The current fighting is from the Israeli point of view just the latest round— and hopefully the last— in the war going on since October 7
And in Israel last week, innumerable memes of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who met his end on Shabbos Zachor, appeared to great merriment. Khamenei is said to have awakened every morning in a dark mood upon finding that Israel still existed. Truly, a Haman for our times.
One of the great lessons of the Megillah is that the antidote for Haman’s description of the Jewish People as “dispersed and divided” is Jewish unity. After Mordechai tells Esther that she should not think that she will escape a decree against the Jewish People because of her privileged status, she accepts her mission and replies to Mordechai, “Gather together all the Jews in Shushan to pray for me…”
Nothing brings out warm feelings among Jews to a greater extent than having a threat of extermination hanging over their heads. That was certainly true in Israel last week. One heard nary a criticism of Operation Roaring Lion. (The Israel Democracy Institute put support for the war at 93%.)
We encountered our neighbors in building bomb shelters at odd hours and previously unseen attire, in a spirit of camaraderie, with at least one guitar to lighten the mood. My entirely observant building is not, admittedly, a cross section of Israeli society. But we do wear a variety of head coverings. Last week, such distinctions were unknown.
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