Hashivenu. Restore.

FIELD UPDATE

When I look at these men, the real Shingali dudes, my mind goes to one verse from Lamentations which is sung in the Shabbat service. "Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old."

These are the men who walked for days in the scorching heat to flee Shingal and arrive in safety to Shariya. These are the men whose lives were fields of wheat and barley. These are the men who had orchards and vines. These are the men who had small shops where they could eke out a living for their family.

These are the men who watched in horror as their wives and daughters were stolen from them. These are the men who until today, 12 years later, still cannot comprehend how their neighbors took black clothes and black flags out of their closets and dragged them into captivity. They watched cement being poured over their wives. They heard the screams of their daughters.

They saw. They heard. Many of the elders of the community were killed first. Strategic. Remove the hedge of protection.

Many became sick with physical and mental ailments. Whether high blood pressure, cancer, schizophrenia, or bipolar disease, their mind was blown up.

We love these old men. We respect them and give them great honor and dignity. All they want is for their days to be restored, to go to their grave in peace, seeing sons and daughters returned from captivity. Tasting just one cluster of grapes from their vine. Slaughtering just one lamb for a feast. As in the former days when life was simple.

We give these precious men space in the Hope Garden, which is brimming with both bounty and fragrance. They need little. Just a safe, quiet place to play backgammon, as in the olden days when they would gather in the village square as the sun set, and play and chat for hours.

We pray for restoration, for return, and for renewal of days. We pray Ruth 4 over these precious men, "He will renew your life and sustain you in old age."

We are ever grateful for the Garden, which brims with life and offers sanctuary to all who enter.