She’s my baby sister and today is her birthday. Born on the 30th of Shvat, 1991, when I was a cute nine-year-old, I vividly remember my siblings and I hanging out at my maternal grandparents’ house waiting for the news from Mount Sinai Hospital. The three boys wanted my mom to have a boy, and we were disappointed when my dad called and said, “it’s a girl”. On the upside, Rochel got a sister, and we adjusted to our little sis; it turns out that Mushkie was the missing ingredient to make our family whole.

In this week’s Torah portion, Terumah, we read about the construction of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, in the Sinai desert. It was a meticulous and artistic project; it was a masterpiece. Every peg and bundle of wool was exact in its measurements, every detail of the service was assigned precisely to either a Kohen, Levi or Israelite, and the position of every holy vessel had a Divinely ordained place where it was to be positioned in the house of G-d. The Mishkan construction project serves as a reminder for every Jewish home, the Mikdash Me’at, the miniature sanctuary, which are meant to be a Divine space too.  Every individual in the home should be recognized for their special role. Each person, adult or child, must have the opportunity to express their uniqueness and exceptional talents that make them who they are.

Each vessel is special and holy. Each one serves in a unique role.

Just this week I saw an Instagram meme that said, “Fun fact: if you wake up just one hour earlier, you can include up to sixty extra minutes of anxiety into every day”. I laughed and shared it with Chavie, because the Bruk anxiety is real and pervasive. Yet, among our clan there is one chill member and that is Mushkie. She has many incredible talents that make her stand out, but my favorite thing about her is the calmness she exudes during the storm. Every family needs one person who doesn’t stress it like the rest of us, who doesn’t invent unnecessary fears and paranoia, and who can wade through the challenging waters with grace and authentic joy. Mushkie is our family alert system that reminds us of the alternative to our genetically prompted stressfulness.‍

Build a healthy home, a steadfast tabernacle, where every member shines!‍

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!

I don’t lose sleep.

No matter what’s going on in my life I sleep well. Even on the night before traveling to say goodbye to my mom before she passed, I got six hours. It makes Chavie crazy how quickly I can just conk out, but it’s a blessing.

Yet, Wednesday night was different. Chavie is in New York at the convention of Chabad Rebbetzins, and I am serving as the captain of our ship for the week. Wednesday evening after getting the kids to bed, giving my weekly Parsha class, and hosting dinner for our visiting Synagogue security expert, I laid down in bed, and I couldn’t sleep. My mind was in Israel and the image of Shiri Bibas and her beautiful boys Kfir and Ariel, was stuck in my head and I was broken.

Who does this to babies and toddlers? Do my fellow Americans on college campuses support this? Is this what “Free Palestine” is all about? How come so many in the media continue to fail us with their “two state” lies and stories of the “poor Gazans”? why haven’t they shared that Shiri and her boys were taken by “innocent civilians” in Gaza, not Hamas or Islamic Jihad? Did they show their audience the video of “ordinary”, “starved”, and “ethnically cleansed” Gazans with their smart phones, Nike sneakers, and fresh coffee standing around while babies in coffins are paraded through town? Why did 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz, who spent his life helping Arabs in Gaza come back to his family in a body bag?

I am tired of explaining to westerners that they are supporting evil.

In our Torah portion, Mishpatim, we are taught how to live as a moral Jew. How to properly treat your employees, how to be a responsible caretaker of your animals, the importance of not hurting another human being and what our obligations are if we do, how to have a judicial system that is just and impartial, the vitality of being kind to a stranger, the commandment to refrain from creating public hazards, prohibitions against bribery and lying, the Mitzvah to care for an orphan and widow, and the prime Jewish idea of giving to the poor and vulnerable, so they are not left destitute, hungry or homeless.

This is Judaism and this is who Jews are.

We love.

We care.

We empathize.

We do good.

The Bibas family will remain etched in our hearts forever. Yarden, a beloved husband and father, will be in our minds and prayers. The Bibas family will be like Chana and her seven sons on Chanukah, who died for being Jews and who Jewry remembers two thousand years later. I am done explaining to a cruel world why the Jews are good and Hamas and their harborers are evil. If you don’t get it, it’s because you choose to side with barbarism and that’s on you. What we saw Thursday morning was extreme cruelty and the only response we need to give the world is acts of extreme kindness and compassion. Our goodness and kindness on steroids, is the only antidote to these evil monsters, and it’s what will keep us going until we merit Mashiach when Hamas, BBC and the UN will be no more and Yarden will be reunited with his beautiful redheads.

May the memory of Shiri Bas Yosef, Ariel Ben Yarden, Kfir Ben Yarden and Oded Ben Bilhah remind us how blessed we are to be part of Am Hanetzach, the eternal nation.

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!