For These We Weep

American Jewry awoke Tuesday morning to the devastating news from Yerushalayim that Islamic terrorists had perpetuated yet another terror attack. This time the forces of evil committed the unspeakable within the sacred walls of a shul, brutally murdering four mispallelim wearing tallis and tefillin.

Once again, the holy ground of Yerushalayim is soaked with Jewish blood, and once again Jews the world over shed bitter tears as they join in the indescribable anguish of widows, orphans, siblings, and a mother who has just lost a beloved child. The knives and axes used by the fiendish murders pierced the collective heart of Am Yisrael, and together we declare, “For these we weep.”

The souls of the Kedoshim have ascended to the upper echelons of Gan Eden, to a place so lofty that it is beyond the grasp of mere mortals. 

We weep for those of us left behind on this temporal world. We weep for the family members who have seen their lives altered forever. We weep for the disciples who no longer can draw inspiration from a beloved mentor. We weep for a community that can no longer receive guidance, assistance, and be on the receiving end of countless chassadim from these spiritual heroes.

We weep for a people that are in exile in their own Land. We weep as our brethren live in a state of fear, as wives and mothers are filled with trepidation every time their husband and sons go to shul, and husbands and fathers worry each time their wives or daughters leave the house to take a bus or light rail.

We weep over the fact that it takes a terrible tragedy for us to all come together.

More than anything else, we weep over the fact that after nearly two thousand years, we still await the Geulah.

Our tears mingle with countless other tears that have been shed throughout our long sojourns in exile. Together they have formed a powerful ocean, and together they join the voice that is heard in the heights, a voice of moaning and bitter crying. It is the voice of Rachel Imeinu as she refuses to be consoled over her children, for they are no longer.

May these Kedoshim be the last of the korbanos, and in merit of all the Kedoshim of all the generations may we soon merit to see the fulfillment of Hashem’s consolation to Rachel, the Geulah Sheleimah

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