!מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל הַלֵּילוֹת
The Four Questions famously begin with a non-question.
While a commonly accepted translation is, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” that’s actually not what the words mean. A better translation is, “How different this night is from all other nights!” In other words, it’s a rhetorical exclamation, not an actual question. In that spirit, here’s a bonus rhetorical-sarcastic first non-question for this year’s edition (also, I can’t believe I started this 12 years ago):
How amazingly lucky the Jewish people have been this year!
War, gaslighting, threats from Iran, calls for genocide on college campuses, antisemitism on the march…can I get you anything else for 5784? Yes, I can! In this case, here are four more questions in which I’ll try to avoid the deepest, darkest depths of despair, but will help frame some thinking and wondering around your seder tables later this month.
First Question: A War to End No Wars?
We can never look away from the stories of Oct. 7, painful as they are; the trauma is still all-consuming and the truth can never be forgotten. In its aftermath, a bitter war continues in Gaza. Obituaries run daily, for both victims of the Hamas attacks and for our fallen soldiers. Cease-fire negotiations are seemingly going nowhere. Food is running out in Rafah. The Red Cross has still never visited a single hostage. And all the while, I wonder, will any men ever come home to Israel from captivity? Are there any living hostages left at all? Seek and ye shall not find any good news; our cups runneth empty. This is not surprising. War is hell.
Despite the intractable nature of the war, at some point it will be over, or more aptly, it will pause. Too frequently, or more accurately, in just about every war Israel has fought, the end of hostilities has done little except to lay the foundation stones for the next war. Will this time be any different?
Who are we kidding? We know the answer—Israel isn’t allowed to win wars, ever. All we can hope for is a shift in the status quo ante, but even that feels like a bridge too far right now.
Second Question: The Next Front?
Ordinarily, one might say that all good things must come to an end, but my, oh my, that is not the case this year. We’d be much better off saying that all these bad things must come to an end, but then again, we’re Jews. We know better. The bad times can last for a long, long time.
The best thing we can say is that since October there has not been a widespread, multi-front escalation by Iran or her proxies to engage Israel in serious and protracted conflict. With that being said, the cross-border attacks from Lebanon in the Northern Galilee and the rockets launched toward Eilat were sinister portents of the weekend’s performative retaliatory drone and missile assault on Israel by Iran. Terrible and terrifying as that was, it was also relatively toothless, so aren’t we all wondering, is that it? If so, we can all take a deep breath, thank the Lord for the Iron Dome, the United States, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia (I know, right?), and again ask the awful question, on which front will Israel be fighting next? Lebanon? Syria? The West Bank? No good answers. None at all. I plead the fifth.
Third Question: Regime Change?
Ah, the evergreen question in this annual post. Is Bibi done? Is Bibi coming back? Will Bibi survive? Will there be early elections? Is he going to jail? We have seen just about everything, and as I have consistently said, I’m not in the predictions business. At the end of the day, though, he has to answer for and be held accountable for the catastrophic intelligence and military failures of Oct. 7, which can clearly and demonstrably be laid right at his feet. The clock is about to strike midnight and it is nearly impossible to see a pathway for him to hold on to the prime ministership for much longer. It is time for him to go; the only question is, when? And, of course, will he then go to jail like Ehud Olmert? Ehhh…I don’t think so.
Fourth Question: Olympic Glory?
Despite the predictable calls for boycott, exclusion, sanctions, yada yada yada, Team Israel will be in Paris this summer looking to add to its Olympic medal count, which currently stands at…13…like ever. To put on my blue-and-white colored glasses for a minute, however, it’s worth noting that Israel took home two medals in Rio and four in Tokyo, so let’s do some math and ask, will six Olympic medals be in the cards this summer?
Israel will be sending athletes to compete in a variety of sports, but most interesting is the return of the men’s national team to the Olympic football (aka soccer) tournament for the first time since the Montreal Games in 1976. Having been placed in a group with Mali, Paraguay, and an Asian-nation-to-be-named-later, one may be inclined to see them advancing to the knockout rounds. While that may sound like a reach, remember that Israel finished THIRD last year in the U-20 World Cup, beating Brazil (yes, Brazil) in the quarterfinals before losing to Uruguay in the semifinals. So, you’re telling me there’s a chance? You bet.
With prayers for a meaningful Passover and the return of the hostages, chag sameach.
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