Killing on the sabbath but no mourning

From rabbi Brant Rosen’s weekly email to Tzedek Chicago members:

For over a month now, it has been a time of unimaginable, exponential, cascading grief on a scale few of us have ever seen. Israelis and scores of Jews the world over are still experiencing deep shock and trauma over Hamas’ brutal attack on October 7. Even as I write these words, we do not know the full extent of these massacres and abductions – many still do not know if their loved ones are alive or dead, whether they were killed or taken hostage. We are still learning the heinous nature of the attacks that unfolded on that terrible day. How does one even begin to mourn when faced with grief of such magnitude?

Tragically, we were never given the opportunity to learn the answer to this question. Only a few days after this attack, the Israeli government chose to respond with a vengeful military onslaught, metabolizing and weaponizing its grief against an imprisoned population of 2.2 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza with nowhere to run. The exponential human loss Israel has unleashed is truly beyond comprehension: to date, the current death toll: 12,000 people, including 5,000 children.

For so many of us, the only work of the past six weeks has been to voice our collective conscience as loudly, as often and as fiercely as possible. We have been bearing witness to the most sacred values of our tradition: pikuach nefesh – saving a life is sacrosanct and tzelem elohim – affirming that all humanity is created in the divine image. All of these values are embodied in the two sacred words we’ve been chanting over and over and over again: “Ceasefire Now!” To end this vengeful, genocidal violence. To negotiate a homecoming for hostages and prisoners. To begin the process of rebuilding and healing through a process of just peace for all.

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Preceding

Israel: Gunmen from Gaza kill at least 22 in major attack

Israeli Leaders Say ‘Now Is Time for War’ and Vow to Wipe Hamas ‘Off the Face of the Earth’

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Additional reading

1. Music festival for peace turned into a war field
2. Russia-Iran axis is fomenting war in the Middle East
3. Horror for a cornered people
4. Imprisonment and slaughter in the Gaza Strip
5. Reẓuʿat ʿAzza or Gaza Strip, cut off from all the necessities of life
6. No humanitarian break to Israels siege of the Gaza Strip
7. Netanyahu says Israel is at war after Hamas launches multi-front assault
8. Israel strikes Gaza following surprise attack by Hamas
9. Children ‘mercilessly’ killed by Hamas in Israel massacre – as Gaza is pummelled
10. Israel tells 1.1 million citizens of north Gaza to get out now
11. Leaving their land the death of their cause
12. No place is safe in Gaza
13. This is a dangerous moment in Israel-Hamas war
14. Lebanon Knows It Is on the Edge of the Abyss
15. Fear is everywhere in Israel as it stares down the barrel of a wider war
16. It is the stuff of horror movies, but the world must know the truth of Hamas’ atrocities
17. Gaza’s hospitals in problems
18. 8 Nov! Israel Has Planted Victory Flag in Heart of Gaza!
19. A deadly war taking place in Gaza
20. Dichotomy in approach to Israeli-Palestinian conflict
21. Why so many minors are dying in Israeli strikes on Gaza
22. Not bad to see so many protestors
23. Attack on the weak civilians and abusing Judaism

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