This past weekend I met Andrey Kozlov. Andrey, 27, was rescued on June 8 along with 21-year-old Almog Meir Jan and 40-year-old Shlomi Ziv by Israeli special forces who raided the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza.
Andrey pensively shared with us that it is impossible to understand the ways of world. He was struggling to come to grips with why he was freed, while some hostages were killed, and many remain living in their Hamas hell.
That is exactly the point of this week’s Torah portion Nitzavim. Life happens, bad things happen and there are simply things that we don’t understand and have absolutely no control over.
Continually seeking and answer to “why?” where there is no way of knowing why is natural but also somewhat futile. On the other hand, by not focusing so much on “why”, what if we rather focused on “what”. One thing that can never be taken away from us is our free choice to choose how we respond and think in any situation in life. What can I learn from this situation? What can I do through my experiences to make myself a better person. What contribution can I make to the world after my miraculous rescue?
We can all learn from Andrey an accidental celebrity. No doubt his life is defined by before Oct 7 and after that fateful day. We can all be Andrew’s and choose life which is choosing to live by our highest aspirations: love and understanding, fairness and kindness; the values and ideals that are truly meaningful.
May we speedily have all our hostages returned to us and may we find a way to bring peace and security back to our land.
Shabbat shalom
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