Yom Kippur Deja Vu

Article circulated by email, written by Shalom Pollack, Israeli tour guide

During the "Simchat Torah" service at the "hesder yeshiva" in Hispin (on the Golan Heights) on Shabbat, October 7, I experienced something very similar fifty years ago. Call it deja vu.

A half a century ago I was an "exchange " student at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. 

On Yom Kippur of 1973, I was lying down during the afternoon synagogue break when the most unexpected thing occurred;

I heard sirens.

After inquiring of Danny, my Israeli floor counselor, what it could possibly mean, he said "oh sheet! Dis means war man"!

After the first astonished moment I reassured myself that if those stupid Arabs really did attack us again, we would beat them as quickly as we did in the last wars. Our air force would stop them in their tracks no doubt. (Former air force chief, Ezer Weizman said that after the Six day War, the next one would be the “Six Minute" war)

I was not afraid and I was not alone in my confidence and arrogance.

 

Israel has never quite recovered from that war which we in fact almost did lose. To this day the experts are still arguing about how we were caught so off guard as to allow the Arab enemy to catch us by surprise and quickly wash over our sophisticated, impenetrable "Bar Lev" line along the Suez Canal.

Thousands of our soldiers were slaughtered. Israel was almost destroyed.

In real time, we did not know just how close we were to destruction. There was no social media at the time

 

Never again would we be so complacent or miscalculate and underestimate our enemy. 

No more surprises.

Never again

 

Israel was supposed to have learned her lesson and changed its attitude; always be prepared for a similar. Surprise, always.

 

Yesterday while praying together with the special young men of the hesder yeshiva (where they combine army service and Torah study) a young man, rifle strapped across his back, approached the Rosh yeshiva(dean) and exchanged a few words accompanied by very serious expressions. A few moments later he announced to the young congregation that all those in certain units should have their phones open and ready for instructions.

 He said, “It seems there is some tension in the south, but God willing it will all be well."

 

My thoughts were actually similar to those I had fifty years ago, almost to the day.

 

I was used to the periodic "rounds" with Hamas in Gaza.

The scenario is familiar to all by now. 

They decide when another: “round " begins. They shoot rockets at our civilians near the border. Our people hide in terror. We shoot back, making every effort not to God forbid hurt anyone until they agree to a ceasefire. 

After closing their lifeline line with Israel for a couple of days we resume the transfer of goods and money used to rebuild and restock their arsenals, for another round timed at their choosing 

 

This is the pattern ever since Israel expelled thousands of Jews from Gaza and left the entire area to the Arabs who turned it into a terror fortress. That was supposed to bring peace.

 

I remember clearly the day in the summer of 2005 (Tisha Ba'av) that the Jewish pioneers of faith and courage were dragged from their homes by the Sharon government supported by willing underlings, including the "elites' and army command. They joyously pointed to the naked emperor’s very fine clothes.

 

As the wretched Jews were dragged and shoved out of their homes onto the road of exile their neighbors in the Leftist kibbutzim along the Gaza border jeered and mocked at the misfortune of their fellow Jews.

They were different, after all.

The religious Jews that brought Jewish blessing to the biblical lands were just not their type. They were "messianic" , religious,   unashamedly patriotic.. 

They had no place in a promising new progressive post Zionist, post Jewish world. No room for obstacles to peace with our neighbors.

 Those types are, "Not my brother."

 

Yesterday, I had no idea that Israel would make the same fatal mistake as they did half a century ago.

But It happened again.

Thousands of Hamas terrorists managed to penetrate the world’s most most sophisticated defense network along the Gaza border (remember the peace border of the 2005 expulsions?)

For half a day the terrorists swarmed over  the  border unopposed, entering  at will ito an  entire string of Jewish communities facing Gaza and proceeded to murder , torture, rape and abduct thousands of  Jews.

 Never since the Holocaust have more Jews been slaughtered in one day.

 Never since the Final Solution were Jews hunted down in their homes as they quivered at the sound of their killers breaking into their hiding spots to quarry the Jews. Not until yesterday

 

Read that again.

 

That was just Saturday, October 7, 2023, a half century after; it would never happen again.

 

This time it was far worse than the Yom Kippur debacle.

Whole families were terrorized and murdered. 

In 1973 the civilians were safe behind the lines. It was soldiers who were slaughtered and captured

Yesterday civilians were in the lines.

 

How could it have happened?

What are the possibilities?

 

One - Israel’s entire political, military and intelligence communities didn't just fail but were criminally derelict in the utmost extreme. Somehow, they were blinded and deaf.

How likely is that?

 

So, what is it?

 

The wakeup calls of Yom Kippur half a century ago clearly did not work

 

Will it work this time?

Shared with permission. 

shalompollack613@gmail, com

tour guide and author

"Jews, Israelis and Arabs"

 

A personal reflection from ISRAEL21c's Editor, Nicky Blackburn

 

October 8, 2023

 Yesterday I was woken at 6:30am by the sound of distant sirens. There were a few of them, so it wasn’t as easy to distinguish the normally very distinctive rise and fall of the siren’s wail.

“Is that…?” I said, sitting up.

“No,” said my husband. “It can’t be.”

But then, a few moments later, we heard a boom, then another.

We both reached for our phones, and as I touched the screen dozens of red alerts from all over the south and central part of Israel began jumping up, one after the other — Sderot, Hod Hasharon, Ashkelon, Petah Tikva, Ashdod, and places I’d never even heard of.

We went straight for the news pages of the Israeli press, but there was nothing there. It was Saturday, on the morning of the second holiday of Sukkot, the journalists were just not working yet.

“Are we at war?” I asked.

The explosions continued, and eventually – when a particularly big one went off – we got up. And nothing has been the same since.

We are at war. A war that, shockingly, we were completely unprepared for, though the country has been training for it for years.

At first, we thought it was just rocket fire – something Israel is used to – though there were more direct hits than usual. But gradually the news began to filter out about Hamas gunmen infiltrating 20 or so villages in the south, as well as a party in the desert. And that’s when the awful reality began to hit.

We spent the day glued to our phones and the television. Everyone in shock. Sharing whatever knowledge we could glean. Neighbors checking in on neighbors, friends checking friends. Our three boys all came home.

And the news got worse and worse. 

I checked with all the staff at ISRAEL21c. Abby and Naama were safe, near Jerusalem; but in the south, Yulia was running for shelter constantly, under a barrage of missiles. Her shelter – the stairway of her building.

Ben, who handles our content management system and lives abroad, had just arrived on Friday for a rare visit home, and was under unexpected attack in Tel Aviv, giving him unwelcome flashbacks to the Gulf War and the years he spent living near Gaza.

Natalie, on the coast, was about to go donate blood, though she and countless others would be turned away because the response overwhelmed the country’s blood services network.

It’s funny, but my first instinct when I realized we were at war, was to cook. I made chili – something warm and strong for the soul, and chicken schnitzels – because there is nothing as tasty as fresh schnitzel. My husband joined me, and we made a whole batch of food.

What do you pack for going to war?

I’m glad we did. In the afternoon, our middle son was called up. He brought a rucksack down and started packing. What do you pack when you are going to war? My heart began to contract and squeeze painfully.

Too soon, far too soon, my husband was driving him south towards Gaza. One more boy, in a stream of thousands, going to fight. And all the fears of mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, friends and relations, going with them.

I took the dog out for a walk. What else can you do but go on? When I got back, I heard that the daughter of a near neighbor, the sister of my youngest son’s best friend, had been killed in an attack on an army base in the south.

And when we went round to comfort the family, we heard another child in our small village had been kidnapped by Hamas.

A dark day

Yesterday was a dark, dark day in Israel. A day like no other. The attack by Hamas took Israel completely by surprise, and many questions are already being asked about how this could happen.

There are currently over 1,800 Israelis reported injured, many critically, and the number of dead stands at 300. But everyone knows these numbers will rise.

How will this impact our coverage at ISRAEL21c? I honestly don’t know. We have never experienced an attack like this before. It’s Israel’s 9/11. And the resulting war could go on for a long time.

But one thing I do know is that Israelis are resilient. In a crisis, they pull together and protect one another.

This morning I went early to the supermarket to buy some essentials. It was a mess in there, huge lines and empty shelves. I imagine this is what it looks like in the US before a hurricane comes in.

Ahead of me, in the very long line, was an older man and woman with a trolley piled high with food. As I drove out of the village shortly afterwards, I saw they had stopped by the side of the road and were giving their bags to the soldiers stationed at the entrance to protect the community. This is Israel in a crisis.

The divisions of the last year over the judicial overhaul have caused a fundamental rift in Israeli society, and it is more than likely that it was this that gave Hamas the opportunity to strike, but already Israelis are closing ranks. Already they are beginning to stand shoulder to shoulder.

So we will continue with all our strength to bring you stories of the people of Israel, to tell you about the remarkable people trying to make life better, even in these most difficult of times.

Israel is a country that bursts with creativity and innovation, it’s a joyous place where people celebrate life. But there’s a flipside that defines us just as much and intensifies the good times – and that is the battle to survive in a hostile location, where neighbors are sworn enemies. This is where we are now.

This afternoon I go to the funeral of a 19-year-old. I hope, with all my heart, that this is the last.

From an email: 

https://8iuf6.r.a.d.sendibm1.com/mk/mr/sh/7nVTPdZCTJDXPPBEaTAlUmxFOgCxVlk/NxnKfXa41kJN

 

Special prayer for our soldiers

SPECIAL PRAYER FOR OUR SOLDIERS

 

Oh merciful Father,

from Whom stems the source of life,

favor and grace,

have compassion upon me,

your servant

and hear my voice in prayer,

from the depths of my heart,

and let Thine ears be attentive

to the voice of my supplication.

 

Oh purify my heart,

that I may be fitted to walk

in the way of the upright,

before Thee.

Strengthen and uphold me,

weak in terrors snare.

 

Oh God,

open Thou my lips

and my mouth shall declare Thy praise.

 

Oh God,

Thou who through Thy holy Torah,

does command us to do good deeds,

to practise brotherly love,

peace and friendship

to all the peoples of the entire world;

to avoid hatred

and to love all creatures

and to help all in every possible way,

a breach and void has occurred in our days.

 

Our enemies, through their evil strength,

desire to put in darkness all the world,

to rule according to their own will,

and to destroy the foundations of civilization;

to abolish our faith in one God and His teachings.

All this, these tyrants and wicked seek to wipe out.

And they repeat again and again,

that they intend to blot out the remembrance of Israel,

and the freedoms of the democratic countries.

These wicked tyrants believe in their own might

and their own great strength.

They set themselves up as idols and gods,

and some even worship the sun,

and all deny the faith of the one God,

Who created all the world,

and Who is the father of all people.

 

And I, Thy servant,

who loves you

as a son loves his parents,

have the honor to be one of the military forces,

who have faith in You, our God,

to share the burden,

in this war against these tyrants.

 

Oh, God, our Father in heaven,

Thine is the greatness,

the power, the glory,

the victory and the majesty.

Make haste to help us.

 

Oh Lord, Our Salvation, and You, our God,

be with us, to save me

and all of my fellow men in the military forces,

from death,

from all trouble and evil occurrences,

and give us strength and might

to destroy our enemies,

who are Thy enemies too,

that these idols shall be utterly destroyed.

 

Arise Oh Lord, our God,

and scatter Thine enemies,

and cause those that hate Thee,

to flee before Thee,

and Thou shall remove

the dominion of the wicked from the earth,

so that the world may be reformed

by Thy kingdom,

and all the inhabitants of the world

shall know and understand,

that one God created us,

and all the people are the children

of One Father in heaven.

And thus may we found

a true and lasting peace.

 

Oh Father in heaven,

protect my dear ones,

and help me,

that I may be able to see them again,

and enjoy with them again

in all delight and goodness.

 

Oh God, great, mighty and revered,

in the abundance of Thy loving kindness,

grant peace, happiness, blessing,

grace, favor, and mercy,

to our ARMY Commander

and the leaders of our beloved country,

ISRAEL

and to his advisers and commanders.

Grant unto him and them

knowledge,

understanding

and discernment,

that they shall lead us in the right way,

so that we may not make any mistakes,

and not to be put to shame, nor ever confounded.

That we may attain a speedy victory and peace,

based on the ideals and principles of the prophets.

And that all shall remember our people Israel,

and recognize their right to live

and to serve God,

together with all other people,

in peace forever.

 

Oh God

send us a speedy redemption.

Let the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart,

be acceptable before Thee,

Oh Lord, My Rock and Redeemer,

Amen, V’amen.

Rabbi Aaron Dym, 1943  -  adapted by Petra