Moshe was in his office reading the Al Jazeera news. A friend approached him, very upset."Moishe, have you lost your mind? Why are you reading an Arabic website?"
Moishe explained, "I used to read the Israeli websites, but what did I find? Jews being persecuted, Israel being attacked, Jews disappearing through assimilation and intermarriage, Jews living in poverty… So I switched to the Al Jazeera. Now what do I find? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media, Jews are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world. The news is so much better!"
In this week’s Torah portion we read about the Flood which descended upon the entire world 4,000 years ago. The world has changed significantly since then, but we are again flooded—this time not with water, but with violence and terrorism.
We even read the word “hamas” in this week’s parsha. “And the world was filled with ‘hamas’ – robbery.” De ja vu.
The last week has been a violent and bloody one for our brothers and sisters in Israel. Terrorists are stabbing Jews with their knives, shooting Jews with their guns, and running Jews over with their cars. The attacks have been deadly and unprovoked.
The internet is flooded with videos of how to kill Jews. Young children are playing video games in which the winner is the one who kills the most Jews. Youtube videos and Facebook posts inciting terror and bloodshed are rampant, and teachers and religious leaders are brainwashing their students and followers to hate and murder us.
Even the state department issued a shocking statement about Israel using “excessive force”! And the lies that are being spread are simply preposterous. Lies about Israel executing children. Lies about Israel killing poor, innocent Arabs—Arabs who just cold-bloodedly murdered Jews!
The flood of lies and terror is threatening to drown us.
Concerning the Flood, King Solomon writes, “Tremendous waters cannot extinguish the love, and rivers will not drown it.” Rashi explains that “tremendous waters” and “rivers” refer to the nations of the world. King Solomon explains that regardless of what the nations of the world try to do to us, we will prevail. Nothing will dampen our tremendous love and faith in G-d.
We are a strong, resilient nation. We are believers, the children of believers. No matter what they try to do us, we will win. We will retain our faith, and our unity, our honesty and our morals. We will not murder and harm innocent people. As Jews, we cherish life. We pursue righteousness and truth, and we yearn for peace.
Being physically distant can make us feel helpless in the face of all this violence, but we can help in small ways. By going out of our way to support Israeli products and organizations we can help support both the economy and citizen morale. Good deeds are powerful spiritual weapons. By giving extra charity, putting on tefillin, saying a blessing, lighting Shabbat candles or doing any extra mitzvah, we can add to Israel’s security. We can also pray for the injured and for the safety of all Jews, and do our part to spread the truth about the terrorism. Together we can create a flood of goodness and blessing, to counteract the flood of violence.