“Nothing was ready, not our uniforms and not our tanks. I was trained as a driver. No one knew what was happening. The warehouse lacked the amount of supplies needed for the troops, and the tanks hadn’t been serviced for months. The scene was like the Machane Yehuda Market on Friday morning. Everyone shouted out what he needed. Instead of bananas and strawberries, soldiers traded with each other for rockets, grenades, and rifles.”
You would not be
alone in thinking that the above is an eyewitness report of the happenings of
October 7th. It is, rather, an account by Rabbi Elchanan Ben Nun
during a September 2023 interview, describing what he experienced on the
first day of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. But the chaos on the military front on
October 7th, 2023 – 50 years, almost to the day, later – was just as
great.
Describing his
experience on the morning of the October 7th massacre, Guy Itzhaki,
a decorated war veteran, said in an Aish.com interview, that he had read a lot
of history books about the Yom Kippur War, but this was the first time in his life
that he felt he was watching a scene from it before his own eyes. “People were
in shock. In those chaotic early hours, there was much confusion. The scale of
the attack, the number of infiltrations, the fate of the border communities – everything
was fragmented, contradictory, or unknown.”
The IDF,
unprepared for a sudden all-out war, called up 200,000 reservists in the hours
and days after the massacre – and was overwhelmed when more than 300,000
reported for duty. They simply didn’t have enough equipment to go round.
At the same time,
thousands of Israeli families, from both the north and the south, had to be
hastily evacuated from the most dangerous combat zones and were hosted in
private homes or placed in hotels.
* * *
Israel is a small,
close-knit country. By October 8th, civilians in Israel were sending
cooked food and supply packages to the front lines, and some Israeli businesses
shut down for weeks or months to ensure that the soldiers had fresh, tasty
food. Over 100 restaurants in Tel Aviv were able to get emergency kashrut
certificates so they could provide food to all of the chayalim,
including those who kept strictly kosher. Where I live, in Beit Shemesh, Aroma
Espresso Bar became the headquarters for making up to 12,000 sandwiches a day.
The owner insisted on doing this on his own tab, refusing to accept donations.
All over the
world, too, individuals and organizations sprang to action, raising money to send
the basic essential gear, including ceramic combat vests, better helmets, and
other sundry supplies that soldiers need in the field. And of course, in
addition to money raised and supplies sent from abroad, many foreign volunteers
came to help. This chesed did not go unnoticed and contributed to achdut
(unity) and ahavat chinam (love) across the country.
As in the terrible
Yom Kippur War and, now, in the ongoing Gaza one, nearly everyone knows at
least one person who has been killed or seriously wounded – if not in their own
family, then a neighbor, a friend, or colleague. I personally had ties with
grieving families and with friends of several soldiers who have been killed in
combat, including Daniel Perez, grandson of my friend Gail Perez, and Eyal
Twito, a young, religious Shnat Sherut volunteer who had worked in
Baltimore in educational settings. Many in the Baltimore community became very
close to him, including my daughter and son-in-law, Chana Leah and Motti
Margalit, who were one of his host families. He had become like an adopted son
to them.
* * *
As the months
pass, though, another phenomenon, like one that happened after the Yom Kippur
War, has come to the fore. Back then, many in Israeli society experienced a
spiritual awakening. According to Tablet Magazine, the baal
teshuva movement began in Israel in the 1960s, but “after the Yom Kippur
War, the trend in Israel grew. After a few celebrities, like filmmaker Uri
Zohar, and a few prominent scientists, such as chemistry professor Doron
Aurbach and mathematician Eliyahu Rips, turned ultra-Orthodox, it became a
flood.”
Many of the newly
religious enrolled in yeshivas and seminaries established just a few years
earlier for those with little or no background. Many succeeded in becoming shomrei
mitzvot, but it wasn’t always easy or even possible to integrate fully into
the established frum population for various reasons. Yonoson Rosenblum,
in a December 2019 Mishpacha article, entitled “Kiruv without
Consideration of Integration Is Irresponsible,” wrote, “Statistically, children
of baalei teshuva constitute a disproportionate share of the dropouts
from Orthodox life.”
Today, too, there
is a spiritual response to events. But the teshuva taking place in
Israel today seems to be a more organic, grassroots movement. There are many
established organizations already set up for them, but the people, particularly
the youth, are seeking something different. In Israel, where the calendar
revolves around the Jewish lifecycle and Jewishness is in the air, many feel
more confident to jump in and do more on their own. Established organizations
are seeing the new enthusiasm as people are running towards them without the
need for “outreach.”
* * *
Sivan Rahav-Meir, popular
author, journalist and international speaker, says this is a global phenomenon.
She likes to refer to those who had a wake-up call by the attack as “October 8th
Jews,” whose “Jewish spark was ignited in the wake of recent events.”
In the months
prior to October 7th, Israeli society seemed fractured beyond repair,
with huge demonstrations over many religious and political issues. After that
terrible day, the fear, shock, trauma, and the pain of grief affected everyone.
But along with it came a determination to defeat our barbarous enemy.
Although it seems we
are now once again “on track” to becoming as divided as before, arguing
vehemently about politics and important divisive issues, Sivan Rahav-Meir feels
this is less important than the spiritual trend in the country. She says that,
from the tragedy, there has emerged a sense of “moral clarity, a thirst for
Torah knowledge, and the desire to become ‘more Jewish’ creating a new,
healthier unity.” She says, “Unity is not the solution. Torah is the
solution.”
Social media has
snowballed this trend. Videos abound of concerts where young secular and
religious audiences listen and sing along with popular Israeli performers. And
these performers are singing words of prayer, quotes from Jewish texts, praise
of G-d, and the concept of netzach Yisrael. The words am Yisrael chai
are repeated with great enthusiasm, almost like a national anthem.
I believe the
influence of this music cannot be overemphasized. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
describes music in his article, Music: Language of the Soul. “There is
an inner connection between music and the spirit. When language aspires to the
transcendent and the soul longs to break free of the gravitational pull of the
earth, it modulates into song…. Words are the language of the mind. Music is
the language of the soul. So when we seek to express or evoke emotion we turn
to melody.
“Faith is more
like music than science,” he continues. “Science analyses, music integrates.
And as music connects note to note, so faith connects episode to episode, life
to life, age to age in a timeless melody that breaks into time…. Our generation
needs new songs so that we too can sing joyously to G-d as our ancestors did at
that moment of transfiguration when they crossed the Red Sea and emerged on the
other side, free at last. When the soul sings, the spirit soars.”
Sivan Rahav-Meir
told me, “People are moving faster. In the past, it took you two or three years
to learn and understand your Jewish soul. Now in a week, people come and say,
‘I want this, I want that.’ It’s not just the number of people, it’s also the
speed. This has become a trend everywhere in Israel. The songs are all about
G-d. People are wearing tzitzit and putting on a kippa. You see
in the way they speak. G-d has become an issue that is both popular and normal.
You see it at Slichot at the Kotel; people are coming to the Kotel much
more. The mikvah ladies testify that family purity has increased. Sometimes, it
seems like a contradiction. You wear this but you come to the mikvah? You don’t
keep Shabbat but you daven Mincha? You don’t have a kippa but you have tzitzit?
What’s going on here? It’s a complicated era, I think that for Orthodox people,
it’s important not to be confused because we are supposed to be role models
here. We should be uplifting these people with us and inspiring them and
ourselves.”
* * *
According to
Yonoson Rosenblum, “A guest on Yinon Magal’s popular ‘The Patriots’ show
recently described the hottest trend among Israeli youth as becoming shomer
Shabbat and attributed that to the stories of the returning hostages: ‘I’m
talking about tens of thousands of teens. What happened is that an entire
generation of Israelis has grown up ignorant.... And then the October 7th
massacre happened. And they saw all the hostages returning and speaking about
Hashem. It’s affecting everyone!’”
This is not a
short-lived phenomenon but a growing trend throughout Israel. Florit Shoihet
writes in The Jewish Chronicle, “Recent surveys, social media trends,
pop songs, and increased public participation in religious activities indicate
that Israeli Jewish society has undergone a collective shift towards religion.
As the state and the army appeared to have failed the people, many found G-d….”
This does not mean
that everyone who felt G-d’s presence have become or plans to be totally
observant, although many are on that path. What it does signify is that more
Israelis want to be more Jewish and not simply identify as Israeli. As Rabbi
Shlomo Porter, zt”l, used to say, “Judaism is not an all-or-nothing
religion. Something is better than nothing.” And of course something usually
leads to more.
Rabbi David Stav,
chair of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization, also describes these shifts: “We
live in a fascinating era, and it is hard to underestimate its significance.
There are indications for a Jewish awakening, not necessarily a
religious one. It is not a mass movement to return to a fully religious
lifestyle but a will to adopt some of the Jewish religious customs and a more
open attitude toward Jewish texts and songs. It is a gentle process, and I
believe that in the following years, Israeli society will develop a new
Jewish-Israeli identity.”
Sivan Rahav-Meir
says, “The day after the October 7th massacre, people changed and
realized that it’s not just Hamas or a physical effect, rather there is a
spiritual message here and there’s moral clarity in the air. People are asking
themselves the deepest questions. Who am I? Why is ultimate evil always after
me, one generation after the other?
“People who, until
then, only identified as Israeli, like citizens of any other country would
identify themselves as French or Russian or American, found themselves
questioning,” she continues. “They are asking, ‘Now we do have a Jewish state,
so what’s the problem? Why can’t we just live here as normal people? Are we
normal? What is Judaism? What am I supposed to do with it?’ The operative word
here is tachlis, practical things. People want to do things. They don’t
just want to think about their Judaism. They want to be more
Jewish, to do more mitzvot, to take upon themselves more things.”
Dr Rachel
Werczberger, an anthropologist of religion studying contemporary Jewish life,
says that, although former polls indicated that nearly 65% of Israelis defined
themselves as secular or traditional who are not so religious, “these
categories are not relevant anymore, and perhaps never were accurate as they
were relying on modern secular and Christian ideas. The Israeli majority has
never been really secular; some ‘secular’ individuals believe in G-d, while
others practice some traditions to stay connected to the mainstream
culture.”
* * *
I certainly find
this to be true. When I began writing this article, I approached random young people
who didn’t appear religious, I found that when you scratch the surface, they
were all believers in G-d, and some of them were completely or partially shomer
Shabbat. One girl said, “Just because I dress like this
doesn’t mean I am not shomer Shabbat.” She came from a shomer
Shabbat family and told me she prays every day.
Perhaps if I had gone to some areas of Tel
Aviv or Haifa, I could have found more strident atheists, but in the
“non-religious” hangouts in Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem, it seems impossible to
find a “non-believer” who doesn’t feel connected and proud of his or her
heritage.
Rabbi Stav adds,
“The label ‘religious’ until October 7th was social. But now we are facing a period
in which we will meet many non-religious yet very Jewish individuals who will
seem completely secular – men without yarmulkes and women with short shorts –
but their identity will be more traditional and Jewish.”
Rahav-Meir is
involved in many ongoing efforts to encourage shmirat mitzvot. She says
that, although the rest of the world mainly hears news about conflicts in
Israel regarding Netanyahu’s trial or politics or the chareidim, the real
headlines should be about the deeper messages. “People are coming back
home. ‘Bring Them Back Home’ is not just a slogan for the hostages. It’s the
main way to describe the Jewish world right now. We all want to come back home.
Jews want to have more Shabbat, more tzitzit, more hafrashat challah,
more Torah learning, more mikvah, more Judaism,” she says. She sees it in many
of the projects she is involved in. She wrote many bestselling books before the
war, but the publication of her latest book, Birkat HaShachar, a guide
to the blessings recited in the morning, has elicited much greater public
reaction and sold many more books.
“People are hungry
and thirsty for Birkat Hashachar. How do you start your day? If you
already say it, you want to say it with more kavanah. If you don’t have
this morning routine, you want to add it into your life.”
One project she is
involved with is the organization Kesher Yehudi. She goes to their Shabbatot
all the time and feels privileged to be part of the project, led by founder
Rabbanit Tzili Schneider. They host the families of the hostages along with
Nova survivors and also just ordinary Israelis, who all come and want to keep
Shabbat together. “It’s amazing to see how people are wanting to keep
Shabbat with no coercion, no budget.”
* * *
According to Yonoson
Rosenblum, “In addition to the anecdotal evidence, there is quantitative
support of this hisorerus (awakening) as well. Kesher Yehudi, for
instance, has added 3,000 pairs of chavrusas over the past two years –
and as only one of a number of organizations, including Ayelet HaShachar,
involved in creating these partnerships. Kesher Yehudi works with over 30
pre-army-induction academies (mechinot), in which each student has a chavrusa
over the course of the year prior to induction and spends at least one Shabbos
in a chareidi neighborhood with their chavrusa’s family. In the
last two years, the number of graduates continuing with their chavrusas
even after induction or otherwise involved in mitzvah observance has jumped
greatly.”
Rosenblum says, “The
most remarkable expression of newfound religious identity comes from the
hostages. They had no access to outside sources of information, and their
growth wasn’t spurred by any external inspiration, though it’s fascinating how
many of the captives who held fiercely to their Jewish identity and practice in
captivity had parents who were on a parallel religious journey. For the last
year, the Israeli public has been bombarded with stories of the sacrifices made
by hostages to preserve their Jewish identity. And the impact has been
enormous.”
He reports that,
of the survivors who have been participating in Kesher Yehudi events over the
past year and a half, 60 have become fully shomer Shabbos, and many
others have committed to different aspects of Shabbos observance or learning
with chavrusas.
Rahav-Meir
continues writing more books. One of them is about practical ways to help
people keep Shabbat or to add more Shabbat into our lives. “Wherever I go, all
over Israel, people are interested, baruch Hashem. Maybe that’s the real
tikkun. We came back here in 1948. Zionism developed without Judaism,
and now we are understanding the message and doing it in a better way. So yes,
there is politics and, unfortunately, a huge campaign against the chareidim
and sometimes against the settlers. However, we are moving in the right direction,
and that’s what the prophets told us would happen, and now it’s happening. Not
just Chabad and not just Aish or any other outreach organizations. It’s up to
all of us. We can all, as individuals, be part of this project. We don’t have to
create more organizations. Just be a proud, engaged, caring Jew. That’s it.”
