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by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar
It is with great relief that I write reflecting on an agreement reached between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the United States, that seeks to bring an end to this two-year war launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The deal would bring home all 48 remaining hostages, 20 of whom we pray are still alive after two years of harrowing captivity, reuniting them with their loved ones; it would give respite to long-suffering innocent Palestinians whose communities have been devastated; it would allow exhausted IDF reservists to return to their families; and it would pave the way, albeit precariously, for steps towards long-term peace in the region.
The costs of this war will play out for decades to come. It has reshaped the region in significant ways: the tragic human toll, for Israelis, Palestinians, and throughout the region, has been immense; some of Israel’s staunchest adversaries, who aim to see Israel no longer exist — Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas — have been dealt significant setbacks; and Israel’s standing internationally, including in the United States, has been shaken. We pray that from the ashes of this war, and from all of the suffering that so many human beings have experienced, we are able to collectively chart a course for the common good that allows peoples of all stripes — Israeli and Palestinian, Jew and Arab, Muslim and Christian — to live side by side in peace. As we pray each Shabbat with the words of Rebbe Nahman of Breslov:
May we see the day when war and bloodshed cease,
When a great peace will embrace the whole world.
Then nation will not threaten nation,
And humanity will not again know war.
For all who live on earth shall realize
We have not come into being to hate or to destroy.
We have come into being
To praise, to labor, and to love.
Compassionate God, bless the leaders of all nations
With the power of compassion.
Fulfill the promise conveyed in Scripture:
I will bring peace to the Land,
And you shall lie down, and no one shall terrify you.
I will rid the Land of vicious beasts
And it shall not be ravaged by war.
Let love and justice flow like a mighty stream.
Let peace fill the earth as the waters fill the sea.
And let us say: Amen.
