Remembering Judi and Gadi
Baruch Dayan HaEmet. Judi Weinstein Haggai and Gadi Haggai have finally come home and will be buried in Eretz Israel, their homeland and the Jewish people’s homeland. May their lives, deeds and memory become an eternal source of brachot and mitzvot for their family, friends, and community of Kibbutz Nir Oz, and for all the people of Israel and amcha around the world.
They were brutally murdered by their Hamas terrorist tormentors for one reason and one reason only: they were Jews. The monsters who held them captive and brutally murdered them seek only one thing: the total destruction of Israel as the Jewish state and the death of all Jews, in Israel and everywhere. Hard stop.
Hamas is not engaged in an armed struggle for Palestinians or to create a Palestinian state. They are not freedom fighters. They are combatants committed to a holy war, intent to destroy Israel and kill Jews. Their naive supporters have now joined them by their cowardly support and actions, as evidenced by the murders of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky and the attempted murders of Jews in Boulder who were peacefully marching in support of our hostages held by Hamas’s monsters. Their generous funders know full well their intentions and continue to provide unlimited financial resources. Enabling governments across the Middle East and now in Europe and around the world must come to their senses to realize that Hamas is not only intent on destroying Israel and killing Jews, but also Western democracy.
There is no negotiating with terrorist combatants. They must lay down their arms and surrender or face their own death and destruction. They must surrender unconditionally and face the consequences of their actions. Then and only then will the Palestinians be free to throw off the tyrannical and maniacal yoke of Hamas so they can accept the reality that Israel will not and cannot be destroyed, and that the only path to peace and coexistence is the elimination of Hamas and their patron Iran.
I mourn Judi and Gadi. I feel great sorrow but much more anger. I feel unbearable despair but much more hope. Why? Because I choose not to be held hostage by the very same terrorists who seek my death and destruction. I am not powerless to face and confront virulent antisemitism and those misguided actors who cowardly attack, injure, and murder Jews here in the USA and around the world. I am not prepared to become paralyzed and not come to the support of Israel. “Kol haolam kulo, gesher tzar meod…the world is like a narrow bridge, but I am not fearful.” I choose to be emboldened and more determined to live my life as a proud Jew, Zionist, and lover and supporter of Israel.
Judi and Gadi’s lives empower and inspire me to ensure that their deaths were not in vain or meaningless, and that the people of Israel, amcha, lives. Judi and Gadi empower and drive me to do even more for Israel and the Jewish people. Their lives as proud Jews, Israelis, and Americans have great meaning that I choose to celebrate. They should and must inspire us all to continue to live freely and proudly as Jews.
We can and we will be triumphant over those who seek the destruction of Israel and Jews, because for 3,700 years we have withstood and outlived those who seek our elimination, especially now that the State of Israel exists. Jewish destiny is and must remain in Jewish hands, and no one else’s. So join me in mourning Judi and Gadi. Fight terror and antisemitism and all forms of bigotry and hatred. More importantly, love being Jewish, live joyful Jewish lives as you define that for yourself, support Israel by visiting, contributing, and working for the Jewish homeland, be a proud Zionist and finally be a dugma — an example — by teaching and nurturing the same love, passion, and dedication for Judaism, Am Israel, and Medinat Israel for your children and grandchildren to feel, love and live this way, too.
Elliot B. Karp, the director of philanthropy for Temple Emanu-El of Westfield, has been a Jewish communal professional for 45+ years. He is the former CEO of both the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas and Hillels of Georgia.
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