As I mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter, there is a widespread practice of reading the book of Ecclesiastes in synagogue on the Sabbath that falls during the seven-day holiday of Sukkot, which begins this evening. Wendy Zierler examines this book through the lens of the celebrated Hebrew poet Leah Goldberg’s 1954 “Shirei Sof ha-Derekh,” (“Songs of the End of the Road”). To Zierler, this tripartite poem must be read as a midrash [rabbinic exegesis] on Ecclesiastes; its old man (zaken) is meant to parallel the speaker in the biblical book, who, according to tradition, is an elderly King Solomon:

Instead of expatiating on the futility of life, [Goldberg’s] zaken takes the opportunity of his old age to sit by the side of the roadway, to look back, and around, and listen. And in this pose, he hears the voice, wisdom, and questions of a (femininely gendered) bird who reminds him about the various stages of his thinking, and how, in middle age, he became convinced that “there was nothing new under the sun.” But now, in looking at the sun of his life setting, the bird teaches the zaken that he should recognize that every day under the sun is precious as if it were his last, that every new day presents new opportunities. The feminine bird described as m’zameret (singing)—which thus might be seen as standing in for the voice of the m’shoreret (female poet)—argues against each of the discrete masculine viewpoints, and suggests another way.

Inspired by the wisdom of the songbird, the third poem in the cycle—which I read as the poet’s rejoinder to the last two verses of Ecclesiastes—is a prayer rather than an admonition. It is a prayer for the ability to pray.

Between December 27 and January 6, terrorists in Gaza fired rockets at Israel almost every night. On Monday, one rocket struck a home in the much-bombarded town of Sderot, although no one was injured. The rocket fire had largely halted last spring, and for some time barrages were often the result of Israeli forces closing in a Hamas unit or munitions depot. But the truth—which gives credence to Ran Baratz’s argument in his January essay that the IDF is struggling to accomplish its mission—is that Hamas has been able to rebuild. Yoni Ben Menachem writes that the jihadist group has been “producing hundreds of new rockets using lathes smuggled into tunnels that remain operational in Gaza.” Moreover, it has been replenishing its ranks:

According to Israeli security officials, Hamas has recruited approximately 4,000 new fighters over the past month. This rapid expansion bolsters its fighting capabilities and complicates Israel’s efforts to apply military pressure on Hamas to expedite a hostage deal. Hamas’s military recovery has allowed it to prolong its war of attrition against the IDF and adopt tougher stances in hostage negotiations. The funds for this recruitment effort are reportedly from the sale of humanitarian-aid packages, which Hamas forcibly seizes and resells in Gaza’s markets.

In fact, Ben Menachem writes, Hamas’s rocket fire is part of the same strategy:

By firing rockets, Hamas seeks to demonstrate its resilience and operational capability despite the IDF’s prolonged offensive. This message is aimed at both Gaza’s residents and the Israeli public, underscoring that Hamas remains a significant force even after enduring heavy losses [and] that Israel cannot easily occupy this region, currently a focal point of IDF operations.