Reflections upon the Anniversary of October 7th
In the early summer, our staff got together to discuss planning how to commemorate the first anniversary of October 7th. I am always very proud of the Israel365 staff, who are all extremely creative, dynamic, and passionate about Israel, and yet this exercise was a depressing failure. Nothing we came up with seemed appropriately meaningful to mark such a massive trauma, that we are still reeling from. There were no words to convey our raw emotions. We had no ideas that could possibly do justice to the calamity that had befallen our people on Simchat Torah.
As religious Jews, we already have an annual memorial day to commemorate our bitter tragedies, which is Tisha B’Av. And in fact, for more than a year now, every day has felt like the 9th of Av. Our eyes have been wet with tears, our hearts broken, our voices lowered to a whisper. Yet, we are not permitted to mourn excessively and must find meaning in the depths so we can grow as individuals and as a nation from our grief.
While it can be overwhelming to know where to turn our attention on this first anniversary, by paying attention to what our enemies are saying, we can discover where to place our focus. Hamas called this war the ‘Al Aqsa Flood’ so we must double down on our embrace of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, and the entire Land of Israel.
The Arabs representing the Axis of Evil have patience and are playing the long game. Yishai Fleisher, spokesman for the Jewish community of Hebron has said that Arabs have told him, “You have left the Sinai. You have left South Lebanon. You have left Gaza, and so you are shrinking. We will wait till you leave Judea and Samaria too.” As sad as it is to say, but they are right, we have repeatedly abandoned our homeland.
Israel is the only country to win wars and then lose the negotiations. Over the years, we have won territory, only to return it to the aggressors. This foolish strategy is completely at odds with military history, common sense and in painful violation of the covenant we have with the Almighty.
The only responsible, sensible and faithful response to October 7th, is therefore to build, expand and grow. Calls for increasing Israeli sovereignty and reducing our enemies’ foothold in the Jewish State, have been growing louder.
In a rare display of bipartisan cooperation, Israeli lawmakers voted overwhelmingly (68 to 9) in July that, “the Knesset of Israel is unequivocally opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan river.” Regarding this historic resolution, MK Zeev Elkin remarked that, “this is a dramatic change relative to everything that has happened here in the last thirty years, when there was always a fundamental majority speaking for a Palestinian state.”
Two-state thinking has become so pervasive over the last three decades that hardly anyone was even thinking about an alternative, let alone presenting a realistic scenario. Yet, that is exactly what President Trump’s former ambassador to Israel, David Friedman did in his recent book, “One Jewish State” published last month and already a bestseller.
A former trial lawyer, Ambassador Friedman argues logically and forcibly that any two state solution granting control of Judea & Samaria to the Palestinians would be a dangerous “final solution” for Israel. Only Israeli sovereignty, he writes, would, “create a safe, secure, and prosperous State of Israel within its biblical homeland in a manner that brings security, human dignity, prosperity, and pride to each and every one of its inhabitants.”
Not only does extending Israeli sovereignty over these long-disputed territories make smart political sense, it is also God’s will.
Throughout the Bible, the most significant book in human history, whose word is cherished by hundreds of millions of believers around the world, God promises the entire Land of Israel to the People of Israel.
The Torah further warns against dividing the land and threatens to bring great punishment upon any nation that tries to force Israel to do so. “I will also gather all nations, and bring them down into the Valley of Yehoshafat, and will plead with them there for My people and for My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and divided My land,” writes the prophet Joel (3:2).
The most influential rabbi of the last generation, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, whose Chabad emissaries reach every last Jewish community in the world, was entirely unambiguous about the “absolute necessity” to expand Jewish settlements, especially along the borders and in contested areas.
“I spoke of the absolute necessity to settle all the territories at once, particularly those disputed by the nations of the world,” the Rebbe wrote in 1977 as recounted in a new book by Rabbi Elisha Pearl ‘Make Peace.’ “I maintain that the enemies of Israel, may G-d protect us, will only despair of their evil scheme when they see that we are genuinely sincere about the Land being ours.”
The Rebbe wasn’t merely referring to Judea and Samaria, for which many today are advocating on behalf of, such as Keep God’s Land and 1JState, the new party I have co-founded that is running for seats in the upcoming World Zionist Congress. In a conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu who had just become Israel’s ambassador to the UN, the Rebbe described what the Torah required for Lebanon as well.
At the time, Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir was considering withdrawing IDF forces from Lebanon, after they entered in June 1982 in response to Palestinian terror attacks. The Rebbe told Netanyahu and Alan Baker, Israel’s senior legal counsel to the UN, that Israel must go forward. “He stressed this repeatedly, don’t withdraw! You entered in self defense to deal with terrorism and it’s Israel’s right to protect Israel and the Jews, and it’s very important,” recalled Baker in a recently published video by Jewish Educational Media (JEM).
In that same conversation, on Simchat Torah exactly 40 years ago, the Lubavitcher Rebbe encouraged a young Benjamin Netanyahu. “He told me,” recalled Netanyahu, “You will go into a house of many lies. Remember that in a hall of darkness, if you light one small candle, its precious light will be seen from afar, by everyone. Your mission is to light a candle for truth and for the Jewish people.”
As we contemplate the lessons for the one year anniversary of October 7th, we must remember that they destroy, so we must build. They bring darkness, so we must bring light. They are trying to shrink Israel, so we must expand.
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