Ah, what a wonderful weekend in England. Aside from speaking to lots of Jews in London, I also got to attend a very special event at which my friend and I were probably the only Jews: the Eastern Invertebrate Show!
England has an extraordinary community of exotic insect enthusiasts, perhaps the best in the world. (Being a cold island, there is no risk of the insects escaping and becoming dangerous invasive species.) The people were a mixed bunch; nerdy scientific types, heavily tattooed and abundantly pierced goth types who rattled off endless Latin names of different species, even a man dressed as a giant cockroach.
At the show you could buy all kinds of useful stuff for maintaining exotic insects (of which we have a variety on exhibit at the Biblical Museum of Natural History). Specialized electrical equipment for heating, ultraviolet lights to make your scorpions glow in the dark, unusual foodstuffs like bat guano.
But of course the invertebrates themselves were the highlights. Giant African millipedes as long as your forearm, Brazilian tarantulas the size of your hand, incredibly camouflaged Javan leaf insects - it was endless.
We have all these species as live exhibits at the museum, but there was one particularly special insect at the show that we only have as a mounted specimen, and that I had never before seen alive. And I was absolutely horrified to see the exhibitor holding it on his hand.
It was a bullet ant. For those who haven’t heard of it, this huge ant has the most painful sting of any creature in the entire world, holding the highest rating (4.0+) on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. It’s called a bullet ant because being stung by one feels like you have been shot. More precisely, it’s described as being like having a three-inch nail embedded in your foot as you walk over flaming coals. For 24 hours.
I couldn’t understand how the guy could be holding it, but he explained that they are very docile and hardly ever sting. Rather foolishly (and I hope my wife isn’t reading this), I asked him if I could hold it. Rather wisely, he told me that there was no way he would take the responsibility of risking have me hospitalized as I lay writhing and crying in pain.
Afterwards, I realized that of course he was correct. I have writhed in pain with kidney stones, and it wasn’t pleasant. And, to make a very abrupt tonal shift, I’ve also done a fair share of very unpleasant crying, especially since October 7th, 2023. I’ve cried for the horror of the Hamas attacks, I’ve cried for the bleak situation of Israel, I’ve cried for the hostages, I’ve cried for the deaths of soldiers, I’ve cried for the suffering of the reservists, and I’ve cried with anxiety for the future of my soldier son.
Why did I mention all that? Because as it happens, there was another crying rabbi in London when I was there yesterday, just a few blocks away from where I was staying. Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, “Gadol HaDor” of the charedi Litvish world, was visiting along with other charedi “Gedolim.” (For just two thousand pounds, you could join him for breakfast and receive a bracha.) A photo was shared of him crying during their presentation.
Why was this elderly sage crying? The hostages? The fallen soldiers? The reservists who are suffering from collapsed careers and PTSD and broken marriages and wrestling with suicide because of the manpower shortage that he refuses to help solve?
No, of course not! He was crying about the chareidi community no longer being legally exempted and financially subsidized to avoid sharing the mitzvah and responsibility of national defense!
A friend of mine commented that it reminded him of how God responded to the Children of Israel crying about the spies’ report of the Promised Land: “They cried for nothing, I will give them reason to cry for generations.”
Maybe Hashem will send the Gedolim some bullet ants.
"Maybe Hashem will send the Gedolim some bullet ants."
This is a shockingly despicable comment, especially after you described the horrific pain these insects can cause in such detail. I cannot believe you have sunk to this point and suspect you didn't think about it enough before publishing. Especially in light of all the rhetoric surrounding Charlie Kirk and wishing ill and suffering and even death to those with whom one disagrees even vehemently, this line had no place in the mouth of any Torah Jew or anyone else. Please, please acknowledge that it was inappropriate and retract this line.
Your last line is one of the funniest things I've ever read. It made me laught so hard.
Thanks.
Just returned from an event in memory of my brother who was killed in action 20 months ago.
Went to the kever with my mother yesterday.
Really needed this 🙏