The Right Idea for the Wrong Reason
According to a recent article in Ynet News, a group called the Almagor Terror Victims Association has petitioned the Israeli government to separate Jewish victims of Arab terrorism and Arab victims of Jewish terrorism in any official memorials. They want separate memorial lists, "one including all those killed in terror attacks whose aims were 'persecuting Israel' and another for people killed for nationalistic
purposes by Jews."
The implication is, of course, that the Arab terrorists are far, far worse because they act out of Antisemitism or simply pure Evil, while the Jewish terrorists are still on the side of the "good guys" but have merely been pushed over the edge by witnessing all the terror and trying to find some means to stop it, so the latter should have a higher level of memorialization.
NO.
If I were to speak of any well-known American criminal case...perhaps an African-American who murdered a white man, or a Hollywood producer who sexually molested the actresses working for him...and find excuses for the criminal's behavior...anything from "he grew up in poverty and was abused as a child" to "everyone else was doing it so he didn't realize it was wrong," the same people who come up with fantastic excuses for Jewish terrorists would be all over me, calling me an evil Leftist Liberal. After all, they did the crime. They should have overcome their base instincts and resisted the urges to do wrong.
But they use those SAME types of arguments in defending Jewish terrorist/murderers. I have been hearing this at least as far back as the 1994 massacre by Baruch Goldstein in Hevron. As a doctor, they say, he was sickened by seeing what the victims looked like when he treated them; so he finally broke. And/or, the conspiracy theorists say, he was acting to stop an eminent attack that was being planned, with weapons that were right there in the Mosque. So don't condemn him. (I'm not even counting the ones who still praise him.)
Those are all excuses...the same type that 'leftists' are accused of using all the time. Murder is murder. Terror is terror. Taking the law into your own hands is wrong 99.9% of the time. (Don't quote Pinchas at me...the Halachot of a Kana'i are very strict, and the moral requirements in the eyes of God even stricter, as I've spoken about before. I doubt a single one of these modern Jewish terrorists can fit that mold.)
The truth is the opposite of what this group is asking for. By the definition of the Torah, Jewish terrorists are far worse than Antisemitic terrorists.
When an enemy attacks a Jew, he is doing so because God sold us out to him (D'varim 32:30.) Hashem sends our enemies to attack us because we deserve it. If we don't deserve it, they can't touch us. Even Amalek...Amalek only comes because of the one-two punch of sins BY US Bein Adam LaMakom (Rashi on Shmot 17:8) and Bein Adam L'chavero (Rashi on D'varim 25:17.)
Yes, they will be punished for hurting the Jews; and also, according to Chaz"al, for going overboard in doing what Hashem sent them to do. But how can they resist when Hashem makes them such a tempting offer?
Especially because, what is the ONLY thing that can teach the non-Jewish world not to behave that way? US. WE are supposed to be the Or LaGoyim. We are supposed to set the example. If our example is to act worse than animals (because animals kill from instinct, not hatred), what can we expect from our pupils? Hatred, terror, death. Nothing else.
Whereas WE and ONLY WE are supposed to know better. (I never did a full piece on this, but look at Amos 3:2 and tell me that's not what it means.) We are supposed to rise above our emotions and proceed according to Halacha. We are not supposed to succumb to mob violence, assigning guilt by association, or gruesome murder. (Yes there are times, like Amalek, where an entire nation needs to be wiped out...but it takes a Navi or a Sanhedrin to determine that...not our own personal prejudices.)
So a Jewish terrorist...especially a "frum" Jewish terrorist, is far worse than an antisemitic terrorist. He is a sign of our failure to follow Hashem, and an invitation to Hashem to invite MORE of our enemies to attack us. And their victims deserve a GREATER level of memorialization.
I've been told that my opinion is dangerous because it feeds into the Palestinian propaganda that they are the victims (all of the time) and so it shouldn't be aired. All I can say is so be it...if we even occasionally make some Arabs into victims of those among us who act this way, we have to suffer the consequences. But those consequences don't come from my blog post...they come from Hashem.
I am not trying to minimize the deep hurt of the families of Jewish victims of Arab terror and their desire to see it stopped. (And despite what I am saying, that Hashem is sending them against us, we still have to keep exerting our own efforts to catch and punish the perpetrators and prevent future attacks; but only in a Halachic manner, not by aping the non-Jewish perversion of 'an eye for an eye.') But neither do I minimize the deep hurt of Arab families who have lost family members that did nothing wrong themselves. In addition, it reinforces what they've been taught that it's the Jews who are the evil murderers, increasing the likelihood of additional attacks.
Remember, according to Chaza"l, one of the reasons for the number of times we blow Shofar on Rosh HaShana is because of the tears cried by Sis'ra's mother. He was justly killed for his evil against the Jews, and yet we feel his mother's pain.
The only answer is to STOP praising and/or making excuses for these navalim (not even) birshut HaTorah, stop doing all the other bad things we're doing, and start acting like the Mamlechet Kohanim V'Goi Kadosh that we were told to be just before Matan Torah. Otherwise there will continue to be (רחמנא לצלן) both more Jewish victims and more Arab victims, in a never-ending cycle.
The implication is, of course, that the Arab terrorists are far, far worse because they act out of Antisemitism or simply pure Evil, while the Jewish terrorists are still on the side of the "good guys" but have merely been pushed over the edge by witnessing all the terror and trying to find some means to stop it, so the latter should have a higher level of memorialization.
NO.
If I were to speak of any well-known American criminal case...perhaps an African-American who murdered a white man, or a Hollywood producer who sexually molested the actresses working for him...and find excuses for the criminal's behavior...anything from "he grew up in poverty and was abused as a child" to "everyone else was doing it so he didn't realize it was wrong," the same people who come up with fantastic excuses for Jewish terrorists would be all over me, calling me an evil Leftist Liberal. After all, they did the crime. They should have overcome their base instincts and resisted the urges to do wrong.
But they use those SAME types of arguments in defending Jewish terrorist/murderers. I have been hearing this at least as far back as the 1994 massacre by Baruch Goldstein in Hevron. As a doctor, they say, he was sickened by seeing what the victims looked like when he treated them; so he finally broke. And/or, the conspiracy theorists say, he was acting to stop an eminent attack that was being planned, with weapons that were right there in the Mosque. So don't condemn him. (I'm not even counting the ones who still praise him.)
Those are all excuses...the same type that 'leftists' are accused of using all the time. Murder is murder. Terror is terror. Taking the law into your own hands is wrong 99.9% of the time. (Don't quote Pinchas at me...the Halachot of a Kana'i are very strict, and the moral requirements in the eyes of God even stricter, as I've spoken about before. I doubt a single one of these modern Jewish terrorists can fit that mold.)
The truth is the opposite of what this group is asking for. By the definition of the Torah, Jewish terrorists are far worse than Antisemitic terrorists.
When an enemy attacks a Jew, he is doing so because God sold us out to him (D'varim 32:30.) Hashem sends our enemies to attack us because we deserve it. If we don't deserve it, they can't touch us. Even Amalek...Amalek only comes because of the one-two punch of sins BY US Bein Adam LaMakom (Rashi on Shmot 17:8) and Bein Adam L'chavero (Rashi on D'varim 25:17.)
Yes, they will be punished for hurting the Jews; and also, according to Chaz"al, for going overboard in doing what Hashem sent them to do. But how can they resist when Hashem makes them such a tempting offer?
Especially because, what is the ONLY thing that can teach the non-Jewish world not to behave that way? US. WE are supposed to be the Or LaGoyim. We are supposed to set the example. If our example is to act worse than animals (because animals kill from instinct, not hatred), what can we expect from our pupils? Hatred, terror, death. Nothing else.
Whereas WE and ONLY WE are supposed to know better. (I never did a full piece on this, but look at Amos 3:2 and tell me that's not what it means.) We are supposed to rise above our emotions and proceed according to Halacha. We are not supposed to succumb to mob violence, assigning guilt by association, or gruesome murder. (Yes there are times, like Amalek, where an entire nation needs to be wiped out...but it takes a Navi or a Sanhedrin to determine that...not our own personal prejudices.)
So a Jewish terrorist...especially a "frum" Jewish terrorist, is far worse than an antisemitic terrorist. He is a sign of our failure to follow Hashem, and an invitation to Hashem to invite MORE of our enemies to attack us. And their victims deserve a GREATER level of memorialization.
I've been told that my opinion is dangerous because it feeds into the Palestinian propaganda that they are the victims (all of the time) and so it shouldn't be aired. All I can say is so be it...if we even occasionally make some Arabs into victims of those among us who act this way, we have to suffer the consequences. But those consequences don't come from my blog post...they come from Hashem.
I am not trying to minimize the deep hurt of the families of Jewish victims of Arab terror and their desire to see it stopped. (And despite what I am saying, that Hashem is sending them against us, we still have to keep exerting our own efforts to catch and punish the perpetrators and prevent future attacks; but only in a Halachic manner, not by aping the non-Jewish perversion of 'an eye for an eye.') But neither do I minimize the deep hurt of Arab families who have lost family members that did nothing wrong themselves. In addition, it reinforces what they've been taught that it's the Jews who are the evil murderers, increasing the likelihood of additional attacks.
Remember, according to Chaza"l, one of the reasons for the number of times we blow Shofar on Rosh HaShana is because of the tears cried by Sis'ra's mother. He was justly killed for his evil against the Jews, and yet we feel his mother's pain.
The only answer is to STOP praising and/or making excuses for these navalim (not even) birshut HaTorah, stop doing all the other bad things we're doing, and start acting like the Mamlechet Kohanim V'Goi Kadosh that we were told to be just before Matan Torah. Otherwise there will continue to be (רחמנא לצלן) both more Jewish victims and more Arab victims, in a never-ending cycle.
posted by meturgeman | 9:30 PM
<< Home