Succot is upon us and the cool breeze of the sea brings comfort to my body as the sun imparts its bluster on the day. Oh what a glorious time to be living in Tel Aviv. Last night there was dancing in the streets in celebration of the holiday and the insecurity of the flimsy room we call a succah. We wave elements of our harvest in all directions asking G-d for his/her compassion on us and the bountiful harvest that we petition for in our quest for peace, love and presence. As I walked home from the block party celebration in the heart of Tel Aviv I was caught by the packed restaurants along Shderot Rothchild’s tree-lined streets. The energy level of joyous celebration could be heard in the clinking of glasses and the buzz of conversation. At the same time, it is clear to me that this world is at a crossroads facing self-destruction. It is imploding from the battle of good and evil that supporters of both sides confuse with the truth. Ah, the truth, a rallying cry for the relativists in their quest for total anarchy. In fact, the anarchists and the terrorists really have a unholy alliance that both sides feed and support in their own private quests for self fulfillment. On the other hand, the good guys/gals make no excuses for the killers and haters of life that perpetrate terrorism for its own sake. Bizarreness in life has been apart of living on this planet since the beginning of the time. However, the ability to take down the entire planet with weapons of mass destruction is no laughing matter. It is also bothers me that many people in the world love to equate my country and people with the worst of mankind for their rationale in hating Jews. I am not suggesting for one minute that criticism of Israeli policy is necessarily anti-Semitic. But, it is clear that when you call us Nazi’s and you suggest that we support apartheid as demonstrated in South Africa then we have a problem. Anyone who understands the reality in Israel knows the difficulty of arranging any kind of peace with our enemies. At this juncture we live in a democracy that has some serious flaws but is open enough to withstand incursions of corruption, greed, incompetence and insensitivity to the poor. I pray and voice my concerns as we continue to work towards cleaning up the environment, re-organizing the IDF command, and apportioning wealth to those in need. But even more important is our need to acknowledge and appreciate each other as we travel on the roads, in our cars and as we pass each other on Shderot Rothchild.
