Imagine if pro-Palestinian protesters made clear they don't support Hamas -- the way left-wing, pro-Israel Jews are constantly making clear that they don't support the "settlements" in the West Bank.
It would look something like this:
We, the undersigned, are Palestinians and supporters of the Palestinian cause, and we wish to disavow Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and anyone else who would use violence against civilians in our name.
We cherish the unbroken connection of millions of Palestinians to the land of our ancestors. Some of us believe that Palestinians have a right to all of the land; some of us are prepared to accept a two-state solution. We embrace a diversity of views about the future.
Yet we reject terrorism as a means to achieve our national goals. There is never an excuse for it -- whether by Israeli settlers or by Palestinian militants. It is self-destructive, and it is also immoral.
We abhor the terror attacks of October 7. There is no justification for them. They provoked a response that has devastated Gaza. They were enabled by countries like Iran that do not care about us and do not bear the cost of their aggression.
We can no longer be silent.
Our people have fought bravely for their land. Yet war, and terror, have set us back, costing us more land and diminishing the justice of our cause in the eyes of people who would otherwise be our allies.
Israeli violence is no excuse for Palestinian violence. Our duty to condemn terror exists independent of the conduct of the other side.
We call on the nations of the world to support Palestinian leaders who join our commitment to oppose terror. We ask them to invest in the Palestinian people, rather than propping up those who exploit us.
We look forward to a brighter future -- a day when we can hold our heads high and take pride in the morality and success of our cause.
Signed,
(Nobody ever)
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
