Dear Friend,

As hard as it may be to believe in our world of ubiquitous media, I did not hear about the terror attack in Orlando until Monday, nearly 36 hours after the tragedy. You see, Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) was followed by Shavuot, the two-day holiday on which we celebrate the Divine revelation at Sinai. On these days, we live in a blissful island of technology-free living.

On Sunday morning, in some places even while the attacker was claiming 49 lives, Jewish communities all over the world gathered to read the Ten Commandments from the Torah, re-experiencing the moment when G‑d revealed Himself and gave humankind the blueprint for a perfected world.

Among these Ten Commandments is, of course, the very unambiguous command not to commit murder. In Damascus, Paris, Madrid, Baghdad and everywhere else in the world, murder is murder, and it is reprehensible.

Whether in last week’s attack in Tel Aviv, this week’s attack in Orlando or the daily attacks on innocent civilians around the world, there are millions of people suffering today due to twisted people following a hate-driven interpretation of one of the world’s leading faiths. As we reach out to the victims and their loved ones with sympathy, let’s also take a hard stand against the abuse of religion for the sake of terror.

Let’s sound a universal chorus of voices for a return to the fundamental belief in the G‑d-given sanctity of human life that has made the freedoms of our modern world possible and given us hope for universal peace.

Mendy Kaminker,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team