August 2, 2025
Author(s): Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz,
Parashat Devarim
Tag. You’re It.
August 2, 2025 – 8 Av 5785
Temple Emanuel, Newton, MA
On January 15, 1997, Princess Diana walked through a minefield in Angola.
The background for her walk was the civil war in Angola that raged for 27 years, from 1975 through 2002, which meant that she was walking through a minefield while the war was still going on. When Angola secured its independence from Portugal, a civil war broke out between a Communist faction supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba, and an anti-Communist faction supported by the United States. The war was not only long but deadly, resulting in 500,000 to 800,000 deaths of civilians and soldiers; and the displacement of 4 million refugees.
The war also left Angola infected with landmines which meant that on any given day, with a blue sky overhead, a person in the wrong place at the wrong time could step on a mine and be maimed or killed. In fact, although the war ended in 2002, since 2008, 60,000 innocent people have been killed or maimed by land mines.
So in 1997, Princess Diana walked through a minefield in Angola for two purposes: one, to raise awareness and urgency to clear the mines in Angola; and two, to create an international treaty that land mines no longer be used in war. Her goal was to have a “mine-free world.” Princess Diana’s walk was highly successful. In Angola over 120,000 landmines have been cleared since her walk. Land that used to be uninhabitable because of mines is now used for homes, schools and businesses. And, within a year of her walk, 164 nations signed the Ottawa Treaty banning land mines, leading to a halt in their production and to the destruction of stockpiles. Real progress.
You might think that with such dramatic success, the only reason for her children to ever go back to Angola would be to celebrate the mine-free world their mother had dreamed of. Sadly that is not the case. Just two weeks ago, on July 16 to be exact, twenty-eight years after his mother first walked through a minefield, Princess Diana’s son Prince Harry was back in Angola walking through minefields. Why now?
And the answer is: Because his mother’s goal of a “mine-free world” is very much at risk. There are still active minefields in Angola that need to be cleared. Experts estimate it will take another $240 million to finish the job. But the deeper reason is that, in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the ongoing war, and the ongoing menace posed by Putin’s Russia, five nations—Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland—all of which had signed the Ottawa Treaty, have announced that they are pulling out, that they may need to go back to planting mines to deter Russia from invading their countries. Prince Harry’s walk through the minefields was an effort to reinforce his mother’s endangered vision of a mine-free world.
Why am I mentioning Princess Diana and Prince Harry’s walk through minefields in Angola now? What does this have to do with us? What does this have to do with Judaism and the Jewish people? What does this have to do with Tisha B’av, which starts tonight? And the answer is, everything.
Princess Diana and Prince Harry had a large, noble goal: a mine-free world. But large and noble goals are seldom accomplished fully and completely. At best, we make some progress, two steps forward, one step back. Princess Diana’s work resulted in the removal of 120,000 mines in Angola, but mines still remain. Her walk led to the Ottawa Treaty, but five nations are leaving the treaty in a changed and more dangerous world. We are never done with our large and noble goals. When he was here in March, Tal Becker of the Shalom Hartman Institute pointed out that the classic Jewish formulation for peace, for shalom, is bakesh shalom v’radphehu, seek peace and pursue it, seek peace and chase it. We don’t accomplish peace, full stop. We try to increase peace.
Our large and noble goals are always a work in progress. When our time on this earth is up, when God calls our souls, we will not have checked those goals off our list. They will not be done, done. They will never be done, done.
Rather, we will tag the next generation. Our work will continue through the people whom we have inspired: our children and grandchildren, our students and disciples, our friends and colleagues. Princess Diana tagged the future. That’s why Prince Harry walked her walk. That’s why he retraced her steps. That’s why, 28 years later, he is still working on his mother’s unfinished work.
Which means that the arc of our lives is not limited to the number of our days. The arc of our lives is not limited by the number of our years. The arc of our lives can be more than the 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 90 plus years that God allots to us when we can tag the future because we, and those whom we love, share common values and ideals that we work on during our lifetime and they work on during theirs. Our most important work will always be unfinished and ongoing.
Which leads us to Tisha B’av which starts tonight. Obviously Tisha B’av is taking place during a horrendous time for the world, for the citizens of Gaza, for Israel and Israelis, for the Jewish people. This week Shira was introducing a dialogue between Marc Baker and the head of Isra-Aid. I want to quote her introduction, for two reasons. One, I think it is pitch perfect at expressing the agony of our moment. Two, if it makes you angry, please send your angry email directly to Shira. This is what she wrote:
We’re here this morning because we care—and because we’re in pain.
Pain that people are starving in Gaza.
Pain that Israeli soldiers are being wounded and killed.
Pain that hostages are still held captive—664 days and counting.
Pain that Israel’s name is being dragged through the mud globally.
Pain that we do not trust the government meant to lead our beloved homeland.
Pain that even among our friends and family, we are divided in how we
see and speak about all this.
That’s where we are on erev Tisha B’av.
On top of that deep darkness, there is also the deep darkness this week of the shootings on Park Avenue that claimed the lives of four innocent victims. Each story breaks your heart. There was Didarul Islam, age 36, a New York City Police Department officer. He is the father of two young children, with a third on the way. There was Wesley LePatner, age 43, married, mother of two, a senior executive at Blackstone, and an active leader in the community. She had this family and this high-powered job and managed to be on four boards: the Met, the UJA-Federation, the Heschel School, and the Yale University Library Council. Her 14-year old daughter gave a eulogy at her funeral and said: “There’s a gaping Mount Everest-sized hole in my life right now. Every time I heard the doorbell ring, I think it’s her and I get excited.” There was Aland Etienne, a 46-year-old security guard who leaves behind his girlfriend, their 7-year old son, whose birthday is in a few days, five brothers and one sister. He was shot and killed in the lobby while trying to protect others. And then there was Julia Hyman, a 27-year old recent graduate of Cornell, who was deeply loved for her emotional intelligence, warmth, and ability to connect with others. This tragedy is closer, much closer, than the four hours it takes to get from 385 Ward Street to 345 Park Avenue. We have people in our community who know personally and love Wesley LePatner and Julia Hyman. Tisha B’av on top of Tisha B’av. Heartbreak on top of heartbreak. How shall we possibly respond?
Shira and I recently attended a wedding where we were hanging out with people our age and stage, who have adult children our children’s age and stage. And one of the things we were talking about is a voice among some in the rising generation that goes something like this: The world is so broken, why bring children into it? Why inflict this broken world on innocent children?
Here is where Judaism has an insight that is so gorgeous, so true, and so desperately needed right now. The brokenness of our world is an urgent reason to get married, and to have children. The brokenness of our world means, get to the chuppah now. The brokenness of our world means bring new generations into the world now. If we don’t bring children into the world to fix the world, who will fix the world?
Our tradition conveys that the best response to grief is love through a little known but important date on the Jewish calendar, the 15th of Av, just six days after Tisha B’av. A mishna teaches that on the 15th of Av, single young people in Jerusalem would dress up, go out and meet in the vineyards and date and fall in love and pair off so that the Jewish people could continue and rebuild and restore and repair. In his book Judaism is About Love, Rabbi Shai Held observes:
Let’s think about this for a moment. The Temple has been destroyed and we are in mourning; the traditional seven days of mourning (shiva) have not yet been completed—and suddenly we are thrust into one of the most joyous days of the year. What is going on here?
The tradition implicitly makes a stunning claim. In the wake of destruction and devastation, we should respond with…more love…When everything seems lost…set about reaffirming life and rediscovering love.
Falling in love, getting married, bringing children into the world is all positive energy that points to the promise of making our world better. Princess Diana did her best to repair the world. Twenty-eight years later, her son walks her walk and continues her work.
And that’s why, on the eve of Tisha B’av, it is so important, so Jewishly resonant, so deeply hopeful, that today we celebrate the upcoming weddings of Rayna and Daniel, and of Rebecca and Rich. The best response to Tisha B’av is the 15th of Av. The best response to loss is
love. The best response to brokenness is a new generation committed to repair.
Tag. You’re it. Shabbat shalom.