humanity has already resigned to the fact that international conflict is unavoidable. 2. And when wars occur there are rules even in such chaos.
Each of us needs to ask ourselves about the inevitability of the war in Gaza and are the combatants who embroiled in the conflict executing the war with any sense of the rules of war? Every war has collateral damage and that is sad. We must pray for those who have been placed in harm’s way either because there is nowhere else to go or because they are being used as human shields. However, Hamas, I must remind you is a terrorist organization, could end the conflict tomorrow by laying down their weapons and giving back those civilians they have ruthlessly tortured for nearly a year. Women, men and children who have been torn from family and friends. There is not a day that goes by that the first thought and the last thought of everyday are the hostages and their families being held captive. This has to end. May God help return every remaining hostage be returned to their families and may the forces of evil see their demise speedily in our day.
Greenburgh Hebrew Center rabbistein@ghcny.org 515 Broadway Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 914-693-4260 office@ghcny.org www.ghcny.org
