Once you are at war, you don’t stop to ponder all over again. Now you are out there on the field of battle, there is no turning back....
76 Comments Posted
I only have to say that I am deeply saddened by the loss of this young couple and of all the innocent people killed in Mumbai by the fanatics. May all the vicitms rest in peace.
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You had written:
"May the Almighty G‑d hear the cry of their blood from the earth and put an end to all sorrow. May it be very soon, sooner than we can imagine."
May those that mourn be comforted.
Thank you G-d for Chabad and for the light that you send into our world through them.
Amen
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Tzvi,
I read this article with tears and resolve mixed together. I will G-d willing share it with people at our shul tonight.
Thanks for uplifting our shabbos.
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...and the IDF, Mossad and Shin-Bet should come with THEIR guns, too.
The source of life and healing owns vengeance and I'm still waiting to see Him prove it.
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thank you for your encouraging words. we have 2 bring moshiach now amen!
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Dear Rabbi Freeman and the worldwide Chabad and Jewish community:
My heartfelt condolences to you on the loss of these remarkable people from the Chabad House. I am an Indian and a Catholic yet I think I echo the sentiments of many in my country and in my Church when I say I am in complete solidarity with all of you. I do hope as Mumbai rises from the darkness, the Chabad House will lead the way. I commit myself to offering money to contribute to your rebuilding efforts. In reading the Scriptures it is evident that so much of Jewish history has involved persecution. Yet G-d has not allowed His people to continue with faith. I have no doubt the same will be true now.
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We are all hurting, but even so, I reject the war metaphors. “A nation will not raise a sword against another nation, and warfare will no longer be studied.”. The Holtzbergs do not look like soldiers, they look like my neighbors on Grand Street--gentle and loving. Before the Chabad leadership sends new emissaries, who will dutifully go, please consider what you are actually sending them into--the geo-political reality and let that help shape and guide your actions. MJ Akbar writing in The Guardian--After Mumbai, An End to Complacency--offers context and wisdom in this vein. Your movement could potentially help shape policies that could actually make a positive difference to the future of Mumbai. Please wait until your eyes are not blinded by tears before deciding the best course.
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The best defense is a good offense! It is highly legal to arm and defend your family, your Chabad, your area, your city, your neighbor, your friends, and yourself. By saving a life you are performing a Mitzvah - the mitzveh of giving life even on the Shabbas! If a terrorist storms a center at all even if Shabbat or a holiday and someone protects persons by taking action that is a Mitzvah. It is time to train some, purchase protection at whatever cost it may incur! Even if you are afraid to carry a weapon or have weapons available you need to think about the lives of others for fear has no name when faced with someone who may steal one's life unnecessarily or through plain hatred. Arm, get licenses, get some training, get cameras installed, get back up, and take charge! Do not continue to be the sacrifice for the beast. Do something! Hire security guards for the Chabads. Find out what is legal in your area. Speak to police. Learn how to use it. Teach your wives how to use them. Teach
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Thank you Rabbi Freeman for answering this query. I think it helps many of us.
At times like these we all feel so helpless and fearful. At prayers last night our rabbi at Chabad, Rabbi Dovi Rabin, told us that we should take this moment to remember them and do a better job of performing our mitzvahs.
He said, amongst other examples, that if we light candles once a month on Shabbat, we should do it twice a month, and if we do it twice a month, do it every Shabbat. His point was for us to do justice to ourselves and the memory of these people by being better Jews and hasten the coming of the Moshiac. I really took his suggestion to heart. I light candles always, but I've added another mitzvah to my daily routine. It helps me see their deaths had some meaning and that there is something I can do, rather than just sit living in fear and sadness.
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Dear Tzvi,
While your response to S is impassioned it reminds me of the way radical Communists, Muslims and terrorists talk in such highly emotional terms with de-humanizing us/them dichotomy.
I agree there is a battle going on but you have not identified what this battle really is. It is a difficult battle. It is daily being fought in the undeveloped world between hunger, hopelessness, despair and the ideology of liberation. They have passion and commitment. They have a beliefe in their righteousnes and in their God. They are willing to die for their G-d.
Your dichotomy between the Torah and the gun is wrong. It is bertween a G-d of Vengeance a tooth for tooth G-d and a G-d of compassion.
You can build more centers but where are they located?In the slums that engluf the worlds major cities? Are we reaching the countless destitute and the poor. Changing hearts and minds is hard work that requires not only faith but strategy.
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Tzvi, thanks for a thoughtful and inspiring answer to the question.
David in the Bronx, do you think that the murderers did that because they cared about hunger and poverty? What they did will not bring one penny or one loaf of bread to a person who needs it, and I'm sure they knew that. Neither Tzvi Freeman nor anyone else has dehumanize them, they already dehumanized themselves by choosing to act like monsters.
And who do you think is advocating tooth-for-tooth vengeance? Does rebuilding the Chabad center and continuing to provide kosher food and prayer services qualify as "tooth-for-tooth vengeance"?
In any case, it would be preferable not to use the term "tooth for tooth," since it is based on an entirely incorrect and unaccepted interpretation of a biblical verse, which is actually talking about the obligation to pay monetary compensation as a consequence for having injured someone.
Shavua tov!
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I am horribly saddened by the loss of those inside the Chabad house in Mumbai especially the violent removal of the lives two kind hearted strong souls of Rabbi and Mrs. Holtzberg.
The one thing I hope Chabad will take from this that these freaks will not stop and the only true way to uphold the Torah's commandment of doing everything possible to preserve life should include training rabbi's considering service as shluchim to shoot firearms and some battle survival tactics perhaps with the IDF or a local self-defense/survivalist program.
I don't want to see another life lost because we failed to protect our own against this evil in the world its time Jews stand up and defend ourselves.
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It seems you have taken things out of context. Do a search on darkness on this site. The article will not be an analysis of the physical world. But now is the time for action.
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I am going to wake up a 15 minutes earlier than my regular schedule for the next two weeks to fit more Torah into my day (I am seriously bad at early waking).
You can search darkness or evil on this site those would both work.
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Thank you Tzvi. Last night (Shabbat) i was drawn to go to Chabad here in Santa Fe needing to feel community. There were about 30 of us. i was so moved and relieved to be in the midst of loving souls who were celebrating Shabbat, suspending mourning, and void of angry , violent rhetoric.
We celebrated the peace of the Sabbath and i was reminded of what Judaism teaches.
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My heart is aching with this loss. Gavriel and Rivky feel like my family. They are our family. I grieve because they will never be able to smell the rain, light a Shabbos candle, look at the mountains, kiss and cuddle their Moishe. I am so saddened and angry that I am striving to do more mitzvahs, give more charity, study Torah and Tanya, so that they did not perish in vain. I remember what Chabad stands for. Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. It is time to be bigger and better, to sing louder, bringing more light to the world. But, I also think we can begin to behave proactively and arm ourselves, if necessary. My thoughts and prayers go out to Gavriel and Rivky's families and community. They will be sorely missed and will never be forgotten.
Baruch dayan haemes.
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Sorry if I offended you by attacking your cynicsms, you probably think of them as important and so I am sorry. I did not mean to attack your worldview I meant to attack the part of your worldview which infringed on our Torah. I am still keeping my commitment.
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Thank you, those were strong words of encourgement that I needed to hear.
I pray for those boys of theirs that are still here! may they cradled by G-d's hand!
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I am an Indian from Bombay (Mumbai) now living in New York. I feel horrified about what happened to our dear friends in the Chabad house. Even though I am not Jewish, I feel a special loss at the passing of these good people.
The only way to defeat these low life rats is to not let them have the satisfaction of chnaging the way we live. Yes, the Chabad house should be rebuilt bigger and stronger in Bombay and in more Indian Cities. The Indian people are sharing their sorrow with the Israelis and New Yorkers in this dark hour.
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We cannot know why many things in this world happen, but it is certain that the Chabad houses around the world provide an invaluable service to travellers old and young. I hope one day to visit the new 10 story Chabad house in Mumbai and wish the rabbi and his rebbetzin success in thier work.
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Why? Because they hate. They hate because we will not become Moslem. Certainly not the sort of Moslem they'd prefer we'd be. We're not them, we won't become them, and so they hate.
Sometimes the only way to stop a man from killing is to kill him. Do it quick, do it clean, but never let mercy for one madman condemn others to death.
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I realize the terrorist villains intent is to foment anger, hatred and revenge. Which is why as an individual I have chosen to do the exact opposite:
This morning there's a service at the local Chabad House. I'm going to participate, give to charity, and then do some volunteer work all in the names of those who lost their lives...
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such a terrible loss. training the good Chabad rabbis and families with weapons is like teaching the good Amish to use weapons. People of peace need no security in war or physical violence. It destroys the reason of their existence. We find courage to believe in God because of these people: the way they live; the harmony, beauty and peace they bring into the world. They bring heaven down to earth for us. In reality, such terrorism is irrational . The people in the hotels, in stairwells and on the streets and the survivors were also victims of the horror. It's not the work of people of peace to engage in war. The entire mission of Chabad would be destroyed by a retaliating act of violence. We grieve with those who suffer, but we hope they will rise above the instinct of violence to continue bringing light into our dark world. Chabad is not a paramilitary operation-- nor should it ever be. A spiritual lamp for the world, may its light continue burning for us.
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This whole sorry affair makes me want to do teshuvah. I live nowhere near a shul, and my friends think I'm crazy. But I need to return: I feel I have no choice but to return. I really can't explain it...
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I have been wondering how can such horrible thing happen to such good people.
I am not a Jew but a practising Hindu. Thanks for the response. It does bring some peace to my heart.
But my heart goes out to little Moshe. May God shower his love on the little angel.
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The terrorists have chosen death and destruction, but G-d was in the heart of the non-Jewish woman who saved the baby.
She had no guns, no plan and no ideology. She was just a good person, and I truly believe G-d helped her.
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May G-d bless each and every one of us, bless little Moshe that he should be left with only good words about his parents' good work, and may the world be blessed wtih peace. It's so heartening to hear that there are people out there who care and I hope that this is the beginning of the world being healed, and all of us in it.
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You wonder what we shall do? More of the same. Liberalism's deepest-held belief is that deep down, we are all alike. We all just want the same thing: a better life for our children. This means that the only method morally allowable is to schmooze. When we are spat upon, that just means that we did not whine enough.
Everyone everywhere is just like we are. Except perhaps conservatives, of course.
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there is an added need to understand that in addition to God being compassionate and all-merciful, he is also known as the God of vengeance. As the Talmud in Sanhedrin states: "Great is vengeance for it was placed between the names of God." The question is then posed, "Can vengeance be great when the Torah says elsewhere that thou shalt not take revenge?" Answers the Talmud, "Indeed, in the proper time and place, vengeance is a great thing." Granted that this took place in a land not under our Jewish control; but the least we can do is to PRAY that God Himself takes vengeance.
There is another not-so-popular message here from this tragedy: More emphasis must be placed on informing Jews that the Diaspora is not the place for Jews to live, and that the end goal of a Jew should be to strive to live as a holy people in a holy land under a strong, Torah oriented government, which, with God's help, will deal with its enemies halachically, properly, and completely.
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Thank you for writing this. Your words have touched a sore spot within my heart, and have helped to begin healing for so many of us that are stunned to the core at the nature of this tragedy.
We must keep our focus, keep reaching out, and continue to share light, kindness, and love.
The Rabbi and his wife are true examples of what it means to go out of one's way to help others in need.
May their mitzvahs and example continue to inspire us all to go the extra mile, and to offer a helping hand.
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We really cannot ask nor explain, what we can do is give all the love we can to our people, let's stick together, we as jews , and keep giving the example as G'd has asked us to do, and to the ones that are going to be around the baby let's give that baby all the love and support he needs, that is what his parents would ask of us.
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Yes, this is a sad time- as many before.
G-d knows the reasons why and we with honest faith must accept this without question. We must continue to keep the reason for our lives awakened and our faith in G-d strong! We all must be ready to be a sacrafice in the name of G-d.
These times are full of terrorist who hate with their hearts and souls.
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I agree that we need to quadruple our resolve to fight the dark forces lurking in our
midst..The Shabbaton for the people of Mumbai was sorely needed...The true question is how do we protect ourselves and our communities?
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Such sad news about this lovely family and their last hours of struggle. This is not a G-d deed; this was done by man.
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Dear Ari, brother
I wish i understood how I am the cynic. I am not justifying the horrendous attacks. I attend a Chabad weekly and volunteer for Chabad during each week.
No, I am also not apologizing to those who should be caught and tried.. I cannot understand G-ds will, i can barley understand other Jews.
People that are involved in these acts believe that they are doing so for their reasons. I am saying we tend to say what we are doing is goood and they are evil. The reality is their actions are evil and I am not always sure our acts are so pure. Chabad does a great deal of good in the world. Yet, not necesarily for those that most need it. Yes, to us Jews it is a great service. To the countless poor that are subject to the messages of radical Isalm? I am not sure they do anything. It is not a clear they are evil and we a re lights of justice. if this is how you see it zie gzunt to you. I cannot and don not see us as the pure and the rest of the world as evil. Good luck
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Dear gentlemen,
I am very irked at your reponse. You have no idea who I am, what I do and my commitment to Chabad or Judaism. Why bring it up? I am not a cookie cutter liberal. I am a torah true Jew if you care.
I am tired of Jewish nationalism. The we are this and they are that. I cannot fathom the pain of the families who are grieving. But, lets not kid ourselevs. We look after our own (period). We don't even do such a great job of this. That's whats great about Chabad. They don't care about your $. I am not saying the killers gave bread to the poor and destitute but I am linking the work done by radical groups to inflitrate into poor neighborhoods everywheeand offer real Chabad like services, like it or not. Why are they successful? Because no one else really cares. We give lip service but daily Muslim children starve. If we cut out our nationmalist bent we may see that we could make bridges to help not only our own but others as well. Maybe they would then help us!
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This Shabbos was celebrated with joy and beautiful special foods and words of Torah, and guess what my next Shabbos will be even better in the honor of that Jewish Women killed in her own home. What was she doing there? She was in the midst of Shabbos Prep. Preparing to bring light into the world. I take up her candle and light my own and my childrens souls and every jew I can bring closer to Hashem. I will not give up. If you would fight the darkness light a candle.
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Rabbi Freeman, thank you so much for your healing words. There is no comfort in any of this, only tears, and the pain of imagining the last moments of their lives. Now I will think instead of how we fight back, how we bring light into all this darkness.
Again, deepest thanks.
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In response to those who think Jews shouldn't be warriors:
Had Esau been able to use his skills for hunting and bloodshed in a good way, then perhaps the Jewish people wouldn't have needed to become warriors. However, Esau couldn't do this- and Jacob had to learn how to fight Esau's angel. This set off a chain of events in history that requires Jews to master many aspects of physicality.
In short- the Jewish people must be prepared to fight. It should be a last resort, after praying that our enemies repent and trying to make sincere peace, but we should never be unprepared to out-fight them.
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First, I like Tzvi's response and second, we're really able to learn some very interesting lessons from what happened. And third, we're (as the Jewish people as a whole) going to be able to accomplish things in a much better way as a result of what happened.
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I join in mourning our fellow Jews taken al kiddush Hashem (for the sanctification of G-d's name).
And I urge all Jews, Chabad or otherwise to please take this as a wake–up call:
Do not trust our "cousins", do not scrimp on security, do maintain very strong relationships with your local PD's (no more chabad centers without private and/or public protection on holidays, if not every day) and learn pro-active, self-defense of all kinds.
It is no coincidence that the blessing we read at a circumcision references Pinchas...
G-d wants Jews of action, not just of study and joy.
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Thank you. Although I know it, I needed to hear this! To continue, strengthen and increase. This is the real revenge!
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Before the horror in India I had a dream where I saw an EYE dripping blood. The next day I learned of the terror at the Chabad. I cannot get the Rabbi and his wife out of my mind , I believe G-d is crying for their souls.The world is so upside down. Fear that people feel is palpsble. I live in Florida. Anti semitic behavior is beginning to be noticeable. There is no where to run. We need the Chabad and the light that you help us see, however I wonder if the people that go back to India are sacrificial lambs? Maybe this is the beginning of redemption now. How do we fight fear?
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To my Jewish friends:
It is very sad and horrifying that such acts have happened, and as with many of my countrymen, I am especially grieved to see that our guests, Jewish and others, were attacked on our soil in this way.
My suggestion to all Chabad followers is to open more Chabad Houses in different places in India, including in my home town of Bangalore. Yes, there probably aren't too many native Jewish people (though may I remind you that there have been Jews in India much longer than in Europe, and have been treated far better than there), and there are many Jewish tourists from all over the world, perhaps even more than in Mumbai.
I guess this does not resolve the philosophical issues, but it is a response to the tragedy, that thumbs a nose at the evildoers in a concrete way.
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It is evident to me that Chabad must provide its own security in locations where the local security forces are deficient. There is an ongoing war against Jews by Islamists and we must prepare for this type of event.
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What a beautiful & inspiring essay Rabbi. It serves as a tribute to those who sacrificed their lives in this tragedy, as well as a reminder to all peoples, that darkness cannot prevail as long as we kindle and pass on the light of hope, peace, and tolerance. May G-d help & protect the peacemakers and unite us all in peace & understanding.
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Dear Dovid:
For sure there are similarities between committed people. "G-d created this opposite that" that is the big chunk of the structure of the worlds is reflected in the side opposite to holiness.
So yes, there are things similar in holiness and in the side opposite to holiness.
For example there is such a thing as cult of personality. And it is disgusting and degenerating if it is for someone like Stalin or Hitler.
But the total dedication of the chassidim to the Rebbe, which on the surface is like a cult of personality, being that it comes from the holy source and the object of attachment - the Rebbe - is holy, such dedication is highly laudable.
And therefore when these dudes feed the poor there is nothing good about it - that is still pure evil.
As about us caring about us and not for others - so what's wrong about that? Is not a other's first responsibility - her own children? Even if talking only about bare necessities, and that is what so many Jews are lacking now.
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Dear Yakov, thanks for your response. The Jewish role in the world is to be a light upon nations. In order to be a light you must have a wick, fuel and material to burn, this is the sphere of the mundane world. The light illuminates the entire area around the candle, lamp, etc..
There is nothing wrong with taking care first (our own breathern). I know this first hand having worked the last fifteeen years in the Jewish community. When we reflect on the events of last week we must see that we must also conentrate on helping to bring light to others who suffer with us and to widen the spehere of overall light. We cannot do that just taking care of our own and leaving the world to fend the darkness for itself.
Giving bread and medicine, food and shelter in and of itself is a mitzvah. Not only Jews say this. So you can say that the terrorists are evil but if we aren't helping "those" people and they are then we have lost our ability to link one more shard of light. Darkness grows!
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History of the Jews in India goes back to 2000 years ago, with Jews travelling to Cochin and other parts of India. Then, in the 1700 to early 1900s, Jews from Persian countries - Iraq and Iran moved to the northern parts of India; Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay, and Gujarat pitching their tents. They were targeted mainly by the Persian Muslims who threw many in the prisons due to the great islamic inquisition taking place upon the Jews, Christians, Zorastrians, and Hindus.
The Jews were well protected later on in the 19th century and the Indian Jews are grateful for the democracy in India and for their non-violence.
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i JUST WONDER. the nanny was able to save the child, thank G-d. How did she get out? Was she just fast & smart or did they let her out cause she isnt Jewish. If she isnt Jewish she should by called a righteous among the nations.
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It is all very good to say that we will (and should) do mitzvahs; bring light, etc., to fight evil.
BUT THE ONLY WAY TO DEFEAT EVIL IS TO KILL IT. To eradicate it.
Look back to the holocaust--we (the Jews) prayed, did everything (but with the exception of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising) did virtually nothing to stop the Nazi slaughter; rather, the Jews went like sheep to be (and were) slaughtered.
Praying; learning Torah; giving charity; putting on tweffin-probably good; but it will not stop a bullet from entering a Jew's body.
A bullet in the head of our enemy- first-will.
In 1939, Neville Chamberlain gave the Sudenlandt to Hitler, and said that he had "achieved peace in our time"; months later, Hitler invaded Poland & France. Churchill, during the Battle of Britain took the opposite tack- "for every bomb that falls on London, ten shall fall on Berlin" (as best I remember from h.s. history). We should emulate Churchill, not Chamberlain.
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This is how we fight them? With love?
What about finding them where they live and making them sorry they did this?
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Please spare us the tired old Neville Chamberlain. Evil is complicated. We cannot go around pre-emptively killing people to make oursleves feel better. I am not talking about appeasment but rather a frame to see that we need to re-double our efforts and exapnd our action. We should not become them or we have lost everyhting.
Too vengful for me.
be well
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I'm including this URL and the "What Can We Do" page in my blog today. It's a co-blog about Romance Writing -- and this whole incident and response is about love.
So many people just don't understand "what" Chabad is.
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Maybe its time the world was more aware of the good that Chabad does all over this globe. So many times in the past I have been asked,"Why can't the Jews and the Palestinians just get along?" So many people equate Jews and these indescribibles together. They just don't know. They don't know that they too are in danger of these radical subhumans who can't wait to die, taking innocent and good people with them, thinking they will be seated with their god at a king's table. If for no onther reason to justify the senseless deaths of Rivka and Gavriel Holtzberg and so many others, it would be to distinguish the light from the dark. It is time the world got some insight on Chabad's goodness and sweetness. I have always felt I was sitting in a diamond. Now the world can see the shining brightness of what Chabad does selflessly day by day, week by week, year by year. Chabad represents dignity, integrity, intelligence and more. The Holtzbergs are a beacon of awareness to those who do not know.
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In addition to the rabbi and his wife being killed, there were people from another spiritual community that were shot as well.
I study Kabbalistic healing and have connections to the spiritual community in Nashville that were on retreat. All of the people shot worked to create a more positive world. From both spiritual perspectives I am confused....Before I learned of the Jewish people shot and killed, I had to think that this horrible incident would arouse more spirituality and harmony on some level, as we strive to balance evil with good. Now that I learn two spiritual groups were attacked, I'm overwhelmed and wonder what our spiritual efforts do.
Why?
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when I read the screams for retribution, I wonder about these people. something's missing. It's not whether the good rabbi and wife should be avenged... they were not alone. I understand the frustration the world has with self-interested groups. Over 200 were injured. at least 179 killed. The train station was littered with bodies... am I supposed to discount these people and their families? Aren't their families and those who survived the horror equally traumatized? Am I supposed to despise Muslims and Islamic people now because of 10men... what about the Muslims who lived in the market area? Aren't they suffering now? They aren't living in safe faraway places.. they endured terror at their doorstep. Am I supposed to hate them for surviving?
I come terribly saddened by the selfish, self-righteousness so blind that it cannot see the suffering of fellow victims.
We are all men before God
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No one is discounting all the victims of this tragedy. There are good and bad among all of us.
I know that I must bring more light into the world in memory of their dedication to goodness and light.
Just as we may akin ourselves to certain mitzvahs that speak to us, the same rings true for the people who belonged to the relgious group that we identify with.
I speak for many and say that Jews as a whole are the most tolerant and respectful of other's beliefs and customs. That is why we don't try to convert. G-d put all of us on this earth for a reason.
Rabbi Gabi and his wife Rivky, among other Jews that were in the Chabad house that fateful day, were slaughtered just because they were Jews. For that reason, we Jews must not seek revenge, but we must bring more light and goodness into the world.
A Jew is taught that selfishness and selfrighteousness is to be avoided at all costs. Rabbi and his wife were the antithesis of these terms. That is why we remember them and all the others
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I struggled with the same reaction from a fellow Jew who cut me off every time I discussed about the Chabad massacre by saying why I was only concentrating on these deaths rather than other fellow Indians? I was quite frustrated by the insensitivity and blurted out that the attack hit close to home or my own heart. We do sympathize with the Indian community, but we were concerned by the people who are close to us and it is our prerogative that we protect our own first from such future disasters. Every time I envision the deaths of these two precious beings, the tears automatically flow from my eyes and probably knowing that the child, Moshe had to go through that suffering and the miracle of G-d in protecting him.
I am sure there are plenty of Indians there to mourn for their fellowmen and we are doing our part in mourning for our precious souls.
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Dear Elizabeth,
I agree 100% with Pongo and I attend a local Bronx Chabad House. Please hear me out.
We Jews should mourn for every single victim of terror. Every victim of terror Jew, Christian, Muslim Israeli, Palestinian, Iraqi and Indian alike. I am sorry but the attitude, I mourn for them and you mourn for those others is so medieval.
In a world where we all buy products and learn languages and cultures from each other and where we recognize that our traditions are intertwined with others I cannot say I only mourn Jews but not Indians.
As the chochomim have said every person is a world. During this horrible barbaric attck 179 worlds shattered. Why shouldn't we learn about all the victims Jew and non-Jew alike and vow to be strong and bring light on all their behalves. We can learn and connect from all the people and mourn each one as they lose their lives to barbarians.
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Please read my post again. I mourn for all the souls lost that fateful week. But... Rabbi Gabi and Rebbetzin Rivka could have been any one of my four Rabbi's and their wives and children. It just hits so close to home and I mourn their tragic deaths as if they were my own. I mourn all lives lost to these barbaric acts. This is not a contest of who mourns more for whom. There is no competition.
We Jews only know too well how the world feels about us. This is not coming for an isolative or paranoid view. Few mourned or continue to remember the 6 million and more who perished in the fires of the holocaust. We do. We always will. We will continue to name our children after the deceased. It is encumbent upon us to remember, to never forget, to vow, never again. With that said, I still have empathy for all lives that are needlessly and senselessly lost. Rabbi and his wife and the other Jews lost still burns in my neshama and their lives won't go in vain.
None of those lost will.
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I meant no offense. However why couldn't any of the children killed or any of the spiritual leaders have been as near and dear to u. Why are u so compassionate about the Five Jews but not the 174 others. Yes theoretically u mourn for them.
MY only point is exactly as I put it. If anyone should feel like u it is me and all the other Orthodox Jews. I work at and send my kids and teach at a Chabad. it could be my Riverdale Rabbi and rebbetzin. It could be my children fatherless and motherless. But it could al Yet I found an overwheleming attention given to five of the victims and almost nothing no stories told, no heronies no mouring in a meaningful way for those not Jewish. Thats it, I am a Jew u are Jewish yet just because of this fact why can I only feel my neshama breaking and yearning for fellow Jews. Yes the murders were horrendous but on all accounts. Please research any of the victims and say prayers on all of their souls. Read Tehillim for them, not just Rivki and the Rabbi.
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Of course I don't take offense David. I appreciate your view. We all have our own ways of dealing with this insanity. I mourn for those dying of AIDS in Africa, starvation here and in third world countries. My heart goes out to all suffering. I pray for the coming of Moshiach just like you do, speedily in our days.
I saw the mother interviewed who lost her husband and 13 yr old daughter who were in India for a meditation trip. The mother was not Jewish and yet I identified with her as a mother and then cringed when I thought it could have been me in that situation, chas vay shalom.
So, I think we are on the same page with slightly different perspectives. That's what makes for a good horse race! (:
My way is to identify first with my own because they deserve my specific attention. That way, the ache in my heart my lessen, and I might have a more positive image in my mind when I wake in the morning.
I reiterate, we are ONE and we also have compassion and love and tolerance for all
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I appreciate your strong feeling. I do think that we agree on most of the points. Just to clarify I am saying that I don't think of the Jews as my "own" and others as not. My closest friends have not always been Jews. Yes, I have a strong conenction with Jews. But, I also have a strong conenction to others as well. My two best friends in the world outside of my imemdiate family are Indian by decent and Muslim by religion. Therefore I do see the "other" as my own. I may have more in common with many of those murdered within India then with those who live in the Riverdale Jewish Community on a number of levels.Class, culture, orientation and world view This excludes many in my shul, my neighborhood and my "Jewish world". Therefore, I look upon those killed with horror, compassion and I cry out for all of them my breatheren which also incorporates my Chabd family.
The Rifkis of the world are mine and they aren't mine. I relate and I don't. I don't see me as them. Though I'm saddened.
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David, I hear your thoughts and feelings. Thanks for sharing. I am a psychotherapist. One of the main aspects of our training is acceptance and how to treat people from all socioeconomic stratas, appreciating cultural diversity. It's the only ethical way to go. I see people every day from ALL walks of life and do a lot of faith-based therapy. There is much tolerance and healing that goes on in the therapy room.
I am choosing, in my own personal life, to live by the "Torah of Life" to the best of my ability, doing mitzvot and striving to do better. I identify in every way, with every sense of my being, with being Jewish. I can see you do also because you also live a Jewish life. This does not mean I am not sensitive to other's plights. But, we are a small nation. Therefore, my thoughts, efforts, contributions, and work needs to have a Jewish mindset and framework. So, my motivation is to the Holtzbergs, of blessed memory, may G-d avenge their blood. There is much to do to in their memories and to all who perished.
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Dear Rabbi Freeman,
First I want to say Amen, from your lips to G-d's Ears. But with all due respect and humility, that didn't answer the question raised. We say everyday in our prayers and we learn that there are rewards for specific deeds not only in the next world but in this one too.
When the Shliachs of blessed on memory were murdered, they were performing several of those type of mitzvahs. I never question anything G-d does in his wisdom; but I don't understand - shouldn't they have enjoyed His protection? Wouldn't it have been a bigger sanctification of G-d's name and miracle for them to have survived, to show the world and us His glory? I know this isn't the first time this question comes up, or that I am the first person to ask it, but it has always plagued me. Is there an answer or will this remain a mystery that only Moshiach will answer?
PS. I want to wish you and all of Israel a Happy Chanukah!
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David, I don't understand what is the big problem you have in the mourning sessions of Amy and I? Are you weighing in how many tears we dropped for the Indians and the Jewish victims? Then, forget it.
I would like you to know that when the Jewish hearts and blood is connected, we feel the pain. It is a human nature. We don't go about crying out loud for those of other nations; we might feel sorry for them. On the other hand, the community was touched, because they had murdered innocent rabbis in a foreign land along with other victims. Since, people attend Chabad, it is quite natural to express their pain more significantly than for the Indians.
In fact, when I was young, I had read a book on "Odeyse" and cried while reading, because of the suffering of mankind. It is just an emotional reaction, so I hope you can rest this matter once and for all.
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The Jews in the Nariman House were the only ones targeted for brutal torture. The crime is more poignant when you consider that the Holtzbergs were there expressly with a mission of generosity and kindness. Gavriel spoke of his efforts to influence Hindus to care for their own as well. The terrorists themselves, when they came to spy out their target months in advance, ate at the Holtzberg's table and enjoyed their hospitality.
So, yes, while this massacre was an affront to the dignity of all humankind, and many lost their lives senselessly, the world must not forget that at least 20% of the terrorist resources were focused upon destroying a Jewish beacon of light. Meaning that terror itself knows which is its most potent antidote.
Now ask yourself: Why is it that when one nation has an issue with another nation, the Jews are attacked? Think of the Crusaders, the Cossacks, the Czar, the Nazis, and today these Pakistani terrorists. Why is nobody puzzled?
The simple answer: Because when nations go to war, it is not against humanity alone, it is against the spark of divinity within us--against G_d. And, as Paul Johnson asserts in his History of the Jews, to the gentile, the Jewish People represent G_d.
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Rabbi, after watching little Moish cry 'Ema! Ema!' while searching the crowd for his beloved mother, I was broken beyond words. As a result of this tradegy, I have decided to also bring light into the world in honor of Moishels' mother and father! From now on I will start keeping Shabbat 100% now as well as to learn Torah on a regular basis.
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All human beings are in a unique situation vis-a-vis each other. We have the unique ability to connect with each other in a very profound way--thorugh our words, and deeds. We can use our words and deeds to comfort other humans beings or we can use our actions and words to invalidate each other.
This tragedy has brought people together to comfort and connect each other. Our differences are really our own construct. We can chose to live amongst people that look, dress, and think like us "our own" and connect with these people more profiundly. Or we can chose to see everyone as "our own".
Terrorists tend to want to divide us an concquer us at our weakest. They love divisions, splinters, breaks and tears. They want to strip us of our corps beliefs.
I refuse to allow other to define and assign for me who to connect with, who to mourn, who to love and where and with whom to associate.
In the end we are all the childrne of G-d--even those who hate!
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Mr. Freeman, you're right, I'm a gentile and to me, the Jews represent G-d. I recall speaking with an anti-semite cultist, and I told him that whenever I heard of or saw a Jew, it reminded me of God.
Hopefully, as you stated in your article: "They (muslim terrorrists) and all memory of them will vanish from the face of the earth". May G-d, The Eternal accomplish this speedily, Amen !
Best wishes to all the Jews!
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We Jews want to do right.
We want it so badly that we doubt ourselves.
Do we care enough?
Are we generous enough?
Compassionate enough?
Saintly enough?
LOOK AROUND.
NOBODY doubts himself as we do ourselves.
NOBODY else BLAMES himself the way we do.
Stop trying to be PERFECT.
Perfectly purple cannot be perfectly gold.
We are golden. Not perfectly, but golden.
Those who attack us are purples.
Purps. Perps. Perpetrators.
If you defend them, then defend 9/11.
WAKE UP.
Some acts ARE WRONG.
Killing Rivka was WRONG.
Orphaning Moise was WRONG.
Wife beaters are WRONG.
Wife-beaters and other perps will blame their victims IF they can get away with it.
We must STOP their getting away with it.
Do they have a good reason, such as, the wife talked back?
NO!
For some people--slave owners and wife-beaters and terrorists--
their reason is, BECAUSE THEY CAN.
Because we fail to STOP them.
We must STOP them.
And stop making excuses for them.
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Thanks for sharing your views. I have no issue with you for sharing your viewpoints. I think you are expressing your genuine feelings and I celebrate your right and ability to do so, I even go so far as to congratulate you for having these views. I hope you in no way take our discusion to mean anything more then that. I do not sit in judgement of anyone and I feel that you are entitled to view the world as you see fit. Your soul sees the world in a unique way as does mine.
I was only trying to call out how in some tragedies we want to connect first with our primordal conennections and naturally that means excluding others. It is the way we were raised, myself included. I have come to see the world not as a us/them developed developing or first and third world scenairo. You are free to disagree. One thing we can share is our hate for those that divide and conquer. That want us to fear and to hate our neighbor.
Thanks for sharing of your vision and dreams.
Warm regards
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I was deeply saddened by the events that transpired in Mumbai. Having spent a good portion of my youth going to and then being a counselor @ Camp Gan Israel, I met a multitude of young Yeshiva boys from Morristown. I can’t help but think of how most went on to run Chabads worldwide or drive a Mitzvah Tank through some not so pleasant areas. While I do not agree with all aspects of the movement, I have never seen any non-Chabad rabbi set up a sukkah in Chicago and give a fellow yid a chance to celebrate with a lulav and estrog. Not to mention, ticket-free Rosh Hashanah.
What puzzles me is that we would disperse these young men and their families without providing adequate protection. In the words of the late Meir Kahane” For every Jew a .22”. No need for heavy, imposing guards, but lets get real and get something in place.
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I understand your concerns regarding protection. But I would rather not go to .22", because G-d did not instruct Moses to carry a sickle or sword while confronting Pharoah, but gave him a rod and mere opening of his mouth to perform miracles. When one has placed his utmost trust in the provision and protection upon G-d's mantle, faith has carried through many generations and has glorified G-d.
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