Published: 7 March 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
Chief Rabbi of the Great Synagogue in Sydney writes: this terrible event is calling on us to stand up for what is right and true. It must never be allowed to happen again.
We are living through terrible times in the State of Israel. On January 27, a Palestinian terrorist shot at Jews in and around a synagogue in Neve Yaakov in East Jerusalem, killing seven and injuring three more. It was a horrific attack on people coming from prayer. It was marked in Palestinian areas by giving out sweets and celebrating in the streets, in a revolting display of callous cruelty.
I was also shocked, but sadly not surprised, by the international reaction, or lack of it. If a Jew walked into a mosque and did anything similar there would be an outcry, and quite right, too. Indeed, Baruch Goldstein did exactly that in 1994, and it has never been forgotten, and probably never will be. But when Jews are slaughtered at prayer the world is silent.
On February 26, Hallel Yaniv, aged 21, and his brother Yagel, aged 19 were shot at point blank range as they drove along the Route 60 Highway. They were driving back to their yeshivot to learn Torah and they were murdered in cold blood. The next day, Elan Ganeles, a young man visiting from America was shot at in his car and killed. He was from West Hartford. My wife, Hinda, babysat for him when he was a little boy.
Elan was described at his funeral as kind, open minded, funny, brilliant and humble. He was a loyal friend, interested in the world with endearing cheekiness. He was just 26 years old with a life of promise in front of him. He had just dropped his brother off at a train station and was driving to a friend’s wedding. Hinda stayed up until midnight on Wednesday night to watch the funeral.
These are not distant and detached events. They are happening to our people, our family. These attacks, these murders, are all wicked crimes and should be condemned as such by the whole world, without mealy-mouthed ambivalence. That we can all be clear about. I am grieving and I am angry following these attacks, as we all should be. These incidents present a deep security, diplomatic and political challenge to Israel, but now I want to talk about the moral challenge thrown up by a different event.
