Another “Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem,”
and this time – 51 years since the Yom Kippur War.
In the picture – an improvised gathering area in the Rehavia neighborhood where the first worshippers called up to serve arrived after the announcement of the war’s outbreak.
Exactly 51 years ago, on Yom Kippur 1973, alarm sirens pierced the air on the holiest day of the year.
The armies of Egypt and Syria launched a planned attack on the State of Israel.
With the sirens blaring, the worshippers fled the synagogues in panic, in the midst of prayer and fasting, turned on their radios, gathered bags with basic supplies from home, and went to war.
Dressed in holiday attire, some arrived wearing cloth shoes from the synagogue, some went home to break their fast, and others came wearing their tallit, like the friend in the picture.
The State of Israel faced a real danger to its existence.
In the first five days of the war, an average of about 190 soldiers were killed each day.
Later, the daily average dropped to 91 fatalities.
A true Yom Kippur.
A mixture of arrogance, complacency, and intoxication with power that prevailed in the country after the stunning victory in the Six-Day War also permeated the political and military ranks.
For nothing is truly permanent.
In the first days of the war, the then Minister of Defense, Moshe Dayan, said that we were on the brink of the destruction of the Third Temple.
2600 soldiers were dead, each one a world unto themselves a father, a brother, or a son who saved the State of Israel with their spirit and body.
More than 7,000 wounded, and thousands more silently injured, whose wounds are not visible but are burned into their souls, carrying with them the images of war and the injured even today, 51 years later.
The worshippers who abruptly left their homes to defend the state with their bodies did not ask who was sitting next to them in the tank or what their political stance was.
Fifty one years later – and it seems we have learned nothing.
On Simchat Torah last year at 6:29 in the morning, 3,000 Hamas monsters invaded Israel into the communities surrounding Gaza and the Nova party, murdering 1,145 people, burning, raping, and kidnapping 251 individuals.
101 of our brothers are still held captive by Hamas.
Each of the fallen was a unique diamond – the best of our sons and daughters who will not return.
And like 51 years ago, the signs and warnings were there, but complacency and contempt were once again among us.
Hamas and our enemies identified a significant weakness in Israeli society after a year of quarrels, strife, and sibling hatred.
Israeli society once again united in an instant, like one person against a wicked external enemy, reminding us that our strength lies only in our unity. Once again, the protester from Kaplan Street found themselves alongside the settler from Judea and Samaria, sitting shoulder to shoulder inside the tank or at the guard post, defending the people and their home.
Fifty one years later, the next day of self-reflection is also a day of remembrance – where we came from and where we want to go.
We wish for a Sabbath of peace upon Israel from near and far. May the hostages return home safely, together with the evacuees from the north and the soldiers of the IDF. Wishing everyone a ketiva vechatima tova from Jerusalem.
