(א) מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה מִן הַתּוֹרָה לִזְעֹק וּלְהָרִיעַ בַּחֲצוֹצְרוֹת עַל כָּל צָרָה שֶׁתָּבוֹא עַל הַצִּבּוּר. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר י ט) "עַל הַצַּר הַצֹּרֵר אֶתְכֶם וַהֲרֵעֹתֶם בַּחֲצֹצְרוֹת". כְּלוֹמַר כָּל דָּבָר שֶׁיָּצֵר לָכֶם כְּגוֹן בַּצֹּרֶת וְדֶבֶר וְאַרְבֶּה וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶן זַעֲקוּ עֲלֵיהֶן וְהָרִיעוּ:
It is a positive Torah commandment to cry out and to sound trumpets in the event of any difficulty that arises which affects the community, as [Numbers 10:9] states: "[When you go out to war... against] an enemy who attacks you and you sound the trumpets...."
[This commandment is not restricted to such a limited scope; rather] the intent is: Whenever you are distressed by difficulties - e.g., famine, plague, locusts, or the like - cry out [to God] because of them and sound the trumpets.
"Revenge"
Taha Muhammad Ali
translated by Peter Cole, Yahya Hijazi, and Gabriel Levin
At times … I wish
I could meet in a duel
the man who killed my father
and razed our home,
expelling me
into
a narrow country.
And if he killed me,
I’d rest at last,
and if I were ready—
I would take my revenge!
*
But if it came to light,
when my rival appeared,
that he had a mother
waiting for him,
or a father who’d put
his right hand over
the heart’s place in his chest
whenever his son was late
even by just a quarter-hour
for a meeting they’d set—
then I would not kill him,
even if I could.
*
Likewise … I
would not murder him
if it were soon made clear
that he had a brother or sisters
who loved him and constantly longed to see him.
Or if he had a wife to greet him
and children who
couldn’t bear his absence
and whom his gifts would thrill.
Or if he had
friends or companions,
neighbors he knew
or allies from prison
or a hospital room,
or classmates from his school …
asking about him
and sending him regards.
*
But if he turned
out to be on his own—
cut off like a branch from a tree—
without a mother or father,
with neither a brother nor sister,
wifeless, without a child,
and without kin or neighbors or friends,
colleagues or companions,
then I’d add not a thing to his pain
within that aloneness—
not the torment of death,
and not the sorrow of passing away.
Instead I’d be content
to ignore him when I passed him by
on the street—as I
convinced myself
that paying him no attention
in itself was a kind of revenge.
נישט
נישט זייער טויט וועט מחייה זײַן די טויטע.
נישט זייער הונגער איז אונדזער ברויט.
מערן זייערע טרערן וועט נאָר טרערן מערן.
בלוט איז רויט. איז רויט.
דער שאַרבן אויפֿן וואַסער. דאָס קינד געקעפּט---
דאָס קינד אונטער חורבֿות. האָט קוים געלעבט.
דער געכאַפּטער אָטעם פֿון ייִד און גוי
לופֿטערט נישט קיינעמס נויט.
איך זיץ און שרײַב, אות נאָך אות
ייאוש איז גאָרנישט, אחיה? אמות?
נישט זייער צעשטערונג האָט אויפֿגעבויט.
טויט איז טויט.
Nisht : Zachary Sholem Berger
Translation from Yiddish: Alex Foreman
No
No their death will not revive the dead
No their hunger is not our bread.
More tears for them are just more tears for them
Blood is red. Is red.
The beheaded child. The skull let fall.
The child under rubble. Lived hardly at all.
The snuffed breath of Jew and Gentile
Won't ventilate the hurt in any head.
I sit and write. One letter. At a time.
Despair is nothing next to live or die.
No their destruction has not built one shred.
Dead is dead.
יהי רצון אלוהי אבותינו ואימותינו שתרחם על כל קרבנות המלחמה הזו, נשחטים ונפצעים, נשבים וחוסרי בתים, כואבים, סבלים, בכל מקום שהם. בזכות תעניתינו, תפילותינו ומעשי ידינו שתעורר את מצפני בני אדם להיזכר אנושיותם. ברוגז רחמים יזכרו. ונאמר אמן.
الاه أجدادنا ارحم جميع ضحاية هذه الحرب، من الذي انذبح و انجرح والأسرى والمشردين، المتألمين والمعاناة أينما كانوا. فليوقظ صيامنا وصلواتنا وأعمال أيدينا ضمائر الناس لتتذكر إنسانيتهم. في الغضب، ندعي ليتذكرون الشفقة. ودعونا جميعا ان نقول آمين.
May the God of our ancestors have mercy on all the victims of this war, slaughtered and wounded, captives and homeless, in pain, suffering, wherever they are. Let our fasting, our prayers and the works of our hands awaken the consciences of people to remember their humanity. In anger let them recall pity. And let us say amen.