B”H
Friends,
And if you are here, you are a friend,
The independence of the Jewish nation began when G‑d took us out of Egypt three thousand three hundred thirty six years ago.
Every year since then, we gather around the tables on the eve of Passover to celebrate our freedom, our beliefs, our traditions our history and commit to moving forward to forge and embrace our glorious destiny.
The grand finale of this Passover feast is a song called
אחד מי יודע
Who knows one?
Who knows one?
I know one hundred and one.
101 hostages remain in horrendous conditions in Gaza,
May G‑d have mercy on them on be released speedily.
And BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!
I repeat,
BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!
Who knows one?
I know upwards of twelve hundred who were cruelly murdered during the attack.
Who knows one?
I know four thousand eight hundred and thirty-four who are injured
Who knows one?
I know upwards of eighty-eight thousand Israeli’s displaced
Who knows one?
At the Passover Seder feast we remind ourselves,
שלא אחד בלבד עמד עלינו לכלותינו
Not just one but many more than one, have risen to try to annihilate us the Jewish people
Who knows one?
I know one.
אחד אלקינו שבשבמים ובארץ
One is the Almighty creator of heaven and earth!
The Eye that Sees, the Ear that Hears, the moral compass of the universe for all of humankind.
I know one.
One is Am Yisrael, - the people of Israel that has miraculously survived through the millennia.
I know one.
One is the land of Israel that the Almighty has given to the Jewish people
And I know One
One is you
One is me
One is he
One is she
We are gathered today on the first anniversary of October 7th.
The largest single massacre of Jews since the holocaust. (Shoah).
Many of us have lost family members and dear friends.
Even after a year has gone by the shock is great and it is difficult to speak.
Yet remaining silent is absolutely not an option.
It may be misinterpreted as making peace with the horrendous injustices of this murderous attack and its reverberating aftershocks of bigotry and hatred.
The one hundred and one hostages are relying on us to be their voice.
The thousands of our soldiers – defenders of Israel, warriors of light and justice battling indescribably evil forces of darkness and perversion need us to be their voice.
Almighty G‑d is waiting to hear our voice see our actions and this is the only way forward,
Clearly, as we stand here on October 7th, we must dedicate ourselves to help rebuild and strengthen Israel. The people, the land and the economy and the moral clarity of the eternal Torah values that Israel represents.
Today we must dedicate ourselves to joining the forces of good over evil, light over darkness.
Who knows one?
I know one.
The power of even ONE deed of goodness, kindness that each of us can and must do,
Our voices, actions and influence must be felt across the globe. We must unleash a storm of light, goodness and peace.
We have just celebrated our new year of Rosh Hashana and in a few days will mark the holiest day of the Jewish year – Yom Kippur the day of atonement, followed shortly thereafter by the holiday of tabernacles Chag haSukkot.
Our sages have taught that during these days of High Holidays and Judgment we ought to view our world as being like a set of scales that is perfectly balanced. All it takes is one good deed to tip the scales.
In a similar way, all it takes to tip the balance of the energies in this world in the favor of light and good is your good deed. We need to feel the urgency and importance of our every effort in the right direction.
In the upcoming holiday of Sukkot the prayers for rain were held in the Temple in Jerusalem for the entire world. This continued till close to two thousand years ago when the temple was savagely destroyed by our enemies.
The Talmud says, if the nations of the world would have realized how much blessing the Temple in Jerusalem brings them, they would not have allowed its destruction, they would have defended Israel and the Temple from all hostile forces.
I turn to you my friends, fellow citizens of the world. Rational, upright clear thinkers. Believers in a G‑dly moral code of universal values and ethics.
We must strengthen ourselves in all matters of morality, goodness and kindness and we show how this world is a garden, not a jungle.
The front line heroes are the valiant soldiers of Israel,
At the civilian front lines of this battle are all of us Jewish people dispersed as we are all over the world, many who face daily struggles with the despicable reemerging of bigotry and racist anti-semitism.
This is not just a struggle to protect Jewish people in Israel and around the world,
This is a battle we are fighting for YOUR world, for our collective and joint world, so that it can be the garden of G‑d that it is intended to be, not a dark scary jungle that our enemies wish to turn it into.
The battle against evil, darkness, immorality and barbarism, is your battle as it is my battle.
Do your bit, and then do even more, to support the forces of light.
If you have influence with your government, speak up, don’t let the insidious lies of perverted thinking mislead the well-intentioned leaders of the civilized world.
And at the grassroots level I urge each and one of you.
Fellow Jews, embrace your role as Jews, spread your unique light, wear your kipa, your Tzitzit, light up your Shabbat and Holiday candles, learn Torah, do Mitzvahs, pray and celebrate as a Jew should and could.
Fellow brothers and sister’s believers in G‑d and in the innate good of humanity,
Stay strong. Stay firm. G‑d is with us. We will be victorious.
You cannot imagine how heartwarming it is for my colleagues and I to hear ‘Shalom, we stand with Israel and the Jewish people’ when we pass you in the streets of Thailand, or anywhere else in the world
But our challenging times require that you do even more.
Don’t stay at the sidelines and cheer.
Jump headlong into the battle to reclaim normalcy and ‘mentshlichkeit’ upright human behavior.
One more good deed, one more kind word, one more morally impactful act,
This could be the one deed that tips the world into its long-awaited eternally peaceful Messianic stage,
עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו
May the Almighty bring peace to us, as He promises in the Torah
ונתתי שלום בארץ
I will grant peace to the land.
ושכבתם ואין מחריד
You will sleep peacefully without fear.
עוד אבינו חי
The Almighty is always alive – HE is the SOURCE of life
We His children on earth are alive
עם ישראל חי