A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
Terror and G-d

In yesterday's Jerusalem Post, Rabbi Stewart Weiss, whose son Ari was killed a year ago during an IDF operation and whose wife went to school with David Applebaum, the Shaare Zedek ER chief who was murdered in the Cafe Hillel bombing last week, asks:

"How does a caring, omnipotent God allow such horrible tragedies as we have experienced to transpire? How can He permit the murder of a magnificent doctor, a tzaddik who saved countless lives in his distinguished medical career including many victims of similar terror acts? How can He take a bride on the eve of her wedding? How can we activate the 'merciful and compassionate God' to whom we pray each day?"

Rabbi Weiss concludes that he does not know, and that he believes nobdoy else does either: "I have no answers not a single one that ameliorates the pain. It is beyond me. I cannot fathom God's purpose in these horrendous outrages; I do not know what particular message He is trying to send. In an age when prophecy is long gone and Heavenly voices have ceased to rain down, I am at a loss as to what God's plan is.

"Nor do I believe that anyone out there in the mortal world has an inside track to God's will. I am wary of self-proclaimed authorities who claim they know why this is all happening and what it will take to stop the killings.

"From the mystic who assured us that Ari would be safe during his service, to the parent who pulled his kid out of the army and moved him to safe California where he was subsequently killed in a car crash they are all Pretenders to the Throne. No one has a clue."

I fully agree with Rabbi Weiss. After the 9/11 attacks, and after terrorist attacks in Israel, some people have offered silly explanations to comfort themselves. For example, people claim that the fact that many people survived these attacks is a miracle and focus only on the survivors. Others will say that the victims' "time was up," which in Jewish thought is at best questionable with respect to victims of murder. Finally, I've even heard people say that the victim is much better off in the next world, and would in fact refuse to come back if he or she could. That's not only nonsensical, it contradicts the importance Judaism places on a person's life on earth.

The better explanation is offered by Rabbi Weiss, that while we believe in G-d, we do not understand the reasons for tragedies, including murder of the righteous.
posted on 9/15/2003