Rabbi Yoshi and Jacqueline are leading a Stephen Wise Temple solidarity mission this week in Israel. Each day Rabbi Yoshi will share reflections on the visit.
The Diameter of the Bomb
By Yehudah Amichai (1924-2000)
The diameter of the bomb was 30 centimeters
and the diameter of its effective range about 7 meters,
with four dead and 11 wounded.
And around these, in a larger circle
of pain and time, two hospitals are scattered
and one graveyard. But the young woman
who was buried in the city she came from,
at a distance of more than a hundred kilometers,
enlarges the circle considerably,
and the solitary man mourning her death
at the distant shores of a country far across the sea
includes the entire world in the circle.
And I won’t even mention the crying of orphans
that reaches up to the throne of God and
beyond, making a circle with no end and no God.
Today we learned about the “larger circle of pain.”
Our first visit was with Rabbi Edgar Nof, the founder of “Bridges for Hope,” an organization that has been around for a few decades, providing support to aging Holocaust survivors and new immigrants from Ethiopia. Since October 7, they have been performing the most beautiful mitzvot, helping families who were forced to leave their homes in the wake of the terrible massacre. Rabbi Nof told us that he wasn’t there when the explosion happened but that nevertheless he has felt the shock-waves most powerfully. From supporting a woman who was shot four times at the Supernova Music Festival to providing counseling to an 18 year old young man whose mother, father, and two sisters were murdered by Hamas, Rabbi Nof knows first hand what it means to respond to the cries of the orphans. He finds hope and healing in working every day to try to make things just a bit more manageable for those inside his circle.
Later in the day we met with Shani Yossefon from Brothers and Sisters for Israel. Since October 8, she has been working nonstop to respond to the terrible trauma inflicted on all of Israel in the wake of the attacks. She told us about their work to help the more than 200,000 Israelis who have been displaced internally from both the south and the north.
I asked Shani what gives her hope in such a time of darkness and despair. She spoke about her faith in God and her love of our tradition but, above all else, she said her hope comes from Am Yisrael, our beautiful, complicated, creative, resilient, and extraordinary people.
Then we went to Hostage Square in Tel Aviv to meet with Ike Bodner who shared the story of his best friend, David Newman. David was murdered at the Supernova Music Festival on October 7 after he tried valiantly to save the lives of others. In his memory, his friends came together to create a non-profit called Soldiers Save Lives devoted to providing gear for soldiers serving in the IDF. I was inspired by Ike’s love for his friend and his dedication to preserving David’s memory by saving the lives of others.
New memorials continue to be added at Hostage Square, including a tunnel designed to give the visitor the experience of what it would be like to be in the vast underground network in Gaza. There were also tributes hung on a tree in the square that reminded me of our memorial at Wise. Today, while witnessing the memorials and hearing the stories of families of the hostages, we heard a report published in the New York Times suggesting that 32 of the 130 hostages in Gaza are no longer alive.
The circle of pain keeps expanding.
We are in a moment of bewilderment, anger, and even despair. What gives me hope and strength in such a time are people like Edgar, Shani, and Ike who won’t give up and won’t give in and keep helping any way they can, day by day, hour by hour.
Am Yisrael Chai,
Rabbi Yoshi