Hate – Our Most Deadly Destroyer

Another day goes by, and still, the children cry

Put a little love in your heart

If you want the world to know, we won’t let hatred grow

Put a little love in your heart

All you need is love, all you need is love

All you need is love, love, love is all you need

A time to gain, a time to lose

A time to rend, a time to sew

A time for love, a time for hate

A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late

Last Shabbos 18 Chesvan 5779 (Saturday, October 27^th, 2018) in a Pittsburgh, PA Synagogue by the name of Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha was the scene of a shooting that was the deadliest attack on the Jewish Community in the history of the United States was committed by 46-year-old  Robert Gregory Bowers. May Hashem avenge his blood!  Eleven innocent Jews were gunned down in cold blood in addition to the wounding of several others including two policemen. The crime that the shooter convicted these people of was that they were Jews. Just prior to the shooting a bris (ceremony to the mark the birth of a Jewish male child) was taking place. A celebration of a new life was interrupted and replaced by bloody carnage. Baruch dayan ha’emet”

Hate is becoming a very prevalent theme her in The United States a land that was supposed to be the peaceful and welcoming home of people who came to this country legally. The ties that bound us as well as our parents or grandparents or great grandparents together was that they came here in search of a new beginning and a better life. Instead, our culture has disintegrated (the damage is not irreparable) into a chorus of I HATE YOU, YOU HATE ME, WE ALL HATE THEM! Scapegoats for these massive outbreaks of death and destruction are not short in supply with many of the most well-known haters and provokers  of hate are never far out of public sight or spewing  philosophies of antisemitism, racism, Nazism, white supremacy, sexism, or just good old-fashioned ‘there is only room for my kind around here into our eardrums.  We know the gun has become the most widely used vehicle to take away life from those we do not like or happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. No matter! Guns have the power to take away life and become perfect instruments of death especially in the hands of those who live to make others die. I do not want to turn this article into a referendum on gun control. Those who lost loved ones in this massacre need time to mourn and we must mourn along with them. The notion that putting armed guards into Synagogues, Churches, Temples and even schools as being a cure-all, end-all solution to this growing epidemic must be rejected by all those who reject violence, reject hatred,  and the ever prominent threat that scenes of the old wild west where gunfights are the norm could break out at any moment.

What matters most is that slaughter happened on Shabbos which is the day commanded us to refrain from work, etc. and instead dedicate the day to peace (Shalom) prayer and learning. Those of us who daven (pray) in Orthodox Shuls sit separately from our spouses for the length of the service until the end at which time we hold each other in a tight embrace as if we have been apart for a great length of time. We then go home (unless a festive meal is being served in the (aka Kiddish) to eat or join with our friends, neighbors or relatives sitting around a beautifully adorned table as smiles abound. When Shabbos ended that day those of us who turn off all electronic devices were horrified upon hearing the news of the day’s events.

Robert Bowers did not set out to kill Orthodox, Modern Orthodox, Ultra-Orthodox, Hasidic, Conservative, Reform or Reconstructionist Jews. He simply decided he hated the Jewish people to the point that he had to kill them and as many as he could. While the number of casualties pales in comparison to the six million Jews who were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust (do not fall victim to those who will try to convince you that the Holocaust did not happen. My grandfather left Poland and came to live in America with his daughter Molly and his other daughter Sylvia in New York just before the cursed Nazis stormed his town in Poland and began rounding up Jews to be taken to concentration camps) the mentality was the same. The all-consuming need to kill Jews was what mattered most at the time.

Love will always overpower death. Why wait until a tragedy of epic proportions strikes to reach out your hand to somebody who needs help

As it so often happens tragedy brings unity. This past Shabbos we all stood as one people which is what we always are to show the world we stand in unity with each other. Two Muslin organizations raised $200,000 dollars which they so generously and so thoughtfully donated to help the victims and their families following the massacre. People all over the world united in love to help. Love will always overpower death. Why wait until a tragedy of epic proportions strikes to reach out your hand to somebody who needs help. Whatever you can do to bring at least a moment of good feeling into the beating heart of another human being is something we must all dedicate ourselves to doing.

The legal process to determine the most appropriate punishment for the heinous crime a sub-human by the name of Robert Gregory Bowers should receive. Would the termination by electrocution or lethal injection serve as justice having prevailed? In my heart I want him to face the most serious and severe punishments we have available at our disposal. Yet at the same time, there is a part of me that feels no matter what is done to him justice will never be served. Families that were torn asunder may never feel or be as one again. People are afraid to go to pray fearing it could happen again. “Copycats” have begun their parades on our streets. Parents cry uncontrollably as they watch their terrified children board a bus or walk to school wondering if they will see their child come home safely. When that moment comes when Robert Bowers no longer breathes oxygen from the atmosphere will a sense of safety and normalcy return to all of us that were directly or indirectly affected? Nobody will be in possession of the wisdom to know the answer to that questions.

Hidden in the background is the issue of free speech. Our First Amendment guarantees that. The larger issue is at what point hate speech when ensuing calls for violent protest or worse air on radio programs, TV or social media outlets that feed the fuels of hate no longer being covered by that right. Should we include President Trump in that group whose penchant for hate speech or whipping crowds into a frenzy so they eagerly follow along in his quest to rant his way en route to nowhere good? The First Amendment which gives us our right to free speech was not designed to allow people who indulge in these type of behavioral manipulations with all intent to create ill will. Who will stand up and call for a revision of that right where public safety is put at risk? Should anybody be given almost absolute power to decide what we will be allowed to hear on the radio, watch on TV or the internet? Is this the destiny for America in 2018? We pray our leaders and officers of our government will be guided by the principles of our faiths when tackling this decision. We are supposed to be the beacon of freedom. Is this right in its current form right for us?

I leave you with the following:

Intolerance

by Tzvi Freeman

From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.