Baruch Dayan Haemet

This week was the yohrtzeit of the Fogel family of Itamar in the Shomron, mother and four young children who were brutally murdered by Arab terrorists one year ago. I have always said that the greatest test of faith is when we are confronted with the death of an innocent child. The vast numbers of the Holocaust can be understood perhaps in a historical context. Perhaps the Jews of diaspora Europe were doomed to be devoured by the German Amalek. Perhaps there was  hester panim. But how do we understand the murder of a baby in his crib in the very heartland of Eretz Yisrael?

This year we witnessed a number of  perplexing tragedies including the murder of the heavenly mystic Baba Elazar in Beersheva and the death of Rav Ehud Barzilai of Mitzpeh Ramon who died at a young age of brain cancer. After hearing of these tragedies I said to myself, automatically, "baruch dayan haemet" blessed be the true judge. The truth is of course that I can see no justice in these events. .While I believe that nothing in this world is arbitrary, I cannot fathom the justice in these tragedies

I spoke about this with one of  my Rebbes and he told me to concentrate on the idea that the tribulations of this world are only transitory. When we hear about the death of a child we mourn because we have no idea of the purpose for which his soul was brought into this world and even less the reason that soul was taken from this world.

Next shabbat is parashat Parah which deals in the purification from tumat mavet,  the impurity of death. Harav Kook` wrote that the point of this parasha is to understand that death is the ultimate illusion and that life as imbodied by the divine soul is everlasting.

                                           Baruch Dayan Haemet