24 Jun THE TRIUMPH OF ISRAEL AND THE SPIRIT OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE

Israelis, Jews, and
decent people
around the world
breathed a great sigh
of relief and were
filled with euphoria at
the news that the
spectacular American military, at the
courageous order of President Donald
Trump, had bombed and obliterated Iran’s
nuclear program. As of now, the 12-day
war with Iran has reached a ceasefire with a
stunning Israeli military victory, one that
experts already say surpasses the Six Day
war. We would all be remiss if we didn’t
follow the example of President Trump and
Prime Minister Netanyahu, who both
publicly and proudly thanked God for the
success of their efforts.
It is truly extraordinary that for nearly fifty
years, an evil regime, the world’s largest
state sponsor of terror, has wreaked havoc,
murdering innocent Americans and Israelis
while threatening its Arab neighbors. The
danger and threat to the world of a nuclear
Iran has been articulated by the last five
American presidents and by countless
world leaders.

History will show that President Trump and
the United States didn’t just talk about
eliminating that threat, they acted. But the
US, the world’s greatest superpower, didn’t
do it alone, they had the help of only one
other country. If you looked only at a
comparison of countries by populations,
land mass, economy, how long they have
existed, their role among nations, would
you ever guess that the other country that
not only assisted but paved the way and set
the stage was smaller than New Jersey, is
only 77 years old and has a total population
of just 10 million?
I got goosebumps when President Trump
thanked Israel: “I want to thank and
congratulate Prime Minister Bibi
Netanyahu. We worked as a team like
perhaps no team has ever worked before,
and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this
horrible threat to Israel. I want to thank the
Israeli military for the wonderful job
they’ve done.”
The role and contribution of the State of
Israel in protecting the world and keeping it
safe is nothing short of a Kiddush Hashem,
a fulfillment of the Jewish people’s mission
in the world.

I was sitting at a beautiful
Chuppah on Sunday,
thinking about and
reflecting on this
achievement. The seventh
beracha was recited and
the Chuppah was about to
conclude but instead of
turning to the singing of Im
Eshkacheich, we were all
invited to rise as something
else was sung first, the
Mi’Shebeirach for Tzahal,
the prayer for the IDF. I
have attended dozens of
weddings since October 7,
and at every one of them, a
prayer for our brothers and
sisters in Israel and for the
heroic and courageous members of the IDF
was included, sometimes as the IDF prayer
and other times as Tehillim.
As we all stood and focused on the heartfelt
Tefillah, a thought occurred to me. In
America’s wars, in Afghanistan, Iraq and
elsewhere, was any wedding of the average
American interrupted to include a prayer
for the American military? Were the
weddings of any Americans paused to pray
for American troops? Unless an
immediate family member of the bride or
groom was serving in active duty, I can’t
imagine a prayer was included, even right
here in America. And yet, for the last
year and three quarters, around the world,
thousands of miles from Israel, Jews
everywhere have refused to celebrate
without also pausing to pray for the IDF.
The Jewish people are unique in this way.
Wherever we are around the world, we
feel connected, and our wellbeing is
intertwined.
In several places (Yevamos 61a, Bava
Metzia 114b, Kerisus 6b), the Gemara
says, “You, the Jewish people are called
אדם, Odom, but the nations of the world
are not called Odom.” Read simply, it
sounds like a terribly prejudiced and
biased statement.
Rav Frand shares a story that offers a
deeper understanding: In 1912, in Russia,
Mendel Beilus was accused of killing a
Christian child and using his blood to
bake Matzahs. This slander or variations
of it were unfortunately prevalent in
Europe for many, many years. They were
known as blood libels. Beilus’ lawyer was
afraid that to buttress their case, the
accusers would make the argument that
Jews considered non-Jews less than
human. He was in fact afraid that they
would cite the above-quoted Talmudic
reference to prove this very point.
The lawyer therefore visited the

Chortkever Rebbe and asked him how he
could respond if the opposing lawyers
would throw that Gemara at him. The
Rebbe said as follows: If an Italian was
seized and put on trial, we would not
witness a scenario where all Italians were
congregating in their churches to pray for
this one Italian. The same can be said about
the French for a Frenchman, and so too
about all other nations. However, when a
Jew is seized and put on trial, the solidarity
that Jews have toward each other will make
every Jew throughout the world stop and
pray for the welfare of that other Jew.
This is how the Chortkever Rebbe explained
Chazal’s statement that “You are called
Odom.” The Hebrew language is extremely
precise in terms of the different connotations
of apparent synonyms. Other words for
“man” has a singular and a plural – ish,
anashim, gever, gevarim. However, the
word Odom is the same whether referring
to one or many. The singular term “Odom”
fits the Jews. All Jews are considered as a
single entity. There is no dichotomy. We are
all in this together. The reason why the
word “Odom” is employed referring to
Jews is because this is the only term for
humanity that has no plural and the Jewish
people are a singular people.
This is not a racist or bigoted interpretation.
It is a unique attribute of the Jewish people
that has been demonstrated time and time
again in ancient times and we are
experiencing it right now. If one Jew is held
hostage, Jews around the world feel the
pain and storm the heavens. When heroic
soldiers of the IDF are fighting, Jewish
wedding around the world are interrupted
with a prayer on their behalf.
With Israel’s victory against Iran, we hope
and pray that Hamas surrenders, releases
the hostages, and Jewish people around the
world can live with the peace and tranquility
we deserve. But until they do, we will
always feel a sense of responsibility for and
oneness with one another.