Bereisheet: The Need to Redeem

Change happens pretty fast sometimes. You think you know something, you've just gotten used to the fact that it's always going to be like that, and all-of-a-sudden, change! It's a fast-paced world, and you've got to stay pretty alert if you want to keep up. For five years, we prayed for the release of Gilad Shalit, and Israeli soldier captured by Hamas. For five years, it seemed like he was lost, and we feared the worst. And then, out of nowhere, we found out that a deal was being negotiated. Before we even had time to process that revelation, videos were up on Youtube showing him hugging his family after five, long years.

Change does indeed happen rapidly... and it's often just as fraught with complexity. What happens now? How will this affect the hope for peace in the Middle East? Was this a step in the right direction... or the wrong one? When will we know? There are no easy answers to these questions. The more you read about the prisoner exchange, the more difficult it is to decide (if there even is such a thing as a final decision) whether this deal should have been done or not. 

And in the future - whether days, weeks, months or years from now - we may feel quite differently than we do now. Today we see Gilad hugging his family. Today we are reminded of the Jewish value of Pidyon Shvuyim, the releasing of captives. We recall the words of Maimonides, who said that one who ignores ransoming captives is guilty of violating essential commandments such as: “you shall not harden your heart”; “you shall not stand idly by the blood of your brother”; and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”And today we also remember that the Israeli government considers redeeming captives to be a paramount principle; maintaining that if an Israeli soldier sees that the State will not redeem its soldiers for a high price, they will retreat from the battlefield instead of facing the enemies and risking capture.

Tomorrow we may regret these sentiments. We are already terrified that the price has become too high, that we've incentivized future kidnappings. But what was the alternative? What else could have been done? Again, there are no easy answers. I doubt many of us would want Bibi's job right about now; no matter how sweet it is for him to have brought Gilad back from captivity. We cannot know

the future, we can only hope and pray that this deal leads to peace and dialogue, progress and reconciliation. It requires a leap of faith. It requires that we not only trust the Israeli government, and their ability to make good decisions, but that we also trust the people on the other side of the fence. And that is hard, for some almost impossible, to do. We even need to have a little trust in the world community, and that hasn't always worked out well for us either. But what else can we do? 

Our Jewish tradition tells us that, "He who saves one soul, it is as though he has saved an entire world." Today, it almost feels as if this is more true than ever before. One life has been saved, and a nation celebrates. Now there is a chance that worlds can be saved as well. Will it happen? Who knows? But I hope and pray that we have taken a step in the right direction. And not just a step... a leap of faith!

Photos in this blog post:

1. CC image courtesy of Israel Defense Forces on Flickr

2. CC image courtesy of Wesley Fryer on Flickr

3. CC image courtesy of Israel Defense Forces on Flickr
 
4. CC image courtesy of woodleywonderworks on Flickr