Am I missing something here? Am I not getting it? Am I overly sensitive? I can not get this out of my mind. The horrible tragedy of Kiryat Arba is just so painful. An innocent, young, beautiful Jewish teenage child was stabbed to death by an animal in the body of an Arab. Just the thought and image of that alone is just so terrible. Almost incomprehensible. Certainly for anyone with children of their own.
How does that family go on? How do they deal with this? How do we as one family of Klal Yisroel just get up and go about our day when part of us was so viciously ripped away? Who is not crying?
But there’s more. And this makes it even worse. Why does no one in the world care? Did I miss the condemnations of world leaders? Granted, the United States did utter some words of condolence. Where is everyone else?
A few weeks ago, the world and their leaders spent weeks mourning and condemning the killing of a gorilla that was attacking a child!!! The media was replete with news personalities tearing up on air while discussing the demise of the gorilla. A gorilla!!!! And today? Quiet. No tears. No loud and animated condemnation.
Because it’s a Jewish child. Oh yes, and she lived in a part of Eretz Yisroel that the world calls the “West Bank”. Because we may disagree politically, it’s ok to end the life of a teenager in cold blood.
This world has totally lost its moral compass.
We are not going to fix the terrible hatred out there. But it needs to hurt us. We need to feel it. We need to know that no matter where our brothers and sisters reside, we are one family. Part of us was ripped away today. We can’t just go about as if it has nothing to do with us.
To the family I say “Hamakom Yenachem Eschem Besoch Shaar Aveilei Tzion Viyerushalayim” . May you find the strength to somehow get through this. We are with you in your pain. We are crying with you.
A Jewish Brother from Lakewood.
Welcome to the insane generation we are living in today
Jewish Brother, please know, many care, there were/are tears and prayers, for this beautiful soul, her family, and our world. Christian Sister
So beautifully written. I saw this horrific story yesterday on a Jewish website. I spent the next hour searching in vain for a mention of this atrocity on mainstream media websites. There was NOT ONE story covering the loss of this innocent child. In the one in a million attack by a Jewish extremist against an Arab, the perpetrator is arrested and convicted in Israeli courts and sentenced to prison. The multitude of attacks by Arabs, killing countless innocent victims elicit cheers from the perpetrator’s friend, family and the entire Arabic world. The ‘martyr’ gets a hero’s burial. The Jewish attacker is raked over the coals by every media outlet in the world. This horrific event was not even a blip on their radar. The world should be ashamed of themselves.
Get that picture of this site now!!
This is a family friendly site. Or so I thought…
Thank you, Karen and “just a somebody”. It is heartening and comforting to hear words of support and kindness coming from outside the Jewish community. Thank you for caring!
No, MOE, TLS should NOT remove that picture.
You know why? Because as i sit down to eat my sushi or fress at one of the eateries in town, I will stop, give pause, reflect upon what is happening to our brethren across the world – and then think twice about indulging.
I don’t know about you, MOE, but if that picture hasn’t put things into perspective for me, then nothing will.
Thank you TLS for showing us the truth.
I was looking at other websites who posted pictures of the Nifteres HYD and the only think I could think of was my own daughter, Chas Veshalom, in such a situation…
This is too much to bear, too much…
Dear rebRambo,
I understand your point. However, one shouldn’t need a picture to arouse their emotions when it comes to another member of klal yisroel. Hearing the story should be enough. Especially as a loving father of your own children, words alone should make your insides churn, and bring one to heartbreaking cries.
This is a site that’s visited by many women in our community that can’t stomache a picture like that. Precisely BECAUSE of their ahavas yisroel.
Just because there are certain individuals that need gruesome images to stir their love for another Jew it doesn’t justify posting pictures like the above.
While your points are certainly true in general, the lack of outcry is not necessarily a direct result. If a Jewish girl was C”V killed like that in the USA, there would be an outcry. We all are more sensitive to tragedy the closer it hits to home. To Jews in the US, a tragedy to our sister in Israel is close to home, but not necessarily to the world at large.
We too are guilty. How many incidents like this happen around the world on a daily basis, and the world is silent? Mass killings are rampant throughout the middle east, and we sip our coffee while glancing the headlines.
With the recent terror attack in Istanbul, that too had a worldwide response only because it was at an international airport. So that resonates with many more people. Did you know that there was a terror attack on March 19 in an Istanbul marketplace that killed 5? The international community was not impacted by it because we don’t relate to it as much.
May we all learn from tragedies that impact us and become more sensitive to any tragedy that happens to mankind.
agree 100% yesterday when I saw that picture I was so torn and really felt for the familys pain though I was upset at the time that they showed that picture was only because I wanted to enjoy my breakfast at bagel nosh and had to cancel then realized was good I saw that picture WE NEED TO REALIZE WHATZ HAPPENING TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS TIME TO WAQKE UP
And for those that are numb to others without seeing gory pictures…start doing chesed and kindness to others. That’s the only thing that’ll help you.
The picture you see today won’t stop you from digging into your steak tomorrow. Doing kindness with one another, will.
Let’s not live a superficial life where we get inspired only to lose it a day later. Get real! Do something!
What a beautifully written letter. There is no question that the writer of this letter has a very big sensitive heart. But we need to do a bit more than this. We are preaching to the choir here. I am not adept at the whole social media thing. Can someone please post this to some mainstream secular media? Can someone send it to CNN??? Believe it or not, even the big bad media does not like bad publicity. They should not be allowed to get away with the abominable coverage that they did here. Someone needs to call them out on this. Can it be forwarded?
Either way, thank you for waking me up. My day will not be the same. I for one will think about this more.
This story is truly heart breaking! HY”D. It breaks my heart every time a story like this happens to Achainu B’nai Yisroel.
However, I do agree with MOE fan, this picture is unnecessary and counterproductive. We need to focus internally and change ourselves to become better people when we hear these sad stories. We need to heed H-shem’s wakeup call. The visual gory details just makes it a sensation and takes away the ‘Hartz’ of the story.
MOE fan, you are correct that one SHOULD NOT need such a photo. But as the saying goes, “dem are da facts”; without such terribly gruesome reminders and photos we go about our daily lives, just ignoring the truth and happy that we “didn’t really know that family”…
Your words are unbelievably poignant and yet terribly frightening! Our world has turned up side down and only the coming of Moshiach will set it right! In the meantime we must continue davening, learning , giving tzedakah and performing acts of chessed, We must show the world that we are human beings with beating hearts as opposed to the animals who celebrate the murder of innocence.
I too was struck by the mass media silence. A young girl full of hope and desire to live, loses her life by the hands of a Muslim allowing his twisted ideology overcome his human conscience.
As humans on who share the same desire to live as this girl, should be up in arms and never allowing such twisted ideology interfere with our and our children’s lives.
It’s time the world said enough.
the answer to your question: dog bites man, not a story; man bites dog, big story