The evening of Kol Nidre marks such a dramatic change in Israel. The streets suddenly become full of young children on their bikes and scooters taking over the roads, as the men don their white prayer shawls and the women emerge like angels dressed from head to toe in white.
The war has been going on so long that sirens and rockets with planes constantly soaring above have become a way of life, so no one stays home out of fear. The Shuls were so packed that even the overflows overflowed. The prayers called out loud and each time the planes flew overhead the volume only increased.
I think it’s fair to say that everyone in Israel was anticipating an attack of some sort from the Houthi or even Gaza, but no one expected it in the UK . Up until yesterday morning, the assault on Britian’s Jewish community had been mostly confined to words.
We now see how Nazi Germany evolved from words, cartoons and propaganda into the largest killing machine the world had seen. It all started with words .
The Jews know this and our sages tell us : “The tongue is deadlier than the sword, as the sword can only kill those nearby but the tongue can kill from a distance.”
Life and death are in the power of the tongue : Proverb 18:21
The tongue of the BBC, Sky News, Facebook, Twitter and Keir Starmer brought forth the sword that stole the lives of two innocent people in Manchester . The assailant, a `jihadist by both name and deed chose the holy day of Yom Kippur for maximum anguish. But for the quick thinking of both the Rabbi and the security services ( the Synagogues own security ) the death toll could have been huge.
In the aftermath, while people had not even processed what had happened in their quiet, multi cultural, tolerant community, a march took place in Manchester calling for Intifada and against Israel intercepting the flotilla.
Calling for Intifada is calling for the death of both Palestinians and Israelis. Thousands were killed in the Intifadas, which means an uprising or mass rebellion. The fact that the UK government allows marches that call for death is an absolute disgrace.
At this time when Israel is desperately searching for and offering a peace deal that would see the last 48 hostages released home , an end to the war and the rebuilding of Gaza, the uninformed idiots in the UK are calling for more blood shed.
The gormless Keir Starmer who is clearly part of the problem and emboldened Hamas, just at the juncture when military pressure was paying off, and the hostages had a chance to live, is now promising to protect the Jews of Britain. What a joke !
The anti Israel news channels didn’t bother to report that 5 rockets were fired at Ashdod in a bid to cause maximum casualties, on Yom Kippur morning forcing families to lie on the ground over their children in the hope the rockets were intercepted. Nor did they report that a drone was intercepted over Eilat, one of many in the past month. That is not news worthy.
So many young people were not home this Yom Kippur, some for the second time and some will, so sadly, never be home again. Nearly 2,000 chairs will never be filled again and thousands are risking their young lives daily to keep the population safe.
Israel has a friend in Trump, but Europe are marching and banging the drums calling for the death of all of Israel. Europe’s Jews are once again on the front line, but without protection . In Israel there are over 170,000 personnel dedicated to protect the public . They may not always be successful, but we know we are not alone. I ask who do the Jews of Europe have ? Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Sadiq Khan.
The war in Gaza ends tomorrow if only the Qataris, who pull the stings of Hamas and control the money, can persuade them to return the hostages and lay down their arms.
Everyone in Israel wants peace and security. They go together and the only way forward now is the Trump 21 point plan.
The world needs to get behind the plan and put the pressure on Hamas, and not on Israel, who has already agreed to the peace plan.
If there is no peace in Gaza, there can be no safety in London or Manchester. It’s time for the British government to get behind the right side, stop supporting hatred and move away from this weak tolerance that allows hatred to masquerade as free speech, and stop spreading lies.
They must now recognise that their stance does not persuade Israel to sacrifice her security, but is only putting her own citizens, to whom they have an absolute duty, in mortal danger.
Our prayers are with the families in Manchester who have so tragically become the latest victims of the world’s oldest hatred.
Shabbat Shalom
Kind Regards
Carolyne Davis