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The Wedding Invitation

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Rabbi Jonathan Blass

22 Elul 5763
Question
Dr. Applebaum and his daughter Nava Applebaum were murdered by Arab terrorists on the day before her wedding. The wedding promised to be one of the happiest days in her life, and in the life of her family. The invitation, which could be downloaded from Arutz 7 begins with the words: "With gratitude toward Hasem, and with hearts filled with gladness." What sad irony that this wonderful family would announce their wedding with "gratitude" to G-d, only to have G-d -- what?-- mock them? rub their noses in their faith? toss them into the abyss of tragedy? What is the nature of the G-d we worship? A gentleman at shul told me that there is a gemurra somewhere that says, in effect, that bad things happen. Is there such a gemurra? We all know that’s true. What is the connection between that truth and G-d? If life is random, and tragedy is just a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, why do we need G-d?
Answer
After the holocaust, can anyone doubt that bad things happen? The Jewish People has consistently suffered throughout history at the hands of barbarous nations who dominated the international scene.The world, however, is not random and there is purpose in it even when this purpose is incomprehensible on the individual level. G-d is there because he's there, not because we need him. Too often, questions directed at G-d blur human responsibility. Palestinian Arab terror- supported by Palestian Arab society- murdered the Applebaums and the other 1,000 terror victims since the signing of the Oslo Accords. Israel, misguided and pressured by the US and Europe, has not acted so as to reestablish a deterrence that could prevent the terror. The question is not why did G-d allow this to happen, but what we can do to make the price of terror so costly to those who sponsor it that they will desist.
את המידע הדפסתי באמצעות אתר yeshiva.org.il