One Leg Can Support the Truth

It was with great honor that we, at Magen David Sephardic Congregation in Rockville, Maryland, welcomed the esteemed Israeli Ambassador, Yechiel Leiter, as our guest speaker this Shabbat. His presence was a testament to the unbreakable bond between our community and the State of Israel.

Insightfully, Ambassador Leiter began his address by illuminating the enigmatic paradox of the Parah Adumah, the red heifer, as expounded in the Torah. This sacred ritual, he explained, possesses the extraordinary power to purify the impure while simultaneously rendering the pure impure—a singular instance where one entity embodies two opposing states, leading to both sanctity and defilement. With masterful eloquence, he drew a striking parallel to the contemporary scourge of anti-Zionism, which he unflinchingly equated with anti-Semitism. He laid bare the perverse irony wherein Israel’s detractors brand the Jewish people as “genocidal” and “war criminals,” when, in truth, it is we who have endured relentless persecution throughout history, culminating in the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust. In this twisted narrative, the pro-Hamas terrorist sympathizers seek to transform us into the proverbial red heifer, casting the Jewish victims as the perpetrators.

With unwavering resolve, the ambassador affirmed Israel’s sacred duty to defend its people and its land, vowing to exert unrelenting pressure on Hamas to release the hostages. He emphasized Israel’s resolute commitment to minimizing harm to innocent lives in Gaza, noting that the ratio of civilians to combatants killed stands as the lowest in the annals of urban warfare. Moreover, Leiter exposed the despicable tactics of Hamas terrorists, who refuse to release the Israeli hostages and cower behind Palestinian women and children as human shields, ensconced within a sprawling network of 450 miles of underground tunnels beneath schools, hospitals, homes, and mosques—underscoring the responsibility of Hamas for the human tragedy occurring in Gaza.

Ambassador Leiter emphasized that this war with Hamas transcends the physical battlefield; it is a fierce battle of words, waged for the hearts and minds on university campuses, city streets, in the media, and across the digital realm. Like the insidious blood libels that have plagued the Jewish people for millennia, this latest incarnation masquerades under the fallacious guise of genocide. Yet, as with all lies, this too shall crumble, for it lacks the foundation of truth upon which to stand.

In a moment of raw emotion, Leiter shared the heartrending loss of his own son, felled in the early days of the Gaza war within a booby-trapped terrorist tunnel. He recounted the harrowing image of two of his son’s comrades, lying side-by-side in a hospital, three of their legs lost, with only a single leg remaining between them. With fervent conviction, he declared that the unity of the Jewish people stands resolute upon that solitary leg, an unshakable pillar of truth that will never falter. He implored us all to unite in exposing the lies of anti-Semites and Israel-haters, ensuring that the vile falsehoods our enemies seek to brand us with shall not endure.

Undeterred by the relentless determination of Hamas terrorists and their supporters, who parrot the same scripted lies in a desperate bid to sway public opinion while they falter on the battlefield, Ambassador Leiter called upon us to remain steadfast. We must courageously and tirelessly proclaim the truth of God’s divine promise, as foretold in the Bible and the Prophets—that the Jewish people shall return to their rightful homeland, the land of Israel, and that God shall bless His people and those who stand with them. In the end, the ambassador affirmed with unwavering certainty that truth shall prevail and good shall triumph over evil, even if it must stand on a single leg among us as a testament to the eternal justice of our cause.