It’s been a dreadful week yet again for Israel. The issue of starvation in Gaza is tearing at the very reputation of Israel and tearing at the hearts of Jews across the world, not to mention a huge number of Israelis.
Even though the reports of famine are so horribly political and distorted by Hamas, the international media and international bodies like the UN, if one child is suffering from severe hunger or starvation it cuts to the essence of all of us as human beings. It is simply a travesty of Jewish ethics and our love of justice to allow for any form of deprivation of food to a civilian population. It breaks my heart, and it enrages my soul that we Jews should be associated with anything as reprehensible as the withholding of food from children
In our daily prayers, in one of the most repeated of our psalms, we say: God open your hand and satisfy every living being. And so we say: Israel, open those kind and compassionate hands of yours to ensure every child in Gaza is provided with the nutrition they need.
Reports of huge shipments of food now being provided bring some relief to my aching heart.
See the following article from the Jewish Independent and you will see that my thoughts are shared by our Jewish leaders across this country: The Jewish Independent – Israel-denies-starvation-in-gaza-australian-j-com-leaders-say-its-real
