The first time I heard Binyamin Netanyahu speak was on the 11th of Tamuz, 5752 (July12, 1992), at a memorial service for David Tamuz, of Tekoa, who had been brutally slaughtered by Arab neighbors at the historic site on Herodian on this day in 5742 (1982). This memorial service, on the tenth anniversary of David zz'l's murder, was held at his gravesite on Har ha'zetim (the mount of olives), next to the simple stone which said of this brave, bright, beautiful and beloved young man, "David Rosenfeld :Ish Tekoa" (a man of Tekoa) Netanyahu spoke from the heart - simply and elegantly. He had the group consisting of family, of friends, and the men and women of Tekoa, enthralled; had them, had us, mesmerized by his truth and sincerity. He spoke of the inalienable rights of the Jewish people to this, our land; he spoke of the long and historic connection of the Jewish people to this G-d given land; he spoke of our inviolable relationship to this land. He spoke from the heart and to the heart and mind. He gave meaning to David's death, meaning to all Jewish sacrifice here. We were validated, we were comforted, we were elevated, we were empowered. Netanyahu has the power to lead, he has the faith, the truth, the rootedness, the identification, the scope and the vision. I voted for him each time he stood for the premiership. I am sorry he did not make it. Perhaps, like David, zz'l, who had been brutally destroyed by implacable enemies, Netanyahu, too, has been destroyed by implacable enemies. Would that it were not so. |
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