On the night Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, Robert F. Kennedy had to break the news of King’s death to his Indiana audience that he was scheduled to address. It is one of the most extraordinary speeches in its brevity and powerful simplicity.
What was extraordinary was how frankly, and calmly, Kennedy addressed the anger and hate that underlies irrational acts and the profundity of his words. One of the most memorable parts of his speech is his quote from the Greek poet Aeschylus: “And even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”
I thought of Kennedy addressing his shocked and traumatised nation last night as I watched on Israeli TV the cortege bearing the bodies of the 4 Israeli hostages travelling from Gaza in the south of the country to central Tel Aviv. Drop by drop the grief of this nation: The soldiers carrying the coffins with an ineffable grief on their young faces, the affront of adult caskets for the Bibas baby and infant, renewing the horror of that iconic video of October 7 of the children and their mother, Shiri, carrying them – Ariel under one arm, Kfir under the other. Oh, how heavy the burden of bewildered children, oh how aching the soul of a fearful, vulnerable mother. Then the body of that remarkable 83 year old, Oded Lifshitz, a peace activist who worked with his wife to aid Palestinian citizens get transportation to Israeli hospitals across the border, now ignobly transported back by some of those citizens to the Red Cross. At the handover point, the strutting Hamas staged spectacle with teenagers taking selfies, kids running around as if they were at a fun fair. Oh the heart of darkness that rejoices in death.
Drop by drop, the grief of this nation, the pain of my people. They line the streets of highway 4, Kvish Arba, that runs along Israel’s coastal plain from the Erez Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip, a highway of horror on October 7, 2023; littered with bodies from the Hamas barbarism. Today in the driving rain they stand with Israeli flags and yellow flags, high school children leave their classes to sing Hatikvah, the hope in their tearful eyes, artists cancel their concerts, people leave work early. It feels like Yom Hazikaron, the National Day of Remembrance, a day of collective mourning. They stand quietly, no celebration of death here, rather as one banner they hold proclaims – Chibbuk Gadol, a huge embrace of love and life. Father of one of the young women spotters killed on October 7 encapsulates the grief: Heaven is crying today, he says as the rain and tears run down his face. And the voice of heaven is invoked by the Chief Rabbi of the Army as he recites the plangent psalm 83 while the coffins are tenderly placed before him: “Oh God, have no silence, do not be silent… For behold Your enemies stir and those who hate You… said Come let us destroy them from being a nation…”
In his speech, Kennedy said: “What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, a feeling of justice to those who still suffer in our country”. And this too was the spirit of the people of Israel: We ask of you forgiveness said President Hertzog to the bereft families. The woman who lost her husband to a terror attack in 2002, knowing his killer was being freed in exchange for the release of hostages said she was crying, but supporting the deal because she wished for a better future for Israel… This was the spirit of the people who poured like a river of grief and defiance, solidarity and strength into Hostage Square in central Tel Aviv. They came with pride proclaiming Yesh Atid, there is a future, we have no other choice, no other land and, even if it is through the awful and awesome grace of God, we will emerge from this suffering stronger and wiser. We are here to stay!
May this Shabbat bring some comfort and healing and be a true Sabbath of Peace-Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Ralph
Please stay tuned for announcements of a short prayer service on Monday at 1pm to mark this sad day. Our next Israel Update will be at 1pm on March 3. And if you need any personal support, please reach out as our CEO assured yesterday.
Rabbi Ralph Genende OAM
Written 21 February 2025
