Dear Friends:
On Wednesday, Shiri Bibas was laid to rest in the Tzohar Regional Cemetery near her home of Kibbutz Nir Oz, together with her red-headed sons Ariel and Kfir. They were laid to rest in one casket. Ariel was four years old and Kfir was nine months when they were taken hostage along with their mother. Their father, Yarden, was captured separately while trying to fight off the Hamas terrorists, and he was released a few weeks ago as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas -- which expires tomorrow.
The funeral ceremony itself was open only to family and close friends, but the eulogies were broadcast on television. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis lined the funeral procession from the Forensic Institute near Tel Aviv to the cemetery, a journey of over 60 miles.
Among the speakers at the funeral was Ofri Bibas Levy -- sister of Yarden, sister-in-law of Shira and aunt of Ariel and Kfir. She had spoken earlier in the week, when it was discovered that the body originally returned along with those of Kfir and Ariel was not in fact Shiri, that the family did not want “revenge”, which some government officials were calling for. What the family wanted was the return of Shiri and all the other hostages. Shiri’s body was returned the next day, and earlier this week the bodies of four other hostages were returned, but 59 Israelis -- living and dead -- remain as hostages. Since there are currently no negotiations on the second stage of the ceasefire, their fate remains undetermined.
At the funeral, Ofri said these words:
“Our struggle against the enemies will be eternal, but we must always sanctify life, love of fellow humans, respect for the dead, and never leave anyone behind. Otherwise, we lose who we are.”
This is precisely so. The struggle against enemies who have no respect for humanity or decency, who consistently show that there is no bottom to their cruelty and indifference to human suffering, can tempt us to sink to the same level. But we must not do this. We must always remember who we are and who we are called to be.
On a personal note, if you have been to Shabbat morning services the past two weeks you have seen me hobbling and using a cane; and you may have noticed that at evening minyan on Zoom I have not always stood for parts of the service where we normally stand. I am dealing with a strain in the quad muscle of my left leg, and these injuries can take a long time to heal. While my injury is healing, I have also found that driving or even getting into and out of a car exacerbates the injury and sets my progress back. So for the last two weeks I have not held my drop-in hours and whether I will hold them this coming week is still to be determined. If you want to speak with me, I am always available to you by phone or video conference.
As always, if I can do anything for you or you need to talk, please contact me at rabbi@kehilatshalom.org or 301-977-0768 rather than through the synagogue office. I am happy to meet you at the synagogue by appointment; if you want to speak with me it’s best to make an appointment rather than assuming I will be there when you stop by.
Additionally, if you know of a Kehilat Shalom congregant or another member of our Jewish community who could use a phone call, please let me know.
L’shalom,
Rabbi Charles L. Arian
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