Among the victims wounded in the San Diego Poway Chabad House shooting was 8-year-old Noya Dahan. Noya’s family had left their hometown in Sderot located close to the Gazan border and moved to California for some peace of mind, away from the repeated rocket attacks and the incendiary balloons that burst into frightening flames leaving everyone on edge; in fact, the Dahan home had been damaged in the past by rocket fire.
For the record, Sderot residents had been living under Arab terrorism for decades, long before Israel’s government forcibly expelled all the Jews from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Shockingly, generations of Jewish children have been born and reared under these traumatic conditions.
Yet, rather than protecting them with a policy of zero-tolerance for terrorism, successive Israeli governments instead spend hundreds of thousands of dollars building sci-fi like concrete structures over schools and in playgrounds to shield these precious children during Tzeva Adom alerts and missile attacks – the outcome of politicians feeling pressured, whether from within or without, to pledge loyalty to “Peace” agreements their” partners” were scoffing before the ink was even dry.
This normalization of living with terror has become so entrenched that last June in a tour of the area, Israel’s prime minister unabashedly advised Sderot to “be prepared for a protracted campaign,” explaining that the conflict with Gaza is a kind of “exchange of blows that doesn’t end with one punch.”
We beg to differ.
Throughout the decades of his leadership, the Lubavitcher Rebbe spoke repeatedly of the imperative to protect Jewish lives from terrorism and war.
In what he called Shleimus HaAretz, the Rebbe decried territorial concessions and negotiations, let alone signing agreements that placed Jews in harms’ way and restricted their right to settle or expand anywhere in Israel.
Exhorting the Israeli government to take both pre-emptive measures and make lightning-quick, thorough responses against terrorism, the Rebbe unequivocally stated this would not only protect Jewish lives but the adversary’s as well who would drop his plans once he understood the consequences.
In speaking to the press and public, Rabbi Goldstein reiterated the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s adage that even just a little light can push away darkness and illuminate the possibilities for a better world.
The light of Lori Kaye, z”l, who took the bullet to protect her fellow Jews in the Poway Chabad House is very, very bright.
The Torah teaches that to save another’s life is to save an entire world.
Shabbat Learning Initiative
The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Message for True Peace
Beginning this Shabbat, let us unite to keep Lori’s light shining by illuminating the real possibilities for peace and security in Israel and by extension, the entire world by learning what the Rebbe spoke and wrote. Organize a class or gathering in your synagogue or home bringing community together to learn the Rebbe’s message for true peace.
We recommend using Rabbi Binyomin Schlanger’s excellent compilation entitled Security for the Land of Israel, Talks by the Lubavitcher Rebbe as a resource.
We also recommend giving serious attention to the Peace Plan Moshe Feiglin, chairman of Zehut in Israel, has devised. The Peace Plan relays the Rebbe’s directives into a formula for implementation that is pragmatic and feasible. See: https://www.zehutinternational.com/part-7-the-one-state-solution.
Let us hope the Rebbe’s advice will prevail and bring true peace to all of us.
Sincerely, Mrs. Tamar Adelstein, co-ordinator
Crown Heights Women for the Safety and Integrity of Israel
American Board
Mrs. Shaindel Blasberg
Mrs. Basha Oka Botnick
Mrs. Miriam Friedfertig
Mrs. Yaffa Gottlieb
Mrs. Frida Schapiro
Mrs. Robin Ticker
Mrs. Miriam Yerushalmi
Israel Board
Mrs. Shifra Hoffman – Jerusalem;
founder and executive director of Victims of Arab Terror
Mrs. Yehudit Tayar – Bet Horon, Samaria; EMT,
Board of Directors of Hatzalah Yehudah and Shomron, spokesperson for YESHA
Ms. May Golan – Tel Aviv; founder Hebrew City NGO –
advocating on behalf of the Jewish residents in Southern Tel Aviv
Rabbinical Advisory Board
Rabbi Yitchok Springer, ZTz’L
Rabbi Yekusiel Rapp, ZTz’L
Rabbi Shalom Ber Kalmanson Head Lubavitcher Shaliach to Southern Ohio
Rabbi Yehoshua Hecht Member Presidium Rabbinical Alliance of America
Rav of Beth Israel, Westport/Norwalk -Chabad, Connecticut
Rabbi Reuven Flamer Chabadlife.TV
Rabbi Ranaan Isseroff
Rabbi Yaakov Cohen, Director for Institute of Noahide Code UN NGO ( ECOSOC)
Beautiful !
Security for The Land of Israel, Talks by The Lubavitcher Rebbe (by Rabbi Schlanger) can be purchased at local CH bookstores or via Rabbi Schlanger: [email protected] The initiative got off to a great start this Shabbos in Crown Hts at Bais Levi Yitzchak shul during the Kiddush for ladies! We quoted the Rebbe emphasizing that “the power of the Jewish People lies in their words”. May the light of our studying and repeating the Rebbe’s directives for peace and security “beam forth the darkness and wisdom overcome folly.” (The Rebbe – 28th Nissan 5750/April 23, 1990) Let’s keep this important… Read more »