Dear Friends,
I spent two and a half days in Israel this week, on a solidarity mission with other North American Conservative rabbis. We came to Israel to bear witness and to offer support to our Masorti rabbis in Israel. Masorti rabbis have spent every day since October 7 going to funerals and shivas, organizing prayer spaces and offering multiple forms of support. We came to support them. Our Israeli colleagues were welcome to join in on any part of the mission they could. It was meaningful connecting with them and hearing their experiences since Simhat Torah.
One of our itinerary items was visiting Kibbutz Kfar Aza. We knew that over 70 people were murdered there on October 7; 19 were taken hostage to Gaza; ten were returned to Israel in the first “agreement”; two were killed in a devastating incident by friendly fire, and seven remain in captivity. We were prepped on the facts but not at all emotionally prepared. After spending two hours there, I can say with certainty: who can be??
On Tuesday morning we got ourselves situated on the bus, and at about ten minutes into the ride, one of our colleagues started speaking into the microphone and said that we would now recite Tefillat Haderekh, the traveller’s prayer. Collectively, we had probably recited that prayer thousands of times, but this time was different. We’d be driving to and through Otef Gaza (The Gaza Envelope), which are the communities within 7 km of the northern and eastern borders of the Gaza Strip.
Tefillat Haderekh begins as many blessings and prayers do.
יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְפָנֶיךָ יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ,
May it be your will God, the God of our ancestors…
The emotions started to intensify when we said the next phrase.
שֶׁתּוֹלִיכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם וְתַצְעִידֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם וְתַדְרִיכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם, וְתִסְמְכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם, וְתַגִּיעֵנוּ לִמְחוֹז חֶפְצֵנוּ לְחַיִּים וּלְשִׂמְחָה וּלְשָׁלוֹם.
…that You lead us toward peace, support our footsteps towards peace, guide us toward peace, and make us reach our desired destination, for life, joy, and peace.
A little over seventy days after the biggest massacre of Jews since the Shoah, we were being driven to the site where the opposite of peace, life and joy occurred. Like most of you we had all seen photographs, but we knew it would be different when we walked through the rubble and saw it with our own eyes.
The next line of the Tefillat Haderekh is:
וְתַצִּילֵנוּ מִכַּף כָּל אוֹיֵב וְאוֹרֵב וְלִסְטִים וְחַיּוֹת רָעוֹת בַּדֶּרֶךְ, וּמִכָּל מִינֵי פֻּרְעָנֻיּוֹת הַמִּתְרַגְּשׁוֹת לָבוֹא לָעוֹלָם,
May You rescue us from the hand of every foe, ambush, bandits and wild animals along the way, and from all manner of punishments that assemble to come to Earth.
Every other time I have said those words, the potential of foes, bandits and wild animals were almost comical. In the world I thought we lived in, there was no chance we’d be ambushed by such a thing. This time we said those words knowing that evil human terrorists drove and paraglided into the homes and communities of our brothers and sisters. It wasn’t that we thought it would happen again while we were on the way, but we knew we were en route to the place where it did.
The origins of Tefillat Haderekh can be found in the Talmud in Brakhot 29b-30a. I wonder what happened two thousand years ago that led one of our ancient rabbis to jot down those words. I pray it did not look anything like what happened on October 7.
Tefillat Haderekh ends with
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלָּה
Blessed are You, Eternal One, who hears prayer.
Dear God, may you hear our prayers every day. Bring back the hostages. Reunite families. Continue to fortify the Israeli people with strength. And please, watch over our soldiers who are defending our homeland. Pease preserve and rescue our fighters from every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may You please send blessings and success in their every endeavor.
On Shabbat morning I will be speaking more about my experience this past week.
Am Israel Hai,
Rabbi Fryer Bodzin
