Training for War

Lent 5, Week of March 22
Psalm 119.9-16

On Friday I read an article in Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper—about some debriefings of Israeli soldiers by their superiors in February, shortly after the Gaza war, Operation Cast Lead. They were reviewing what had happened in the war so that they could plan for future operations. Their comments were startling—but then, again, their comments were the product of war, any war. The soldiers themselves are the product of war, a horrible proving ground, a terrible field for the formation of young women and men, 18-19 years old.

"Toward the end of the operation there was a plan to go into a very densely populated area inside Gaza City itself. In the briefings they started to talk to us about orders for opening fire inside the city, because as you know they used a huge amount of firepower and killed a huge number of people along the way, so that we wouldn't get hurt and they wouldn't fire on us. "At first the specified action was to go into a house. We were supposed to go in with an armored personnel carrier called an Achzarit [literally, Cruel] to burst through the lower door, to start shooting inside and then ... I call this murder ... in effect, we were supposed to go up floor by floor, and any person we identified - we were supposed to shoot. I initially asked myself: Where is the logic in this? Read more….

This week’s psalm, 119.9-16, by far the longest psalm in the bible, is about the formation of young people, about the training of the young to walk in the way of God:

“How can a young man keep his way pure?—by holding to Your word,”

The entire psalm is in praise of Torah—God’s goodness expressed through God’s teaching of the Torah, the way we are to live in harmony with one another and with all of creation.

“My soul is consumed with longing for Your rules at all times….I cling to Your decrees.”

My thoughts keep returning to the young people of the Holy Land today—to the way they are being trained up to be the people of God in a land dedicated to their faith. And I remember the posting I made Saturday—one Israeli aunt’s concern for her nephew, serving in the Israeli Defense Force. If you missed this post, talk a look at the story now: http://apilgrimstales.blogspot.com/2009/03/soldiers-aunt-struggles-living-her-own.html

O God, in your holy word, you teach us your ways of peace and reconciliation. The ways of the world fail us; help us be faithful teachers of the young, to train them in your ways of harmony and peace. Amen.