Two Sticks, One People
Friday January 3, 2025 – ג’ טבת תשפ”ה
Two Sticks, One People
וְאַתָּ֣ה בֶן־אָדָ֗ם קַח־לְךָ֙ עֵ֣ץ אֶחָ֔ד וּכְתֹ֤ב עָלָיו֙ לִֽיהוּדָ֔ה וְלִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל חֲבֵרָ֑ו וּלְקַח֙ עֵ֣ץ אֶחָ֔ד וּכְת֣וֹב עָלָ֗יו לְיוֹסֵף֙ עֵ֣ץ אֶפְרַ֔יִם וְכׇל־בֵּ֥ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל חֲבֵרָֽו׃ וְקָרַ֨ב אֹתָ֜ם אֶחָ֧ד אֶל־אֶחָ֛ד לְךָ֖ לְעֵ֣ץ אֶחָ֑ד וְהָי֥וּ לַאֲחָדִ֖ים בְּיָדֶֽךָ׃ (יחזקאל
“And you, O mortal, take a stick and write on it, “Of Judah and the Israelites associated with him”; and take another stick and write on it, “Of Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and all the House of Israel associated with him.” Bring them close to each other, so that they become one stick, joined together in your hand.” (Ezekiel 37:19-20)
Early this week, the Israeli Health Ministry released a jarring and difficult-to-digest report for the first time. All the news outlets that covered it included a trigger warning that the report contained “GRAPHIC CONTENT.” In the report, former hostages who were abducted on October 7, 2023, described in great and vivid detail the abuse they endured during their captivity prior to their release or rescue.
The report says that some hostages were kept for days in darkness, with their hands and feet bound, and received little food or water. They were beaten all over their bodies. Some had hair pulled out. Furthermore, the report described many cases of sexual violence, abuse, forced acts, denial of medical attention, beatings, starvation, and psychological abuse.
The report is tortuous to read, not only to read of the abuse endured by those who testified but reading the descriptions, one could not help but imagine the conditions of those still being held in captivity, now 455 days.
The report now confirms details of which many, of course, knew about and suspected to have occurred. Anyone who can read such a report and not conclude that the single most important thing to do right now is to bring the hostages home may have lost either their moral compass, their empathy, or both.
This week’s Haftarah reading from the Book of Ezekiel offers us an example of precisely what is needed at this moment. It should come as no surprise that in ancient times, we were a divided people in different camps. We know that prior to the Exile in Babylon (circa 586-536 BCE) during which the Prophet Ezekiel lived and prophesied, there were two Kingdoms, Yisrael and Yehuda. Furthermore, there were those from the Southern Kingdom who belonged to Beit David (the House of David) and those in the Northern Kingdom who were of Beit Yoseph/Ephraim (The House of Joseph, whose bones were brought from Egypt and buried in the Samarian city of Shechem). Ezekiel instructs them to graft onto one another, like a branch or wooden stick, with this symbolic act of actually writing on two distinct pieces the names of their “houses” and then grafting them together, commonly known as the “Two Sticks Prophecy.”
Ezekiel brings here an aspirational vision that did not come true even when our people returned from exile and rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem circa 520 BCE. According to the prophet’s vision, Yisrael and Yehuda will indeed return to being Am Echad, one people. It is a critical lesson that we in the liberal camp often hear from our brothers and sisters in the more conservative camp. “For the sake of unity…” is an often-heard sentence beginning, with a request to do something such as ‘limit criticism of Israel or its government’, or a plea not to ‘air dirty laundry in public.’
But those calling for unity would benefit from their own advice and rhetoric. The actions of certain politicians this week baffled the Israeli public, leading themselves to a disturbing new low.
While many around the world were regaling with revelry, marking a new year on the Gregorian calendar and celebrating the transition from 2024 to 2025, Members of Knesset looked at their watches as the legislative session went on with no sign of breaking. A contentious vote on the State’s budget was protested by Minister Itamar Ben Gvir as, in his eyes, it didn’t give him enough power and control over the state’s security forces. At the same time, the ultra-Orthodox, yet again, made sure that their people would not be drafted despite a warning from the Attorney General, a Supreme Court decision against their continued exemption and an obvious drastic change in the country’s security and military needs during a 15-month-long war.
The most egregious acts were the contemptible treatment of hostage families and bereaved families of October 7th victims. In one instance, Rafi Ben Shitrit, the father of Elroy, a soldier killed in battle at Nahal Oz during the October 7 attack, was addressing a Knesset committee imploring the Knesset and the government to establish an official state investigation into the failure that allowed the Hamas massacre. In the middle of Shitrit’s plea, Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman, the head of The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee got up and walked out[1]. The pure callousness and utter disrespect for a bereaved parent crossed a holy redline in Israeli society. In another instance, Einav Zaungaker, whose son Matan is still held in captivity, was banned this week from even coming into the Knesset.
The hostage families are in no way suggesting that Israel should compromise its security, only that the government that did not prevent their being kidnapped also must take responsibility for bringing them all home. So, we ask this week for the two divided camps (and yes, there are many more) to ‘graft’ onto one another, for Yehudah and Yisrael – Beit David and Beit Yosef – to join one another and truly become one people. To unite around our common need to do the basic and most urgent action of our time and redeem those in captivity.
Just seven verses before his vision of Two Sticks, Ezekiel ends his famous and haunting prophecy of the Vision of Dry Bones with the following prophecy:
לָכֵן֩ הִנָּבֵ֨א וְאָמַרְתָּ֜ אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם כֹּה־אָמַר֮ אֲדֹנָ֣י יֱהֹוִה֒ הִנֵּה֩ אֲנִ֨י פֹתֵ֜חַ אֶת־קִבְרֽוֹתֵיכֶ֗ם וְהַעֲלֵיתִ֥י אֶתְכֶ֛ם מִקִּבְרוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם עַמִּ֑י וְהֵבֵאתִ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֶל־אַדְמַ֥ת יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (יחזקאל לז:יב)
Prophesy, therefore, and say to them: Thus said the Sovereign God: I am going to open your graves and lift you out of the graves, O My people, and bring you to the Land of Israel.”
May it be Your will that the current negotiations be fruitful, and may we be blessed with good news soon.
Shabbat Shalom.
[1] Incidentally, the session was set to address a proposed law that would allow for administrative detention, or detention without trial, of Arabs only.