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| Lev Chabad members preparing food for victims’ families.(YWN) |
As it relates to parents like me who send their children to study in Israel for their gap year, I cannot begin to imagine what a parent traveling to Israel for the funeral of their child must be going through. One moment thinking how much their child must be growing by their Israel experience - expecting them to come back a more mature person ready to take on the challenges of life… all gone up in smoke in one moment of unspeakable madness.
All the planning, all the hopes and dreams that parent had moments before this happened were gone in a flash. Applying the words ‘state of shock’ to what they are experiencing is an understatement. Sadly, the emotional wounds they suffer will likely stay with them for the rest of their lives. There are no words... May God comfort them amongst all the mourners of Zion.
It’s hard to see a silver lining in this tragic event. And in fact I do not really see one.. Despite the fact that on the surface it might seems like there is. From YWN:
Israelis of all sectors, Jews, Arabs, and Druze, religious and secular, mobilized to assist the victims and their families of one of the worst peacetime disasters in religious history, Ynet reported.
Long lines formed outside Magen David Adom stations across Israel after the organization called to the public to donate blood, especially type O.
So many Israelis showed up, including hundreds of people in Tel Aviv, that people were turned away and told to return on Sunday. People waited for hours in the hot sun to donate blood…
Organizations, private groups and city councils issued offers of assistance, including providing accommodations and food and reciting Tehillim. Residents of the north published offers on social media to accommodate any travelers stranded in the north for Shabbos.
Also, the Chatzor HaGlilit Regional Council established a special municipal center to provide accommodation for travelers stranded in the north of Israel over Shabbos.
Residents of the Druze villages of Yarka Beit Jen and Yanuh-Jat and residents of Arab villages in the Meron area offered accommodations to travelers in their homes or hostels. Arab and Druze villages set up refreshment stations at nearby junctions with kosher food, drinks, and fruit for the thousands of people traveling from Meron to the center of the country. (Read there for more.)
On the surface I cannot think of a better ‘silver lining’ than this. Only the most jaded among us could deny this moment of unity. The idea that Arabs are opening their hearts and minds to help out in this moment of great need for the Jewish people is - to the best of my knowledge - unprecedented. This is a unique and quite remarkable moment of Achdus. Not only between the varieties of Orthodox Jews... not only between Jews of all stripes from the most secular to the most religious... but even between Jews and Arabs!
I wish I could believe this event will precipitate change. And that true Achdus has finally arrived. That people of good will now finally see the humanity in each and every one of us. Regardless of Hashkafa, level of observance, no observance at all, or even regardless of what religion we are.
So as beautiful as the unity of man that this tragedy has brought about at this moment in time, it will not last. It is a mirage. When tragedy of this magnitude strikes - this kind of thing happens all the time. People of good will drop their agendas and rise to the occasion - bonding as human beings. That is what is happening now. But it won’t be long before all of this Achdus disappears. And we will all be back to business as usual. Each one of us with an agenda at odds with those who think differently than us. Sometimes expressed with violence.
What this tragedy and other like it shows is that Achdus is possible. That we can put our differences aside and work together with mutual respect in brotherhood.
But I have stopped being a believer.
There is a very popular song called Imagine authored by the late John Lennon. Popular because of its message of unity. It includes the following words:
Imagine all the people living life in peace… and the world will be as one.
Ironically this song promotes atheism and communism as the way to achieve the unity it promotes. Which I obviously strongly disagree with. But the prayerful message of Achdus it sends should not be overlooked. That is something all people of good will seek. We differ only in how to achieve it.
I have lately come to believe that it will never happen. Even though there are so many people in the world that seek it and believe in it. The prayerful tone of unity is what makes Imagine so popular. But I have been disappointed too many times to believe even an event like this will change anything. Before you know it, we will be back to hating each other.