Who By Fire

October 7th, 2023 was not the first time Israel was taken by surprise in a deadly, war-starting attack. October 6th 1973, almost exactly 50 years to the day before the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust (this is no accident), was Yom Kippur. Israel was attacked and had let its guard down - it was the closest it had ever come to total genocide, total elimination...this was existential...still is.

On the Greek island of Hydra at the time was Leonard Cohen; at a tough low-point in his life and career. He was pretty much done with music at the time. Not in a good place at all. And then he shows up in the Sinai dessert and he does a tour of Israel playing shows all over. The Jewish nation was in crisis and he was in crisis, it made a good shidduch. According to Matti Friedman's book Who By Fire, he didn't even come with a guitar.

But he played for the soldiers and he played to 'stop Egypt's bullets.' There was no plan, organization, or itinerary. Somehow, though severely traumatized, the country survived. Am Yisrael Chai. Life though would never be the same, how can it be? For Israel and for Cohen.

One of the most famous Rosh Hahsana/Yom Kippur prayers is U'netana Tokef - a beautiful piece about this period of time as a time of judgement, repentance, and forgiveness. A year after his trip, Leonard Cohen wrote and created this masterpiece:

This has been a heavy year, for so many. There is a countless amount of pain, too many worthy organizations that are in desperate need of support, representing so much grief, pain, and loss. It's hard to believe this is still ongoing. The Yom Kippur war took a few weeks - there are hostages being held for over a year; families forever changed, homes and communities that may never come back.

We have impossible tasks ahead of us - how can we possibly think we can win our battle over the oldest hatred, the hatred of Jews? What kind of crazy chutzpah is that? What makes us think we can actually accomplish this goal? In this economy?

But we have to have the hope that we can get that done. How we allocate our resources, what we put our energy, time, money, and all our resources into is a reflection of who we are what our objectives are, what we're fighting for. We may only move the needle a little bit. But when it's our time

who by fire

who by water

who in the sunshine, who in the night time

the real judgement the real legacy of our fate will be found in what we have left behind for those that follow us...

and who shall i say is calling?

....

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