Amid the ongoing security crisis in Israel, as Iran’s missile attacks continue to threaten civilian safety, Rabbi Yosiah Pinto delivered words of encouragement, issuing a powerful call for unity and mutual responsibility within the Jewish people.
According to Rabbi Pinto, no Jew is exempt from distress in times like these. “The Jewish people are in crisis. A person cannot say: I am fine and at peace—no. The entire Jewish nation is in distress. There is not a single Jew who is not affected. And anyone who feels unaffected should be concerned.”
Rabbi Pinto emphasized the urgent need for unconditional love and the removal of divisions: “This is a time for ahavat chinam — unconditional love of the highest degree. A person must love his fellow. It is a time to forgive everything, to draw close. A time of ‘for the time to favor her has come.’ A time to elevate the soul, to deepen oneself in the holy Torah, and to strengthen one another.”
He clarified that mutual responsibility is not merely an abstract value, but a core foundation of the Jewish nation’s existence: “It is impossible for one Jew to suffer while another eats, drinks, and laughs. There is no such reality. There is no reality where one Jew is in mortal danger while another sits comfortably — it simply cannot be. All Jews are bound as one. If one finger hurts, the whole body suffers. There is no such thing as cutting off a finger while the rest of the body remains healthy. It can infect the entire body. The pain is felt everywhere.”
Rabbi Pinto added that God Himself shares in the suffering of His people: “When one Jew is in trouble — ‘I am with him in distress.’ The Holy One, blessed be He, is with the Jew in his suffering.”
He concluded with a call for every Jew to take personal responsibility for fostering unity: “In these days, each person must strive to increase unconditional love, to forgive, to draw close, and to labor in the holy Torah. This is not merely a time of danger — it is a time of national awakening.”
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel