Since there is so much going on in Japan and Libya, it appears that a crime against humanity has flown under the news radar. My dad is a total news junkie, and if I know news he doesn’t, there is a problem. (My news sources are Facebook and Twitter. No TV for this girl for a couple of years. I know this means I’m lazy, and I’m ok with that.)
Someone snuck into a heavily-guarded “settlement” (whatever your political views are, nothing excuses this kind of sick behavior) and slaughtered two parents and three of their six children while they slept. The children were 11, 4, and 3 months old. Apparently mom put up a decent fight though. Thankfully, they missed two of the children, and the sixth was with the local Bnei Akiva group (a religious youth group that also exists in the US and probably everywhere else too).
Quite frankly, I don’t know my own political views on “settlements” and Israel before Moshiach yet. A political science degree and eternal optimism make me want to consider every possible angle and reserve judgment. But stabbing a 4 year old through the heart and slashing an infant’s throat is calculated to turn people into hawks. Or simply shows a total lack of humanity.
Gazans celebrated in the streets and gave out candy.
Lesson: Hawks v. Doves is a well-known way of categorizing Israelis’ (and anyone else who is pro-Israel’s) stance on national security. It’s hard to explain the stances, but I’m sure the names help you figure it out. The particular issues and platforms may change, but those are the philosophical foundations.
There are just no words to describe this crime.
It's amazing how the entire Western world yells and whines and blusters about when Israel announces they're building more homes for families to live in, but when something like this happens – deafening silence. (Maybe you're right that it's because of all the other big news stories this weekend – way to be dan l'kaf zechus, by the way – but this isn't the first time it's happened.)
This is the simple difference between Israel and Israel's enemies. We are motivated by a love of the land; all we want is to build it up and live in it peacefully. Our response to a tragedy like this is not to murder Palestinian children, but to build homes. Our enemies, on the other hand, are motivated by hatred of Jews and a desire to see us all "pushed into the sea," as more than one Arab leader has said.
At times like these, I have such a hard time davening and meaning it. In addition to all this terrible news in Japan and Libya, I’m unemployed, and was just treated terribly by two agencies that employ me in temporary jobs. (One led me to believe that the job would last at least another week and called me at 9 pm telling me the job was over. The other told me a job was beginning today, and when I got to the office this morning, it turned out they had left a voicmail saying the job has been postponed, possibly until later today, and possibly until next week or the week after. I was so mad having to turn around and get back on the subway.) Plus there’s your blogposts about Ilan’s tragic death, and now this family in Israel getting massacred. I’m sure other people find different parts of davening hard to say, but for me the hardest thing to say right now is the verse in Ashrei: “Tov Hashem Lakol veRachamav al Kol Maasav.” (G-d is good to all, and His mercies are on all His creations.)
The Curmudgeonly Israeli Giyoret says:
Rebbi Nachman says, "The good should be that we should SEE the good".
"Quite frankly, I don't know my own political views on these issues yet. A political science degree and eternal optimism make me want to consider every possible angle and reserve judgment."
Moral relativism anyone? Quite frankly this is an immoral stance. Are you sure you want to become a Jew? When Jews are murdered it hurts every Jew. We don't "consider every possible angle and reserve judgment." What is there to judge? Whether the victims somehow deserved to be slaughtered for living on land G-d gave us? Maybe you should go read the Torah to see where G-d stands on the subject…
Anonymous, I was referring to the existence of the state of Israel before Moshiach and the status of "settlements."
Tel Aviv is a settlement. So is Haifa and Jaffa.(Just ask the Palestinians) Judea and Samaria belong to the Jewish people and has for millenia. There is no law man can make that will erase the reality of this. The land belongs to G-d and He gave it to us as an inheritance. The goyishe world can "dispute" this all they want. The fact is Jews were the original Palestinians…
I suggest you read the book: Eim Habanim Smeicha. It was written by a anti-Zionist rabbi, HaRav Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal zt"l during the Shoah.
http://www.tsel.org/torah/emhabanim-eng/index.html