Invisible Fighters

Who even thinks about this segment of the population? Many treatments are being canceled because of the war, and all they hear around them is the "national complaint" about children being sent on an early Passover break.

I asked them what they wanted to convey to Israeli society as a whole. Here are a few comments from the chat contributed by different participants:

• We're not in uniform. No one stops us on the street to call us a "lion" or a "lioness," and no one is handing us free falafel. But we are fighters too. Our struggle, our determination to bring children into the world — for me, that is our answer to our enemies.

• For me, bringing children into the world now, during wartime, is like those Israelis who board rescue flights back to Israel while missiles are falling. I feel that this is my mission.

• I live in a close-knit community where everyone cooks for women after childbirth, and of course, for the wives of reservists. Has anyone ever cooked for a woman undergoing fertility treatments? The community assumes that because we don't have children, we can always take on any task, because of course we must have free time. People have no idea that we've just come home from a complicated fertility treatment.

• People label us "a childless couple" as if that is our whole identity. But we are defined by many other facets, and we bring a great deal of blessing into the world in other ways. We wish people would interact with us in a friendly, natural, human way. Some don't think twice about asking prying questions, and we don't always feel comfortable sharing. In general, unless you are a professor in reproductive medicine, please don't give us advice. We are already deep inside the story. Talk to us about something else, especially at the Seder table, where once again, this year, we will arrive without children of our own.

How much more sensitivity we need to bring to our conversations, always — and especially in days like these. Let's try and think which other groups are "invisible" right now; what other issues have been pushed a little to the side, and need to be remembered too.

At the end of the Zoom, after asking them what they need from us, I told them that we learn so much from them: about faith, about longing, about patience. About the inner strength required when we are in the middle of a long process, just like the entire Jewish people right now. And about waiting, at the end of the road, for good news.

The Work Before Light
The Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Roth, once recounted that during the Jewish month of Nisan, he chose to devote himself mainly to the spiritual preparations for Passover. He remained secluded in his study and took almost no part in the many practical tasks that precede the holiday. Years later, he said that at the Seder that year he felt almost no spiritual uplift. From this, he learned that without the physical labor before the holiday, one cannot merit the great light that is revealed on Seder night.

Pure Passover
Here is a message from Israel to the Jewish world:

When we are trying to cope with so many challenges, how can we possibly get ready for Passover?

I heard a very smart way of thinking about the holiday this year: It will be Passover distilled to its essence — focused, authentic, and fulfilling.

It's worth focusing on Passover's main points, studying the — [religious duties] of the holiday, and learning what Jewish law requires of us regarding the removal of leaven. Of course, we should also try to support others, financially or emotionally, with their own preparations, but without taking on other projects that aren't essential in our current circumstances. We shouldn't take on unnecessary expenses or other projects that add more stress to an already stressful time.

On the other hand, we shouldn't think of this as a miserable Passover that we are forced to keep under trying circumstances. (We aren't dealing with a worldwide epidemic as we were six years ago during Covid!) This time it's a Jewish story: about our identity, our essence, and our faith. We're facing an evil enemy who for decades has been waking up every morning intent on destroying us.

Think about all the hostages who have returned from captivity and who will be eating matzah, the bread of liberation, as free people. Think of the pilots who succeeded in eliminating those who "in each generation rise up against us to destroy us," sitting down at their own Seder tables. This year, Passover will be a another chapter from the Haggadah story. While our physical circumstances may be challenging, our spiritual Passover will be on a completely new level. Passover this year might be more modest than usual, but it will also be much more meaningful.

May we all have an authentic, meaningful, kosher and happy holiday!

The Power of Seder Night
Rabbi Shimshon Pincus zt"l (d. 2001 ) taught several points about the great power of Seder night:

• On this holy night, there is enormous significance to our smallest actions. Even if we don't feel any change, on this night each person is given strength that he didn't have before.

• On Seder night, G od Himself intervenes in history and tells the Jewish people: "I am right here by your side. Whatever befalls you has a deeper purpose and is part of a larger plan."

• On the following morning, we should wake up feeling as if our souls have been cleansed. The Seder is not merely about matzahs, bitter herbs and wine…it is a revolution; we wake up as new people.

Sivan Rahav Meir is a primetime news anchor with weekly broadcasts on television and radio. Her "Daily Thought" has a huge following on social media, with hundreds of thousands of followers, translated into 17 languages. She has published several books in English and was recognized by Globes newspaper as Israel's most popular female media figure and by the Jerusalem Post as one of the 50 most influential Jews worldwide. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband Yedidya and their five children.

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Previously:
• 03/23/26
• 03/16/26
• 02/23/26
• 02/02/26
• 01/26/26
• 01/05/26
• 12/08/25
• 11/24/25
• 11/17/25