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Today is Monday, April 6th, the third day of Chol MaMoed Pesach.
Throughout the first two days of Chag Pesach, many of us living in the United States celebrated and observed the Chag with mixed emotions.
The feelings which many of us experienced during these two days (really three days including Shabbat), were a combination of joy and celebration with a significant dose of guarded concern, worry and trepidation.
For many of us who are shomrei Shabbat (Sabbath observers), we were unable to hear or see real-time news from Israel regarding the war, except for bits and pieces from those who heard the news from other sources in our community.
This feeling of frustration was even more pronounced for many of us with children, grandchildren and family living or visiting Israel. To be sure, this matzav struck a very deep chord for me personally. My granddaughter together with many other seminary students studying in Israel needed to spend Chag Pesach in Israel due to flight cancellations to the States.
As a result, she and her friends were fortunate Baruch HaShem to join other American families and friends for the two days of Pesach sedarim. It could have been worse God forbid.
Moving Forward…..
As we follow the news from Israel, we hear mixed reports. Some officials say the war will end in several days; others say weeks or months. In the interim, Iranian missiles and drones continue to rain down on Israeli population centers and our IDF troops in Lebanon continue to engage Hezbollah in a relentless ground offensive. All the while, Washington issues deadline after deadline only to be extended again and again in order to either cut a new deal with Iran or to call the regime’s bluff. In the meantime, more and more Israeli innocent citizens and IDF troops are in harm’s way and the trauma of war continues unabated.
At this juncture, we ask ourselves, when will the war end, how will it end, and, at what cost?
As Israel engages in an existential war, we all pray to HaShem that the war will end soon in victory, and that Teharan and its proxies will be totally marginalized to the extent that its nuclear threat will be downgraded or diminished if not total eliminated.
Yesterday morning, I overheard a daunting conversation between several news journalists and Israeli economists about a variety of theories and perspectives of what Israel (and diaspora Jewish communities) may expect, anticipate or experience once this war is over.
It was a fascinating conversation but one which suggested monumental challenges unsurpassed in Israel’s history.
After listening to the conversation, my head began spinning with thoughts about how insurmountable these challenges will be and how difficult it will be to rebuild our precious homeland to a level that existed just prior to the war. It was beyond sad, daunting and frustrating.
Post-War Challenges
With HaShem’s guidance, direction and oversight, the war with Iran will eventually end in Israel’s favor. But with this reality, the State of Israel in partnership with diaspora friends and partners, will be forced to rebuild Israel’s social, industrial, economic and financial infrastructure in ways never before imaginable.
As we know, this war has taken a tremendous toll on Israeli society. From Israeli women, children and men as well as IDF personnel who are in dire need of physical, medical and mental health rehabilitation due to shock, trauma and/or physical injury, to Israeli stores and supermarkets which have not been able to restock their goods or function due to a lack of personnel and inventory; from the missile and drone collapsed apartment and office buildings (requiring total rebuilding and physical rehabilitation) to irreparable infrastructure damage; and an school system whose doors have been closed since the start of the war; from high-tech industries that lost 25% of their philanthropic investors, to biomedical research facilities which needed to cease all operations. And, finally the deep emotional and psychological impact of the war caused by the relentless non-stop barrage of missile and drone attacks on Israeli population centers.
With regard to the schooling of Israeli children, just imagine how an entire generation of students are now being denied continuous education due to the disruption of the school system caused by war.
This sad reality is reminiscent of the COVID pandemic which set our students back academically for almost a year.
Friends, these are just a few of the many daunting challenges and exigencies that Israel will be facing following the war.
Overcoming these obstacles and challenges will take precious time, resources, will-power and resilience. It will also require a major effort on the part of diaspora Jewish communities and their organizations to help raise significant funds and to volunteer for Israel like never before in history. To be sure, it is not too soon to start planning for this eventuality whether they be in the form of emergency campaigns, direct gifts to Israeli institutions, or volunteering,
Although we are currently preoccupied with the war, we must nevertheless prevent ourselves from starting to plan for the “day after”. It is our obligation and responsibility.
Educational Implications
In addition to the aforementioned needs and requirements, immediately following Chag Pesach, our Jewish Day Schools and Yeshivot should engage in daily tefillot and tehilim, in support of acheinu bnai yisrael who are living in eretz yisrael.
In addition, schools must engage in continuous divrei chizuk which endeavor to place support for Israel at top of its educational agenda. This activity must go hand-in-hand with increased Torah study and the offering of meaningful chesed projects.
Finally, over chag pesach, while our students are on school break, many, unless directly connected to Israel through family, are somewhat protected or immune from the harsh realities of the war in Israel.
It is therefore incumbent upon heads of school and yeshiva principals to engage students and faculty (upon their return to school following Pesach) in extensive and intensive conversations about how our Jewish community must help Israel through this very difficult, trying and challenging period of rehabilitation and healing.
End Note
As of today, the war with Iran and Hezbollah rages on; and we have absolutely no idea as to when or how it will end.
Even if the war ended today, the challenges Israel faces, resulting from this war will be truly vast, overwhelming and massive.
We hope and pray to HaShem that once this war ends, our communities will all coalesce as one people and as one nation to help build, rebuild and strengthen Eretz Yisrael as a true beacon of strength, resilience and hope for many generations.
Am Yisrael Chai
Dr. Chaim Botwinick is a senior executive coach and an organizational consultant .
He served as president and CEO of the central agency for Jewish education in Baltimore and in Miami; in addition to head of school and principal for several Jewish day schools and yeshivot.
As an Influencer, he has published and lectured extensively on topics relating to education, resource development, strategic planning and leadership development.
Dr. Botwinick is Author of “Think Excellence: Harnessing Your Power to Succeed Beyond Greatness”, Brown Books, 2011