On the off chance you missed the news, a ceasefire has been reached. The first of the three-phase plan is due to go into effect on Sunday, Jan. 19th.
I want to be clear. This is great news. We have been advocating for a ceasefire since October 2023.
People held in captivity in Gaza and Israel will finally be returning home, where the long journey of healing begins. Families can start to return to their homes in Gaza. Watching people celebrate in the streets of Gaza and Tel Aviv brings tears to my eyes. Their relief is palpable. It shows just how deeply people in Palestine and Israel yearned for this moment.
Yet, even as people celebrate, Netanyahu is still claiming some details need to be finalized and the most extreme members of his government are boasting that they will do everything in their power to thwart this agreement. Just a year ago, the Biden administration refused to even utter the word “ceasefire.” The roadblocks to a ceasefire were always political. Sadly, in a world where leaders care more about their power and corporate profit than the life and well-being of people, death prevails.
This victory (however tenuous or, god forbid, short lived) is due to the tireless efforts of Palestinians and their allies who, in spite of all efforts to silence them and us, refused to be silenced. To all who protested, got arrested, wrote letters, made calls, met with political leaders, and insisted on the humanity and life of Palestinians, thank you. This ceasefire happened in spite of the political will to continue this war.
Our Torah teaches that we can either be a blessing or a curse. When we lose our moral center, when we give into a worldview of fear and domination, we are a curse. To be a blessing, requires that we remain committed to the moral values and teachings of our Torah to love and care for the stranger, to live by spirit, not by might or force, to choose life, not death, even if, perhaps especially when, it is hard to do so. It is much easier to live in integrity when we feel safe and secure. Yet the longevity and strength of our tradition demands that we choose life and that we choose to follow the moral teachings of our tradition to be a blessing, even when it is hard to do so.
A ceasefire is just the beginning of what is needed to choose life. There are still Palestinian and Israeli captives who will not be returning home. Throughout Gaza, there is rampant hunger, disease, death, and destruction. Bodies remain buried under the rubble. Israel remains an apartheid state.
If we are to be a blessing and not a curse, if we are to choose life and not death, then the ceasefire must be the very first step on a long journey of repair and repentance. In fact, what is needed is a permanent and lasting ceasefire. One that includes a commitment to rebuild Gaza.
We must continue to insist that people be held accountable for the harms and horrors they have committed and struggle for an end to apartheid––for a day when all peoples from the river to the sea thrive in safety and dignity.
Today we celebrate the ceasefire (while keeping our fingers crossed that it lasts). Tomorrow, we resume our struggle for liberty, justice, and peace for all.
With prayers for a permanent ceasefire that leads toward a future of freedom and dignity for all,
Rabbi Cat Zavis
