Update...Some bad news, some good news.

Well, I didn't get a direct answer to my email, but this short article shows that the Sanhedrin sees things differently. They did not say anything about violence, merely calling for prayer, and protest. But when it says they determined that Israel is "sinking into the defilements of the land of Canaan," it shows that they are not looking to what I have claimed are the root causes.

On the other hand, this article is about a call by many hareidi Rabbis NOT to riot. They said a lot of the same things I have been saying about destruction of property and the ends not justifying the means. They called for peaceful demonstrations and prayer. I was very pleasantly surprised by this, even if they, too, did not talk about root causes.

It seems to have worked. The demonstrations, the riots, and the trash burnings were MUCH more subdued than last time. The parade is over now, so hopefully things will quiet down for a while. (The rest of the year, if there are hareidi riots over various issues they at least confine them to MeaSha'arim and Geula.)

But if we don't face the root problems, the REAL reason that God sends us these events, it will just keep happening again and again.