Horrific Har Nof Massacre — Introduction
The horrific Har Nof Massacre that took place in Israel, in November of 2014, shook the Jewish world to its core. Two terrorists invaded a synagogue as the men prayed the Morning Prayers. Armed with hatchets, meat cleavers, and guns, the terrorists murdered four pious Jewish men and wounded another, who died a year later. They also killed a Druze security guard who ran into the fray to stop them. The news media carried horrifying pictures of blood-soaked siddurim (prayer books) and talleitim (prayer shawls) lying on the floor. Six families were left without their fathers and husbands. Following this event, Rabbi Mintz received many questions regarding the meaning of evil and tragedy in the world. His responses are combined in the questions and answers below.
Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz
Doesn’t God love righteous people? Why would He allow such terrible things to happen to good people — especially while they are in the midst of doing righteous deeds, such as praying to Him?
Rabbi Chaim Mintz responds:
A Purpose in Everything
Yes, this was a horrific tragedy! Even so, there have been tragedies of far greater proportions, such as the Inquisition, the Holocaust, and the many pogroms throughout our long and bitter exile. We have come to realize that we don’t understand Hashem’s (God’s) ways, and we accept these events as His will. But, at the same time it is wrong to just sit back and say that we do not understand His ways.
We must appreciate that such events are a message from God. The more violent the event, the louder the message. We must realize that there is an urgent message being sent to the entire Jewish nation, and we must be wise enough to hear the message, and ensure that it was not sent in vain.
We Must Grow!
The middat hadin: When the Jewish people are not living up to the standard God expects of them, the middat hadin — God’s attribute of strict judgment — is aroused. The writings of the prophets record many incidents in which Jews strayed from the ways of the Torah and were then attacked by neighboring nations, causing much loss of life and pain. These attacks were sent by God to stop the Jewish people from continuing in the wrong direction. As soon as the Jews got the message and returned to the ways of the Torah, their enemies were defeated, and life returned to normal. While these are painful and frightening events, we must constantly remember that Hashem’s strict judgment is really a form of kindness, because it prevents us from falling to a level so low that it becomes extremely difficult to redeem ourselves. Hashem’s punishments are like a painful surgery that cures a deadly disease. Thus, if we heed the message and better ourselves, we will ensure that those who died in the Har Nof massacre and throughout Jewish history did not die in vain.
In short: These events are meant as an urgent message from God. We must hear the message, and ensure that it was not sent in vain.
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