Operation Rising Lion
Act One
On Thursday, June 12th, Prime Minister Netanyahu went to the Kotel and wedged a note in the cracks between the ancient stones. The next day, Israel’s Air Force and Mossad launched their pre-emptive strikes against Iran. What was written on that slip of paper? A verse from Numbers 23: “Look, a nation like a lioness will rise up, and like a lion he raises himself.”
Act Two
According to the Torah, these words were first spoken by a foreign prophet, who was hired by the enemy king, Balak, to curse the Israelites. The idolatrous prophet, Bilaam, intended to curse the people, but God replaced his words with words of blessing instead. From the hilltop, Bilaam looked down on the Israelite camp in the valley below and offered an unintended blessing over them: “Look, a nation like a lioness will rise up, and like a lion he raises himself.” This blessing describes how Israel will defend herself with strength and determination when enemies wish her harm, then and now.
Act Three
Now I understand that this daring operation was named “Rising Lion” for another reason. It is a message to the people of Iran.
I remember offering a prayer at Mel Lastman Square for the first local gathering after October 7th. The thousands who gathered that night, including many congregants, were still in shock and on edge. Snipers were stationed on the surrounding rooftops, and police were everywhere. A few people brought flags of Israel and Canada, but the flag that received the most attention that cold night was an enormous flag made of red, green, and white and featuring a lion with a sword. There was a murmur among passersby, asking one another: What is this flag and who are these people who have come to stand with us in our hour of distress? They were Persian Canadians who fled Iran before, during, or after the revolution of 1979. I have seen them and their proud flag at every demonstration and rally for solidarity with Israel since October 7.
Israel is urging the people of Iran to rise up like a lion against Khomeini and his Islamic regime, so they, too, can be free from terror.
Act Four
In 1938, when Holy Blossom Temple moved from downtown on Bond Street to 1950 Bathurst Street, antisemitism was fierce. They built our grand façade with two lions, guarding the heavy oak doors that lead into our sanctuary. The lion is the symbol of the tribe of Judah, from which most of today’s Jews descend. It is the symbol of Jerusalem, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Judah and the capital of today’s Israel.
How can we take courage now from this ancient symbol of the Jewish People? What message of strength was the Holy Blossom of the 1930s sending to future generations?
Four Things We Can Do Now
- Reach out. It’s time again to reach out to family, friends, colleagues, former Shinshinim or long-ago acquaintances in Israel. Reach out even to people you haven’t connected with in a long time. It doesn’t matter how – email, phone call, WhatsApp, or social media. Any expression of care and concern will remind them that they are not alone. And please tell them that we at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto are keeping them in our constant prayers. This will help to assure them that we see this history unfolding now is one shared story. It will help to reinforce the ties that bind us from here to there and back again.
- Housing. Click here for the call to action from our Advocacy Committee. Thousands of Israelis can’t get home and are in need of housing. And similarly, if you have a dear one in need of housing in Israel, please follow the link, so that our sister congregations there can welcome them in.
- Tzedakah. Please follow this link to three organizations which are providing rapid response and support for those with immediate and urgent needs.
- I hope you’ll join us for Shabbat at Holy Blossom Temple. We will draw strength from one another and through our prayers, we will create a Sukkat Shalom, a canopy of peace, over Israel and all her inhabitants. We pray this is not the start of a new war, but the end of an old one.
עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו ועל כל ישראל
ואמרו אמן
“May the One who makes peace in the high heavens, cause peace to descend upon us and upon all of Israel and all the world. And let us say: Amen.”