Fifty years
since the Yom Kippur War
but
no Jubilee
to be sounded
with T’ki’ah G’dolah
the ‘Great Blast’
at the end of the fast.

After triumph
in 1967
Israel caught
unawares
in 1973
on Yoma
‘The Day’
when everything ceases
when even soldiers
lay down their arms
make confession
and seek forgiveness
of the One
in whose image
every human being
has been created
(even those
we may consider to be
our enemies).

And then
everything
changed
‘The Day’
an anniversary
of That Day
and what-must-not-be-repeated
‘Never again!’
the clarion call
of a fortress-state
that has eclipsed
all other possibilities
not least
that momentous handshake
between Rabin and Arafat
on the White House lawn
the Peace Accords
of 1993
destroyed
at a Peace Rally
in 1995
when Rabin was murdered
by a Jewish assassin.

‘Never Again!’
the repudiation
of Jew-hatred
and its deadly
consequences
has become
a rallying cry
for perpetual
conflict
a renunciation
of Hope
Peace
Reconciliation
Justice
for both peoples
an ultimate
renouncement
of the promise of Jubilee:
‘You shall sanctify the fiftieth year
and proclaim
D’ror – Liberty
throughout the land
for all its inhabitants.’

Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah