There was a terrible tragedy in Hebron last leil Shabbos,
when 12 soldiers and security men were murdered, and
everyone sees in it what he is looking for.
The pundits of the Left see what they want to see. According
to them, the ones responsible for the awful crime are not
Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority and not even the
ragtag band of criminals known as the Islamic Jihad who
"claimed" responsibility. They are not really responsible.
They are just responding to the Israeli conquest and the
security checkpoints.
According to them, the ones responsible for the blood bath
among the security forces are the Jewish residents in Hebron,
Kiryat Arba and in all the settlements in occupied
territory.
"While the blood is still warm and the graves are still
open," writes journalist B. Michael, "it is necessary to
repeat what everyone knows but few dare say: The settlers of
Hebron are bad news. . . Sheltered by the pain, sheltered by
the mourning, and especially sheltered by hundreds and
thousands more soldiers . . . who will endanger their lives
to protect this madness . . . they will again destroy,
plunder and, mainly, complain that there are not enough
soldiers to protect them. This is the whole story: Not a war
over our homes, not a war over the State and not even a war
over our land. It is just a war over the security of the
settlers. And as long as they are there, and we are with them
-- blood will be spilled."
Pundits of the Right saw things differently. According to
them it was the fault of the Israeli Left. C. Hoberman wrote:
"These dead are a result of the earlier decision of the
former Minister of Defense [Labor Party leader Binyamin Ben-
Eliezer] to withdraw the IDF from most areas of Hebron two
weeks ago simply because of the upcoming Labor Party primary
elections. Fuad [Ben-Eliezer] wanted to give the impression
of a statesman who takes decisive action."
Both sides are most interested in talking about the failings
of their respective political opponents and how they
contributed to the tragedy. Both sides think that the source
of the problems and their solution lie in politics. This
thinking dominates the public reaction.
We have an entirely different perspective. Every Torah Jew
knows that there is nothing random in the world. If troubles
descend upon us, it is a call to inspect ourselves: a
Heavenly message to us to do better. The greater the pain,
the sharper the message.
"It is a mitzvah to cry and sound the trumpets about any
sorrow that befall the community . . . When trouble comes and
they cry about it . . . they will know that they are
suffering because of their bad deeds . . . and this will
cause the trouble to be removed. But if they do not cry and
sound the trumpets but say that this is the way of the world,
. . . this is a path of cruelty that causes them to persist
in their bad deeds and they will have more troubles . . ."
(Rambam, Hilchos Taaniyos 1:1-3).
To be sure, we must take the steps necessary to protect
ourselves and learn the military and policy lessons that are
there to be learned.
But if we are looking for someone to pin the blame on, we
need not look beyond ourselves. This is a responsibility that
none of us should shirk.
