By JERUSALEM POST READERSLetters 370(photo credit: REUTERS/Handout )
Sir, – With great shame I read that extremist Jews allegedly lowered themselves to kill a fellow human being (“6 Jewish nationalists arrested in slaying of east Jerusalem teen,” July 7).Since some of these lower- than-animal types were minors I have to suspect that they were indoctrinated by someone else. I think Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should require all yeshiva rabbis to condemn the killing, just as he wanted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to condemn the killing of Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-Ad Shaer and Eyal Yifrah. Those who do not should have their yeshivot closed down. Also, I presume the houses of these criminals will be bulldozed.Fair is fair.The good news is that we are not celebrating and handing out sweets in the streets, so the majority of us have not lowered ourselves to that level and still adhere to genuine Jewish values.GERALDINE THEMAL Kiryat Tivon Sir, – As a “Jewish nationalist” I object to The Jerusalem Post using this term when referring to a group of cold-blooded murderers.Since when has the Jewish national movement advocated torturing or killing members of other nations? It may be that these evil, misguided people think that what they are doing is Jewish nationalism, but the Post shouldn’t encourage this belief.SHIMON CROWNHashmonaim Sir, – There were two headlines on the front page of your July 7 issue that I found offensive to what I think should be our basic Jewish conscience. The lead headline called the murderers of Muhammad Abu Khdeir “nationalists.”The other headline was directly below: “PM unequivocally condemns Muhammad Abu Khdeir death.”The Arab teen did not die a natural death, nor was he murdered by nationalists. He was murdered by Jewish terrorists. Cleaning up his murder by calling the terrorists a more neutral name only encourages more such murders. Please call this terrible act by the shocking words it deserves.JUDY ROTEM Ramat GanSir, – I had always thought that Muslim extremists were more brutal than our home-grown Jewish extremists. The brutal murder of the Muslim teenager proved me wrong.Apparently, the Bible can be read as a recipe to justify evil, just as can the Koran.GERALD SCHROEDER JerusalemSir, – It’s not a coincidence that this week we read in the Torah about the great Jewish zealot, Pinchas, who killed Zimri, prince of the Tribe of Shimon, as the latter was publicly performing an immoral act.The judges seemed ready to declare Pinchas guilty for killing Zimri in cold blood, but Pinchas claimed he killed Zimri for religious motives because he was trampling upon the holiness of God. Our rabbis indicate that the judges felt that no one comes to murder without an ulterior motive, and anyway, how can a murderer prove his intentions? Fortunately, God came to Pinchas’s rescue by publicly declaring that he had no ulterior motives when he killed Zimri. Pinchas was set free. And there’s the rub. Even good, worthy and honorable Jews who believe they are defenders of God cannot call themselves true zealots because anger, hatred and vengeance always insert themselves in their murderous acts.I would suggest that unless a person feels certain that God will be a witness for his defense, he should stay away from zealotry, self-serving or otherwise.JACOB HIMMELFARB JerusalemSir, – With regard to “Bnei Akiva secretary-general calls for ‘enemy’s blood,’ then apologizes” (July 4), for what, exactly, is Rabbi Noam Perel apologizing? For advocating for what must be done according to Jewish Law, and also for the only action that will put a stop to Arab terror once and for all! The Bible is full of examples of Jews taking revenge on our enemies by wiping them out. From Bemidbar 31: 1-3: “The Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Take revenge for the Children of Israel against the Midianites’.... Moses spoke to the people saying, ‘Detach men for armed service against Midian, so that the Lord’s revenge can be taken against the Midianites.” Also, King David said (Psalm 58:11-12): “The righteous man shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. Men shall say, “Verily there is a reward for the righteous.Verily there is a God Who judges on earth.” There are many, many more examples from the oral and written law.Vengeance is not only not evil, it is entirely appropriate and a good thing against our enemy at the right time and place!DINA MOSKOWITZJerusalemSir, – It is not enough that the prime minister and other politicians have condemned the murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir. It is now required that the rabbis, chief rabbis and the heads of all yeshivot also publicly condemn the murder and declare that it is totally contrary to Jewish law and principles.If they remain silent, they lose their standing as leaders in the community and as authorities on Jewish law.CLIVE LEIGH NetanyaSir, – Our worst fears were realized with the arrest of six Jewish extremists for the gruesome murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir. Sadly, the despicable act was an entirely predictable development in the progression of “price-tag” attacks.Those who previously condemned such attacks were answered with claims that price-tag was not “real terror” because nobody had been killed. This boys-will-be-boys attitude emboldened our own terrorists-in-training, making this latest outrage almost inevitable.The crime violated basic human morality and severely damaged Israel’s standing in the world. Our ability to use legitimate self-defense in response to atrocities committed by our enemies has been degraded. For one day we thought the world would finally recognize the sheer evil of Israel’s enemies, but the murder of an innocent Arab child erased that possibility.It appears to validate the false narratives of “moral equivalence” and “cycle of violence,” allowing the conclusion “a plague on both their houses.”How can we credibly assert our opposition to terrorism when we allow terrorism to fester within our own society? How can we possibly justify our failure to confront the evil trend until it was too late for Abu Khdeir? His death is a stain on the memories of our own murdered teenagers.Abu Khdeir’s blood is on the hands of those who willfully ignored or expressly supported price-tag attacks. If, God forbid, more Jewish lives are lost in response to this latest travesty, they will be partially culpable for that as well.EFRAIM A. COHENZichron Ya’acovSir, – How can we hold up our heads and call ourselves “righteous among the nations”? How are we supposed to be better than others when we do murder? We put ourselves as low as those who murdered the three young Israelis (may their memories be for a blessing). We cannot ask the world to castigate them when we do the same.I am ashamed and sickened by what they are accused of doing and only hope that children are taught in schools, be they religious or secular, that Thou shalt not kill is exactly what it means, and that taking the law into your own hands serves no good purpose other than to inflame those wishing to do us great harm. It is a desecration of God’s name!ALIZA G. SLATIS-WEINBERG RehovotSir, – The perpetrators of this crime bring nothing but shame on our people. I am left only to shout from the mountaintop: Not in my name! EVA KATZJerusalem
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