Horror or Beauty?
Which do you want to read about?
What should I tell you about?
It’s an important public service to alert people to which problems in society need addressing, especially since so many English-speaking Jews are so misinformed about life in Israel and about what Torah actually demands of us. But there comes a point at which it feels just too much, just too awful. So should I instead write about beautiful things?
I’m tormented over this. So I’m going to post a little of both, and I would welcome feedback.
First, the horror. Unless you’re in an extreme charedi bubble, you probably hear about soldiers who fall in battle, such as Idan Fuchs, just 19 years old, who was killed in Lebanon the other day. But did you hear about the charedi soldier in Chashmonaim who was injured? Probably not, because his injuries were inflicted by other charedi Jews in his Beit Shemesh community who beat him up when he returned home.
And did you hear about the Ethiopian 21-year-old Yemanu Binyamin Zelka? He was working at a pizza store, and was beaten and stabbed to death by a gang - of kids aged 12-15! And most of them were wearing tzitzit! (They were not charedi, but they were from families aligned with a particular political demographic that is not difficult to guess, especially when you learn that government MKs have shown more interest in bashing Bennett than talking about this horrific murder, and the police are not exactly being zealous about bringing justice to the murderers and their families who tried to protect them.)
And you almost certainly didn’t hear about the three reservists who died since Yom HaAtzmaut, after taking their own lives due to PTSD - or the many, many more reservists who are still suffering from it. Because people don’t want to talk about just how damaging the IDF manpower shortage is. For some of us, that’s because it’s too close to home and too painful; for others, it’s because they don’t want to acknowledge how much harm is caused by the charedi wholesale refusal to enlist and the government’s desire to support this and even pay them billions of shekels for it in exchange for votes.
It’s all just too awful to think about. So maybe I should share some beauty. Here are photos from a shul that I just spoke at in London, the New West End Synagogue, which was built nearly 150 years ago and is one of the most beautiful in the world:
A close-up of the Aron HaKodesh:
This shul had some famous members. Here’s a plaque on one seat:
Here’s an amazing shofar which must be at least a century old and is engraved:
And here’s a very unusual kiddush cup. My index finger is touching the bottom of the inside! It was made to appear large and magnificent, but to hold much, much less wine than its external size would indicate. Can you guess why?
The answer is that it was made during the war (I’m not sure whether WWI or WWII) when there was a great shortage of wine, and so cups were designed to look full with a tiny amount.
Jewish history is filled with beauty and horror. So is Jewish life today. The difference is that whereas the horrors of our history were usually caused by non-Jews, so much of today’s horror is caused by Jews professing to act in the name of Judaism.
The last paragraph is the most impactful. Well written
Both my mother and my father served (and met) in Korea during the war. Decades later my brother and I discussed the evidence we observed of PTSD on both their parts. My mother, in her early twenties, served as a navy nurse on a hospital ship, and in her eighties started telling my brother about the horrible injuries she observed and treated.
Finally being recognized, the crucial next step is to remove every trace stigmatization about PTSD, and ensure treatment is available and encouraged. Men and women who serve their country and defend their people at the risk of their lives are entitled to respect, support, and treatment. Otherwise the results can be tragic.
As to the other incidents, the perpetrators may call themselves “frum,” or “observant,” but their behavior screams of ingratitude, and is tribal, animalistic, and the antithesis of Torah observance. They deny the truth, and their behavior reveals they live in xenophobic fear.
May God help them open their eyes to the truth, so that they do true teshuvah, and, as a result, realize their responsibility to their people and act accordingly. Before it is too late for them and for Israel.
Thank you for sharing the images of that magnificent synagogue. If I ever make it to Great Britain, I will do my best to visit it. It brightens the soul to observe such beauty and know it has been preserved, nearly a century after so many European synagogues were destroyed, disgraced, and violently emptied of their congregations by murderers and their collaborators.