D’var Torah – Sept 6
Shabbat Shalom!
I hope this finds you all well.
In 1945, U.S. Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, the senior American POW at Stalag IX, and a gentile, was told by the German commandant to turn over all Jewish-American Soldiers in the compound to him. The next day, Edmonds instructed every one of the prisoners to report for formation. When the commandant demanded to know what was going on, Edmonds calmly replied, “We are all Jews.” When the commandant responded by pulling out his pistol and pointing it in Edmonds’ face, Edmonds, without losing his composure, said, “According to the Geneva Convention, we have to give only our name, rank, and serial number. If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of us, and after the war you will be tried for war crimes.”[1] The commandant walked off, and nothing happened to the Jewish Soldiers under Edmonds’ responsibility.
On July 12, 2018, in Paktia Province, Afghanistan, Jewish-American U.S. Army Ranger Sergeant First Class Christopher Andrew Celiz selflessly laid down his life when he placed himself between a medical evacuation helicopter that was extracting a wounded soldier from the battlefield and the terrorist forces who were attempting to shoot it down. He posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his incredible heroism.[2]
On October 7, 2023, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, a Bedouin Israeli was shot in the leg by Hamas and then taken hostage for 326 days after he refused to tell the terrorists “where the Jews were.”[3]
Mr. Alkadi’s, Sergeant First Class Chris Celiz’s, and Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds’ bravery reminds me of a vital commandment we receive in this week’s portion of Shoftim*:
“Before you join battle, the priest shall come forward and address the troops. He shall say to them, “Hear, O Israel! You are about to join battle with your enemy. Let not your courage falter. Do not be in fear, or in panic, or in dread of them. For it is Adonai your God who marches with you to do battle for you against your enemy, to bring you victory.”[4]
We currently live in one of the most horrific periods of anti-Semitism in recent history, from the barbaric Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi, and Iranian assaults on Israelis, to the unrelenting bullying, harassment, intimidation, physical attacks, and doxxing of Jewish students and faculty on college and high school campuses across the country, to the firebombings of synagogues in France and Germany.
What can we do in the face of this deluge of hate, this incomprehensible madness?
Two words: Be Brave!
We must be brave like our ancestors who stood with God in the face of their ancestors, and we must be brave like Roddie Edmonds, Chris Celiz, and Qaid Farhan Alkadi who defied the Nazis, Hamas, and all others who have hated us. We must never surrender our opinions, our beliefs, or our basic desire to live, practice, and pray openly and proudly as Jews.
Bizrat HaShem, may we draw upon the examples of such noble heroes and exhibit such courage and bravery ourselves, and may we never forget those Jews and non-Jews alike who have stood up and risked everything to defend us.
Wishing you a Good Shabbos and a weekend of peace and quiet.
Bivrakha,
From the desk of: Rabbi Aaron Stucker-Rozovsky
Beth El Congregation | 520 Fairmont Ave, Winchester, VA 22601
(540) 667-1889 (office)