I will conclude today’s newsletter with an item that might be no less unsettling, but is decidedly more gruesome. Yet, like the story of the young Israel policeman, it contains an element of heroism—and more importantly, an element of holiness. Dovid Efune explains the special requirements that Jewish law imposes on the burial of those who have died “for the sanctification of God’s name.” That is, those who have died because they are Jews:

Burial of the dead is a meticulous process in the Jewish tradition. Bodies are thoroughly cleaned, groomed, and nails are cut. Then, in a ritual known as “taharah,” or “purification,” the body is immersed in a pool of cold water known as a mikveh. Not so for the more than 1,300 victims of Saturday’s assault on southern Israel. They are considered to have the unique status of “k’doshim” (holy ones), or martyrs, in Jewish law.

“When it comes to someone who was killed [for the sanctification of God’s name], Jewish law dictates that we don’t touch anything,” explains Rabbi Elyada Goldwicht. “The way the person is found is the way that he’s buried. He is buried with his clothing, with his shoes, with his pants, with everything that’s on.” The deceased martyr doesn’t need purification because he or she has have already attained the pinnacle of holiness due to the nature of their death, explains Rabbi Goldwicht.

There are few men who have come into contact with the bodies of as many martyrs as Rabbi Goldwicht has. As a reservist in an Israel Defense Forces search and rescue unit, he’s been working since the weekend in twelve-hour shifts at the IDF rabbinate’s Shura base, near Ramle in central Israel, to identify and prepare hundreds of bodies for burial.

Showing utmost respect in the handling of the bodies is also fundamental, Rabbi Goldwicht says. Bodies are never thrown or dropped. “We ask for forgiveness” if a body is moved. Stepping over a body is also forbidden. “If a drop of blood comes out, we collect it and wipe it off the floor so that it can be buried” with the deceased.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.