By Kivi Attar
Everyone is mourning the horrific tragedies that occurred over the past week in France.
Countless people were murdered in the name of Religious Extremism.
We read about these events in the news and it bothers us and we feel it’s wrong. We may even want to act and
to try and make a difference but we rarely do.
Then on Friday another attack occurred. This one a little closer to home. Just before Shabboss as people were
buying their last minute Shabbat goods they were gunned down in the Supermarket. Imagine fathers, husbands,
brothers and friends buying Challah or cold cuts or candles for Shabboss gunned down. Their only wrongdoing being the
religion they’ve chosen to keep.
But yet again we get angry, we’re pained but to quickly the pain goes away and we fail to act. “We didn’t really
know them” we’ll rationalize.
Their friends will remember them and avenge their deaths.
And right or wrong these feelings are human nature.
I’d like to make the headlines over the past week a little more personal to my friends and associates and even all of
American Jewry who may feel a little disconnected from the events last week.
In the summer of 2012 Emmy and I visited the Jewish communities of Tunisia. While there, the Rabbi’s son was
our tour guide. Showing us around and arranging for all the logistics. The Rabbi’s son was a sweet young man. Treating
us like family and introducing us to everyone as his cousins. He took us into his home and made us feel welcome in a
very unwelcoming environment. (Tunisia post revolution)
This young man was Yoav Hattab one of the Kedoshim (victims) of Friday’s attack. Over the course of our trip,
Yoav developed a very close relationship with our seven month old son Baruch. The picture attached to this article is
Yoav feeding little Baruch Attar on the beach in Tunis.
The Ksav Sofer was rumored to have remarked:
“When a Jew in Vilna speaks Loshon Harah (gossip) a Jew in Paris desecrates the Shabbat”
The Ksav Sofer’s message isn’t about Jewish guilt but rather the constant bond of all Jewry. Just because we live
thousands of miles away. We speak different languages and our hobbies and even ways of praying and connecting to
God may be different; the bond is still there. Brothers are brothers are brothers.
I’d like to add to the Ksav Sofer.
“When a Jew in Paris is killed a Jew in New York, Miami, LA, (Charleston) and the whole word over feels the pain and
mourns their death.”
Every Shabbat morning in the service just before Mussaf in the Av Harachamim prayer we chant the words:
“O nations sing the praise of his people for he will avenge the blood of his servants and he will bring retribution upon his
foes.”We state that Hashem will avenge the deaths of his people.
Being the case what are we supposed to do?
What message must we take?
After tragedies what should we do?
I can honestly say I don’t have the answer. I can’t say I know why Yoav or Philippe or Yohan or Francois were
brutally murdered this past Friday. I don’t know why over the past year we constantly hear of tragedy after tragedy.
In the Min Hamaitzar prayer of Hallel (Psalms 118) towards the end of the prayer we chant:
“לא אמות כי אחיה ואספר מעשי י–ה”
“I Shall not die. But I shall live and relate the deeds of God.”
What better way than to relate the deeds of God than by actually following in the ways of God. What better
reaction is there in the aftermath of these tragedies than to strengthen our commitment to God?
The strongest message we can send in the wake of evil is to perpetuate goodness. Goodness between man and
God and goodness between man and man.
I ask each and every one on of you to take a moment of your life and live it for Yoav. Yoav who was murdered at
the young age of 21. Yoav who was still studying. Yoav who never had the chance to get married. Or hold close his
children and grandchildren.
But I ask that you live that little moment the way Yoav would’ve wanted. The Yoav that in the market in Tunis
reminded me to Daven Mincha in full sight of all the locals. The Yoav that helped make Minyan in his tiny community of
La Goulette. The Yoav that loved Israel and was willing to stand up on behalf of his fellow Jews.
Let’s all live a Yoav moment and together relate the deeds of Hashem!
I fervently Daven (pray) that all us of only hear of happiness and the coming of Moshiach speedily in our days.
{Matzav.com Newscenter}
Amen!!!
One can’t help noticing the striking ‘chein’ (charm) on his face. HY”D!
“The Ksav Sofer was rumored to have remarked:
When a Jew in Vilna speaks Loshon Harah (gossip) a Jew in Paris desecrates the Shabbat
That is not from the Ksav Sofer.
Rav Yisroel Salanter is who I recall hearing it from. If you know the the geographical and kehillah makeup of Europe, it fits much better that way.
what an amazing article and person. Thanks for shedding some light on what a great person he was.
FINALLY FINALLY someone has admitted & woken up confessing & admitting to Hashem the truth of the situation klal yisroel is in:
We have a major problem in todays generation its called FACING REALITY. What happens today when tragedy strikes CV? we block it from our faces and say what does Hashem want from me? I have nothing to do with this tragedy that occurred to us CV
But the truth is that we really do get the wake up call from Hashem to do teshuva we just cant admit it to ourselves. So we leave Hashem no choice but to keep on sending us wake up calls.
The situation in Eretz Yisroel & in the Diaspora is very bad from Terrorists to the entire Economy going down etc… If anyone should ask why all these Tzaros are Happening to Klal Yisroel he only needs to look at what the Rambam says. Saying that as long as we remain ignorant of the present troubles that we have & what the reasons are that they are happening. The situation can only get worse until Mashiach comes. With the society we are living in today we (sadly) CONSTANTLY need reminders (wake-up calls) from HASHEM for us to do T’shuva & return to HASHEM so all this Tzaros can end & Mashiach comes.
with tears in my eyes, I beg everyone-myself included-to wakeup & do teshuva-together as a nation-how much worse must the situation get (parts of my siddur are waterlogged from tears of non stop crying for klal yisroel) when will we finally wake up & return to Hashem as a nation together? have we not had enough tzaros in the past few years of non-stop horrific tragedies?
TIME FOR TESHUVA!!!
NO MORE SIGNS OF TRAGEDIES NEEDED FROM HASHEM if we all start teshuva now we wont need any more of these tragic wake-up calls from Hashem
May all neshamas have an Aliya
BSD
Discussion with Moishela (with his family)
A Handicapped child
3 Cheshvan 5775 (Oct 26, 14)
TAKEN FROM: http://www.dani18.com/uploads/MSL-C1.pdf
WATCH this Video from Moishela: to all Jews worldwide a wake-up call
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euVpNZ8qFyY
The Noose Is Getting Tighter
The world has absolutely gone mad, absolutely mad. Murder, accidents, weather related deaths, riots, plagues, Mamash a very scary world. Every day something new. Every day something more bloody. Every day more and more deaths. Every day we become more and more frightened.
The noose is getting tighter and tighter around us, and the worst part about it is that no one seems to feel it except a very few. Very few people feel it at all. Either they dont want to feel it so they ignore it, or they are really in some very strong daze or under some kind of drug that keeps them from seeing what is happening. It doesnt even have to be medication, although I would imagine that in the western world at least 50% of the people are on some kind of psychiatric medication. They drug themselves on Gashmius on materialism so they wont know, so they wont feel, so they wont be afraid. What is happening is frightening because the world is beginning to feel the effects of being ruled by a group of absolute maniacs, of people that are evil to their bone. They are planning crazy things and thinking they can get away with it, thinking that they can turn the world into their private domain, that they can take the Jewish people and turn them into Goyim. Their greatest goal that they want to achieve is they want to destroy, to kill
nine-tenths of the world population. What can I tell you? We Yidden are being targeted. Our faith is being targeted, and we must, must come back to Hashem in order to stop it.
I have dreams, I have such frightening dreams every night. I see cities being blown up. I see all kinds of terrible things happening. I see wild men killing and plundering. I see planes shooting and bombing. I see people dying of thirst and hunger, and I cry and I cry. I am so nervous and so afraid, not for myself for my family and for Am Yisroel, how terrible, how terrible. Im not even giving you the details of what I see but its very very frightening! I dont know how to pass on to my fellow Jews through what I am writing, the difficult things we still have to face.
How can I beg? How can I plead with Am Yisroel to open their eyes, to get rid of the Gashmius, to stop looking like street people, to start looking again like Jews, to start acting again like Jews? Im talking to the Frum. What else can I say to you? What else can I do? If you read over everything Ive said to this point, you should already be doing Teshuva in the strongest way, but I see in the streets that people are buying and buying things that are not necessary. I see that they are making fancy parties and fancy Chasunas and things that are not necessary. I see and I feel that children are growing up to love, to lust after Gashmius. I see how we are eating like gluttons, but have become very very weak in our Mitzvos and it makes me cry. Now we are facing the most horribly difficult time in history and were messing around with nonsense.
What can I say? What can I do? Im only a young person with an old head and an old heart, but I can tell you this: you better straighten up fast. You better get your act together, because the suffering is going to be unbelievable if not, and if you take yourself in hand then you can save yourself so much suffering, so much misery. Do you understand? People, do you understand?
You can save yourselves so much suffering, but if not it will be unimaginable suffering. Im begging you. Im begging you. Put your trust in Hashem not in people, not in science, not in chief rabbis, or in heads of state. Put your trust only in Hashem, only in Hashem, only in Hashem.
We have to be like the Yidden that left Mitzrayim and spent forty years in the desert. We have to be like that. We have to have that kind of trust of Hashem without question, no matter what happens, no questions asked. We must know in our hearts and our souls that its all for our good, its to help us go higher, to help us reach the next stage of Creation which is Olam Habah of Moshiach Tzidkainu, and our journey upwards, to total salvation, to completely become one with Hashem. Thats what I have to say.
Im afraid that my words have become useless because people have become used to listening to them, even though they are harsh and they are strong and people see around them terrible things happening, but they are getting used to it. They want their Gashmius more than they want to listen. So I will say a few more sentences to make sure you understand. Please, please, do Teshuva!
Change your way of life. Become Tzniusdik, the men and the women. Trust Hashem in everything. Dont go looking outside of your Daled Amos for the Yeshua. The Yeshua is only with Hashem, only with Hashem. In the near future we are going to witness very bloody happenings, very frightening and very bloody. Here in Eretz Yisroel there will be more riots and more trouble, but in Chutz Laaretz it will be really bad, really bad.
Between now and Chanukah we are going to have a rush of incidents all over the world, that will put great fear into most of the population of the world. You wont know where to look first, up, down, left, right. Everywhere there will be trouble, big big trouble. Hashem is trying to show us that the inevitable must be, and that means that we are coming very close to the Geula Sheleima, and the hardest part of this birth is now and therefore you can either have an easy birth or a very difficult one. Its your choice.