Halleluka!
Our Sages noted that this rich word of praise was first used when David saw the downfall of the wicked (Brachos 9b). With the assassination of the wicked and murderous Hezbollah terror chief Nasrallah, we must say Halleluka, giving praise to God. We are grateful to God and to the beloved and dedicated soldiers of the IDF who continue to fight to eradicate the vicious evil surrounding Israel.
We are grateful and we must express that gratitude, but we are in no mood of celebration. We cannot celebrate because the war is not over and the men and women of the IDF continue to put their lives on the line while their families anxiously await their safe return. We cannot celebrate while tens of thousands continue to be refugees in their own land and while many more live under the constant threat of rocket fire. And we cannot celebrate while the hostages continue to languish in the tunnels of Gaza.
We cannot celebrate. But we can pray in the words of the prophetess Devorah: “Kein yovdu kol oyvecha Hashem, thus may all Your enemies perish, Hashem.”
As we approach Rosh Hashana, we must come together with love for each other and with a shared commitment to the downfall of our true enemies. While joy may be warranted at the downfall of villainous antisemites, we must refuse to build enmity between Jews. We are one nation, and we need each other.
אבינו שבשמים שלח אורך ואמיתך לראשיה שריה ויועציה של מדינת ישראל ותן בלב הממלכות לעשות טובות עמנו ועם כל ישראל אחינו, חזק את ידי מגיני ארץ קדשינו ועטרת נצחון תעטרם ותוציא שבויינו מחשך וצלמות ומוסרותיהם תנתק.
We pray that at this critical time, Hashem send His light and His truth to the leaders, ministers, and counselors of the State of Israel; that He put in the hearts of the leaders of the free world to deal kindly with Israel; that He strengthen the hands of the defenders of our Holy Land, granting them deliverance and crowning them with victory over evil; and that He deliver the hostages from darkness and the shadow of death.
Our Selichot prayers frequently invoke the image of the hostage pleading and yearning for freedom and conclude with the heartfelt plea to God: “We beseech You, in Your abundant mercy, heal our overwhelming pain, so that we are not annihilated in captivity.” We thus pray for the fulfillment of the divine promise we read this Shabbos (Devarim 30:3), “the Lord your God will bring your captives back and have compassion on you; and He will again gather you from among all those where He has scattered you.”
Let us gather to express sincere gratitude to Hashem for the downfall of the wicked and pray to Him that He bring the hostages home, the soldiers home, the refugees home, and all of us together b’ahavat Yisrael.