When I read the news on YWN in the last few days, my heart breaks for the Yidden who have lost their lives because of this war. But my heart also fills with pride when I see images of Israeli warplanes pounding our enemies and recognizing the yad Hashem in everything that is happening.
Iran is not Hamas or Hezbollah. Iran is a large and powerful country that has threatened many times to wipe out Israel and kill all the Jews. The fact that Hashem has given us the ability to inflict great damage on this enemy is a tremendous gift from Hashem. I am incredibly proud of our ability to defend ourselves.
My great uncles and aunts, who died horrible deaths in the Holocaust, did not have the ability to defend themselves. We do, and we should thank Hashem profusely for this gift. But we should also thank the soldiers and the army for the mesiras nefesh and bravery they display. Many families are in mourning over the civilians and soldiers who have been killed and injured while defending Eretz Yisrael.
So, please, my dear fellow Yidden, I know there are differences of opinion about who should be in the army and other matters related to how the government of Israel operates. These differences of opinion are okay. But what is not okay is when I read comments in YWN by my fellow Yidden bashing our fellow Jews.
We all need to say thank you and show hakaras hatov to those who are defending us. It’s not acceptable to bash or denigrate.
I, for one, will say thank you from the bottom of my heart to Hashem and to the soldiers who are protecting us.
Please consider doing the same.
Signed,
MJF
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8 Responses
It’s a shame we live in a small-minded time, that in some people’s mind saying thank you might mean your children have to be like them.
Or saying thank you might mean Zionism is okay.
Or thinking all these problems are due to the secular Jews, forgetting some basic history…
It’s a shame some of our hearts and minds are so small and fragile…
I agree with almost everything you said except the part about, feeling proud about defending ourselves. Why is that a virtue? It’s uncomfortable close to kochi votzem yodi, there’s no need to be proud of our ability to defend ourselves. (Im not saying I’m not proud, just like I can’t help but feel a hint of pride in Jewish achievements in the nobel prizes. But that’s not coming from a good place.)
You are 1000% correct. Maybe this will wake people up! Hakoras Hatov big time to first & foremost to H”KBH & to the soldiers who are moser nefesh! Kol Hakavod!
Thank you for these positive, balanced words. I hope your letter won’t be commented upon with another barrage of negativity.
good gezukt.
STOP BASHING NETURAY KARTA!!
ohh right, sorry, that you didn’t mean
You see the hypocrisy??
Only YOUR type of jews require unconditional love.
Meaning zionists and their supporters.
But those who don’t want zionism and never asked for any of these wars, we don’t need this liability.
Let the zionists fend themselves in the wars they created.
The rest of the jews are free of this burden
Unfortunately, the idolatry of heresy of Zionism is so putrid and extensive, that even this letter has some questionable implications.
Let’s be very clear. This is a war between the greatest rebellion against G-d – which is Zionism and its pseudo-State – versus what the country that is known in Tanach and Chazal as Paras. This is not “us versus them” but rather the Zionist pseudo-State against Iran.
The IDF soldiers are not “our” soldiers and they are not defending “us”. The soldiers of the IDF are soldiers of that Zionist “State” who are required to do whatever it is that their commanders and political higher-ups of that heretical and idolatrous pseudo-State, including possibly saving Jewish lives and also possibly CH”V causing the opposite and for no valid (Torah) reason.
Throughout Galus, Hashem has always kept His children alive and well, and there was never a need for “self-defense”. The Holocaust was not only caused by Zionism and the Zionists, but those wicked heretics also actively and otherwise contributed to that Nazi slaughter of 6+ million Jews, including by lobbying governments against allowing in Jews to their countries, while these evil Zionists knew full well that the British would not allow them into then-Palestine due to (again) the Zionist agitation (including terror and war) against both the British and Arabs in then-Palestine.
Put simply, your great-uncles and great-aunts would not have needed that “self-defense” if not for the many “offenses” of the Zionists that both caused and contributed to that.
We need to daven to Hashem to keep safe and well all of His children, not to join with heretics and idolaters and also not to pray for the abominable idol.
When you say Unity do you mean that the lefties should finally respect Learners of Torah? Because we never bothered them but they always seem to bother us. I hope the letter is addressed to the ones who cause strife not the ones who always live in peace