This was a hard week.
Just hearing the word “Orlando” brings to mind the pain, suffering and
devastation that was inflicted on the innocent souls and their families in that
city. The heinous nature of what
happened at the Pulse Nightclub can be debated and discussed in terms of
whether it is was mental illness, terrorism, or lax gun control laws that
caused 49 people to be murdered. If you put the debating aside, the bottom line
is that such mass shootings are destroying the fabric of our world along with
the lives that are lost. Are these mass
shootings so prevalent in the United States because we have an individualistic
culture which prevents people from feeling connected to one another in a
greater way? Is it because we just
happen to have so many angry people in our country? Is it because there are groups who claim
ideologies which require the elimination of all those who do not share their
world view? Is this something we can
stop? Will we start to become immune to
such tragedies if they continue to happen?
Will we find ourselves attempting to blame the victims rather than the
perpetrators? Will we say there is nothing we can do to stop the violence?
The challenge we face is not to succumb to the pain and
despair; to find the strength to heal and to do everything we can do to try to
repair the world. When we hear about and
see the heroic actions of courageous and compassionate individuals even in the
face of tragedy, we need to spend more time remembering those individuals than
we spend publicizing about those individuals who ruin lives. We need to pray
for an end to hatred and terror, prejudice and intolerance. We need to pray for leaders who can help us
find the right answers, and for a world that will wake up and say ENOUGH of
this suffering.
Tonight as we use the traditional prayers in our siddur,
think about how the words can help us move forward and promote actions that
will end our having to endure other weeks as painful as this one.
May G-d watch over us and spread over us His shelter of
Peace.
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