Dear Friends,
People at services suggested that I publish the following remarks I delivered last Friday night marking the return of the bones of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, and of Oded Lipshitz. The title for this essay comes from our Israel guide, Julian Resnick, who described his feelings about the week’s events: “I have the feeling that I am sitting on a volcano here in Israel. We are all living with grief and we are all living with anger.” Note: I spoke the night before Shiri Bibas was united, in death, with her family.
A poem, “Prayer,” written by Avital Nadler.
When you return
We’ll sit, just the two of us, in the shower
You, in the gentle water
I, facing you
Will gently wash your hair
Erase all your memories
Will sing to you the song of the hyacinth
And of the rain tickling the window
I will carefully clean from between your toes
Every trace of the tunnels
I will tell you about the moon that shone
So many nights when you weren’t here
I will wipe the tears off your face
The gentle water will wash them away
I will braid your hair
Dress you in pajamas
Just the two of us in bed
And a caring hug
Hope
Love
Fear and a prayer
That there never will be a next time.
Tragically, Yarden Bibas will never realize this prayer.
Four coffins with the remains of four people – two of children, Kfir and Ariel Bibas; one of eighty-four-year-old, Oded Lipshitz; one of an unknown person. Forensic tests proved the continued cruelty of the terrorists who strangled the children and murdered the children’s mother, Shiri, kept them apart in death. “Sadly my family hasn’t been returned to me yet,” their husband and father, Yarden, lamented.
“There are no words for this,” said Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog. “Our hearts – the hearts of our entire nation – lie in tatters.” And then speaking on behalf of the State of Israel, Herzog continued: “I bow and ask forgiveness – forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day, forgiveness for not bringing you home safely.”
Hamas murdered not only a mother and her children, they murdered the future of a family and all the wonderful promises they held. By murdering Oded Lipshitz, Hamas helped bury the future of the Palestinian people. Oded was a journalist and a peace activist who took the possibility of peace between Israelis and Palestinians in hand. Before 10/7, Oded was a volunteer who drove into Gaza in order to transport cancer-stricken Gazans across the border to hospitals in Israel for treatment. His death unites him with so many other activists for peace who were slaughtered seventeen months ago. What does it say about Hamas that they attacked progressive Israelis – attendees at a music festival and left-wing kibbutzniks who were willing to give peace a chance – and not West Bank settlers or Haredim?
In her article titled “Jewish moms look at their children and think Anne Frank. Now they will think of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, too,” which was published in last Friday’s edition of The Forward, Carly Pildas spoke for us all: “I am angry at Hamas for all their evil. Most of all I hate them for sowing in me deep doubt for the first time, that peace could one day happen. I hate that my doubt marks a victory for their evil.”
For now, we cannot speak of anything other than grief, anger, and despair for the future.
Being together with Julian two days later for our twice-a-month session on Israel did open a crack of light into the darkness, but I am mindful of the rabbinic injunction that one can not comfort the mourners when the dead lies before them.
In solidarity while waiting, Lee
