Will we ever learn? (Article# 77) 3/13/2008

What a disgusting and horrible week. To read that the leaders of my country still want to be fooled by those who wish to weaken and destroy us and continue on such a reckless path is enough to make anyone sick. How is it possible that a person can see the destructive course of action a murderous animal took last week, that the same person can then watch his friends, family and people openly celebrating and glorifying the murder of innocents and still want to appease such “people” by giving in to their demands?

I wanted to avoid this subject in the worst way. I thought about the many other things that happened before the slaughter at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav on Thursday evening, but it is all I’ve been able to think about.

I got the first call via a text message from our Yeshiva instructing all students to immediately contact their dorm counselors and restricting everyone to the building (standard practice in a high alert situation). I knew that something was up.

My sister then called to check on how far we were from the attack, and filled me in on some details. I immediately tuned to CNN to see i) coverage in English and ii) what story you were being told. I also started to write an email to our students’ parents to let them know that everyone was OK and accounted for when I heard the announcer talk about the attack on the “Yeshiva” seminary in Jerusalem with no further description. Imagining the fear and anxiety parents were experiencing from 6,000 miles away, I immediately sent out an “everyone is safe” message to our parents.

Although in truth I was wrong. Everyone was not indeed safe.

Our Yeshiva went to the joint funeral the next morning as a group. Although I did not attend (I was concerned that I wouldn’t make it to the city – security was tight and there was lots of traffic) personally, it was important to us to get as many people together to stand in support of the families of the victims and with Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav. I cannot say that it was a “learning” experience or any kind of experience. This was not a time to “experience”, it was simply a time to grieve.

It was simply an overwhelming night.

In one of my first articles I wrote about the Israeli connection with Yom HaZikaron and how almost everyone knows someone (friend/acquaintence or relative) who was killed in a war. The longer we live here, the more we too are identifying and connecting with such tragedies.

Our moment this week came in a Friday morning call from our dentist. Chaim, our oldest, had an appointment scheduled for later that day and he was calling to ask us to please move Chaim’s appointment up a couple of hours. He needed to make the change so that he could attend the funeral of his nephew – one of the students killed Thursday night.

Goldie mentioned to me that she would like to randomly pick one of the families and go be menachem avel to them. I get very uncomfortable in a shiva house and in truth the idea is unsettling to me. Especially with strangers who speak a different language. But, we might well do it – because we cannot think of any other way to somehow bring comfort to these families who are going through such heart rendering grief.

I cannot help but contrast in my mind the way we and our enemies feel about such tragedies. Even the CNN announcer seemed to lose some of his composure when he was first informed that they were celebrating in Gaza over the news of this attack. While the worldwide media is usually pretty pro Arab, the disgust in his voice that people should act in such a way in recognition of such barbarism was clear.

This wasn’t just a couple of radicals either. People were passing out candies in the street to children. They were shooting off fireworks and their guns in celebration. It was a major holiday for a significant number of the residents of our land there. The family of the terrorist proudly displayed Palestinian and Hamas flags on their home (until it was razed).

We unfortunately also kill civilians. These civilians are used as human shields by Hamas soldiers as they fire rockets into Sderot and the Negev. When we kill civilians, we openly confess our regret that we did so and our wish that terrorists not put them in the line of fire.

Yet the left will continue to doggedly press their way forward in “exhausting every opportunity” to reach a “peace agreement”. Yesterday they even announced that there was an “unofficial” truce reached with Hamas. How could we tell? Well, our activities in Gaza itself have ceased (we will probably target actual bombers by air attack) and the number of rockets flying into Israel from Gaza have GONE DOWN. That’s it.

What an awesome deal our government has made. They are allowed to continue to bomb us on a daily basis, while we stay out of the area. Is this the big peace plan that the peacenicks have in mind? Let’s admit once and for all that the only “peace” our enemies have in mind for us is seeing us all “resting in peace”.

Next week I will again be able to talk about soldiers and pizza, Adar celebrations Israel style and many of the other wonderful things that happen here this time of year. For this week I can only think of those kids who are forever gone to us. I can only think of them and hope and pray that they are the last loss we have to suffer and that this loss somehow (although we will most likely never understand how) serve as a catalyst for the betterment of our people and our nation. I hope that things calm down and that the future only holds more news about which kids did what and how our Purim and Chol Hamoed went.