Steve Kramer: Diverse Days in Israel
The High Holidays just finished, with Simhat Torah (a religious observance held on the last day of Succot when the yearly cycle of Torah reading is completed and the next cycle is begun.) being celebrated on Thursday, October 24. Of course, last year Simhat Torah was the horrendous day that the Hamas terrorists of Gaza perpetrated a murderous sneak attack on Israel’s southern border, followed the next day by rockets fired by the more potent Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. 1,200 Israelis (including 71 foreign nationals) were murdered on 10/7, mostly raped, burned, killed in cold blood, or blown up. Who were the murderers? They were mostly members of Hamas from Gaza, but in addition, many were so-called Gazan civilians who joined in the killing and looting. 251 Israelis (including 54 Thai nationals) were kidnapped, dead or alive, and spirited off to Gaza. 101 remain in captivity, with an unknown number, probably 40-50, no longer alive.
How were Jews supposed to celebrate Simhat Torah (simcha means joyous) on the anniversary of the massacre? At our synagogue, ordinarily, we would go outside and take turns dancing with the Torah scrolls. This year, in a more sedate manner, we stayed inside and made do with circling around the sanctuary. This was done to denote the subdued atmosphere and for safety reasons, because of the daily rocket attacks, mostly from Lebanon, which attack many areas of Israel.
Yet, Israelis are united on soundly defeating the Hamas terrorists in Gaza and the Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon, and to return to “normal” life, each Israeli safe at home, with the aforementioned Islamist murderers and their Iranian masters deterred from attacking Israel for at least another generation. I can’t predict more than that, since it is written in the Passover Haggadah that, “In every generation, they rise against us.” But who is “they”?
The generic name for our enemies is Amalek. He was the king of the Amalekites, ancient hereditary enemies of Israel since Biblical times. Muslim jihadists are the contemporary Amalekites, but they have many fellow travelers who aspire to eradicate the Jews and destroy Israel. Ironically, many of those hateful dupes don’t realize that if the Jews were ever destroyed, these Jew-haters would be next in line. (Some of them are even Jews themselves!)
Despite all of the above and the internal arguments in Israel of how to proceed to defeat our enemies and return the captives, there is still a component of normality in everyday life for most Israelis. This past week, the ESRA association (esra.org.il) sponsored a day hike in central Israel. The hiking conditions were absolutely perfect, not too hot and extremely clear, and we all enjoyed the 5-6 hour jaunt of 8-9 miles.
Reuven, our venerable guide, told us of some of the history we were hiking through, the land where the Tribe of Dan, one of the 12 tribes of Israel, settled after conquering the pagan tribes in the Land of Israel. Dan was led by the first son of Jacob and Bilhah, the maidservant of Jacob’s second wife, Rachel, and the grandson of the “first” Hebrew, Abraham.
“After the death of Moses, the Israelites were led into the Promised Land by Joshua, who divided the territory among the 12 tribes. The portion assigned to the tribe of Dan was a region west of Jerusalem. At least part of the tribe later moved to the extreme northeast and took the city of Lachish, renaming it Dan. [As the northernmost Israelite city it became a point of reference in the familiar phrase ‘from Dan to Beersheba.’]
The great hero of the Danites was Samson, who, until his betrayal by Delilah used his mighty strength against the Philistine invaders. Dan was one of the 10 northern tribes that disappeared from history after the Assyrian conquest of the kingdom of Israel in 721 BCE. They are known in Jewish legends as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.”
(https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dan-Hebrew-tribe)
Our hike in the Shephelah (“lowlands of Judea”) was just superb. But there was a surprise to come. On our bus ride home, we stopped at the gas station/convenience store at the Latrun strategic hilltop in the Ayalon Valley. It overlooks the road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and is about 15 miles west of Jerusalem and east of Tel Aviv. The excellent Armor Corps Museum is located there. Latrun is a popular stop for hikers in the Shephelah region.
What was unusual about our coffee break? Well, there we encountered many buses transporting tourists/pilgrims of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ). This group represents Christians from around the world who stand with Israel and the Jewish people based on biblical principles and promises. Founded in 1980, “the ICEJ recognizes the modern-day restoration of Israel as the faithfulness of God to keep His ancient covenant promises to the Jewish people.”
500 ICEJ members were in Israel to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, the Christian name for Succot. I doubt that all 500 were at Latrun, but there were a number of buses full of Christian Zionists from all over the world. They each had a box lunch which they were enjoying at outdoor tables, along with snacks bought at the convenience store.
What’s the most prominent initiative of ICEJ: prayers for Israel and the Jews. But that’s not all. Here’s an example: “Thanks to generous donations mostly from these [many] countries, we were able to finance a record number of 48 bomb shelters across Israel in 2021, as well as to help nearly 3,800 new immigrants return to their ancient homeland.” (ICEJ.org)
While enjoying a coffee at Latrun I spent some time in conversation with an ICEJ member from Singapore. (ICEJ participants were from myriad countries.) She was so happy to be in Israel with the opportunity to travel throughout Israel and especially in Jerusalem. She expressed delight in finding out that I am an expatriate from America who had moved to Israel (Aliyah) because of Michal’s and my belief in the Zionist credo: Jews should aspire to live in the Land of Israel. This ICEJ member is not the first Christian that I have met who devotes much time and love to supporting Jews and Israel. So, even in this period of tumult and tragedy, when Western countries like France show themselves to be no friend of Israel, we can take comfort that tens of thousands, perhaps millions, of Christians, are praying for our welfare daily.
Uplifted by the love and goodwill expressed by this unexpected encounter, we entered our bus for the short ride home. This was just the first ESRA hike of the season and we hope to be able to enjoy many more before the temperature rises next spring. It was a pleasant and hopeful day for us in this period of much despair, but with great hopes for victory over our enemies and the return of our captives.
