Ajex Service Rabbi Aaron Goldstein 14 November 2008

I am often amazed at how, on occasion, different cycles of life touch, but for a brief moment. On this Erev Shabbat when we commemorate those who gave their lives and all those whose sacrifice was injury or bereavement through the line of duty, we do so ahead of the 73rd Annual Remembrance Ceremony and Parade to the Cenotaph on Sunday. This Shabbat, that cycle of remembrance coincides with one of the most famous passages of the cycle of reading the Torah, the Akedah, the binding of Isaac or the trial of Abraham or the challenge of God and humanity, however you would like to title it.

It is also one of the most traumatic passages in the Torah and has led our Sages and Commentators to struggle with the outcome and interpretation of it. Part of this canon of interpretation suggests a reading, supported by a minority, but perfectly valid. It is expressed in one of the most powerful of poems written by Wilfred Owen, who himself died in action during the First World War on November 4, ninety years ago:

The Parable of the Old Man and the Young

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Issac, the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, the fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there.
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not a hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram, caught  in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not do so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

How terrible is war. How traumatic. How can humanity act in such a way, to solve its problems through such means that wrenches life from its own body? But act it does without its constituent parts being able to conceive support for an alternative path.

Yet, how is it that that same humanity can breed such loyalty, bravery and integrity. How is it that out of the darkness of wars that we create, come beacons of light that shine out and urge, sometimes to scream, to those who survive to not let their fight be in vain. Let their fight, let their life, their memory be for blessing, be for good, be for ever a source of hope that their legacy is peace, is sense, is heart.

Out of the beacons of light has sprung an organization that has been a conduit to allow the light to remain shining, to bring light to those in need now and to insure that a brightness shines forth into the future. The Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (AJEX) continues to provide:

Remembrance for the sacrifices of the past.
Help for those in need in the present.
Education for the future.

AJEX excels in all three fields. As such its work strengthens the good name of the Jewish People. We are so grateful for AJEX, as are all those who benefit from its outings for those living with disabilities; who are visited  at home or in hospital; who are assisted financially through the AJEX CHARITABLE TRUST for ex-servicemen and women, and their dependants; and for whom AJEX is literally a home and a family.

Now, still with over 5000 members and those joining from more recent wars, AJEX also fulfils a vital and dignified resource to those of future generations through the Jewish Military Museum and educational programmes for schools.

Our world is as yet unredeemed. Still our country is at war. It seems somewhat incredible because it rarely feels as if this is so. We have a professional army that does our fighting for us and the wars we are waging seem distant to us. Yet we have a duty to think of those of our People who are fighting on our behalf. Some may agree with the basis of a war and some may not. It does not lessen our duty to think of those on the battlefield and the victims of war. I know little about war but this, our soldiers are our soldiers and part of their courage and strength is the support we give to them, a fellow human being acting for duty in the most awful circumstances.