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A Sense of Hope

05/11/2023 11:28:31 AM

May11

by Rabbi Bryan Wexler

This week’s double Torah portion, Behar-Behukotai, offers a sense of hope as God promises the Israelites that one day: 

וְנָתַתִּ֤י שָׁלוֹם֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ וּשְׁכַבְתֶּ֖ם וְאֵ֣ין מַחֲרִ֑יד- I will grant peace in the land (of Israel), and you will be able to lie down, and none will make you afraid (Leviticus 26:6). 

How we yearn for such a day, especially today, as we watch from afar with bated breath as rockets continue to rain down in Israel.  Thus far, over 500 missiles have been fired from Gaza towards Southern Israel and the Tel Aviv area.  One rocket recently hit an apartment building in Rehovot (south of Tel Aviv), killing one person and injuring several more.  First and foremost, we pray for the safety and well-being of our brothers and sisters in Israel. May there be a quick end to the violence, and may God protect the members of the IDF who are hard at work to keep Israelis safe.  We also pray for all of the innocent civilians, Israelis and Palestinians alike, who find themselves in harms way. We are far from the peace that our Torah portion dreams of and that we have sought for generation after generation. 

Today, as we pray for peace in Israel, I am thinking about a place in Israel that we take our TBS teens each year on our Confirmation Israel Trip: Shvil Hasalat. Shvil Hasalat, “The Salad Trail,” is located on Moshav Talmei Yosef in the northern Negev, about 45 minutes away from Sderot. Shvil HaSalat is vegetable farm which gives tourists a firsthand look at how Israel has amazingly made the desert bloom.  As the tour guide explains each year to our students:  “One of the things that makes Israel so special is that we seek growth when growth seems impossible. When the obstacle seems insurmountable, Israel lives on and stands strong.”  What a powerful message for today.   

Even more, Shvil Hasalat is located a mere five miles from Gaza. As such, our tour always ends with our guide introducing us to the artwork of Yaron Bob.  Yaron created an organization called Rockets to Roses, where he transforms missiles of terror into expressions of beauty and peace. Rockets to Roses are precious, hand-sculpted pieces of art and jewelry created from actual rockets that landed in Israel, some even at Shvil HaSalat.   It is truly a modern-day version of “beating swords into plowshares.” 

As missiles fill the sky, there are certainly no tours happening at Shvil HaSalat today.  And yet, I imagine that Yaron is hard at work in his art studio.  As we pray for Israel and an end to the violence, may we pray to see a day when the words Leviticus 26:6 ring true; a day when the people of Israel will only know peace, and a day when there will be no more rockets, rather, only roses.   

Wed, January 8 2025 8 Tevet 5785