This is certainly not the first time a post from Reb Lazer makes me cry. But it is the first time I cry out of grief.
An Open Letter to Arik Sharon
B"H
Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
On two occasions, when you were Defence Minister under Menachem Begin of blessed memory, you gave me bear hugs: Once was in June of 1981, and the second time a year later, in August of 1982. Back then, after having put my country way ahead of my own life, you told me that if I ever need anything from you, I should feel free to ask. Over twenty years have transpired, and despite lean times, I've never asked of you the slightest favor. But now, I'm calling in my marker; not for my own benefit, but for the benefit of the settlers of Gush Katif and Shomron, and for the benefit of our beloved country Israel.
Daniel Pipes wrote this morning in USA Today that you are making the worst mistake ever made by a democracy. He says that you are letting down the other countries that have been combatting terrorism - such as the USA and the UK - by relinquishing to terror. You and I both know that this move - the first time in history that settlers are being been ejected from Jewish land in Israel - won't lead to peace. Once you allow our bloodthirsty neighbors to taste Jewish blood together with Jewish soil, they go into a frenzy. Already, they are chanting for all of our blood and all of our soil. Turn on your radio to almost any Arab station you like - they're all singing in the streets, "Fallastin, ya habib, udrub udrub Tel Abib!" (Beloved Palestine - continue quickly to Tel Aviv!).
Continues: Here
B"H
Hello.
I just came from a Rally at the UN for
the Jews of Gaza.
I was googling for content for a new site
I created on Tisha B'Av: www.SaveIsraelNow.us
(It is new, under construction).
I have not heard news from a reliable source
today, but you might like to see this letter.
May we hear good news soon.
SR
http://www.saveisraelnow.us/gazaupdate.txt
From: R. K.
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2005 6:37 PM
Subject: Fw: Report From Gush Katif
This news is as of 11:30 this morning, Israel Summer Time. The situation in Neve Dekalim may have changed since then.
----- Original Message -----
From: jg
To: Y E
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2005 5:31 PM
Subject: FW: Report From Gush Katif
FYI, Yassam is the name of the SWAT teams. This is too great! I am so proud of our people.
J G
-----Original Message-----
From: A Y
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2005 3:19 PM
To: Dvar Emet
Subject: Report From Gush Katif
Importance: High
Shalom everyone - and Baruch Hashem! In Neve Dekalim, at least, the spirits of the Gush Katif residents are running high as they are witnessing Hashem melt the hearts of IDF soldiers and Yassam police units.
Shortly before 10am this morning, my friend Chaya called me to allow me to share in what was happening. Through the receiver of the phone
I heard voices in song, "Am Yisrael Chai". Chaya described what was taking place. The residents had broken through the fence and had managed to surround the IDF soldiers with circles of singing and dancing people, a Sefer Torah leading the procession, the men garbed in Tefillin and Talliot. As they danced and sang, they locked eyes with the soldiers, some of the residents speaking to them in low tones, "You don't have to do this". What they soon witnessed were the
faces of IDF soldiers wet with tears. Grouped in buddy teams, the partner of each teary eyed soldier would grab them and demand that they look their partner squarely in the eyes, but the defensive routine they had practiced seem to be failing this morning - to the jubilant cries, prayers and praises of the Neve Dekalim residents.
Half an hour ago, I called my friend Miriam, also in Neve Dekalim. "What's going on?", I asked. Miriam was on a spiritual high that I could discern clear through the phone. A massage therapist, she had been returning home from treating one of the community women, when the loud speaker in the community came to life and requested all residents to go to a certain location in the village. A passenger in a resident's car, Miriam was delighted when
they obeyed the call. Arriving at the location, their eyes were greeted with a sea of black-garbed Yassam policemen - an unearthly spectacle. The Neve Dekalim residents linked arms, trying, as
Miriam put it, to muster some show of "force". They formed a line inside the security fence which had by then been cut open in several places. They locked eyes with the policemen on the other side and prayed. To their utter astonishment, tears began to glisten on the rock solid faces of the hardened Yassam policemen. One after another, Hashem began to melt the hearts of the Pharaohs. Soon, the residents began to make their way through the openings in the security and began to mingle amongst the human sea of black uniforms, bands of orange weaving their way like foam atop shore bound waves - a tide of emunah and bitachon making its way towards the shore. Suddenly, the Yassam police unit did an about face and headed for their buses, leaving the area.
Baruch Hashem. Am Yisrael Chai.
Posted by: SR at August 16, 2005 10:05 PM Permalink
PS - about people crying -
There's another story about men crying publicly -
42 years ago - at the Western Wall.
Even the soldiers who didn't know the
full meaning of the Kotel cried....
"I am crying because I don't know what
it is we should be crying for"
(To explain the meaning of the Western Wall
would take more than one blog session :-)