Eradicating Evil
By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman
October 14, 2023
I’d like first of all to thank all of you who are here today. This gathering isn’t meant to be a political rally. We’re not here to discuss political issues—we are here to show unity and solidarity in the face of evil.
Let us not be mistaken: what happened a week ago today in Israel was not part of a regional conflict. It wasn’t tit for tat, one in a series of attacks and counterattacks. This was not merely an act of war. It was the essence of evil itself.
The atrocities we witnessed, the savage murder of over 1200 innocent men, women, children, infants and the aged, are unspeakable. They belong in horror movies or history books—the acts of barbarians and hordes that come riding across continents, slaughtering any and all who stand in their way.
The Jewish People, tragically, are not unfamiliar with terror and massacres. We first encountered it three thousand years ago, having just come out of Egypt, unprepared for war or conflict, when we were assailed by the Amalekites, a vicious and bloodthirsty desert tribe that attacked us at night, by stealth—and most treacherously, that targeted the rear of the camp, where the weary, dispirited, and sick were lagging behind.
At that time, God and Moses declared an eternal war against the Amalekites and the evil that they represented.
The Amalekites are long gone, but not so the evil. We saw it again and again, perpetrated by nations and nationalist fanatics who took the sword against us, forcing us to convert or be killed.
The horror that was perpetrated last Shabbat was the most recent in this long line of attacks. But let us be clear: This massacre was not intended against Israel alone. It was far and beyond part of the “cycle of violence,” part of the regional conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Taking place on the Sabbath—and, most significantly, on Simchat Torah, the day set apart thousands of years ago to celebrate our Covenant with God—this was an attack against all Jews, an attack against Judaism itself.
And in truth, it was even broader than that. The massacre was meant to send a signal to the entire world: “We,” said Hamas, “are coming after all of you. Jews, Christians, and anyone else who may not be a follower of Allah,” their god.
Who and what is Hamas?
Hamas is the blood sister of ISIS, whose stated purpose is to establish a Muslim califate over the entire Middle East—and then spread to the rest of the world.
Hamas claims to represent the Palestinians. That is a lie. They couldn’t care less about the Palestinians. They claim to be the liberators of conquered lands—and that’s a lie too. Their true intention is to subject all lands to Sharia Law. The Jews in Israel represent only the first target on their target list of those destined for annihilation and destruction.
Hamas has always stated their intention: Their national covenant calls for the elimination of Jewish presence in Israel. For 1500 years, their version of Islam has shown its true bloody, murderous purpose in Iran and Iraq, in Yemen, Turkey, Egypt and Syria, among many other lands.
There are those in this country and elsewhere who see last week’s massacre as the result of oppression and occupation. Those pseudo-liberals who live in ivory towers, in academia, in bastions of liberal politics, who claim to stand for freedom for the oppressed—have had their minds stolen by religious fanatics who are only too happy to teach them that pent up rage results in righteous self-defense.
But righteousness doesn’t—by any stretch of the imagination and definition—include acts of barbaric violence such as were committed last week.
Righteousness, by any standards, does not include the indiscriminate murder of men, women and children. It does not include the desecration and mutilation of bodies. It does not include rape, beheadings and burning of babies, slitting of throats of defenseless youth, the mass shootings and setting on fire of entire families and communities. Such acts are nothing less than evil. They represent the choice some people make, to do the very worst that human beings are capable of. By the definition set by Moses and God thousands of years ago, these acts are evil.
Today is Shabbat, and we are taught not to mourn on Shabbat, but this is no ordinary Sabbath. This is a Sabbath of mourning and commemoration. It is a Sabbath of unity, reflection, and prayer: Prayers for the souls of those who were murdered in cold blood; prayers that we may forget the images we have seen, not hear again the screams of terror and agony; prayers for unity; prayers for the moral courage and strength to eliminate and eradicate evil and all evildoers.
There will yet be a time for political reckoning in Israel. The country’s leaders let Israel down. They failed us; they failed in their mission, stated over and over; they failed to demonstrate the proof of the oath we repeat: Never Again. And they will pay the price for this failure.
But this isn’t the time for that. For now, we must face the evil that was unleashed upon us. It has affected each and every one of us, regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation as inhumanity and evil inevitably do.
Over the past few days, I’ve struggled both with words and with prayers. How could God let this happen again—especially on the day celebrating our Covenant with God?
The only prayer that comes to my mind at this moment is Adonai oz l’amo yiten, Adonai yevarech et ‘amo bashalom: “God give us strength, God bless us with peace.” We need to be strong. Only then will peace follow. It will take what it will take, and undoubtedly Israel will be condemned for disproportionate reaction, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Because this is the nature of anti-Semitism and hypocrisy. The world at large shows the Jews pity when we are slaughtered, but none when we hit back. That luxury—a right given to every other nation and people and nation in the world, is not one allowed the Jews.
Tragically, however, it is exactly this kind of force and strength that Israel must now show, no matter how prolific be the crocodile tears shed by pop artists, hypocritical and ignorant academics, pseudo-liberal students and hardcore anti-Semites who crawl from the swamp or occupy gilded seats of power.
Am Yisrael Chai—the People of Israel lives. Our history offers unassailable proof that no matter how many times we are attacked, exiled, humiliated and murdered, burnt alive or drowned in the deep seas, we rise up again and again. We shall rise again after this demonstration of evil and hatred too, but first we must teach the perpetrators a lesson they will never forget. It’s our moral duty and responsibility.
And so help us God.
© 2023 by Boaz D. Heilman
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