The dog tag, a requirement for Israeli soldiers and more recently a statement of solidarity worn around the world. The attack on October 7th has united our people past the superficial differences of race, language, religious observance, and political perspective. While Israeli hostages continue to sit captive in darkness day after day, we temporarily brand ourselves with these tags that sit heavy on our collective heart.
While this tag seems simple, it contains within it a deep spiritual message. The Hebrew reads “הלב שלנו שבוי בעזה” — our heart is captive in Gaza. Notice how the word heart is singular rather than plural. The concept that the Jewish people share one heart originates in the story of Mount Sinai when the people of Israel first became a nation over 3,000 years ago. At that moment, the language the Torah uses to refer to the people of Israel switches from plural to singular. The great Jewish sage Rashi explains that the Israelites were like one person with one heart. The people were united in a way they hadn’t been before and have never been since. All their differences and disagreements dissolved in that monumental moment. Their unity surpassed the physical and extended into the [Music] spiritual.
When we recite the ״שמע״ declaration, we always cover our eyes to refrain from seeing the pluralistic experience of the physical world. By shutting off this external stimuli, we meditate on the potential of one shared reality that we are all a part of. Although not all of us can fight on the front lines, we all feel like soldiers forced into action to defend our homeland and identity. On the world stage, they can smear us, demonize us, and attack us, but they can never tear us apart.
When the war ends and people inevitably remove their dog tags, will this sense of brotherly love be able to continue?
Do we need to wait for another symbol to appear, or is it time to unite our collective heart to move us forward in the right direction?
