Since it is the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, I resolved this holiday season to re-read the writings of Avigdor Kahalani, the legendary commander of tank brigades. He, with his heroic comrades in arms and with great self-sacrifice, defied the odds and prevented the vastly numerically superior marauding Syrian army from entering the Israeli hinterland in 1973.
How unimaginable it remains that in the mere historical blink of an eye later that sacred hinterland should be breached by our implacable hate-fueled enemies who would carry out the most savage, indiscriminate slaughter and imprisonment of Jews since the Holocaust.
There are no words. There are only tears. There will be no celebration in victory, which must surely come because Israel must prevail. Unlike our foes we do not venerate death. We value life and do everything possible to preserve it.
Israel only fights to survive against those who do not want her there at all. This is not a case of shared sovereignty. This is life or death, and we choose life—as we are committed to do by our adherence to our religion, to our teachings and to our values.
In the coming heart-wrenching days Israeli citizens and soldiers might well face almost incomprehensible suffering and sacrifice. We can only hope in our hearts and pray to the Almighty above that their courage will bring about a speedy and as pain-free a resolution of this festering problem as possible.
Some time ago we said, “Never again!” Those words ring somewhat hollow today, but they will not tomorrow—with the help of God and the IDF.
God bless Israel. God bless the IDF.
Michael Turek
New Rochelle
