This week I am in Tel Aviv for the Jewish Agency Board of Governors meeting. This afternoon, our delegation visited the Gaza Envelope. I want to tell you what we saw and what I think it means.

But first, let me tell you about Pinchas.

This week’s parasha bears his name. Pinchas is a complicated figure — zealous, polarizing, the kind of person who makes us uncomfortable. But buried inside the portion is a moment that speaks directly to where we stand right now.

After the violence, after the plague, after all of it — God says to Moses: take a census. Count the people. See who is still here. And then: assign them their inheritance in the Land. Not someday. Now. While the wounds are still fresh.

The Torah doesn’t say wait until things settle down. It says: count your people, plan for the future, and claim your portion — now, in the middle of everything.

I read that this week knowing that in four days — on July 3rd — we will mark 1,000 days since October 7.

One thousand days. The number sits in the chest like a stone. One thousand days of war, of grief, of communities shattered and slowly, painstakingly rebuilding. One thousand days of the Jewish people being asked,........

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