Rabbi Michael Beals, Temple Beth El
שלָֹֹׁום
The miracle for which I long for both Israel and the United States is שלָֹֹׁום peace. Normally a “miracle” is defined as something supernatural. I always thought redef shalom, the pursuit of peace, was within our grasp, not something requiring Divine intervention. But I think we need Help.
It was then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, z”l, who, after the signing of the Oslo Accords back in February 2004, imagined Israel-Palestine-Jordan forming a Middle East version of Benelux. Benelux: the European confederation of Belgium-Netherland-Luxembourg, a unity where three distinct European nations could work for the betterment of each of their unique countries. It was not unlike the dream of Stefan Zweig in his 1942 treatise, The World of Yesterday. Zweig, a Jewish intellectual, dreamt of a post-World War I utopia of European intellectuals who would transcend national borders. World War II and the Holocaust brought his dreams to ashes and he ended up taking his life by suicide in despair.
I have seen images of a Holocaust-like pogrom Hamas unleashed against Israel. I have also seen images of the complete devastation Israel wreaked upon Gaza, where our father Abraham’s accusation against God came to pass: “far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty.” I find Israel and Palestine in need of a miracle. Alone, without the help of God, I do not see how Palestinians and Israelis will live together in peace, forging a brighter tomorrow for their children. There is so much rebuilding needed in Gaza. And with Messianic Jews in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government hell-bent on annexing the West Bank to create a Greater Israel, only a miracle can wright the Zionist ship which leaders like David Ben Gurion and Golda Meir first envisioned back in 1948.
In the United States, I pray for a similar miracle, where leaders in the Republican and Democratic Parties can work together, in peace, to address the pressing needs of all Americans—from a compassionate immigration policy to a far-reaching approach to energy, addressing the threat of global climate change. There was a time when members of Congress debated by day, but when the day was done, they broke bread together—sometimes even shared living accommodations. Their shared humanity allowed them to compromise for the greater good, legislating far-reaching policies to address issues like civil rights and soul-crushing poverty.
In this new secular year, I pray—be it with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders overseas or American leaders in Washington—may they, and the constituents they represent, be gifted to see each other created b’tselem Elohim—in the image of God. And from this sense of shared humanity, may the work of miracles shift from the providence of the Divine to the providence of men and women of good will working together in peace, for the benefit of all . . . v’nomar (and let us say) amen.
Rabbi Peter H. Grumbacher, Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Beth Emeth
Nes gadol hayah sham/po! “A great miracle happened there and here!” The letters on the dreidel represent that phrase, with a shin for sham (“there,” Israel if you’re here, for example, in the United States), and a pey for po (“here,” if you’re in Israel). Some say the age of miracles has ended; some believe there never have been any miracles, defined as “an event in the physical world ascribed to a supernatural cause.”
I’m not adding to that argument, but in one battle during World War II, my father (z”l) and a few American G.I.s were surrounded by far, far more German soldiers. When one buddy proclaimed that only a miracle could save them, my father responded, “Do it yourself. If God helps you, you’re lucky.” He did it himself . . . and, yes, God probably helped along the way.
Thinking about it, the one miracle I would like to see in this country is the elimination of the often terrifying differences that exist, threatening the very fabric of what we understand this country stands for. And the one miracle I would like to see in Israel is, well, the same. There is such rishus (malice) that we wonder if the values my father and thousands of others have lived and died for will be upheld. In Israel there seem to be even more divides, and those threaten the dream of Zionism.
I think of the miracle of Chanukah, not the oil but the stand taken by the Maccabees. They stood up to power. There is a book entitled All Politics IS Religious by Rabbi Dennis S. Ross.
He writes, “. . . religious people have the right—a responsibility as I see it—to a public voice, just like everyone else. We live here and have a duty to contribute to the national conversation. We think, we vote, we pay taxes, we write letters, and we lobby—we are in the marrow. That’s how democracy works.”
The Maccabees and their followers had to fight hard to defeat the enemy, but a great miracle happened there. We have to do the same, but our fighting is, so far, limited to our voices and votes; we have to “Do it yourself.” May there be the miracle of clear vision as we move forward.
