They Shall Beat Their Swords into Ploughshares
We Jews have just come to the end of an extended sequence of religious festivals following upon our New Year. But, as you can imagine, this year’s celebrations have been very muted. A deep, dark shadow has fallen across our lives.
Two weeks ago was Yom Kippur, when our synagogues are packed full for the annual fast, when we pray to God to forgive us for our sins. But this year, we were sinned against, as a knife-wielding fanatic tried to gain entrance to a packed synagogue in north Manchester. Two ordinary worshippers were murdered. It could have been many more.
Then, on 7th October, we again gathered in our synagogues for the late harvest festival of Sukkot and also commemorated the second anniversary of the massacre of 1,200 Israeli civilians (including 378 youngsters at the Nova music festival) and the taking of 251 hostages, that precipitated the current war against the fanatical Islamists who have been in control of Gaza for 18 years.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Jewish communities have been traumatised. So how do we Jews respond to these tragedies from a religious point of view? We have been saying the following special prayer:
“Eternal God, we come before You overwhelmed with relief and gratitude that on the second anniversary of the massacre on 7th October 2023, all the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been released to their homes and families.
We hope and pray that food and other essentials for life will be delivered to the civilians of Gaza safely and sufficiently.
We pray with renewed fervour for wisdom and moral courage to be bestowed upon regional and world leaders, so that they might yet turn from aggression and killing to re-building peaceful life for all who live in the region.
We pray, too, for civility here in the United Kingdom, amongst those who find themselves on opposite sides of this conflict.
We pray for our ability to hold in our hearts at the same time the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians.
We keep our dreams alive for a time when Israelis and Palestinians will live in harmony and peace with each other.
Eternal God, we pray in the words of the prophet: ‘They shall beat their swords into plough–shares, and their spears into pruning–hooks…neither shall they learn war any more.”
Rabbi David Hulbert