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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5 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.