* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Avidan Beit Yaakov is the father of Captain Roy Beit Yaakov who fell in Gaza last spring. He writes about the holiday of Sukkot as follows:
“People ask us how we are feeling this year about Sukkot, this is my answer: this is a holiday on which we are commanded to be joyful and so we will be. Send this message to the successor of the successor of Nasrallah, if there is still such a person.
And let Sinwar and all of our enemies and ‘friends’ in the world hear it too. This war is about staying joyful, no matter what.
This war broke out ok Simchat Torah. It’s a war on our ‘simcha’ (joy).
On the calendar, Sukkot will always be joyful, even when mixed with mourning and pain over those who have fallen.
But our joy will not be expressed in just having parties. Our joy does not ignore the hardship and pain that surround us. Our joy is that of a people that understands its mission to bring morality into the world. For this we are fighting — to bring more goodness and holiness into the world and to crush the evil that exists.
Our joy looks to the future. It knows that we are on the right path, what is lacking, and that in the end we will triumph and our joy will finally be complete.
Chag sameach.”
