My teeth are on edge as I share with you the news of a vicious attack by two Palestinian terrorists in a Tel-Aviv restaurant yesterday. Four people were killed. The terrorists had the audacity to eat in the restaurant and then after concluding their meals they shot innocent civilians.
To eat in a restaurant is to break bread with others; the basis for countless attempts over the ages at establishing a personal connection with one another and representing the longing for harmony between brethren. To maniacally murder people after eating in their midst is twisted and macabre.
Only the carnival atmosphere in some Arab towns where people celebrated and handed out candy is there an equivalent disregard for human life and a mindless and soulless championing of terror and cruelty.
It must be that we Jews operate on a different frequency than some Arab community leaders, spiritual leaders and PLO officials who openly encourage violence and the pursuit of martyrdom. The last well-known Jewish experience of autonomous martyrdom took place 1,946 years ago when Jews fled Jerusalem as Rome was burning the temple and took shelter on a mountaintop named Masada.
Rather than give the Romans the satisfaction of raping, torturing, mutilating and killing ,these Jewish people committed suicide. Their martyrdom did not include killing other people. Other cases of Jewish martyrdom are too numerous to recount in this essay; suffice it to say that the innumerable episodes of Jewish martyrdom were carried out by enemies of Jews against Jews and not the other way around.
To celebrate murder of civilians by handing out candy as if it were a festival or party is sickening and depraved. For Hamas to publically praise shooters in a restaurant as heroic (and Fatah does not decry such praise) should alert the world as to the potential peace partners Israel is expected to welcome and trust.
This week we begin to read the fourth volume of Torah,known in Hebrew as Bamidbar which means ‘in the wilderness’, and by the English name Numbers from a census herein. Whether we read the Torah in Hebrew and and call it Bamidbar or in English and call it Numbers,the opening sentence is a very significant.
God calls to Moses in the tabernacle and commands Moses to count the people. Normally the tabernacle is a place for worship. Why would the command to take a census which is an administrative task be associated with worship? We must realize that counting every person is like praying. Each person is a Divine expression. When we attend to people we are praying! Contrast the wickedness of a culture which embraces murder of civilians and lauds terrorists in the eyes of children by distributing candy.
Just Yesterday we marked Yom Yerushalayim, the day Jerusalem was reunited after 1,897 years of division,of being divided ,of being "separate and unequal". Have you ever wondered why the Temple Mount, which is just above the Kotel, is owned and administered by Arabs?The Israelis won the Six-Day. War. Moshe Dayan recognized the importance of respecting various religious and cultural traditions and understood the practical need of accepting the reality of the Arab population in East Jerusalem. He enthusiastically urged the government to return ownership of and control of the Temple Mount Plaza to the Muslim religious authority (named Waqf).
In our own history we see Jewish and Israeli values of respect by returning Temple Mount to Arab control. In our sacred Torah we see regard for human life. As Jews we are commanded to share our values with the world;values of life and respect and law. This Shabbat have a conversation with someone and share these thoughts.
And remember to celebrate with ice cream, blintzes and friends on Saturday eve at 8:00 p.m. in shul. We celebrate the Ten Great Words from Sinai. What a contrast I see with the Palestinians who celebrate murder.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Steve Silberman
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