Residents of Ofrah, which has lost three of its members in murderous terrorist attacks in the past five months, held an open discussion two nights ago on what approach they should take. Two suggestions:
Meirav Gold said:
\"In days when the storm is raging outside, and a storm is raging inside as well, I want to feel like a root - I want to feel attached to the ground, belonging, and to know like a root that even if the branches break, at the end the storm will end and the roots will remain. This morning, when we woke up to a storm of tears, a storm of emotions, a storm of questions of faith, I felt like I wanted to take a shovel, dig a hole, and plant a new tree. When I think of the man who was taken from us today, and how he spent Shabbat and how he walked around with the large yarmulke, I remembered the following words written by [Nobel Prize winner Shmuel Y.] Agnon about these days between Pesach and Shavuot: \'[During this period], we sit and study [the Torah], while above us, in the Heavenly Academy, sit the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva who died between Pesach and Shavuot. And while the Holy One, Blessed be He, remembers His sons who give their lives for the Torah, He weeps tears, which saturate the land, and which decorate the gardens with flowers, and make the forests blossom - the forests to which the children go out on Lag Ba\'Omer with their rabbis, and shoot arrows at the Satan...\'
\"I felt that these words give us hope that G-d\'s weeping is something that helps the root become a sapling and sprout branches and leaves - this is the hope that allows us to hold on tight, to say, \'I am a root, I can grow new life, I have strength, and I am connected to the ground.\'\"
Yehoshua Herling, son of Rabbi Binyamin Herling, who was murdered by Arabs in the Mt. Eval battle six months ago, said:
\"When Ofrah Felix, may G-d avenge her blood, was murdered six or eight years ago, I met my father at the funeral, and he told me then - I have quoted this often in the past six months - that we are at war, and this means we must act accordingly: We must be courageous and brave, with a measure of toughness, and with a willingness to sacrifice. [Pause] This is one side of the coin. The other side concerns silence. If it does not stem from the greatness of Aharon HaKohen, who was silent when his sons were taken by G-d, or if it was not specifically ordered by G-d, as with Moses who complained, according to the Medrash, about the cruel death suffered by Rabbi Akiva - silence of any other type is simply a vestige of the Exile. [Pause] We need not be silent. We have the right and obligation to demand from Hashem, Enough! He commanded us not to slaughter animals, \'it and its son on the same day,\' and yet He slaughters us on the same day, \'he and his son.\' [Pause] Publicly as well, we need not be a public that is silent. We have already been silent too long…
Meirav Gold said:
\"In days when the storm is raging outside, and a storm is raging inside as well, I want to feel like a root - I want to feel attached to the ground, belonging, and to know like a root that even if the branches break, at the end the storm will end and the roots will remain. This morning, when we woke up to a storm of tears, a storm of emotions, a storm of questions of faith, I felt like I wanted to take a shovel, dig a hole, and plant a new tree. When I think of the man who was taken from us today, and how he spent Shabbat and how he walked around with the large yarmulke, I remembered the following words written by [Nobel Prize winner Shmuel Y.] Agnon about these days between Pesach and Shavuot: \'[During this period], we sit and study [the Torah], while above us, in the Heavenly Academy, sit the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva who died between Pesach and Shavuot. And while the Holy One, Blessed be He, remembers His sons who give their lives for the Torah, He weeps tears, which saturate the land, and which decorate the gardens with flowers, and make the forests blossom - the forests to which the children go out on Lag Ba\'Omer with their rabbis, and shoot arrows at the Satan...\'
\"I felt that these words give us hope that G-d\'s weeping is something that helps the root become a sapling and sprout branches and leaves - this is the hope that allows us to hold on tight, to say, \'I am a root, I can grow new life, I have strength, and I am connected to the ground.\'\"
Yehoshua Herling, son of Rabbi Binyamin Herling, who was murdered by Arabs in the Mt. Eval battle six months ago, said:
\"When Ofrah Felix, may G-d avenge her blood, was murdered six or eight years ago, I met my father at the funeral, and he told me then - I have quoted this often in the past six months - that we are at war, and this means we must act accordingly: We must be courageous and brave, with a measure of toughness, and with a willingness to sacrifice. [Pause] This is one side of the coin. The other side concerns silence. If it does not stem from the greatness of Aharon HaKohen, who was silent when his sons were taken by G-d, or if it was not specifically ordered by G-d, as with Moses who complained, according to the Medrash, about the cruel death suffered by Rabbi Akiva - silence of any other type is simply a vestige of the Exile. [Pause] We need not be silent. We have the right and obligation to demand from Hashem, Enough! He commanded us not to slaughter animals, \'it and its son on the same day,\' and yet He slaughters us on the same day, \'he and his son.\' [Pause] Publicly as well, we need not be a public that is silent. We have already been silent too long…