How are you?
Perhaps you’ve seen this headline floating around WhatsApp — it caught my eye.
“I am a midwife in Shaare Zedek. On a difficult day when we count the fallen, I wanted to share another count. Last night we counted and found out that we broke an all-time record for the number of births in one month. *1,823!* I am attaching the photo from the department's birth book, a photo that moved us very much tonight and we wanted to tell our people about it. This figure comes thanks to the southern families who now live in the city. Thanks to the soldiers' wives who came to their parents, And thanks to the women of Jerusalem and the surrounding area who come in droves to give birth with us.
This gives us a lot of strength and hope, and a clear knowledge: *The nation of Israel is alive and well. We are a nation for eternity and this answer, all these sweet babies, will help bring joy to the world with great pride*.
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Mazaltov!! Not just for the 1823 babies born in Shaarei Zedek hospital but for the desire and strength of Am Yisrael to push on. This has always been our modus operandi through thick and thin!
Cynically, in “every generation” we could have said what kind of world are we bringing kids into? Yet this too was asked of Moses parents by their daughter Miriam when they separated subsequent to Pharaoh’s decree of killing every male newborn. She brazenly argued that by separating and by extension —encouraging other couples to separate—they ensured the extinction of the then burgeoning pre-nation development. As a result of her a sound reasoning her parents remarry — the result of which, was Moses, the savior of the Jewish people.
One can take this thought in many directions but suffice to say, it speaks to the inspiration and fortitude of Jewish life. It speaks to the very name of the hospital of births Shaarei Tzedek — “the gates of righteousness”. YES, the gates of righteousness of the nation which reveres life more than anything —CAN and MUST hold their head high even when emotionally it is so conflicting.
“For not only one nation stood up to destroy us but for G-d alone who saved us from their hands”. (Haggadah)
Whilst the antisemites in the world forget that everyone who has preceded them have failed — we must always remember that our very existence and survival is miraculous and filled with love from G-d.
Chazak!