Rabbi Ohad Krakower, the rabbi of the Kohav Hashahar in the Binyamin region, discussed the investigation into the detainees from the violent incident last Friday, which left an Arab rioter dead and a Jewish shepherd severely injured, and called not to be lured into Shabbat desecration in other similar incidents.
"We were relieved by desolvation of the libel against the shepherds who defended themselves against a lynch by Burqa residents," Rabbi Krakower stated. "It is so painful to see how quickly the conclusions are reached without scrutiny and without trial and the unbearable ease for people to accept the claim that these young men went with prior intentions to murder, G-d forbid.
The reactions to the incident were reminiscent of dark days that our nation certainly wishes to forget. We hope all authorities involved will learn their lesson and next time won't rush to jump to conclusions. The time has come that we recover from the sickness of baseless hatred that has so poisoned our joint existence here in the land of Israel."
With this, Rabbi Krakower asked to make a few remarks to those young men who participated in the incident: "If you end up in a dangerous situation, the first phone call needs to be to the army. With all due respect to your friends, only the army has the true ability to thwart the danger.
If you don't feel comfortable calling the army, contact the security coordinator of the nearest Jewish community. The thought that there's an ability to replace the army and to quote-unquote create our own army is mistaken and dangerous and nearly costed lives."
The second point that Rabbi Krakower emphasized is the matter of desecrating the Sabbath in a case of life-threatening danger. "Preservation of human life overrides Shabbat. However, recently I've seen an exaggeration of the term 'Preservation of human life.' In various incidents, there were gratuitous and forbidden Shabbat desecrations.
Our right to the land comes only from the holy Torah, and only by keeping the mitzvot will we succeed. So please, don't rely on questionable dispensations that are passed from one person to the next, find a rabbi who knows the details and receive instruction from him on how to act in various situations," the rabbi concluded.