Two days ago was a day of tragedy in Israel. It found throngs of Jews performing the painful mitzvah of escorting our dead to burial. It was especially painful for us here in Kiryat Arba and its sister community of Adura. To bury a baby is always a horrible tragedy, but the horror is compounded a hundred-fold when that baby was the deliberate victim of cold blooded murder. Nor was this the first time such a horror took place here. Just over a year ago, a three month old baby girl was shot dead in her father's arms by an Arab sniper from the hills overlooking the Jewish community in Hebron. Yet yesterday's brutal murder even out-did the one in Hebron.
Danielle Sheffi, five years old and the eldest of three children in the Sheffi family, was in her bedroom with her mother and siblings. While the mother was dressing the children in preparation to join their father in the synagogue for Sabbath worship, the door was smashed open and a terrorist dressed as a soldier walked in and just opened fire, spraying bullets everywhere. He then stared at little Danielle and shot her in the head at point blank range before fleeing the scene. It was nothing short of a miracle that her mother and two siblings survived.
The funeral began in Kiryat Arba, where Shiri, the mother of these children grew up in the home of Yitzchak and Yona Ben Hebron. Yitzchak was a survivor of the 1929 Arab massacre in Hebron and one of the original founders of Kiryat Arba. Upon returning from that funeral we heard the news of President Bush demanding that Prime Minister Sharon accept the American plan of removing the siege on Arafat and agreeing that the murderers of the Israeli Minister, Rehavam Ze?evi, not be extradited to Israel so that true justice be implemented for their crimes. Instead he should accept the absurd mock trial that was conducted in one day by fellow terrorists under the auspices of the terrorist leader responsible for all terrorist acts, Mr. Arafat. They were found guilty and sentenced to between one and eighteen years imprisonment for the cold-blooded murder of an Israeli cabinet minister. What Bush suggested is that they be imprisoned by the "Palestinian Authority" and, in order to ensure that they not go through the usual revolving door of PLO prisons, British and American wardens will be responsible for guarding them.
I want to state that anyone concerned with values of truth and justice must declare this idea as a great miscarriage of justice. This plan gives legitimacy to the farce of a trial of terrorists by their own commanders and awards authenticity and preaches confidence to those who have consistently sent their gangs to murder, put them on trial and then freed them to continue on their murderous path. This demand of President Bush came in the wake of continuous demands put to Mr. Arafat by Secretary of State Colin Powell begging "Mr. Terror" to condemn acts of terror. This shameful policy of the United States of America flies in the face of the logic of any honest person. We were given to understand that this policy was imposed by the pressure of the Saudi Arabian prince in his talks with the American administration. This only adds to the disappointment that the dictators of Saudi Arabia, who are the greatest financial supporters of terror and whose citizens were among the suicide bombers attacking the Twin Towers on September 11, are the ones who dictate American policy in the Middle East.
Is this the American leadership that promised the world an unrelenting war against terror until their leaders are brought to justice? Is this the meaning of the declaration that whoever gives support or sympathy to terror is against us? Is the American policy being forced upon Israel the continuance of that brave leadership of fighting terror? If there was or still is a plan to do away with the terror of Iraq, I don't believe this plan will ever be implemented. The free world has been dealt a terrible blow, which may suppress the spirit of moral values and the courage to implement true justice - the underpinnings of the Bush policy so forcefully enunciated in the wake of September 11.
The folding of the Israeli government to the pressure of the demands of President Bush is weakening our ability to stand up and fight enemies who seek our destruction. In the same manner, the yielding of the Israeli government to the pressure of Powell, forcing us to accept the investigating committee appointed by the Secretary General of the
United Nations, Koffi Annan, is another miscarriage of justice. What a hypocritical twisting of justice to investigate the actions of the Israeli army in protecting its citizens from murderous terrorist attacks, instead of investigating those who incited, supported and sent all those terrorist bombers, who have murdered innocent men women and children all over Israel. The deterrent effects of Operation Defensive Shield, which destroyed a great deal of the infrastructure of PLO terror, is now falling apart.
Our Prime Minister, Mr. Sharon, had the courage and responsibility to refuse the American demand of pulling out immediately from the centers of terror being destroyed by our defense forces. This courage and responsibility is a source of strength and self respect of a nation fighting for its life and independence in its homeland. This is only true if it is consistent and there is no weakening of our resolve and our determined faith in the justice of our cause. I turn to our Israeli government and to the one standing at its head, Mr. Sharon, "You are carrying the burden of security and self-respect of the independent Jewish State of Israel upon your shoulders. True, it is a heavy burden in the face of a hypocritical world that can not accept the fact of a Jewish Israel defending herself. The birth pangs of Israeli redemption are difficult and painful. The period of pregnancy demands a great faith and courage of leadership. You cannot allow yourself to have a miscarriage. Many generations of Jews dreamt and prayed for this reappearance of Jewish life and respectability in our homeland.?
Jewish leadership today carries the strength, faith and prayers of all these generations. Those leaders who accept and understand this responsibility are worthy of Divine assistance and guidance. The Living G-d of Israel, whose plan of redemption is unfolding before our very eyes, expects us to continue to tread in the path He has paved. Only those who follow this path will assure the continued process of Jewish redemption, without the needless suffering we now endure. Only this will bring a blessing of justice and moral life to the nations of the world. Heed my words: With the crumbling of international moral leadership in its miscarriage of justice and denial of truth by its failure to courageously confront Islamic terror, the leaders of the state of Israel whoever they may be, must fill the vacuum and accept that prophetic obligation for all of Mankind.
"And many nations shall go and say, Come ye and let us go up to the G-dly Mount, to the house of the G-d of Jacob; and He will teach us of His Ways, and we will walk in His Paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the Word of G-d from Jerusalem." - Isaiah, II:3
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Rabbi Eliezer Waldman is the head of Yeshivat Kiryat Arba.
Danielle Sheffi, five years old and the eldest of three children in the Sheffi family, was in her bedroom with her mother and siblings. While the mother was dressing the children in preparation to join their father in the synagogue for Sabbath worship, the door was smashed open and a terrorist dressed as a soldier walked in and just opened fire, spraying bullets everywhere. He then stared at little Danielle and shot her in the head at point blank range before fleeing the scene. It was nothing short of a miracle that her mother and two siblings survived.
The funeral began in Kiryat Arba, where Shiri, the mother of these children grew up in the home of Yitzchak and Yona Ben Hebron. Yitzchak was a survivor of the 1929 Arab massacre in Hebron and one of the original founders of Kiryat Arba. Upon returning from that funeral we heard the news of President Bush demanding that Prime Minister Sharon accept the American plan of removing the siege on Arafat and agreeing that the murderers of the Israeli Minister, Rehavam Ze?evi, not be extradited to Israel so that true justice be implemented for their crimes. Instead he should accept the absurd mock trial that was conducted in one day by fellow terrorists under the auspices of the terrorist leader responsible for all terrorist acts, Mr. Arafat. They were found guilty and sentenced to between one and eighteen years imprisonment for the cold-blooded murder of an Israeli cabinet minister. What Bush suggested is that they be imprisoned by the "Palestinian Authority" and, in order to ensure that they not go through the usual revolving door of PLO prisons, British and American wardens will be responsible for guarding them.
I want to state that anyone concerned with values of truth and justice must declare this idea as a great miscarriage of justice. This plan gives legitimacy to the farce of a trial of terrorists by their own commanders and awards authenticity and preaches confidence to those who have consistently sent their gangs to murder, put them on trial and then freed them to continue on their murderous path. This demand of President Bush came in the wake of continuous demands put to Mr. Arafat by Secretary of State Colin Powell begging "Mr. Terror" to condemn acts of terror. This shameful policy of the United States of America flies in the face of the logic of any honest person. We were given to understand that this policy was imposed by the pressure of the Saudi Arabian prince in his talks with the American administration. This only adds to the disappointment that the dictators of Saudi Arabia, who are the greatest financial supporters of terror and whose citizens were among the suicide bombers attacking the Twin Towers on September 11, are the ones who dictate American policy in the Middle East.
Is this the American leadership that promised the world an unrelenting war against terror until their leaders are brought to justice? Is this the meaning of the declaration that whoever gives support or sympathy to terror is against us? Is the American policy being forced upon Israel the continuance of that brave leadership of fighting terror? If there was or still is a plan to do away with the terror of Iraq, I don't believe this plan will ever be implemented. The free world has been dealt a terrible blow, which may suppress the spirit of moral values and the courage to implement true justice - the underpinnings of the Bush policy so forcefully enunciated in the wake of September 11.
The folding of the Israeli government to the pressure of the demands of President Bush is weakening our ability to stand up and fight enemies who seek our destruction. In the same manner, the yielding of the Israeli government to the pressure of Powell, forcing us to accept the investigating committee appointed by the Secretary General of the
United Nations, Koffi Annan, is another miscarriage of justice. What a hypocritical twisting of justice to investigate the actions of the Israeli army in protecting its citizens from murderous terrorist attacks, instead of investigating those who incited, supported and sent all those terrorist bombers, who have murdered innocent men women and children all over Israel. The deterrent effects of Operation Defensive Shield, which destroyed a great deal of the infrastructure of PLO terror, is now falling apart.
Our Prime Minister, Mr. Sharon, had the courage and responsibility to refuse the American demand of pulling out immediately from the centers of terror being destroyed by our defense forces. This courage and responsibility is a source of strength and self respect of a nation fighting for its life and independence in its homeland. This is only true if it is consistent and there is no weakening of our resolve and our determined faith in the justice of our cause. I turn to our Israeli government and to the one standing at its head, Mr. Sharon, "You are carrying the burden of security and self-respect of the independent Jewish State of Israel upon your shoulders. True, it is a heavy burden in the face of a hypocritical world that can not accept the fact of a Jewish Israel defending herself. The birth pangs of Israeli redemption are difficult and painful. The period of pregnancy demands a great faith and courage of leadership. You cannot allow yourself to have a miscarriage. Many generations of Jews dreamt and prayed for this reappearance of Jewish life and respectability in our homeland.?
Jewish leadership today carries the strength, faith and prayers of all these generations. Those leaders who accept and understand this responsibility are worthy of Divine assistance and guidance. The Living G-d of Israel, whose plan of redemption is unfolding before our very eyes, expects us to continue to tread in the path He has paved. Only those who follow this path will assure the continued process of Jewish redemption, without the needless suffering we now endure. Only this will bring a blessing of justice and moral life to the nations of the world. Heed my words: With the crumbling of international moral leadership in its miscarriage of justice and denial of truth by its failure to courageously confront Islamic terror, the leaders of the state of Israel whoever they may be, must fill the vacuum and accept that prophetic obligation for all of Mankind.
"And many nations shall go and say, Come ye and let us go up to the G-dly Mount, to the house of the G-d of Jacob; and He will teach us of His Ways, and we will walk in His Paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the Word of G-d from Jerusalem." - Isaiah, II:3
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Rabbi Eliezer Waldman is the head of Yeshivat Kiryat Arba.