What Moses Teaches Me In 2025
Hostage Square in Tel Aviv could easily be referred to as “Heartbreak Square.” Standing in the glow of the ticker counting the literal minutes since Hamas brutally took 252 hostages on October 7th with 58 remaining brutally held in Gaza, numbed my soul along with the others who were in Israel with me on our recent Congregation B’nai Amoona Israel trip. Coupling this with the Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) ceremony we attended at Hostage Square weakened me to my core.
Kobi Ohel and Anat Angrest, both of whom have sons still being held hostage in Gaza AND whose parents survived the Holocaust, spoke at the Yom HaShoah ceremony. Their words cast an indescribable pall as they spoke. One can only imagine the torture their sons have endured for the last 586+ days.
A day later, our group journeyed to St. Louis’ partnership region in Yokneam/Megiddo. We learned that the kibbutzim in Megiddo took in many from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, the closest kibbutz to Gaza. We heard from the head of the kibbutz, who survived October 7th. The chilling narratives sank into our souls as we were reminded of the dozens who were raped and murdered on October 7th, as well as the two people from Nahal Oz still being held captive in Gaza.
A week later, on Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day), we spent the day in the Gaza Envelope which was so brutally attacked on October 7th. We volunteered at one of the nearby farms that lost almost all of its workers. Later we heard from survivors of the Nova Festival. We met other heroes from October 7th, and bore witness to the horrific crimes committed by the Hamas terrorists. We met those who literally saved thousands more from being murdered in Sderot. It is one thing to hear a speaker, but to be face to face with heroes is distressing and invigorating at the same time.
Having these experiences in Israel, my mind meandered to the previous months in Gaza. At the end of January, I watched in horror as now former hostage, 29-year-old Arbel Yehud, was paraded through a mob of thousands as part of her release. Watching this mob scene in Khan Younis, there were doubts in my mind she would make it out alive. For a moment, I did not see any innocent civilians in Gaza and did not think beyond that TV screen. I saw only a frenzied mob of people who have been taught to hate Jewish people.
As the ceasefire took place and hostages were released in January and February, I began to reflect on the Holocaust as well compared with this moment of the utterly vicious hostage releases, theatrically staged by Hamas. The stories are legion of righteous gentiles who hid Jews and helped our people survive Hitler and the Nazis. I was hoping for just one story from a released hostage of a righteous family in Gaza who secretly helped the hostages in any manner.
Instead, story after story from every released hostage described our worst fears, relating the conditions they faced, chained in tunnels, held in civilian’s homes with little to eat, and so on. Young children were seen jeering at the soon to be released hostages, and even worse cheering, following Hamas murdering a mom and her two children. This led me down a dangerous path where I declared in a now infamous Facebook post that I was not sure there were any innocent people in Gaza. My post was also inspired by a piece written by David Horovitz that day, which said that that the only way we can find an enduring peace is to overhaul the education system for Palestinians so that they are not taught hatred of Jews from birth.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/wherever-gazans-live-only-life-affirming-education-will-give-them-and-us-a-better-future/
As a rabbi, I have always admired Moses and the leadership he displays. It is not because Moses helps to usher in the 10 plagues, leads us out of Egypt, or even goes up to God on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. The reason I admire Moses is because of his humility and his ability to admit when he does something wrong and to learn from it.
It is in this vein, upon reflection and after many conversations, my thoughts have shifted. In February, we hosted Bassem Eid, a Palestinian activist, at B’nai Amoona (in partnership with St. Louis Friends of Israel and United Hebrew Congregation). I also began following another Palestinian activist Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib. Both Bassem and Ahmed have taught me a great deal about life in Gaza for Palestinians, and their very real fear of being murdered by Hamas if they speak out. We have seen this with the protests by the Palestinians in Gaza this past month against Hamas. Immediately, one of the leaders of the protest was murdered, amplifying their point. I have been inspired by seeing the protests continue, and was devastated to learn upon my return from Israel of 28 more protestors murdered by Hamas. And of course, anytime a new baby is born in Gaza, they are innocent at birth.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, with the hopes of a newly formed Palestinian state. Israel left substantial infrastructure. Instead, a terrorist organization took over in 2007, and that ultimately leads us to where we are today.
We need to get to a place where a young child is not cheering murders and jeering at innocent hostages. My goal, like so many of you, is that one day there will be a peaceful solution where Palestinians can live in their own state beside Israel. However, for this to happen, Hamas must be defeated and permanently moved out of Gaza, and the hostages must all be returned. Israel also must allow new leadership to lead in Gaza from the Abraham Accords countries along with Saudi Arabia, without terrorists on every corner.
Over the last three months, I have had multiple meaningful and productive one on one conversations with many who disagreed with my original social media post. There was agreement on some issues, and at times agreement to disagree. However, in all cases, we walked away richer for these conversations.
It has been an important reminder, going all the way back to the Torah, of the importance of being civil, having constructive dialogue, and calmly disagreeing with one another. This is something that has been lost in our world, particularly over the last decade with the advent of Social Media and “keyboard warriors.” The preferred path in Judaism is always to have “Machlochet L’Shem Shamayim,” disagreements for the sake of heaven. My hope is that we can unite as a Jewish community to continue to have meaningful dialogue together, even as we may disagree regarding policies in Israel and the rest of the world.