Dear Friend,
For the last several weeks, our hearts and minds have been on Israel. We’re glued to news reports as we are heartened by the victories of the IDF and mourn the loss of lives. We’ve been encouraged to pray and do mitzvahs in the honor of the brave troops, and we’ve responded to requests for basic supplies and toiletries, which have been happily delivered from around the world.
There has been an outpouring of love and support from Jews in Israel and abroad, a unique togetherness almost unheard of under normal circumstances. We are all Jews—brothers and sisters—and that’s what counts.
This great oneness of the Jewish people is especially germane at this time of year, when we mourn the destruction of the Holy Temples on Tisha B’Av. The Talmud says that the reason for the current exile is senseless hatred among our people. It follows, then, that the redemption and the rebuilding of the Temple will be caused by “senseless” love for our fellows, regardless of how different we are.
I think we are on the right track.
Eliezer Zalmanov,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
