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Tents of Mercy Congregation
Kiryat Yam, Israel
Lord, You have been our dwelling place through all generations.
Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world,
From everlasting to everlasting You are God.
You return man to dust, saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.”
For in Your sight a thousand years are but a day that passes, or a watch of the night. …
So teach us to number our days,
That we may present a heart of wisdom.
Return, O LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on Your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with Your loving devotion,
That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:1-14)
The verses above, attributed to Moses, paint the broad strokes of human existence, from creation, through the generations, to the life of the individual. We are but one link in a long chain of generations. We are mortal and will return to dust at the end of our days. Wisdom, compassion, love, joy and gladness – these are what make our days meaningful and worthwhile.
Isn’t the passage of time a strange thing! One moment I was 15, and the next moment 50! “Numbering our days” is just a fancy way to describe evaluating life in terms of goals and resolutions – a natural and beneficial exercise for the soul. You know… like New Year’s resolutions.
What are your goals for 2024?
Lose weight? Read the whole Bible? Get in shape? Be kind to your mother-in-law? Make sure the kids do their chores? Get your taxes in order on time? Paint the house? Bring the hostages home? … Oh, wait! – That one’s not on everyone’s list, just for Israel and friends.
As a country we are numbering the days that kidnapped Israelis are still being held in horrifying captivity. In our workaday routine, we never lose sight of the terribly tragic fact that 136 of our citizens are kept hostage only a few miles away from our border, in Southern Gaza. While Israelis bravely and necessarily continue on with normal tasks, life is anything but normal.
Even deciding what to write in this article was a challenge – how can one insignificant collection of a few hundred words impact the desperate circumstances we are facing. However, by God’s grace we press on, heartened by the fervent prayers of the righteous worldwide, standing in the gap for those bound in captivity.
Just days ago, it was reported that 6 more IDF soldiers were tragically killed in an explosion along with nine wounded. One of the soldiers injured was a beloved national celebrity. Idan Amedi is a singer, songwriter and actor. A Jerusalem native, on October 7th he abandoned his celebrity “glory” to show up for duty in his combat engineer unit like every other reserve soldier.
Amedi is known for his skillful and honest songwriting, as well as his dramatic climb to fame as an actor. He first became nationally known when he participated in a TV singing contest (A Star is Born - “kochav nolad”) singing an original song with poignant lyrics about his experiences in the military.
While our countrymen can seem honest to the point of being rude, Amedi is a beautiful representation of what is positive in the modern Israeli. One can’t help but think of the historical and Biblical tradition of King David as the warrior poet, fierce yet sensitive, who penned the majority of the verses in the psalms that so faithfully offer us comfort and give voice to our souls’ need for God the Father.
Many of Amedi’s songs are self-effacing existential ballads, with thoughtful lyrics about time, regret, love and humanity. We pray healing for him and all the other wounded soldiers – body, soul and spirit!
As we pass the 100 day mark of the war, commentators have compared the national atmosphere to the years of the Covid-19 pandemic, but sadly are concluding that this crisis is so much worse. In that difficult season we figured out how to proceed with daily life – and we are having to do it again. Even our entertainment has come to reflect the new normal. The popular Israeli satire show, Eretz Nehederet (A Wonderful Land), is now calling itself Eretz Nilchemet (A Land At War). The content of the show deals in a surprisingly real and sensitive, yet humorous way with the reality of war; unexpectedly inspiring us to tears and to prayer. “A cheerful heart does good like medicine” (Proverbs17:22)!
When we came out of the Corona crisis, I remember looking back and counting. How many people critically ill? How many years? How many weeks of lockdown? How many days in quarantine? How many milestones and holidays missed and negatively affected by the epidemiological regulations?
The longer we lived with the pandemic, the more the reporting of the numbers changed. So too has it been with this war. In the first week the numbers of those killed and captured, and the number of rockets and the days experiencing war, were reported meticulously. As the numbers grew, we became numbed to the sharp significance of each life, each day. To put it mildly, War is awful!
If we were already desperate for God to step in and intervene during the COVID Crisis. How much more now!
Israel is seeking God in spirit and in truth – like I have never seen before. Pray and fan those flames.
In our own way, at Tents of Mercy, we too are “numbering our days” – looking back and looking forward in our community’s activities; to find the balance between emergency projects and regular life. We have revamped our weekly and monthly schedule to encourage fellowship, worship and breaking bread together. And we just published a beautiful calendar for 2024 – celebrating the yearly congregational life cycle and to treasure our days as a community.
