Starting My Blog with a Simple Message: Thank you
Each year, the observance of Tisha B’Av serves as our people’s most powerful reminder of historical powerlessness. That solemn reflection inevitably sharpens our gratitude for those who ensure our present and future strength—the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces. It is in this that I feel compelled to start my Times of Israel Blog with a letter of appreciation for those who protect Israel.
My dear family in Israel, mishpacha yekara sheli b’Eretz Yisrael,
I am writing to you today from across the ocean, but I want you to feel as if I am standing right beside you. I want to say something simple and profound: Thank you.
Thank you to every soldier, every reservist, every security officer who stands guard over our homeland. You run toward danger to protect the dream of 2,000 years. And to the parents, the mothers and fathers who have given your greatest treasures—your children—to the defense of our people, there are no words sufficient to express my gratitude and admiration for your sacrifice. You carry a burden no parent should have to bear, and you do so with incredible fortitude.
Please, I urge you, do not believe for one moment that you are alone in this struggle. So many of us in the Jewish world stand with you. Your fight is my fight. Your pain is my pain. Your hope is my hope. We are one family, bound by a covenant that time and distance cannot break.
The Psalmist teaches that the Guardian of Israel () neither slumbers nor sleeps. You, the brave guardians of the IDF and the resilient citizens of our nation, are the earthly agents of that divine promise. You are the watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem, not only protecting the sovereign State of Israel but serving as a shield for every Jew across the globe. Your strength gives me strength. Your courage allows me to stand tall and proud as a Jew, wherever I may live.
I see the headlines. I hear the ignorant and often hateful condemnations from a world that is quick to judge and slow to understand. Let them talk. While nations may turn against you and fair-weather friends may abandon you, I will not. My support is not conditional, and it does not have an expiration date. I am with you now, in the thick of the fight, and I will be with you long after, helping you to rebuild, to heal, and to flourish in the peace you so rightly deserve.
Be strong and courageous. .
With unwavering solidarity,
Rabbi David Gerber
