שירת שלום

Song of Peace

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  • 25 Oct 2024 12:54 PM | Shirat Shalom (Administrator)


    Cantor Lee:  Here is Rabbi David's Yom Kippur sermon which I just loved hearing! Thank you Rabbi David!

    Rabbi David: The story of creation is an amazing description of the process of creation when G-D created  the universe with its  billions of stars. 

    The Biblical  narrative  doesn’t specify, however, where and how the material to create the stars and the planets originated from. Interestingly, we do know that Light was created before anything else. Since during that first act of creation there was no sun or fire or any physical source of  illumination.

    Light it turns out was a powerful spiritual instrument used by G-D  to create the universe. 

    In the process of creating, G-D used this special powerful Light to create physical matter such as rocks and minerals, gases swelling around and other physical matters needed to create the trillions of stars and planets in the universe. 

    When it came to the creation of our planet, Earth, G-D used much more than just physical building blocks. He needed to use his Divine Light in a different matter. Here, a special sacred and  distinctive Light was used in order to create life on our planet, making Earth a living planet.

    As we know, creating life was an evolutionary process. G-D was careful as he was creating life  here. When basic unicellular  creatures started moving and multiplying, G-D saw that “it was good,” and continued  to create more advanced creatures. And G-D was satisfied. 

    However he realized that while Earth is beautiful with its vegetation and swirling life, it is also very delicate and vulnerable.  

    He then decided to create the crown jewel of all creation to take care of Earth. In many ways this creature will resemble himself, “in his  image”. 

    Rabbinical literature hints to G-D’s hesitation with this. So much so that he consulted the angels with the idea.

    In the process of creating Adam, G-D used  his Divine Light light to physically  “fashion” (“Yatzar” in Hebrew) a human shape from Earth’s material. That was done in order  to harmonize the new creature he was about to create with our planet Earth. 

    G-D  then used his Divine Light in the most powerful and sacred way to pump life into  Adam  making him highly intelligent, significantly more than all of the other Earthly creatures, capable of inventing, analyzing  and creating. Capable to take care of Planet  Earth. This is the soul which dwells in human beings.   

    We as humans all have that Light of G-D, the life force which dwells within us. It’s in our soul. This Light is the manifestation of divinity in all of us.

    Our special Divine Light  is G-D’s image in us. This is what brings out in us our positive moralistic human traits.   

    This task of taking care of Earth could only be done, however, if mankind would work together in peace and harmony, caring for each other first. We were given the capacity for Love and compassion for that reason.

    According to Kabbalah, when a person forsakes  his humanity, dignity and morality, his soul, his  Divine Light is hidden. He becomes  a creature in a physical form only with no Divine Light.

    When people succumb to evil they are just that, human shapes, bodies walking around. In the biblical narrative there are stories of  people losing their special Light, their divine image.       

    In the story of the flood for example, the whole  generation loses their humanity, their Divine Light  because of their cruelty. They were bodies walking around without souls. 

    Having no other choice, G-D brought the flood and destroyed an entire generation and started all over again using Noah as a better human “prototype.” 

     As ancient history kept unfolding, some  humans still lost their Divine Light. In some places cruelty and inhumanity continued. The Bible reflects on this again in the story  of Sodom and Gomorrah during Abraham’s time.

    At that point, G-D realized that with all their  sophistication and intelligence, humans suffer from bad inclinations and are still capable of much cruelty.  G-D decided to create yet another special Light to be given to  a group of people. As a group they would shine this  special Light upon all the nations which would then  activate  the Divine Light  which dwells in each human being.

    Together this group would purge the world from evil. It  would elevate the desire for peace among nations by bringing hope to a tumultuous world.                                                                                                                   

    This is when the Jewish people get into the picture. In the story of Exodus, an estimated  2.5 million Israelites are running from slavery into freedom. They are walking in an extremely harsh desert environment, exhausted and hungry. 

    As they gather around Mount Sinai, they go through  the most profound experience of hearing extremely loud sounds of shofars, seeing lightning and feeling the earth violently shaking. 

    That was when G-d implanted in our ancestors the collective special powerful Light. It was implemented into our DNA for the explicit purpose to  re-awaken the long forgotten Divine  Light which dwells in all human beings, the Light  of goodness, morality and decency and bring peace and harmony to a world in turmoil.            

    We, are called ”the “chosen people”. Prophet Isaiah called us  ”Or La-goyim”, Light unto the nations.       

    But as we all know, being “Or La-goyim” has come  with a high price tag. Over  the many centuries, shining this Light  upon unwilling, hostile and intolerant nations has meant endless cruel persecutions and pogroms inflicted upon our ancestors,.

    The October massacre showed us that even after the atrocities of the Holocaust,  cruelty among certain people did not disappear. It knows no limits.

    As my good friend  Kermit  the Frog says: “It's not easy being green”..

    I am reminded of the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.”In one scene as the Jews  are expelled from the town of Anatevka  where they had lived for generations, the Rabbi is asked: “Rabbi, when will the messiah come? “When will there finally be peace in the world? The Rabbi answered: ”I don’t know but we will have to keep waiting for him somewhere else.

    I too don’t know when our special Divine Light  given to us on that day on Mt. Sinai will be a true Light unto the nations. We will just have to keep trusting and believing that what was given to us on that profound day will become a reality.  

    Hope for a peaceful world is now in our DNA. We are all born with it. We can see it in the writing of many  Jewish boys and girls of the Holocaust.

    In his famous poem, Pavel, a teenage boy, is  looking at butterflies in the ghetto, a symbol of peace and tranquility.   

    Ava Pakova, a 15 year old girl wrote a song, “The Fear” as she was taken to Auschwitz.

    In the last verse she writes: ”Oh G-D,  don't take away so many of us.  We still have to build a different world, a better and nicer world. We still have so much work to do

    Let’s tell our Creator that the special Light he gave us in order to awaken the Divine Light among the rest of the nations hasn’t been working too well so far, That we are tired, exhausted of the intolerance, evil and senseless wars.  

    And that we can really use his intervention on humanity’s behalf.  Let’s ask him to finally turn a sweet dream of world peace into reality.       

    There is a famous old Israeli song,  “Et ha mangina  ha zot yi efshar  le hafsik.“ It  translates as ”This melody is impossible to stop. We must continue playing it forever”.

    May we never stop playing this melody  of peace taught to us by our ancestors. 

    The  beautiful melody of our Jewish Divine Light will never fade. 

    The Israeli  anthem says: “Od Lo Avda Tikvatenu”  Our  hope is still not lost. Allow me to amend our beloved  anthem: Our hope  will never be lost.

    Happy New Year

    Rabbi David 

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  • 01 Oct 2024 9:24 AM | Shirat Shalom (Administrator)


    From Cantor Lee:  Rabbi David wrote the following during the pandemic but updated it for today's world. Sometimes you just have to bring in a bit of humor to keep going! Thank you Rabbi David! 

    A Zoom Meeting with Heaven by Rabbi David

    As I do every year at this time right before the High Holy Days, I contact the heaven’s department of Jewish affairs and respectfully request an angelic hearing about the present Jewish conditions around the world. I was expecting a nice quiet meeting in a prearranged place somewhere in West Boca, maybe at a kosher diner where I can present my case  face to face with the Old Mighty’s angel rep in charge of our zip codes. 

    Much to my surprise I was instructed to use a zoom link for a meeting. The link will be delivered to my mailbox by some undisclosed heavenly means. There will be a temporary link which will evaporate after two days. All my Jewish complaints will be presented and evaluated in an orderly fashion. The angel in charge will review my grievances. I will be allowed  to bring any supporting documents as attachments including maps, graphs, videos and other material stored in the clouds. All will be carefully scrutinized to check for any possible AI, heaven forbid! If necessary, I will then be contacted for further instructions.

    For security reasons I will need a highly secretive password to link into the zoom meeting. Password: "Oy vey."  I was looking forward to the zoom meeting.

    I was assigned to an angel named Shmuel Rabinovitz who is in charge of earthly Jewish issues and kosher supervisions in the areas of Boca Raton and Disney World.  He is the assistant secretary twice removed to Archangel Gavriel. As promised, a heavenly envelope with the special link appeared in my mailbox with the time and date specified for the meeting reminding me to use the secret password. (I will not repeat it here - too dangerous!)

    Getting  physically and spiritually ready for the meeting, I put on a nice clean shirt and a nice kippah just for the occasion. My beloved wife Cantor Lee, G-D bless her, noticed my excitement and asked about it. I told her that I was getting ready for an important zoom meeting with an angel assigned to my case in order to discuss some urgent Jewish matters. Cantor Lee, used to my Mishegas, rolled her eyes and said: “Well, don’t forget to clean up your desk from all the shmutz which has been sitting on it for the last three years. You don’t want the angel to think you are a messy rabbi, now, do you?  And  don’t forget  to brush your teeth!” My beloved wife! 

    The big moment arrived. I went on the heavenly zoom and used the secret password. I finally met Angel Rabinovitz online. He was wearing a nice dark business suit with a Mickey Mouse tie and dark thick glasses. Nice angel. He said he was talking to me from some undisclosed location in the South Pole. I could see in  the background several maps of the USA with red pins indicating most likely Jewish centers around  the country. Seeing me looking at his map, he explained that he was getting ready to fly down on his glatt kosher merkavah  (reindeers are so yesterday) and check on the Jewish people to see who  has done some nice mitzvahs this year. I saw bags of kosher bagels meant for the nice Jewish boys and girls.

    Angel Shmuel Rabinovitz pulled up his apple laptop and said  “Well Rabbi, you wanted  to see me?” Yes, I replied. I emailed you some reports ahead of the meeting. We are experiencing a lot of tumult here. As you can see  in my report, our beloved Israel is struggling in a never ending war for survival. That war has been raging for almost a year and hostages are still being held. Israel has to fight for its existence on several fronts against  very ruthless enemies. So many have perished. Our brethren in Israel are physically and mentally exhausted."

    Angel Shmuel was typing diligently as I continued. "We in the US and other places  around the world are experiencing  a terrible rise in Antisemitism both on our campuses, on our streets and in social media. Fabrications about the Jewish people and State of Israel have proliferated everywhere.  We, the Jewish people, have suffered  enough. It is time for some respite!” 

    Angel Shmuel stopped typing. Ever so slowly he removed his glasses and cleaned them thoroughly. He then turned to me and said: “Rabbi, we have received complaints  about Jewish concerns for safety and even survival from all over the world for many centuries. My drawer is full of complaints filed by rabbis about similar situations since the first century.  Throughout the centuries  the Jewish people have been traumatized by war and Antisemitism. 

    Rabbi, just as we have been saying for centuries, do not despair. The Jewish people are an evergreen nation, forever living. They are here  as long as the world turns. You see,” said the good Angel Shmuel Rabinovitz. the Jewish people are blessed with Divine Light and nothing can destroy it. They are a giant tree with roots so deep in the ground, no hurricane can possibly topple it.” 

    “Be not afraid. G-D almighty, my boss, has your back. Keep the faith. Trust that what is good and decent will always be here. The darkness will never succeed.”

    “However,” he continued,  “just to be on the safe side, in my report to the boss, the big guy, I will mention your concerns so I can file them properly." With this Angel Shmuel  wished all of us a great new Jewish year, a year of peace and tranquility all over the world.  

    Then he ended  the meeting. I was left there with my new clean shirt and my nice kippah, trusting  what Angel Rabinovitz  said about the Jewish secret of survival and that our eternal Hope for a peaceful world, will be delivered upstairs. 

    May we all be blessed with a Happy and Healthy New Year. May this be year Peace reigns.

    Shana Tova, 

    Rabbi David 

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  • 09 Sep 2024 7:33 AM | Shirat Shalom (Administrator)

    A couple of weeks ago at the eye doctor, a woman tapped Rabbi David on the shoulder. “Are you David Degani?” She had heard the his last name being called.  It turns out she is a relative who last saw Rabbi David 50 years ago! Ava became close to Rabbi David during her trips to Israel as a young person in the early 70’s and also spent a year there. They hadn’t stayed in touch but were certainly thrilled to reconnect and plan on staying connected. 

    We were all excited to get together a week later and I loved hearing all the stories and perspectives they shared of family and those years in Israel. One thing that really struck me was a vivid memory Ava shared of Rabbi David right after the Yom Kippur War in which he had served. He told her that with all the training as a soldier, no one can really be prepared for the horrors of war. 

    As with so many, Rabbi David and I were at first numb with the news of the Hamas attack on Oct. 7th and felt like zombies for the next three days. I don’t even know how we managed to facilitate a service to send prayers the next day. 

    These months of hearing and seeing horrors including the rise in anti-semitism have certainly affected all of us.  With news of the hostages being shot - murdered last week, I felt as though my heart was once again shattered into pieces. 

    After Moses broke the first set of the Ten Commandments and received the second set, the Israelites still carried those shattered  pieces in the Ark along with the second set of tablets.

    And so we honor those pieces of our heart that have been broken as we grieve during these times, continue to pray, take action and keep going. Despite the horrors, nothing can destroy us as the Jewish people for we all carry G-d’s Divine Light within our very cells. It is the Light of Compassion, the Light of Fortitude, the Light of Strength, the Light of Hope, the Light of Peace. Let us shine it together. 

    Shalom,

    Cantor Lee

    Here is a picture Ava took of Rabbi David. He was 19 years old. 


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  • 02 Sep 2024 6:59 AM | Shirat Shalom (Administrator)


    In the beginning of October this year,  the High Holy Days begin for the Jewish people. It is a time of inner work, purification and forgiveness  that lasts for ten days. This work is so important that preparation actually begins 30 days beforehand during the Hebrew month of Elul, which is known as the month of Love. The Hebrew letters are an acronym for the famous phrase, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” taken from Song of Solomon, 6:3 in the Bible. This phrase is commonly used at weddings but it is really about the Love the Divine has for all of us, that we are in sacred partnership.

     As we go through self evaluation during the month of Elul, we do so with this Divine Love. It helps us discern what we would like to keep in our lives and what we would like to discard.  The daily process of inner reflection which is to be done without guilt is meant to also help us become more aware of our emotions and perceptions, allowing us to eventually have control over them rather than having the emotions and perceptions control us.

    Elul begins sundown this year on Sept. 3rd. During our Meditation Circle at that same time, Tuesday, Sept. 3rd, at 7:30 p.m. we will be tapping into the sacred energy of Elul, the month of Love, with the help of AAUriel. Hope you will join us!

    Register Here 

    Shalom, Cantor Lee

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  • 18 Aug 2024 5:53 AM | Shirat Shalom (Administrator)

    This year on August 18th at sundown begins the holiday of Tu B’Av, also known as the  Holiday of Love. In the Kabbalistic teachings, it is considered to be the highpoint of the year energetically and spiritually. when we are infused with the Divine Love of G-d. That Love is always available to us, but on Tu B’Av due to the nature of the month’s full moon we are more easily able to forge a connection between the heavenly and lower realms. 

    Divine Love is a huge theme in Judaism. When we follow the prayer book for Shabbat or weekdays, a whole section is devoted to prayers about Love. The prayer, “V’ahavtah,” “You Shall Love,” is inside our mezuzzahs and is traditionally used as a bedtime prayer for children. The Hebrew word for Love, “A-ha-vah” has much power and is used in Kabbalistic Healing. It isn’t an accident that each syllable has an “Ah” sound which is the universal vowel sound for our hearts. What do we do when we see a baby or a puppy? AAhh……… And our hearts open…  

    So how can we celebrate Tu B’Av? One beautiful way is to spend some quiet time thinking of someone you love which helps to open your heart. Then ask to connect to the Divine Love of G-D. You may feel a tingling sensation, a feeling of upliftment, joy or peace. You may feel  nothing at all but you are still receiving the energy.

    As always in our tradition, express gratitude for this gift and decide how you would like to use it whether  it is to pray for healing, abundance or changing a situation in your life or in a loved one’s life. For those looking for a love partner, Tu B’Av is especially considered to be an auspicious day to do so!

    Rabbi David and I will be spending time  connecting to this Divine Love to pray for peace. The  power of the energy of Divine Love can heal, transform, shift our entire world!

    Happy Tu B'Av!

    Love, Cantor Lee

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  • 24 Jul 2024 3:29 PM | Shirat Shalom (Administrator)



    From Cantor Lee: If you have been in my house, specifically in the family room, you probably know there is a door to the right side of the blue couch that leads to another room. It is actually half of our garage which we originally turned into a room many years ago so our son could have a place for his band to meet. Yes, not quite the music we wanted to hear throughout the house! These days the room functions as a playroom for our grandchildren, a meditation/healing room and also where Rabbi David puts on Tefillin.  

    Growing up in a Reform household, I didn’t really know too much about Tefillin until I was twenty years old and began dating Rabbi David who had just come from Israel after serving in the Yom Kippur War. Always drawn to anything sacred, I was quite fascinated with his ritual of “laying tefillin” which he did everyday except for Shabbat. But it was more than fascination. Just seeing him perform the ritual touched me in a way I couldn’t explain. Throughout the years anytime Rabbi David has taught our students how to put on Tefillin,, it especially touches my heart in the deepest places, never failing to make me cry. 

    With the passing of the years, Rabbi David hasn’t always put on his Tefillin everyday. But whenever there is special healing needed or of major importance, he returns to his daily practice. As you can imagine, that has been the case this year. 

    I myself have never put on Tefillin. Traditionally it was meant just for the males, although these days women put on Tefillin as well. But recently I had a chance to experience its amazing power. I was relaxing on the blue couch drifting off, when I began to feel an unusual energy coming  from the right side of the room. As someone who is very sensitive to energy I was puzzled by this kind. Usually I feel the Divine Light coming  through my crown and going down my body or coming into my heart. This came differently and felt very different. The only way I can explain it is that I was filled with the most profound sense of Peace. 

    It wasn’t until later after telling Rabbi David of my experience that I learned he was praying with his Tefillin on at the exact same time.  I certainly believe in the power of prayer. But if not, I would be a believer after my experience! Rabbi David told me he was praying for peace. 

    From Rabbi David: To a stranger’s eye, the ritual of putting  tefillin on, wrapping the head, arm, hand and finger with a leather strip appears  very bizarre. This  Jewish custom was commanded in the Torah and is considered to be one of the most important deeds a Jewish person can perform.

    There are two sets of straps, one for the head  and one for the hand. Each strap is attached to a box so that when the strap is wrapped around the head, the box is placed in the center of the forehead between the eyes. The other box is placed on the inside of the left upper arm close to the heart. Each box contains four biblical chapters which symbolize the principles of the Jewish monotheistic belief that G-D is one and whole, that Israel is a holy nation unto G-D, that the exodus from Egypt is the event that crystalised the Jewish people as a nation and should always be remembered as such.

    The Tefillin has an enormous spiritual power. The placing of the boxes with the specific four Torah portions around the head and arm symbolizes the wrapping of the entire Torah around the body, (think of a patriotic person wrapping himself in his country’s flag). Moreover, the way the straps are tied around the fingers and arm creates the word “SHADAI,” one of the names of G-d. This symbolizes the wrapping of the holy name of G-D around the body. 

    When performing this deed with real Kavanah, pure intention, one can feel a special energy flooding the body. It is interesting to note that the points of placing the two boxes correspond exactly to the Chinese meridian acupressure points  both on the head and on the arm which produce a flow of energy throughout the entire body.    

    Shalom, Cantor Lee and Rabbi David

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  • 23 Jul 2024 4:26 AM | Shirat Shalom (Administrator)


    Our dog, Oreo Cookie,  came up in my facebook memories last week. It just doesn’t  seem possible that it has been nine years since since he went over the rainbow bridge. Perhaps it is because I feel him around me so much. And also because his legacy lives on, especially with the Shirat Shalom children who learned the power of their Divine Light that amazing day.  Of course, now those children are adults. 

    I had already been having the children in help me with various situations before they helped Oreo Cookie. It was just a part of their  education that began in kindergarten, of learning to work with the radiance of the Shabbat Candles that connects us to the Divine Light within us all, of opening their hearts and sending Prayers and Healing Light to those in need. 

    It wasn’t until  the  children began helping with the annual baby seal hunt each year that I witnessed  the power of their pure hearts  coming together in unity. Of course I didn’t give them the details of how the baby seals were killed for their pelts,  only that we had to protect them from the hunters, keep them safe with their mothers. Each week when we would meet, we  would erect barriers around the baby seals and see the hunters kept at sea.

     I would follow the news each day of the hunt. On Wednesdays when  the children would work with their Divine Light,  the hunters couldn’t reach the seals for various reasons.  I didn’t discuss it with anyone but Rabbi David who would also help with the seals.  Of course these days, more people understand the power of the Divine Light G-d has placed within each one of us. 

    Then there was that amazing day in 2010 when the children helped Oreo Cookie.  Twelve years old at the time, we were preparing to say goodbye to Oreo after emergency surgery a week earlier. The children were my last hope. My sister, Miss Susan,  was staying home with Oreo while I was at school.

    It was at 7:10 pm that the children sent him Healing  Light. At 7:20 pm, Oreo transformed into his usual self right before my sister’s eyes! He perked up his head, wagged his tail and ate and drank for the first time since his surgery!  He was quite excited to visit the children a few weeks later to to say thank you! 

    Oreo Cookie went on to live for another five years,  always overjoyed when he would meet any of the children who helped him that amazing day! 

    Read further how Oreo helped his students throughout the years:  A Master Teacher 

    Shalom, Cantor Lee


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  • 08 Jul 2024 3:10 PM | Shirat Shalom (Administrator)


    It was at the luncheon after our student Sarah’s Bat Mitzvah service  that Isadora’s father, a family friend,  shared his story with us. He  was successful financially at an early age but yet he wasn’t happy within. And so he began his spiritual journey to find the answers, learning how to meditate along with gathering  wisdom from various teachers.  “We have come to earth to learn to do two things,” he said. “To love and be kind. But that isn’t always so easy.”

    He told us about his daughter Isadora, of the agony and despair of having her die in her mother’s arms at the age of 25 from a rare form of cancer. Yet, Isadora’s short life of exemplifying love and kindness, is now helping others. Fulfilling her request, her parents went on to create a charitable foundation that tells Isadora’s story and gives scholarships to aspiring teachers. The recipients are chosen according to their level of kindness.

    As we continued speaking, Isadora’s father shared an experience he had at a restaurant. A group he was with was speaking negatively about the waitress who had given poor service. His mentor at the time said, “ We don’t know what she has gone through today. Always look for the good in people.” Isadora’s father said he has been trying to follow  that wisdom ever since.  

    I know the response so many may have. But what about a murderer, or child abuser?  Especially now, how about Hamas? How does one find the good there? Our Jewish teachings have answers for us, but they are not easy ones.  I still remember during my spiritual journey when I had this deep revelation that by hating the Nazis, I was being just like them and bringing more hatred into the world. 

    One of our most profound teachings and one that Rabbi David often tells is that when we crossed the Sea of Reeds into freedom, the angels joined us in celebrating. G-d said to them, why are you doing so? The Egyptians are my creations too. 

    Our sacred teachings remind us that we all contain the Divine spark of G-d. It doesn't mean that when others wish to hurt or destroy us that we don't have boundaries or take action to protect and defend ourselves. It means we live at a higher consciousness, sending Divine Light through our prayers to all sides. This is what it means to be a Light unto the Nations, our mission as the Jewish people. 

    Perhaps even more difficult is applying this to those in our inner circles that rub us the wrong way. I suppose that is why there are so many divisions in families and thus so much division in our world. For the outer is a reflection of the inner. Yes, being Loving and Kind takes dedication! 

    What gives me hope though, are the new children coming to earth who carry this understanding.  And when they are educated by kind and loving teachers, such as those chosen through Isadora’s scholarships, we truly can create Heaven on Earth - a world of Love and Kindness, a World of Peace.

    Shalom, Cantor Lee


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  • 26 Jun 2024 7:18 AM | Shirat Shalom (Administrator)

    The Middle East tumult is complicated and confusing to many. We  get our information through the eyes of reporters, their editors or other public opinion influencers. As we all know, many times their reporting is not objective. Therefore, the full reality of Israel’s geo-political situation is rarely brought to light.

    One of the most overlooked issues is the need to better understand the complexity of Israel’s perpetual threat of a total annihilation. For the sake of illustration, let’s “implant” the state of Israel’s geo-political situation into the US using the size and population ratios between the two countries.

    The size of the US is 441 times that of Israel (3,809,525 US sq.miles divided by 8,630 Israel’s sq.miles). The US population is almost 38 times that of Israel. (340 million divided by 9 million.) To its west, Israel was facing on October 6th a well organized Hamas army of 30,000 well trained, fanatic terrorists equipped with at least  20,000 missiles threatening to kill 9 million Israelis. 

    Using the population ratio between  the US and Israel, (1 to 38) it would be like a monster size army of 1,140,000 well trained terrorists living in Mexico, deeply imbedded among the Mexican population, eagerly waiting for an opportunity to attack the US and equipped with an astronomical number of 760,000 missiles. This terrorist army hides its missiles inside Mexican civilian homes everywhere. There are underground tunnels spread over hundreds of miles under many Mexican cities, used to hide terrorists and equipment.  

    How should the American government respond to this threat?... Welcome  to an Israeli reality.

    On October 7th, at least 3,000 terrorists and many hundreds of Gaza residents attacked nearby Israeli towns and kibbutzim killing 1200 Israelis and taking 250 hostages.

    Using our population comparison ratios, it would be like 136,000 terrorists from Mexico attacking Tijuana, El Paso, Rio Reco, Eagle Pass, San Diego and other border towns killing 45,600 Americans, taking 9,500 American hostages, man woman and children, brutally torturing many, throwing babies to burning fires, raping dozens of woman and girls and mutilating their bodies and for good measure, burning hundreds of buildings to the ground.

    What would the American government do in response? Would there be a Mexico left?

    On its northern border, Israel is facing  a much larger terrorist army. Hezbollah has as many as 50,000 well trained terrorists. It possesses at least 150,000 missiles. They are in the process of upgrading their missile arsenal to make laser guided highly accurate weapons. In our US comparison, say we had Canadian Hezbollah on our northern border. That would mean an army of 1,900,000 fanatic soldiers equipped with 5,700,000 missiles, many of which are already precision laser guided, aiming at every corner of the US. 

    Sounds crazy? Numbers don’t lie.

    Many Israeli towns in the Upper Galilee have been indiscriminately bombarded on a daily basis for many months. Residents of many of these towns were evacuated leaving everything they own behind. Parts of the upper Galilee look like a ghost area.

    If we compare  the size of the Upper Galilee relative  to the size of the entire state of Israel, it would be equal to our theoretical Canadian Hezbollah bombarding the states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and NY non stop, causing many of their residents to evacuate to other states.

    What would we in the US do if we faced threats like that simultaneously from Canada  and Mexico?

    The Houthis in Yemen some 200 miles south of Israel are another fanatic terror army of at least 20,000 terrorists, well trained and well equipped. They are  estimated to possess about  200 missiles, much of them long range and, possibly, hypersonic as well. 

    The Houthis are now attacking any merchant ship on its way to Israel. Using our US-Israel population ratio again, this is like an army of 760,000 fanatic terrorists stationed in, say, Cuba attacking with missles any merchant ship carrying essential goods, going to the port of Miami or trying  to cross the Panama Canal on the way to the west coast.   

    Welcome to the Israeli reality. These are realistic  scenarios facing Israel nowadays on a regular basis. All these terror armies enjoy an unlimited supply of the most sophisticated weapons from Iran, the terrorist country who gets its billions of dollars by supplying huge amounts of oil to China and Russia.

    How long would the US or any other country in the world tolerate these kinds of multiple existential  threats? 

    Welcome  to Israeli reality.

    Rabbi David


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  • 24 May 2024 11:22 AM | Shirat Shalom (Administrator)

    I still remember Gabbie’s Bat Mitzvah project from 8 years ago. She called it “BE” because she wanted to inspire people to be their greatest selves. Since she was 14 at the time, she came up with 14 unique ways she could  “BE” her best self and make a difference then and in the future.

    Now in college, Gabbie has certainly been exemplifying “BEing” her greatest self. As with so many of our Jewish students, Gabbie has had to face what we have never wanted for our beautiful children.

    But  Gabbie also knows that BEing her best self can also mean having courage which was one of her original attributes in her mitzvah project. Gabbie used her artistic talents to display her statement.  

    Some of her various answers to those who harassed her? "This is not political. Everyone should feel safe on campus" "Everyone deserves equal opportunity for education."  “Our Community will always be stronger than your hate. Grow up, Do better."

    During these times, people often ask me how I can have so much hope. Gabbie and all of our other young people is my answer. For they are exemplifying for the entire world, how to BE.  

    Make sure to read Gabbie’s other BE’s here: https://shiratshalom.org/Rabbi-and-Cantors-Messages/13361374

    Shalom,

    Cantor Lee

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