Maybe because of the images from Rafah all week, maybe out of a sense of being misunderstood, or maybe because of the opening lines of this week’s parasha*, I am going to take a risk, and share with you a few pages from my diary. The entry is dated October 29, 2023. I share it out of a sense of wanting to be in this with you all – setting aside the recent verdict for a minute to remember what the headlines were all week until then.

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In today’s America, the idea that we are obligated to serve—that our lives are somehow to be “of service”— feels pretty counter-cultural. Unlike Israel, in this country military service has been — for several decades — optional and voluntary. So too in Jewish life many eschew the idea of chiyuv — our obligation as Jews to fulfill the mitzvot, living a life of service to God and the Jewish people. I see this most often when people translate the word mitzvah, “commandment,” as “good deed” instead.

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