Returning Home

“A wary trickle home under the shadow of a fragile ceasefire,” is how the Times of Israel described the few residents of the northern border town of Shlomi in a tentative return to life that was upended by the attacks on Israel.

The wellbeing of Shlomi, population 7,400 before the war began, stands out for me in memory, for the time I spent volunteering on nearby Kibbutz Matzuvah during my first year of rabbinic school way back in the 1970’s. Shlomi, for all its isolation, proximity to the Lebanese border, and smallness in my eyes, was the town nearest the kibbutz and the place everyone talked about when they needed to go out and get something.

Yet, for all the welcome I feel for this ceasefire, there is still cause for grave concern, for the welfare of residents of Matzuvah and Shlomi, for the hostages, the possibility of renewed missile attacks on Israel, and the need to articulate a plan for Israel’s future, a plan that ensures peace and security among Israel and its neighbors.

God willing, this Sunday afternoon, my wife and I will land in Israel, our third visit since the war began, to spend time with our family in Jerusalem, including our three grandchildren, to be with them after all they have been through. They, along with all who live in Israel and all who seek peace, will be in my prayers as we enter this Shabbat.

With wishes for peace and security for all,

Rabbi Dennis Ross