Faith and Spirituality

by Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah

A question for those of you of a certain age: Do you remember where you were and what you were doing thirty years ago today, on October 6th 1973 ? I’ll give you a clue, the Jewish date was the 10th of Tishri 5734 – it was Yom Kippur. Perhaps you were here, in synagogue. I wasn’t here – or in any synagogue for that matter. As on previous years, I spent the day quietly with my mother, fasting together, listening to stories about her life and talking about members of the family who were no longer alive. It was our little ritual, which continued until I stepped into a synagogue on Yom Kippur for the first time eleven years later on – believe it or not – October 6th 1984 , just prior to beginning my rabbinic studies at Leo Baeck College .

Wherever we were and whatever we were doing on October 6th 1973 , none of us knew, as we got up that morning, that it was going to be the most significant Yom Kippur in Jewish memory. And for those who were gathered inside synagogues all over the world, none were aware that at noon , the Egyptian and Syrian military forces launched a combined assault against Israeli positions on the Suez Canal in the south and the Golan Heights in the north respectively. As a result of Egyptian and Syrian subterfuge, Israel was unprepared for the onslaught – and so the Arab armies gained ground with a number of initial victories that inflicted severe losses.

On the Syrian front, Syrian forces confronted the Israeli defenders of the Golan Heights with 1,100 Syrian tanks against 157 Israeli tanks and quickly reached the outer perimeter of the Golan Heights overlooking the Hula Basin . Meanwhile, Syria 's artillery shelled Israeli settlements. However, despite the huge advantage in numbers, the Syrians were able to seize only one Israeli fortification, on Mount Hermon , a key Israeli Defence Forces intelligence-gathering position.

Caught by surprise, the IDF were nevertheless quick to respond: On October 8th Israeli armored forces launched a major counter-offensive and, after two days of bitter fighting, pushed Syria back to the 1967 cease-fire lines. Between October 11th and October 14th, the IDF forced the Syrian forces across the cease-fire lines and penetrated Syrian territory. An Iraqi expeditionary force dispatched to reinforce the Syrians was also successfully blocked.

On the Egyptian front, the Yom Kippur War began with waves of Egyptian infantrymen crossing the Suez Canal and overrunning the Israeli defenses. Approximately 70,000 Egyptian troops attacked the 500 Israeli soldiers stationed along the Bar Lev Line and it was easily taken. Israeli planes counter-attacked but were initially ineffective due to defensive fire from Soviet-made anti-aircraft missiles. Israel 's reserve troops, arriving at 4:00pm , were repulsed but took up defensive positions that stopped the Egyptian advance. And so, for the next week Egyptian forces kept trying to break through beyond this position, six miles east of the Suez Canal . But then the tide changed. Once assurance of Israel 's re-supply by the United States was obtained, the Israelis went on the offensive, committing reserve forces to the battles. On October 15th the IDF mounted an operation to push across the Suez Canal and strike at Egyptian forces on the other side.

I t was only when it was clear that Egypt was going to lose that the United Nations acted, finally ordering a cease-fire. At that time, Israel held the entire western side of the Suez Canal , coming within 42 miles of Cairo . Meanwhile, Israel had pushed Syria back to within 40 miles of Damascus , having destroyed more than 1,100 Syrian tanks. The war officially ended with a cease-fire on October 22nd 1973 . Skirmishes continued and when hostilities finally ended with the intervention of the United States and the Soviet Union on October 25th. Israel held an additional 165 square miles of territory from Syria, and was firmly established on the west bank of the Suez Canal. By the time an effective cease-fire was actually implemented, the IDF had completely surrounded Egypt 's Third Army and threatened it with annihilation. Egyptian forces held two areas of Israeli territory along the east bank of the canal. Israel , Egypt and Syria all held prisoners of war. An estimated 2,700 Israelis, 3,500 Syrians and 15,000 Egyptians were killed in the fighting.

I don’t suppose you came here today expecting to listen to a summary description of the Yom Kippur War – courtesy, by the way, of two Internet web-sites, one Israeli, the other Arabic (www.adl.org; www.palestinefacts.org). Not exactly appropriate Yom Kippur sermon material – but then war on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, is not exactly appropriate either. Thirty years later, it is important that we remind ourselves of what happened following the combined Syrian Egyptian assault against Israel on Yom Kippur 1973. If we had more time, it would also be helpful to remind ourselves of what happened during the Six Day War that began on June 5th 1967 , and before that, during the 1956 Suez Crisis, and before that during the 1948 War of independence. After all, the context for the Yom Kippur War is the continuing conflict between Israel and the surrounding Arab nations, and between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, which as we know, has extended forwards as well as backwards – right up to the present day.

We need to remind ourselves, but the process of remembering is actually quite problematic. I mentioned a few moments ago that I gleaned information about the Yom Kippur War from two Internet web-sites - one, Israeli, one, Arabic. I did this because I wanted to be sure to identify the facts. As it happens, the two versions are very similar – but then, the chronology of the war has been well-documented and part of the public record since the moment of the first Syrian and Egyptian strikes. However, alongside the public record, there are the particular collective memories of the peoples directly involved. In Israel, Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Independence Day, celebrated on the 5th day of Iyyar, the anniversary of the establishment of the State, according to the Jewish calendar, is a day of great rejoicing. Meanwhile, on the secular anniversary, 14th May, Palestinians commemorate what they call ‘the great catastrophe’, and recall their losses as a people since that day.

Two stories; two sets of memories – and never the twain shall meet? That is the question. And it is not just that Israelis celebrate and the Palestinians mourn. Each year, Yom Ha’atzma’ut is preceded by Yom Hazikaron, the Day of Remembrance, when Israel recalls its losses and remembers those who have been killed in the ongoing conflict since the establishment of the State, right up to the present day. Am Yisrael Chay! – ‘The People Israel lives!’: That is the exultant cry on Israel’s birthday each year – but meanwhile, Israelis, too, are a people in mourning; citizens of a state born out of mourning. Is it surprising that scarred by loss and grief, and divided by exclusive claims to the same piece of land, mutual acknowledgement seems virtually impossible?

And then, of course, again and again, any moves towards reconciliation are blown apart by violence: the latest terrible incident, at a Haifa restaurant on Shabbat, when eighteen people were killed in a suicide bomb attack – the death toll now stands at twenty. As long as the cycle of violence continues, fear and hatred on both sides will overwhelm the impulse to make peace. As long as both Israelis and Palestinians are unable to recognise that there is more than one story to tell and that the experience of the other party to the conflict is both real and legitimate, reconciliation between the two peoples will remain a pipe-dream. As long as both Israelis and Palestinians are unable to give up not only their absolute claims to the land, but their absolute claims on the truth, a peace settlement, involving compromises on both sides, will not be achieved.

From the vantage point of those looking in on the conflict from the outside, Israelis and Palestinians seem caught in an unending cycle of denial. And yet, that story, too, is partial – a distortion of reality. While the latest Road Map to Peace lies in tatters, and the possibility of a settlement seems as distant as ever, the reality is that much has changed within and between the two peoples during the past thirty years: When Ariel Sharon launched Operation Peace for Galilee in 1982 in an attempt to put an end to the attacks across Israel’s north western border, half a million Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv to protest against the military action and its consequences. For the first time in its history, Israelis no longer maintained a united front, and an Israeli movement for Peace, Shalom Achshav, Peace Now, was born. Five years later in 1987, when the Palestinians launched their first uprising, Israelis of all persuasions, adopting the Palestinian name for the upheaval, Intifada, began to recognise the particular existence of the Palestinian people for the first time. And then, less than six years later, on September 13th 1993 – just two days before Rosh Hashanah - the General who had been responsible for ordering Israeli troops confronted with stone-throwing Palestinian children to ‘break their legs’, Yitzchak Rabin, was shaking hands with one-time Palestinian terrorist, Yassir Arafat, on the White House lawn, and participating in the first wholesale peace process between the two peoples.

We know that the Oslo Accords, which formed the basis of the peace process, were wrecked by discord, extremist violence and the expansion of settlement building. We know that Yitzchak Rabin was assassinated by an Israeli right-wing extremist on November 4th 1995 . We know that during the past ten years, and particularly, since the beginning of the second Intifada in September 2000, the cycle of terrorist attack and counter-strike has escalated terribly. We also know – or should know – that the number of Israeli and Palestinian peace groups, including Israeli-Palestinian joint initiatives, has also proliferated. The reality is that it is no longer possible to make global statements about the Israelis and the Palestinians. A few months ago, the Israeli Shaliach (Emissary) to the Liberal movement, Eran Shafir came to speak to us at one of our Chavurah suppers about the ‘many Israels ’ that reside in Israel today. Just as there are ‘many Israels ’ so there are many Palestines: Alongside the struggle between Israel and the Palestinians, there is a struggle going on within the Palestinian Authority, between the extremists and the moderates. And l’at, l’at, slowly, slowly, despite the constant set-backs, the moderates among both peoples are beginning to work together and to walk together towards peace.

Today, on Yom Kippur, the Sabbath of Sabbaths of the Jewish year, observant Jews the world over have gathered together to journey towards forgiveness and atonement. Today, on the thirtieth anniversary of the combined Syrian Egyptian assault against Israel , Jewish communities across the globe are recalling the events of that terrible day. And yet, just as each denomination, each congregation, commemorates Yom Kippur in its own way; and just as each individual Jew, makes their own unique journey, so our responses to the ongoing conflict between the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples are diverse and plural.

As Liberal Jews, inspired by Judaism’s ethical teachings, we stand with the peace-makers on both sides, who are struggling to achieve a just and secure peace for both peoples. This afternoon, we will read from the parashah, Kedoshim, from Leviticus chapter 19. Known as the ‘Holiness Code’, Leviticus chapter 19 expresses holiness in terms of ethical rules governing the treatment, both, of our neighbours, of people like us, and also of other people who seem to be unlike us, those who are dependent and vulnerable for a variety of different reasons – the poor, manual labourers, those with disabilities, the elderly, and the stranger. Not only do those who live secure lives have a responsibility towards those who do not, but also, ultimately, all the different people who live in society have a right to equal treatment before the law. Moreover, the Holiness Code exhorts us to respect and acknowledge difference: Echoing the command, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ at verse 18, we read at verse 34: ‘… you shall love the stranger as yourself for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt .’ Moreover, the Torah not only teaches us that the stranger in our midst, however different they may appear to be, is a person like us, our neighbour after all, but also urges us to identify with the stranger by reminding us that at one time we were strangers ourselves.

The Holiness Code provides us with a universal teaching, which applies at all times and in all places. But, of course, it speaks directly to the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians: Neighbours and strangers, the Israeli and Palestinian peoples also share the experience of homelessness, of exile, and of being minorities. Ironically, they have much more in common with one another than they do with the Arab countries that surround them both. And we mustn’t forget that in 1975, just two years after Syria and Egypt attempted to wipe Israel off the map, Jordan expelled the Palestinians on a day, which the exiles who fled northwards to Lebanon , later called ‘Black September’. Despite, periodic assertions of pan-Arab fellowship, there is little doubt that those major Arab nations still ruled by autocracies continue to regard the Palestinian people’s aspirations for democratic statehood, as a potential threat to the stability of their societies. And even the more recent rhetoric of Islamic solidarity doesn’t quite manage to encompass the Palestinians, who true to their roots in the land include both Christian and Muslim believers. What is more, given the geographical location of Palestinian existence, the forbears of those Palestinians whose link to the land pre-dates the rise of Christianity, were, almost certainly, Jewish.

Thirty years after the Yom Kippur War it is evident that the reality of the middle east conflict has changed beyond all recognition, and is also much more complex than it looked on October 6th 1973: The State of Israel is now, officially, at peace with both Egypt and Jordan – although not, as yet, with Syria, as Israel’s strike yesterday in response to the suicide bomb attack made abundantly clear; Israeli society has become increasingly diverse; and as the Palestinian people has emerged from the shadow-lands of marginality, Palestinian society has begun to look much more heterogeneous in the clear light of day. The great tasks of building and re-building bridges, of breaking down walls, re-building demolished houses, re-planting trees, and finding a way of sharing scarce resources seems overwhelming – but the miracle is that despite continuing hostility and cynicism and violence, peace-makers among both peoples are at work. Can we justify losing hope in the face of such endurance and courage? Let us pray that by the time we come together to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, strangers and enemies will have become neighbours and friends, living side by side in peace. And let us say: Amen.

Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah is rabbi of Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue

This sermon was given on Yom Kippur Shacharit 5764 – 6th October 2003