As we bring this difficult week to a close, I feel heartbroken that just a few days after the murders of six young Israelis held hostage by Hamas, a Turkish-American activist, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, was shot and killed at a protest, along with a the shooting death of a 13 year-old Palestinian girl, Bana Laboum, both in the West Bank, both by the Israeli army. All of these these individual losses come in the midst of an ongoing torrent of death, displacement, fear and suffering affecting all in the region. This past Wednesday, I was honored to join my colleagues, Rabbis Claudia Kreiman and Sharon Cohen-Anisfeld, at an event in Newton organized by local Israeli-Americans, calling on the Netanyahu government to “seal the deal” now, to bring home the remaining hostages and end the devastation in Gaza. At the event, I spoke about how inspired I am by the hundreds of thousands of Israelis that took to the streets this past week to call for a ceasefire. At the event in Newton, we were able to hear recently recorded testimony from a few members of hostage families who are leaders of those protests.
It is the people on the ground, Israeli and Palestinian, seeking a way beyond war, occupation and violence that inspire me in the midst of what can feel like an intractable situation. We are honored to be co-sponsoring two upcoming events highlighting some of these brave souls. On Thursday, September 19 at 7pm at Temple Shalom in Newton, we will be viewing the film “A Very Narrow Bridge,” which documents the personal journeys of four individuals – two Palestinian, two Jewish Israeli, members of the Bereaved Families Forum – who have moved from the grief of losing a loved one to violence by the “other side” to engagement with those “others” and peace activism. After the screening, we’ll have time for reflection and facilitated conversation; more information is available here.
Then, on Wednesday, September 25 at 7pm at Temple Beth Zion in Brookline (also livestreamed on Zoom), we have the opportunity to hear from two representatives of the Bereaved Families Forum at a program entitled “Shared Sorrow, Shared Hope: Family Voices of Peace.” More information and Zoom registration can be found here.
As we enter into Shabbat, I wanted to share this “Prayer for the Protection of Human Life ” written by my colleague, Rabbi Seth Goldstein, a powerful plea for the sanctity of all lives lost and threatened in Israel/Palestine. May our actions and our prayers for an end to this terrible war and the transformation of conflict into new possibility be fruitful; and may all those who have lost loved ones find comfort, among all those who mourn. May each of us experience, amidst the hearbreak, some moments of peace this Shabbat.
