Murder in Australia

Rabbi, Rabbi, Rabbi,

My wife and I are in tears. We are watching the breaking news of a terrible, terrible shooting at Bondi Beach, an iconic location in Australia.

During observances and celebrations on the first night of Chanukah, shooters have opened fire and our hearts are broken. Broken for the families, broken for our fellow Australians of Jewish heritage and broken for Australia.

Rabbi, how do we pray, how do we grieve, how do we ask our God, our Rock to help the innocent families and ourselves to go forward? Rabbi, I have listened to your teachings for a long time and for the first time I am not sure what to do. This has hit home.

David F.

Dear David,

Psalms 34:19 says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; those crushed in spirit He delivers.”

The fact that you and your wife are broken hearted about an evil act and in pain is a good thing. That you recognize that this is a tragedy not only for those immediately affected by the murderous terrorist attack on Bondi Beach but also for a country whose leadership has lost its way and because of their inactions and wrong actions are complicit in the attack, is also good.

It is easy to get numb as we hear of suffering and hardship. As you note, for each of us, some events “hit home” while others cause us to pause for a moment but don’t stop us in our tracks. Worst of all is that we can be so overwhelmed by bad news that we numb ourselves and don’t feel anything at all.

The traditional Jewish response to an event such as what happened on Bondi Beach is different from what is often offered (including by Jewish communities), which is a moment of silence. Rather, ancient Jewish wisdom suggests that when we are moved by a tragedy, we use that impetus to commit to action.

As an Australian, this is personal to you. Yet, stepping back to a birds-eye view, we note that it is strikingly similar to the massacres that have taken place at Christmas markets in Europe and in many African locations, especially churches, over the past few years. There are Islamic assaults in many countries around the world constantly and terror is a favorite tactic. In a way unfamiliar to western minds, Islam is a powerful hybrid of religion, political doctrine, and worldwide sovereign aspiration that all work together toward the deeply embedded Islamic goal of world domination by subjugating adherents of other religions and taking over the institutional structures of western countries. Islamists well understand that they can use the twin pincers of terror and manipulating Western compassion and tolerance to destroy countries that mistakenly welcome them. Fear and apathy both help to bring them victory.

Jews have been integrated into Australian life for decades. Among many other prominent Australian Jews is Frank Lowy, founder of the Westfield Shopping Center empire, who immigrated to Australia after surviving the holocaust as a young man. There has not been an anti-Semitism problem in Australia until very recently. This sudden rise is not coincidental; Moslems now outnumber Jews 7-1. Anti-Semitism is a virus that has spread easily for millennia. Under the unconvincing facade of demonizing Israel, it is being deliberately spread now. It doesn’t help that we have an unprecedentedly schooled but uneducated and ignorant generation in their twenties and thirties.

Your shock, horror, and dismay will fade. It happens to all of us. That is part of being human. If it didn’t, we would all be curled up in a fetal position, whimpering in despair, and incapable of carrying on. While you are feeling all those emotions, decide on steps to take whether it is seeking out more information on the true nature of Islam, refusing to tolerate jokes or negative statements about Israel or Jews, speaking up in your neighborhood or church even though you will be labeled an Islamophobe, writing on a regular basis to your newspaper and representatives, or taking another definable action. Prayer for the many victims of Islamic hate is always a good step, though not sufficient. By committing to action, you and your wife will be the candle that shines a bright light in a dark world.

Thank you for your humanity,

Rabbi Daniel and Susan Lapin

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