HS חומש Assignment 3/15/11

As we spoke about in class today, I'd like you to each find some time this week to post a comment or two here sharing your thoughts or feelings about the tragic massacre of 5 of our Jewish brothers and sisters in the ישוב of איתמר.  Today we considered it in light of the message of the סנה, as a wake-up call to turn the search for the perpetrators inward, and to examine our own hurtful and destructive actions towards other members of כלל ישראל.  You can choose to elaborate or ruminate further on this approach, or you may want to express your own fears, outrage, uncertainties, etc instead.  Any and all carefully thought out opinions are welcome.  I will share with you something that Rabbi Perl wrote to me in an email this morning about one authentic Jewish response to such a heartbreaking event: 

"...I think the Rav's [Ed. note: Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, זצ"ל]  approach in Kol Dodi Dofek is always a good way to go:  we can't answer the question "why" (if we could, we'd be G-d), but we can answer the question of "what now."  We can never point a finger at anyone or any group of people and say they were to blame for what happened (except for the perpetrator, of course).  But we can always point a finger at ourselves and know that we'll be to blame if we don't hear HKB"H "knocking at our door" and make ourselves better because of it."

May הקב"ה comfort the surviving Fogel children, extended family members, and their loved ones, and help them-and us-to cling to the תורה with greater strength than ever before, and to always know that כל מה דעביד רחמנא לטב עביד-everything that The Merciful One does is for the good.