Informations d'Israel.

You have all heard about the tragic plane crash in Thailand. Israelis are crazy about Thailand – they love its beauty, the fact that it is cheap (even though the cost of the flight there is high) and that they can meet lots of Israelis there. From school-age, Israelis are used to living in homogenous groups, so they find it difficult not to be in a group, even when traveling around the world. 8 Israelis are among the victims of the crash and we share the pain of their families. The other victims come from all over the world and their ambassadors were assembled by the local authorities in order to be updated. It then became clear what the world reality means for advanced countries: for most countries of Europe, North and South America, when a disaster occurs, their delegations simply prepare themselves to identify and repatriate their victims. In Thailand, the ambassadors of these countries were astounded to see that Israel had already sent teams to identify victims, treat the wounded, impart psychological help and repatriate victims – the care was given to Israeli victims as well as those of other countries.

Israel is the country of Jews who can be outstanding, intelligent, efficient, skilled in logistical operations, and models of solidarity when they wish … they can be all of this. May these days of Tishri finally awaken us!

There is hope! This is what a young Israeli friend called Or Israel (light of Israel) said to me today. Let’s listen to him and, like him, let us regain the joyous strength of a child’s life – his smile, happy, confident gaze and keenness to listen! He is just a little over one year old and he already says amen at the right moment when blessings are recited. Look at him closely and listen to his teaching. He will arouse your own qualities during these days of renewal. And may your prayers bring benediction to him and his family and to all of Israel.

In order to share this optimism, I have illustrated the following verse from chapter 2 of the Song of Songs: “The flowers appear on the earth: the time of the singing of birds is come and the voice of the turtle (anagram in Hebrew for the Torah) is heard in our land.”

I have written this verse in Farsi (Persian) calligraphy: why? Because it is particularly appropriate at a time when the fear of an Iranian nuclear warhead led Bernard Kouchner, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, to declare: “with Iran, we must prepare for the worst and the worst is war.” But our optimism is unshakable. The role of Iran will be good for Israel: re-read the last page of the Bible and this page of Modia.

Read also Psalm 37 (link) and the commentary, on this site, on the themes of peace and trust. All around Israel, we hear the sounds of war preparations and the constant bombardment of Sderot. But, parallel to our days of teshuva (repentance), Muslims are purifying their hearts during the month of Ramadan. Just as they respond to the Ramadan Mubarak greeting (may God give you a blessed month) with the Ramadan Karim greeting (may God give you a generous month), we shall send them greetings, not by the gun, but a reminder simply of what they themselves read in the Koran: “Allah hu nuru.. God is the light of the heavens and the earth” and not One who wishes to bring destruction and bloodshed to the world as the fanatics maintain. I have written this also below in Arabic calligraphy.

If we follow this route, we will understand each other and come together. On these levels, what unites us is more powerful than what separates us. I express this through the evocation of a global life, lived in light and by the heart, in one common current which we share and which resides in all of us. This is the only form of existence and this is the one which must be our compass. We shall re-center ourselves on it during these days of teshuva.