Wow, it was quite a shock last night. I was cleaning up my house and getting ready for bed when I noticed Twitter was blowing up. I immediately turned on the news to find out that President Obama was speaking about the death of Osama Bin Laden. The most hated man, the most chased man, and as one friend put it the "World Hide & Seek Champion: 2001-2011."I never understood how hard it was to find a 6' 5" older man with diabetes, carrying around dialysis... Alas he proved elusive. In fact, one person on Twitter posted this - "10 years, 2 wars, 919,967 deaths, and $1,188,263,000,000 later, we managed to kill one person. I hope it was worth it..."The country erupted in cheers at the news he was dead... however, I could not miss some interesting similarities. May 1 was the date Hitler killed himself and his new wife Eva Braun. It is also the holiday of Yom HaShoah... the Holocaust remembrance day. But yesterday, we were all remembering the death of thousands of Americans at the hands of a different type of terrorist. And, unfortunately, unlike the swift downfall of the Nazi party upon the removal of it's head, this brand of terrorist is still with us. This branch has Medusa like qualities, for certainly once this man was struck down several others prepared to step forward.The death or capture of Osama Bin Laden was very important to us. It was symbolic, necessary for the finality and peace for the victims family and friends left behind. Just as murder victims feel closure when the perpetrator is put in jail and sentenced... no longer free to enjoy their life as we do, this bring some sense of finality to these survivors... but it doesn't bring your loved on back. Nothing ever will. I just hope this helps them move forward.It should also help our country move forward. We were stuck in a seemingly non-ending war and couldn't even catch this one bad guy. It became a point of pride.
However, there is one thing we need to remember. We just came out of Passover, where we escaped the evil tyrant and crossed the Sea of Reeds. then the sea closed in on the Egyptians, killing them. Miriam leads the people in Shir haYam (song of the sea). There is a story about this in the Talmud (Talmud Tractate Megillah 10b) that the angels above began to sing and dance as well. G-d chides them, "The works of my hands are drowning in the sea and you want to sing praises?" Another midrash highlights this: "On three occasions, the angels wanted to sing praises before God, and God would not permit them. What are these? The generation of the flood [in which only Noah and his family were saved]; the crossing of the Red Sea; and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. . . God said, “These comforting words that you say to me are insults to me.” (Petichta 24 in Vilna edition)This reminds me of the story of Ishmael and Hagar when they are sent out from Avraham's home. They are dying of thirst in the desert and G-d hears Ishmael's prayers and saves him. Why? The angels ask G-d... you know what he will do, how his descendants will torture the Jewish people specifically through water, why do you save him? And G-d replies, because we judge people based on who they are today, not who they were or who they are to become.These are reality checks. Ishmael was to become a bad person and his descendants tortured many Jews but G-d did not judge him for his future actions. And we can not judge all Muslims for the actions of the few. G-d let the Israelites have their party and joyous celebration after their tormentors were killed at the Sea of Reeds but when the angels tried to celebrate G-d put the kibosh on it. Yes, these people suffered and have the right to relish the moment but people are still dead, people who were created by the same G-d as you and I... and that deserves a bit of respect.What I am trying to say here is relish this moment. Say Kadish for those lost on September 11, 2001 but then we move forward. To be stuck in a place of vindictiveness is not right.May 1, 2011 became not only Holocaust Remembrance Day but also a day to remember and honor those who lost their lives to madmen with flawed ideals.Lastly, I want to share an email I got this morning. My very dear friends, Esty and Dovi Scheiner were married on September 11, 2001. They have dedicated their married life to the financial district in NYC and giving the young Jews who live there a connection to their Judaism.
Dear Talia,It is with deep emotion that Esty and I learned of the assassination of Osama Bin Laden.Our wedding day was September 11, 2001, and we moved to lower Manhattan shortly thereafter, committed to doing our small part to help rebuild a community devastated by the worst attack on American civilians.In a very real sense, the evil act committed at the behest of Osama Bin Laden was the impetus for the founding of SoHo Synagogue, with a mission of spreading light in the face of darkness.Today, Monday, May 2, we encourage you to perform a dedicated act of goodness and kindness in honor of the 3000 innocent men and women who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.Warmly, Dovi & Esty