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| Scene at a stabbing in Ra’anana today |
Chicago just had another Tehilim Assifa at KINS, the largest Modern Orthodox Shul in Chicago. It was called for the purpose of crying out to God to spare our people in Israel from what they are currently going through. It was packed with both men and women.
As much as I believe that the current spate of Palestinian terror could have been avoided, I can’t get past the fact that Jews are being harmed or killed by savage beasts – cowards that come out of the woodwork to stab innocent human beings who have likely never hurt a soul. Cowards that - if they should be caught or be killed in the process are made into heroes by their leaders – martyrs for the cause. Believing that they have earned a permanent place in heaven for their ‘service’ The service of killing Jews and leaving behind wives, husbands and children. Jews that did nothing to deserve this except living as Jews in Israel.
It seems to never end. There is a period of relative calm only to be followed by a spate of terror. This time by individual Palestinians killing or maiming Jews one at a time.
I have been depressed all day about this. My son, his wife, and my grandchildren live there – as well as my extended family. They are just as exposed to the possibility of harm as anyone else there. And yet I do not see anything that can be done about it. It isn’t even about choosing a bad option among many bad options. I do not see any solution to this problem. That is what depresses me the most.
What I once believed to be a solution has proven to be anything but. Giving them the West Bank will only encourage them towards more terror. It will make what’s coming out of Gaza look like Disneyland. Nor is it a solution to show force. The only force that would work would be massive military attacks that would kill a tremendous amount of innocent people – both Jews and Palestinians. Even if we could avoid any Jewish casualties, killing innocent Palestinians would still be immoral. So that much as I would like to carpet bomb Gaza, it would be grossly immoral to do so. Not to mention the fact that an already condemning world would be even more condemning. The opposition to Israel it would generate would make BDS look like the settler movement by comparison.
So the bottom line is that no matter which way I turn for a solution, whether it is to the left or the right I do not see anything but darkness. Which both depresses me and angers me.
For me the only thing that matters is Jewish lives. Any political move that can be done to save even one Jewish life ought to be done. And anything militarily that can be done for the same reason ought to be done –as long as it is moral. And I don’t see anything on either front. I am therefore both angry and depressed. I’m not sure which emotion is stronger. The only thing I know for sure is that I feel them both.
I don’t know what to do except pray. May God protect the Jewish people.