What Do You Think Can be Done to Increase Unity Among Jews?

On December 25, 2023, Sergeant Yehonatan Luber died in battle in the south of Gaza. Following his death, his father, Hagai, made a public statement calling for one day of unity in his memory and that journalists refrain from publishing divisive discourse and instead focus on the beautiful aspects of the Jewish nation.

“From the great power of the Jewish nation, from perceiving the great hour in which the people of Israel are eradicating the essence of evil from the world, and from great and deep personal pain, we announce the falling of our beloved son Yehonatan Luber HyD. In the name of the entire nation we are proud of him and thank him for partnering in eradicating evil and destroying our enemies.

“We have no grievance to Hashem, no grievance to the Israeli government and no grievance to the IDF and to the decisions of its commanders in the field.

“May we merit to see a swift victory and the return of our hostages whom Yehonatan so much hoped and prayed for their return.” (Source: VINnews)

It is amazing that parents are able to say such words on probably the most tragic day of their life. They are like words of Torah. It is a great atonement and action of the Jewish people, who pay a precious price, and who then use it to serve the Jewish people through exemplifying forgiveness and calling for unity. There was once a similar phenomenon when a mother spoke about her fallen son as being an act performed from above.

The Creator, the supreme governing force of nature, places these words into these people’s soul, and they then transmit the Creator’s words. Some might argue that it diminishes the merit of the parents, but the contrary is the case: their merit is according to the extent in which they can annul themselves.

Annulling themselves means that they place no blame on anyone, and simply become conduits of what they feel from above. There is undoubtedly a feeling that in such a moment, these parents felt the nation’s root, as it is a nation formed on the principle of “love will cover all crimes.”

This is a moment of truth, showing the reason behind today’s occurrences. Thanks to these sacrifices, their following introspections and the motions to come together, our world undergoes a cleansing process toward its future state of harmonious and peaceful interconnection.

In order for these moments to serve as seeds in a fertile soil capable of growing fruits of a new united society, we should constantly live with the words and feelings of the people who feel these great losses.

If we unite in solidarity with these parents, we will be on course to a new life, one of unity, love, forgiveness, understanding and a common effort to connect above differences, to a feeling of each other in our hearts.

(Photo by Dawid Matyszczyk on Unsplash)