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Blog: A palace in flames (Israel)

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Israel faces an existential crisis. Looking at the picture, I'm strongly reminded of what happened in the South during the 1960's and further back what my ancestors faced while living in the Pale of Settlement in Eastern Europe not so long ago.

Huwara-1024x640.jpg


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A palace in flames

In the face of Jewish revenge-seekers praying as Huwara burned, our mission is clear: We must put out the flames

This horrific, unthinkable image of Jews inflicting a pogrom, murdering a Palestinian, and then davening Ma’ariv – conducting evening prayers – kindled within me another image, described by the Midrash centuries ago.

It is an image of a palace in flames. A traveling man saw it and wondered whether the palace had an owner until someone looked out from the palace and announced that he was, indeed, the owner....

After explaining that this is the essence of free will, whereby God refrains from putting out the fire for it would take away man’s freedom, Rabbi Sacks sees in this midrash the starting point of human responsibility, as part of a covenant with God: “Only man can put out the fire. But man is not alone…God speaks to man and tells him how to extinguish the flames…The faith of Judaism…is that by acting in response to the call of God, collectively we can change the world. The flames of injustice, violence and oppression are not inevitable.”

The image above contains many flames. A Palestinian settlement, burnt down by Jews. The Kaddish prayer glorifying God, recited by Jewish terrorists. The institutions of Jewish power, namely the government and army, dismissed and delegitimized by Jewish revenge-seekers.
...
On this dark and seemingly hopeless day, we can take heart from Esti Yaniv, the mother of Hillel and Yagel, the two brothers brutally murdered yesterday by a Palestinian terrorist. As the youth worker in Har Bracha, she felt a responsibility to send a message to the community’s youth at this time of unspeakable tragedy, including an answer to the question of ‘Ma La’asot?’, what should we do? Her answer: to increase Limmud Torah and to undertake meaningful service in the IDF.

Our mission is clear. Like Avraham, we must dedicate ourselves to putting out the flames. That is the next, unsaid chapter of the midrash...
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It’s time to put out the flames.

At the same time I read that, I saw a linked story:

Military: Settlers attempt to ram officer in West Bank, hurl stones at troops

Soldiers return fire at car near Shavei Shomron, the latest in a series of violent incidents by Jews against Israeli forces and Palestinians

“An Israeli citizen tried to run over an IDF officer who was at the location. The force responded by shooting at the vehicle’s wheels, and the vehicle fled,” the army said.

In a separate incident on Sunday night, the IDF said a senior officer was assaulted by a group of settlers near the West Bank settlement of Rimonim.
 
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