26/08/2026
Orly Erez-Likhovski writes....
This week, I returned from a two-week vacation in Norway. It was a wonderful, restorative break that I very much needed after months of intensive work—and after a previous trip abroad planned for the spring was canceled because of the war with Iran. In Norway, I found open spaces, water, quiet, and endless green.
The opportunity to recharge was crucial as it takes a great deal of energy to confront so many difficult things happening around us. Even while on vacation, troubling news reached me.
I was horrified to hear about the violent disruption of a Kabbalat Shabbat service at New York's Central Synagogue. Thankfully, the perpetrator was apprehended and charged but the incident has affected the sense of security of so many.
On that very same Shabbat, someone broke into the synagogue of Jerusalem's Congregation Kol HaNeshama in Jerusalem, smashed a window, and tore down the Pride flag hanging in the sanctuary. This was not the first time the community has been targeted. As with these previous incidents, no one was held accountable.
And throughout this time, horrific acts of violence in the West Bank continue to escalate under a government that not only fails to combat them but gives them its backing. In Qusra, for just one example, settler terrorists have besieged the village for three weeks, preventing families from exiting and returning to their homes, threatening and intimidating them, impeding their ability to work and receive medical attention, disrupting their electricity and water lines. The army responded by declaring the village a "closed military zone", ordering families out of houses to set up barracks and forcing them to crowd into neighboring homes. While it has proven effective in blocking courageous unarmed solidarity activists trying to deliver food and water, the armed settlers besieging the village continue to operate with relative freedom. Only one was briefly detained and none have been arrested.
What do we do in the face of so much violence and hatred?
First, we demand that the authorities take decisive action.
And we refuse to despair. We continue to amplify the voice of a Judaism that believes in compassion and lovingkindness.
It is precisely when evil grows stronger that we must intensify our struggle against the darkness and increase the light.
One of the amazing phenomena in Norway in the summer is the midnight sun. When we traveled to the far north of the country, it was never dark and seemed to reflect how I felt. That there are always places where as dark as it seems, the darkness cannot swallow the light.
Here are some rays of light.
Leaders of 17 Orthodox and Conservative neighboring Jerusalem congregations signed a moving letter in response to the vandalization of Kol HaNeshama, condemning the act and calling for peace, mutual respect, and tolerance. And this past Shabbat, over a hundred people attended a solidarity service at the synagogue.
Read the entire letter:
https://mailchi.mp/irac.org/it-always-seems-impossible-until-its-done
