Nothing But Love

By Harry Pell
KOACH Faculty Coordinator

As I write this it is Shiva-Asar B’Tammuz (the 17th of Tammuz), the minor fast day which commemorates the first breaching of Jerusalem’s walls, in effect beginning the end of Jerusalem’s destruction, over two thousand years ago. But last night, even as I confronted a raging fire, I wasn’t thinking about the Temple Mount being aflame. I was just trying to survive “Battle-stations,” a realistic series of what the Navy calls “training evolutions,” to mimic real-life combat and damage control experiences. I was, though, thinking about love.

Shiva-Asar B’Tammuz’s breaching of the walls begins a three-week period leading up to Tisha B’Av (the 9th of Av), a major fast day marking the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (twice), as well as a myriad of other national tragedies. Given that, the KOACH E-zine had two choices for Av-themed topics, destruction or love.

Jewish 'Sadie Hawkins'...

Love ties in as the antidote to the causeless hatred (sinat hinam) that is traditionally seen as leading to Jerusalem’s downfall, and because of another, nearly forgotten holiday, which falls in Av. Tu B’Av (the 15th of Av) was the ancient Jewish equivalent of "Sadie Hawkins Day," complete with young maidens dressing up in borrowed gowns of pure white, promenading in the fields, and being matched up for lives lived happily ever after.

That was then, this is now, and about the only remnant of Tu B’Av is that we don’t say Tahanun (penitential prayers) at Shaharit or Minha on Tu B’Av. All the same, I was going to write about love. I was going to write about the importance of dating, falling in love with, and marrying Jews. I was also going to write about the truism that you should marry your best friend. I was even going to write a little about the second blessing before the Shema, the daily and nightly theme of God’s eternal love for the Jewish people.

Instead, I decided to write about, “Nothing but Love,” which has become the unofficial motto of my Navy Chaplain Basic Training course this summer. The official motto is Provide, Facilitate, Care. This means that Navy Chaplains:

• Provide for their own (I would organize and lead Kabbalat Shabbat for Jewish sailors);

• Facilitate for others (I would ensure the Catholic sailors had a lay leader and could receive Communion); and

• Care for all (I would provide pastoral counseling to any sailor who needed it).

Nothing But Love...

What “Nothing But Love” highlights is the fact that as religious leaders, who are often seen as sources of divisiveness, we can accomplish much more when we truly care about each other’s needs and work together in a spirit of mutual respect and even love.

To a certain extent, this concept makes sense in a total military institution where people trust each other with their lives all of the time. One of the evolutions during “Battle-stations” was fire-fighting, which is an “All Hands” responsibility on ships where there is no way to outrun a fire. We suited up in full turnout gear, put on our oxygen tanks and, in teams of four, we manned the fire hoses. The fires were simulated, using controlled propane, but the motivations and emotions were real. Chaplains and members of the US Armed Forces do this on a regular basis. Moreover, chaplains are non-combatants and can neither carry, nor fire weapons. To enter into such a situation, chaplains must love God, however they understand God, but even more importantly, they must love people.

I think the Jewish community could learn a lot from this concept of “Nothing but Love.” If sinat hinam brought down the Temple, then the answer for the Jewish community is ahavat hinam – blind love. Even when you disagree with someone, even when they disagree with you. When I started rabbinical school, a trusted mentor told me I wouldn’t be able to survive as a rabbi if I didn’t love Jews. I don’t think I understood then what I do now.

Last night, just before five in the morning, “Battle-stations” had been going continuously for a little over ten hours and a fellow Jewish Chaplain candidate and I realized that we were quickly running out of time to daven Maariv. At the time, our squad was taking a breather and planning how we were going to rescue our fallen leader under simulated enemy fire. They could have demanded we help strategize, they could have just let it go, but they didn’t. When they noticed that we were praying silently off to the side, they quieted down so that we could concentrate. They didn’t have to, but they did it because they knew what it meant to us.

They did it out of love.

[Posted 7/28/03]