Like many of you, I bought an Israeli-styled dog tag to show my support for Israel. On one side is the emblem of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) with the words “Am Yisrael Chai,” Long live the people of Israel. On the other side is the emblem of the Nova music festival and the phrase, “We will dance again.” For those unfamiliar, the Nova Music Festival was a dance party at Kibbutz Re’im in the desert for young Israelis. The now famous phrase, “We will dance again,” comes from the released hostage Mia Schem, who was captured at the Nova Festival by Hamas.
Mia’s words resonate with me. We will dance again because we will not give in to intimidation and violence; rather, we will respond to hatred by living life to the fullest. In the last 146 days, we have celebrated (yes, celebrated) several Jewish holidays. Our joy has not been wholehearted, but we will not cease the pride in being Jewish because others hate us for it. Just like the days of mourning in our calendar, which recall the tragedies that our ancestors experienced, we will hold tragedy and trauma while we also look to a brighter future.
Our ancestors have sat, weeping by the river of Babylon, and we have exalted at our return to our holy land. We have experienced this pattern throughout our millennia-long history, and we draw strength from it today.
We will dance again, and we will not stop to celebrate our Jewish identity for a moment. I hope you’ll join me in this month of Adar as we celebrate all facets of Jewish life: Southern Soul Shabbat this Friday, Purim later this month, and many, many social gatherings in between.
Am Yisrael Chai
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Max
