AT THE WHITE HOUSE FOR THE ACCORD
WHISPERS OF MOSHIACH IN THE WIND
By: Suri Davis
In 1979, I was very young watching President Jimmy Carter with Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat at the signing of the Camp David accords in Washington. I was raptly engrossed in catching the historic moment. I remember watching my mother teary as Prime Minister Begin reached into his pocket to retrieve a kippah, and start his speech with Psalm 121:
121קכ״א
שִׁ֗יר לַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת אֶשָּׂ֣א עֵ֭ינַי אֶל־הֶהָרִ֑ים מֵ֝אַ֗יִן יָבֹ֥א עֶזְרִֽי׃
A song for ascents. I turn my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come?
עֶ֭זְרִי מֵעִ֣ם יְהוָ֑ה עֹ֝שֵׂ֗ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ׃
My help comes from the LORD, maker of heaven and earth.
אַל־יִתֵּ֣ן לַמּ֣וֹט רַגְלֶ֑ךָ אַל־יָ֝נ֗וּם שֹֽׁמְרֶֽךָ׃
He will not let your foot give way; your guardian will not slumber;
הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
See, the guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps!
יְהוָ֥ה שֹׁמְרֶ֑ךָ יְהוָ֥ה צִ֝לְּךָ֗ עַל־יַ֥ד יְמִינֶֽךָ׃
The LORD is your guardian, the LORD is your protection at your right hand.
יוֹמָ֗ם הַשֶּׁ֥מֶשׁ לֹֽא־יַכֶּ֗כָּה וְיָרֵ֥חַ בַּלָּֽיְלָה׃
By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night.
יְֽהוָ֗ה יִשְׁמָרְךָ֥ מִכָּל־רָ֑ע יִ֝שְׁמֹ֗ר אֶת־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃
The LORD will guard you from all harm; He will guard your life.
יְֽהוָ֗ה יִשְׁמָר־צֵאתְךָ֥ וּבוֹאֶ֑ךָ מֵֽ֝עַתָּ֗ה וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם׃
The LORD will guard your going and coming now and forever.
I was invited to attend yesterday’s historic signing of the Abraham accords at the White House. Avi Berkowitz, was acknowledged and praised as a co-author of the accords, and as a friend of his parents, I had watched him grow and develop.
He met Jared Kushner, the now familiar story, at a pickup basketball game in Arizona. While a law student, he started writing for the New York Observer, and being a reliable assistant to Mr. Kushner. He worked hard in Harvard Law School, and was offered a lucrative position in a law firm, but forewent that opportunity so he could work in the White House.
The media scoffed at the bright young gentleman, ‘what experience did he have at his age, or in politics at all.’ He came with bright ideals and ideas, thinking out of the box, not questioning if peace could be accomplished, but how it could be accomplished. The myriad public praises of Avi Berkowitz for his efforts in this regard, are a testament to his intellect, intelligence, insight, determination and dedication.
It hearkens back centuries to a woman named Hadassah/Esther, who was taken to the king’s palace. All the other women were desirous of the queen position, Esther was not. The king saw her and with G-d’s hand appointed her queen.
When Jewish life in Persia started to deteriorate, and there was a decree that all Jews could be murdered by Haman and his supporters, Mordechai asked Esther to go to the king beseeching her:
כִּ֣י אִם־הַחֲרֵ֣שׁ תַּחֲרִישִׁי֮ בָּעֵ֣ת הַזֹּאת֒ רֶ֣וַח וְהַצָּלָ֞ה יַעֲמ֤וֹד לַיְּהוּדִים֙ מִמָּק֣וֹם אַחֵ֔ר וְאַ֥תְּ וּבֵית־אָבִ֖יךְ תֹּאבֵ֑דוּ וּמִ֣י יוֹדֵ֔עַ אִם־לְעֵ֣ת כָּזֹ֔את הִגַּ֖עַתְּ לַמַּלְכֽוּת׃
On the contrary, if you keep silent in this crisis, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another quarter, while you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows, perhaps you have attained to royal position for just such a crisis.”
See how life evolves. Jared Kushner an Orthodox man, meets Ivanka Trump, a Christian. They fall in love and she converts to Judaism. They live an Orthodox life, go away to a Pesach program in Arizona, and meet a young boy from Long Island. That young bright man, foregoes other opportunities to join the White House staff as special peace negotiator in a Middle East region, which has not seen peace for two thousand years. Seasoned negotiators and politicians well versed in regional politics failed to bring about peace. Avi Berkowitz, a David among Goliaths, took the proverbial sling shot and rock, and broke that barrier to peace. Clearly G-d’s hand in history, decades in the making. Hearkening more recently to 1980, when President Ronald Reagan implored Russia’s President Gorbachev: “Mr. President, tear down this wall!”
There was a carnivale atmosphere at the White House. Jews from all over the world, coming together on the eve of a new year, after months of quarantine and cessation of social interaction, to witness this historic event and wish each other a better year.
My children know me already, like The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, my head wanders to thoughts as I process the magnitude of the world around me, big and small, the bumble bees in my raspberry bushes, the deadline for Medicaid planning, the magnificence of davening and torah, like a kite finding flight in the clouds, my children know to remind me that my feet are still here on earth.
So too, yesterday. I got lost in the external multi-sensory experience, the army band, the rich and famous, minchah on the lawn, shofar blowing, and the powerful inner force in seeing my friend, Brynde Berkowitz, shepping nachat at Avi’s rise from “coffee boy,” to peacemaker. Like Moses, the shepherd, and David, the young slingshot, G-d places the humble, inner spiritual giants, where He needs them in the world.
I was desperate to hear what Prime Minister Netanyahu would say at this moment. My take away, on this erev Rosh Hashanah iיְיָ עֹז לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן, יְיָ יְבָרֵךְ אֶת עַמּוֹ בַשָּׁלוֹם (תהילים כ״ט:י׳-י״א):
“God Gives His People Strength; God blesses His people with peace.” (Psalms 29:11). This is the message that bridges the old with the new, it is G-d who gives us strength, and it is G-d, and G-d’s messengers on earth, who He imbues with the fortitude to create and nurture peace…Asher barah Elokim laasot.
As Brocha called me to take pictures, and Altchie pointed out Ivanka, and Rivka pointed out the dignitaries, they ensured I stayed in the moment, my feet planted, as they competed with my head loitering in the clouds, lost in this historic moment, hearing the whispers of Moshiach in the wind.
-Shanah Tovah Tikatevu V’techatemu
Shabbat shalom.
-Suri