Operation Guardians of the Wall and the Book of Numbers

 One of the things that startles me about our most recent war is that more Arab blood has been shed on the part of the Arabs, than Jewish blood has been shed on the part of the Arabs. To choose a tasteless metaphor, imagine a soccer or football game in which a team loses 2-1 after scoring not only one but two "own goals." And yet, repeatedly, what we learn as Jews living in Israel is not only that Jewish blood is cheap, but that Arab blood is cheap as well, and that from the perspective of Hamas, were you to kill Arabs, as long as you kill Jews on the way, albeit fewer, it would well be worth the price. 

In the latest campaign, fire from Hamas terrorists has killed more Arabs in the form of inadvertent rocket fire, and premature explosions - in Gaza itself - than it has killed Jews. Which shows us the sheer pain, rigor, and almost impossibility of countering an enemy who wants to die. If you kill them, they're holy martyrs. If they kill their kids in the process, they are holy martyrs who have never sinned. 

Yet, the Jewish approach is ever so different. I will quote the first verse of this week's Torah portion (italics below)

וידבר… במדבר סיני … באחד לחדש וגו׳  AND [THE LORD] SPOKE [UNTO MOSES] IN THE DESERT OF SINAI … ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE [SECOND] MONTH … [TAKE YE THE SUM OF ALL THE CONGREGATION] etc. — Because they were dear to him, He counts them every now and then: when they went forth from Egypt He counted them (Exodus 12:37), when many of them fell in consequence of their having worshipped the golden calf He counted them to ascertain the number of those left (cf. Rashi Exodus 30:16); when he was about to make His Shechinah dwell amongst them (i. e. when He commanded them to make a Tabernacle), He again took their census; for on the first day of Nisan the Tabernacle was erected (Exodus 40:2) and shortly afterwards, on the first day of Iyar, He counted them.

As the Ethics of the Fathers teaches, the Jewish people reflect the height of creation because we are made in the image of Hashem, and the divine presence in its purest form rests in each and every Jew; as my grandfather of blessed memory, Rabbi Israel Orenstein taught me, each and every Jew is uniquely positioned to improve the world morally and convey the divine message to all of humanity. 

Consequently, the life of each and every person - Jew and non-Jew, alike - is so valuable in our eyes. Each person is a world unto himself, someone who can improve the world and better it, through life, not through death. When faced with the ultimatum, the Rambam teaches, for the 3 cardinal sins, we must give our lives to reaffirm the value of life itself, but save those three, nothing is more important than the ability to live another day, to shape another person's life and bring joy and hope to our fellow man. 

I will end with a poem, a poem I've taught many times for high school literature classes. 

Count That Day Lost
by George Eliot

If you sit down at set of sun And count the acts that you have done, And, counting, find One self-denying deed, one word That eased the heart of him who heard, One glance most kind That fell like sunshine where it went -- Then you may count that day well spent. But if, through all the livelong day, You've cheered no heart, by yea or nay -- If, through it all You've nothing done that you can trace That brought the sunshine to one face-- No act most small That helped some soul and nothing cost -- Then count that day as worse than lost.