Devastating News

​I woke up this morning, I imagine like many of us, with a heavy heart. The Whatsapp messages from my friends in Israel, sharing images of Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s funeral procession, the Facebook posts, the innumerable articles detailing the unthinkable killing of six hostages (one of whom, Carmel Gat, I spoke about from our bimah on Shavuot). This is a painful, heartbreaking loss for us as part of the global a Jewish community. 
And I also woke up this morning looking forward to attending the bat mitzvah of the daughter of dear friends. Toward the beginning of the service, we opened to the passages of Torah study that accompany the first parts of birkhot hashaḥar, the earliest part of the service. I was listening along as the rabbi read the text from the bimah and recognized the passage immediately. 
We learn in the Talmud, Sotah 14a, that we are to model our lives after God’s attributes. As God clothed the naked, so should we. As God visited the sick, we should also visit the sick. As the rabbi read on in the text, I knew what was coming next, but I wasn’t prepared to hear it out loud. As God comforted the mourners, we too must comfort those who mourn. “The Holy One buried the dead,” she read, her voice catching, “you should bury the dead.” 
Over the course of these few days, we are indeed burying the dead. We are burying six innocent people who spent the last almost 11 months in unimaginable conditions, six people whom we hoped and prayed to bring safely back to their families. 
At Hersh’s funeral today, his mother, Rachel, whose voice has been steadfast and persistent in seeking a path to have all of the hostages released, said the following: “At this time, I ask your forgiveness. If ever I was impatient or insensitive to you during your life, or neglected you in some way, I deeply and sincerely request your forgiveness, Hersh. If there was something we could have done to save you, and we didn’t think of it, I beg your forgiveness. We tried so very hard, so deeply and desperately. I’m sorry.”
The Torah study portion of our morning service ends with this prayer: “May we be disciples of Aaron, the kohen, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving our fellow people and drawing them near to the Torah." 
In the wake of this devastating weekend, may our pursuit of peace grow stronger. May our love for our fellow people, not least among them those who remain held as hostages, motivate us and those in power to seek their immediate release. Kein yehi ratzon - so may it be God’s will.​
May the memories of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi be an eternal blessing. 


With wishes for healing and peace,
Rabbi Jacobs