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At the rally for Israel on Monday at the Boston Commons, there were two clarifying moments. When Senator Markey called for de-escalation, he was loudly and roundly booed.\xa0When Congressman Auchincloss observed that Israel did not ask America to de-escalate on 9/12, he was loudly and roundly cheered. What is that about?\xa0

Last Shabbat was the worst day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.\xa0This week is the worst week for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.\xa0The prayer we say about Nazis on Yom HaShoah applies with equal force to Hamas.\xa0It is as if it were written for Hamas. The obscene and ongoing barbarism, savagery, cruelty, inhumanity of Hamas raises a question:\xa0what do we do with the hatred that can take root in our own soul as a result of Hamas\u2019s evil?\xa0

Consider the Haftarah for Shabbat Zachor, wherein God commands genocide:\xa0

\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0Thus said the Lord of Hosts: I am exacting the penalty

\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0for what Amalek did to Israel, for the assault he made upon them

\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0on the road, on their way up from Egypt. Now go, attack Amalek,

\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0and proscribe all that belongs to him.\xa0Spare no one, but kill alike men

\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and

\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0asses!\xa0I Samuel 15:2-3.

\xa0

What did you think of this Haftarah before this week?\xa0What do you think of this Haftarah now?\xa0

I get hatred. I get the desire to exact revenge. But what does that do to our soul?\xa0In response to the Harvard students who \u201chold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,\u201d Rabbi\nDavid Wolpe, as is his wont, cut to the core issue poignantly and concisely:\xa0\u201cIf mutilation, rape and caged children cause in you a swelling of nationalistic pride, an impulse to parade and celebrate, then your soul has rotted to its roots.\u201d

Israel has an unquestionable right and responsibility to protect Israeli citizens and rescue hostages.\xa0How do we destroy our enemy, while not becoming like our enemy?\xa0How do we destroy our enemy, while preserving our soul?