Elijah, Where are you? We need you now! |
Harachaman, May the Merciful One send Elijah, the prophet, to announce good news about redemption and comfort, just as You promised. (the prayer for Elijah, in A DIFFERENT NIGHT, the Family Participation Haggadah, by Noam Zion and David Dishon)
Harachaman, May the Merciful One send Elijah, the prophet, to announce good news about redemption and comfort, just as You promised. (the prayer for Elijah, in A DIFFERENT NIGHT, the Family Participation Haggadah, by Noam Zion and David Dishon)
A few days ago, we Jews symbolically welcomed Elijah into our homes and communities at our seders in Israel and around the world. In the midst of all the wars we have been living through in recent months (and years), we were looking for a little hope, a little good news, which we so much need at this time.
But if Elijah entered our homes on the seder night, it seems that he didn’t stay for long. In any event, it was only symbolic, reflecting our yearning for better times. After his brief visit, and after the seder, we returned to the reality of wars in Israel, Lebanon, Iran and much of the Middle East, wars that don’t seem to be coming to an end very soon.
This year’s war with Iran is more serious than the twelve-day war of last June (2025). It is now in its 6th week, with no end in sight, unless the unreliable and fickle President Trump decides to stop it, at least the Iranian part. But it appears that he is having trouble reaching a decision and threatens to bomb Iran back to the stone age every other day, if they don’t accede to his demands.
In the meantime, the Israeli Air Force and the American Air Force and Navy are continuing to attack sites in Teheran and other Iranian cities, not to achieve “regime change” any more, but to just destroy Iran’s military capabilities. And on and on it goes, as the conflict between Israel (and the USA) and Iran escalates. Where it will end, when it will end or how it will end, no one really knows.
Meanwhile, we are on semi-lockdown in Israel, in another “war emergency”, this time initiated by Israel, as a so-called “pre-emptive attack” (to remind us of the golden days of the pre-emptive strikes on the Arab air forces in June 1967, at the beginning of the Six Day War) with the help of the great might of the American military. We are told to stay close to home, close to our safe rooms, for those of us who have them, or close to our public shelters, for those who have them (for the record, most Israeli Arabs do not have safe rooms in their homes, nor do they have enough public shelters in their cities, towns and villages).
But this time, with American involvement, the war has become much wider and longer, including many of the Gulf states, which have been attacked by Iran repeatedly and which has included the closing of the straits of Hormuz, setting off an international energy crisis, for which there seems to be no clear solution, except more dangerous and riskier war.
Like the renewal of the war with Hamas, which the state of Israel initiated in March of last year, killing and injuring thousands of Palestinians since then and relocating most of them as refugees to half the amount of space in the Gaza strip, this war is supposedly necessary at this precise moment in time. Moreover, now that we are at war with Iran again, Bibi wants us to forget about Gaza! At the same time, the plan of the government for Gaza is military occupation for at least half the strip, like in the West Bank. Israel already occupies 53% of Gaza and this does not appear to be a temporary measure. Not only that, but after he finishes off Iran and Hezbollah, Bibi is still threatening to “disarm” Hamas (i.e. renew the war) in their 47% of Gaza.
What is the policy of this government now? Very simple: war, more war and then even more, all the way to “total victory”, with no end in sight. There is no diplomatic strategy. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Diplomacy is for weaklings and sissies. It is not the way of Ben Gvir, Smotrich and the fanatic ultra “religious” and ultra-nationalist right-wing government, led by Netanyahu, who is their stooge by now.
Where will this war “strategy” lead us? According to Bibi, we are once again fighting a war for our survival. He says that it is an existential war. Nevertheless, support for this war in Israel is declining from week to week, since we are very tired of living this way for so long.
Some pundits here in Israel are already saying that these attacks on Iran are essential first steps in Bibi’s election campaign! Just as he has kept the war with Gaza going, even on a low scale, he will keep these wars going as long as possible, even if the goals are continually changing, to adjust to reality. Bibi will stop at nothing to remain in power and to avoid his trial finishing according to the law.
Let it be clear to everyone. This is an extremist government in Israel which only knows war and military force. They don’t believe in or speak of peace, in any way, shape or form. The American government at least talks about peace sometimes, even if they have no idea how to get there. But now, they have been dragged into a war with Iran that most of the American people don’t support.
The people of Israel are exhausted from Bibi’s endless wars. There is great anxiety here since we are already beginning to see the heavy costs of this war to the home front, physically and mentally. We are now confronted with daily and nightly attacks from Iran that kill people and destroy property. We rush to our safe rooms, take a deep breath and hope for the best. In addition, the north of Israel is under constant missile fire from Hezbollah (did the government not know this would happen to this extent?)
The Bibi/ Ben Gvir/Smotrich wars are leading us nowhere, except closer and closer to the abyss, to a situation of despair, in which there is little hope for a better future. Many of us are trying desperately to resist this despair, to somehow keep hope alive, but others are in deeply denial or are simply fleeing the country.
There is another way– a way of peace, a way that we just revisited a few nights ago at our seders when we welcomed Elijah, the harbinger of peace, into our homes and communities. This would be a way of dialogue, peacemaking, peacebuilding negotiations, reconciliation and regional strategic planning. This is not the way of the current fanatic government in Israel (or America). Only “regime change” in these countries can save us now.
We need Elijah now, to enter our hearts and minds and to help us bring peace.
Seek peace and pursue it – בַּקֵּשׁ שָלוֹם וְרָדְפֵהוּ (Psalms 34:15)
Seek peace and pursue it – בַּקֵּשׁ שָלוֹם וְרָדְפֵהוּ (Psalms 34:15)