Bereishit: The cry of bloods

Rav Johnny's original thoughts on the weekly parsha

Less than a week ago the story of the Jewish people changed forever as we suffered a massacre on a scale of which we have not seen since the Shoah. Hamas terrorists attacked our people, and in response, our sons, daughters, relatives and friends have courageously gone to war to defend our people and our country. To date, over 1350 Jews have been brutally murdered and killed, and a further 130 are missing or have been kidnapped by Hamas terrorists.

On that same day we ended the Torah by reading Parshat VeZot HaBeracha whose final letter is ‘lamed’, while this week we begin the Torah anew by reading Parshat Bereishit whose first letter is ‘bet’. Together these spell ‘lev’ – meaning heart, and especially given the events of this week, this word is very apt. Yes, the Jewish people have suffered tremendous heartache. At the same time, we have also seen how the heart of the Jewish people has come together in unity and how we are ‘Am Echad B’Lev Echad’ – one people with one heart.

With all this in mind, I would like to share just one thought from Parshat Bereishit where, after Kayin (Cain) murders Hevel (Abel), God reprimands Kayin and says, “What have you done? The voice of the bloods of your brother are crying out from the earth?” (Bereishit 4:10).

In terms of the massacre that occurred, it was not done by our brothers, but rather, by our enemy. Still, the moral outrage expressed by the blood of the murdered crying out from the ground speaks deeply to me, and in the kibbutzim and yishuvim just a 30-minute drive from my home, the blood of the innocent that was shed on our land is crying out. The question I would like to address is: amidst its cries, what is this blood saying?

Seeking to address this question, the Chafetz Chaim refers us to Bemidbar Chapter 35 which, while speaking within the context of how to punish a Jew murdering a Jew in the land of Israel, the Torah demands that we ‘take no ransom for the life of a murderer’ and it adds that ‘the land will not offer atonement to those who spill blood’. Accordingly, the blood cries out for justice. It cries out that those who committed murder be punished. And it cries out that no forgiveness be granted for such heinous acts.

History has repeatedly taught us that only the Jew will stand up for the Jew, but until 75 years ago, while the Jew had faith that God would help, the Jew did not have an army or an airforce as a means of doing so. Now, with the State of Israel, we do, and precisely because we are hearing and heeding the cries of the blood that was shed last week, we’ve committed ourselves to stand up for good against evil; we’ve committed ourselves to stand up for the true meaning of justice; we’ve committed ourselves to punish murderers, and we’ve committed ourselves never to forget the heinous acts perpetrated against our people.

The people of Israel will fight as one people with one heart.

We will win.

And in so doing we will ensure that such a massacre will never happen again.

Shabbat Shalom and stay safe wherever you may be.

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