An Ancient Ceasefire

SERMON Parashat Toldot     November 29, 2024 

Rabbi David Edleson     Temple Sinai, South Burlington, Vermont  

One thing many people are giving thanks for this week is the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon.   

People have been calling for some sort of cease-fire since this war began, and unlike Hamas, which doesn’t seem to care how much disruption or death of civilians takes place, Lebanon’s government was very keen on finding a way to a ceasefire.   

Many in Israel, particularly military leaders and those who live in the north are not happy about this ceasefire.  In fact, they are furious about it.  Israelis are very skeptical about it.   

It is not at all clear how this will lead to the 75,000 or so Israeli Jews and Arabs displaced from the north, given that the agreement does not leave a buffer zone.   Israel is telling its people not to move back, while there is a flood of Lebanese returning to the border, including those flying Hezbollah flags.    

The military wonders why they would stop when they are making such dramatic progress against Hezbollah.  Withdrawing and giving them time to regroup doesn’t make sense to the military strategists.   

It’s not clear why Netanyahu agreed to it.  It is hurting him politically.    It could be American pressure.  It could be trying to win points with our next president.  It could be that he knows Hezbollah will violate the agreement and he will have the pretext to continue the war having tried a ceasefire.  His opponents in Israel suspect it has to do with his criminal trial that is coming and he needs more bandwidth for that.   

We don’t know, but he is a savvy strategist and it will become clear later how that helped him politically.  

I’ve been thinking about what a cease fire is, and isn’t, and how it has become such a fetish in foreign policy.  A cease fire simply means fighting pauses.  It does not mean the underlying cause is resolved, or that the enemy surrendered.   It is simply a pause in fighting.  

So why is that talked about like the holy grail of peace?  Of course, it is a good first step, but it makes me wonder how helpful it is if the conflict is inevitably going to continue because its causes are as powerful, if not more powerful, than they were before the fighting.  

Ceasefires at their best give both sides time to cool off, to think more long-term.   They give time for diplomatic solutions to emerge, or for facts to shift.  As we know in our personal lives, it is hard to think of good solutions and options when you are screaming and red-faced.   

Ceasefires give people a chance to get food, medical help, to have some period to regroup and gather supplies before the conflict breaks out again.   

Of course, this also means that the fighters have time to rest, regroup, and rearm.  This also means that along with diplomatic efforts, others can find much more nefarious strategies to try next.   

Sometimes, of course, ceasefires hold for decades allowing what we might call “a new normal” to take hold, as with Korea, or Taiwan.  

So while many celebrate the ceasefire, others feel is only gives Hezbollah and Iran a chance to reorganize, re-arm, and renew their attacks.   

It happens as it so often does that our Torah portion this week, Toledot,  includes a relevant story.  

There is a drought in Israel, so Isaac and Rebecca head east from Beer Sheva to the land of Gerar which is part of the Philistine territory, in what would now be Israel’s border with Gaza.  The area of today’s Gaza were the heart of the Philistine kingdoms in Israel. So Isaac goes there, and after some interesting moments that include public fondling and then hemorrhoids, the king makes a rule that no one can touch or harm Isaac and Rebecca or their property.  Isaac settles there, and his flocks grow and he becomes a large and wealthy person. 

Then the Torah tells us that the Philistines grew envious of Isaac and his success.  (I couldn’t help but think of the Palestinian reaction to Jewish growth in the 1930’s.) 

The Philistines weren’t allowed to attack Isaac, so what did they do?  They starting filling in the wells that Abraham had dug and that Isaac and others used and needed in this drought-ridden area.   

So the King went to Isaac, and told him to leave, “for you have become far too big for us.”   This story plays out again and again in Jewish history.  

Isaac relocates to Beersheva, and starts redigging the Israelite wells there, but each time he opens a well, a band of Philistines sneaks in and fills them in.  It happens over and over.  

But then, unexpectedly as they discover another well, who shows up but King Abimelech, who is now afraid of retaliation. Remember, the Philistines are fairly new in the area as well, and they have to contend with the Egyptians so making a treaty with this group makes sense.  The king says, “Let there be a sworn treaty between our two parties, between you and us. Let us make a pact with you that you will not do us harm, just as we have not molested you but have always dealt kindly with you and sent you away in peace.” 

So they had a feast and left one another in peace.   

Or did they?   

We know that the conflict with the Philistines didn’t end there.  In fact, it continued on and off for hundreds of years. It is the primary conflict the Israelite kings deal with.    Samson fought the Philistines.  Saul did.  David killed Goliath, who was the Philistine Champion.  It goes on throughout the Bible and continues until Judah is conquered by Nebuchadnezzar  in around 722 BCE.  There is no sign of a Philistine kingdom in Israel after 708 BCE.  From King Saul until then is about 350 years.  From Isaac until then is more like 900 years.   

The Torah and Jewish law make a distinction between wars that are about territory or moving boundaries but which could be avoided, and wars that are in self-defense or in reaction to being attacked.  There is a special category of war against people who simply want to destroy you and who attack your most vulnerable.   With the latter, we are to wipe them out to prevent them from rising up and doing the same thing again.  Territorial disputes are very different, where we must offer terms for compromise and peace.  

Sadly, in the Middle East today, the differences between these are becoming very blurred, blurred by disinformation, and blurred by fanaticism.  My belief is that both are happening at the same time and so how to ethically react becomes very difficult.   What long term strategy is best becomes very difficult to know because more than one war is taking place at the same time, and they don’t have the same type of solution.  

 Of course, the Torah is an ancient document.  It is sort of the definition of “old guard.”  Yet, when reading it this year, I have thought of another term that helps me think about this conflict:  surrender.   

In the Torah, kings and armies surrender when they are defeated, or when the cost of the war in lives and property becomes too high.  One side surrendering is what ended the war, if not permanently, for a while.  While I have heard many people call for a ceasefire, or for Israel to stop, I have not heard many voices calling on Hamas or Hezbollah to surrender their arms.  That would end this war immediately and make a political resolution to the territorial conflict much more likely and attainable.   

While I’m not sure this ceasefire serves any future peace or is strategically wise, I do think that spiritually, emotionally, both sides are exhausted and defensive. Both sides could use a break just to have some semblance of normal life for a while.  Just to sleep soundly without one ear open for the alarm or the boom.   

The leaders on both sides need to pause as well, to let the war-rage in their hearts quiet at least a bit so they can think more clearly and caringly about their people and their future.  

Judaism believes in the power of a pause. 

 Three times a day, Judaism teaches us to pause to pray.  

Every seven days, Shabbat, that ultimate Jewish invention, commands us to pause from the wars of daily life and to renew our spirits and remember what matters.   

Our holidays are meant to create regular pauses in our lives for reflection, for remembering who we are and what we believe.  

So let us hope this ceasefire, for whatever time it lasts, gives everyone there a chance to breathe a bit more freely, a remember the beauty and value of living.  

And let us hope that this ceasefire, in some unexpected way, helps people there remember that compromise does not often feel good, but often is good.  May the Palestinians, particularly those who see victory over Israel as the only way forward, learn that compromise is the only hope for peace and that means not getting everything you wish for or that you think God has promised you. May the Israeli Jews, particularly those with Messianic Biblical Settler Zeal, also remember that compromise is the only hope for peace, and that means not getting everything you wish for, or that you think God has promised you.  May both sides find the strength to do what is needed, not what feels good, but what is good and leads to lasting peace.    

Ken Y’hi Ratson