A Time to Speak: Standing in Solidarity with Israel

By Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, Hebrew College President

Hebrew College President Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld delivered this prayer at the event  “Gathering in Solidarity With Israel Under Fire” on October 9, 2023 on the Boston Common. The Greater Boston community-wide gathering was co-sponsored by CJP, JCRC, IAC, Hebrew College, and many other community organizations throughout New England. (Photo by Kayana Szymczak.)

Beloved community.

Over these last two heartbreaking and harrowing days,
these words from the Book of Ecclesiastes have been reverberating in my mind:
Et lachashot v’et l’daber.
A time to be silent and a time to speak.

How do we know when it is time to be silent and when it is time to speak?

In this moment, a part of me trembles and feels:

Perhaps now is a time to be silent.
To resist the rush to language that would make sense out of such senselessness.
To let ourselves feel speechless in the face of such unspeakable horror.
To be humbled by the inadequacy of our words to touch the pain that so many are feeling.

But then I hear from loved ones in Israel and they say:
Thank you. It matters that you call. It matters to hear your voices. It matters to know you are with us.
And I know that now is indeed a time to speak. Precisely now.

It is time to come together to offer our full-throated prayers
for all those who are grieving,
those who are wounded,
those who are sick with worry for their missing loved ones
those who have been kidnapped, please God, may they be returned safely home.

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Now is Also the Time to Act

Below, please find a few of the ways you can take action to support Israel right now. 

CJP Israel Emergency Fund
CJP has opened an emergency fund to provide immediate financial assistance and relief to victims of terror and war. 100% of donations will go toward supporting victims of terror and addressing the unprecedented levels of trauma caused by these horrific attacks.

Donate Now

Emergency Fund for Urgent Needs of Israeli Soldiers
Sponsored by Rabbi Tamar El-Ad Appelbaum of Kehilat Zion in Jerusalem 
A fund to help to ensure that IDF soldiers have the critical equipment they need to succeed and stay safe in the combat that awaits them. Funds will help provide tactical needs such as equipment, including helmets and bulletproof vests, as well as supplies such as clothing, headlamps, food, and other items important for IDF’s success and morale.

Donate Now

The Book of Psalms: Calling Out From the Depths

Psalm 6: A Cry for Healing

The Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership of Hebrew College's new site, Calling Out from the Depths, is a unique collection of contemporary interreligious reflections on the Book of Psalms. Here is a preview from our lesson on Psalm 6, which speaks to suffering and prayer as it might relate to this moment.

In this brief but stirring poem, the psalmist gives voice to the pain and terror of embodied vulnerability. The image of the poet’s tear-soaked bed speaks to us across the ages. Where can we find healing? Is the act of crying out itself a step toward restoration? "Whether we hear it simply as a cry for divine help or analyze its poetic form, the psalm offers us honest words of lament for the times when hardships in our own lives leave us speechless," writes Andrew Davis, Ph.D.

Read more about Psalm 6...

A Moment of Prayer

Yesterday, while two groups of Israeli teens visited Hebrew College, they took a moment in our lobby to pray together.

Israeli teens with the Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP) Haifa Delegation spent the day with us on campus, and a group of Israeli teens with J-LOFT (Jewish Learning Opportunities for Teens) visited Hebrew College and our campus partner Mayyim Hayyim as part of their exchange program between students from the MetroWest area and Haifa.