Boaz Hepner flying the Israeli flag at half mast, and wearing a Nova shirt that spells out N-O-V-A using the names of the murdered I came home from a long, challenging day as a nurse, and Adi asked me if I was going to post about the tragedy in Israel. I said, “what can I offer that hasn’t been said by thousands of others today?”
Is my sadness any deeper than the countless who have personally lost friends and family on or since October 7th? No.
Does my outrage at the bloodthirsty terrorist organization Hamas, a mere finger in the fist of the terrorist regime of Iran, burn any hotter than the countless men and women who have had to bury loved ones on and since October 7th? No.
Can I possibly even IMAGINE what it must feel like to be the parents, siblings or loved ones of Hersch Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, Carmel Gat or Eden Yerushalmi? To know that it was not enough that these 6 were violently kept hostage for close to a year, but that they were brutally murdered just to prevent their reunion with their families? No, nor do I ever want to.
But you don’t avoid visiting a Shiva house, just because it is well attended. You just go. And just because countless others have bled their emotions rawly today, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to be said by me.
I mourn for Israel. I worry for my family and friends who hear air raid sirens, and run to bomb shelters on a daily basis. I fear the fires of division being stoked, by the Democratic and multi-ethnic population of Israel, which hate this war that they didn’t start, and are torn over what must happen next.
Nobody in Israel wants Hamas to exist, but can a fanatical ideology really be destroyed? Nobody in Israel can bear to see harm done to the hostages, but Sinwar himself was released as part of the Gilad Shalit deal with Hamas, and look what devastation he wrought. We want the war to end, but how? We want the hostages to be freed, but at what cost?
Tomorrow is the day we can start to come up with solutions, but for today, we pay a shiva visit to our beloved Israel, and tell the families of Hersch, Carmel, Eden, Alexander, Almog and Ori, that we love them, we mourn with them, and we pray to find a way forward.
Boaz Hepner works as a Registered Nurse in Saint John’s Health Center. He moonlights as a columnist, where his focuses are on health and Israel, including his Chosen Links section of the Journal.
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