Why can't you make peace?

The Continued Conflict As the different sides and justifications are continually discussed back and forth, I too, like many will see good points and may sway back and forth,,,,where truth seems to jump the fence and be an each side. As our attention is fixed on these truths, we are placed on one side or the other, by that fact alone.
HOWEVER, the ultimate truth should be held to be that there can be Peace on Earth, that we can co-exist, and we can find ways to do that.
If we focus on that (with some effort yes) we have a better chance of comming to solutions. Reply

Peace message of Islam The Islamic clerics and scholars need to teach the true message of Islam to the followers. The true message of any religion is peace and compassion.

There is so much poverty in Indian subcontinent. People from all religions - Hindu, Islam, Budhdha, Jain, Christian and Jews are living in poverty. Poverty leads to lack of modern education. The poor young people are falling pray to propaganda from political and religious leaders. If steps are not taken to take care of these young people then we can surely see widespread civil war in Indian subcontinent. There are not only Islamic Jihadists but also communists, naxalites and war lords who also have their political agenda. The entire region is at risk of becoming a war zone. International commnity need to step in now and avoid the future genocide. Reply

Like an Auto-Immune Disease The behavior of the terrorists is a little like the auto-immune disease I currently have. With auto-immune disease, the body's own defenses attack itself (the body). In a Kabbalistic sense, we all carry a spark of G-d: Jews, gentiles, even radical Muslims, however distorted the spark has become. We are a collective body: humanity.

Right now part of the body is engaged in attacking another part of the body, and they've been at it a while.

How does one treat an auto-immune disease?

One strengthens the body (with vitamins, antioxidants, and tonics), or if it is the collective body, with mitzvot, acts of kindness, ways to spread Light that overcome darkness.

One takes prescriptions that overcome the symptoms of the disease, or one works on defending the helpless (not my call, but IDF soldiers at Chabad Houses)?

One works on finding research that will shut off the faulty immune response, or the collective body works to get the various members to quit attacking. Reply

re listen, it is a war between brother; us jews are isaac's sons and muslims are ishmael's sons. like in a household with brothers that fight, only humanitarinism may prevail: the Father: Abraham. i will not lie to u and give u false info., but Israel is really trying its best to be safe, but achieve peace. terrorists from "Palestine" make it impossible because every time we try, one of their bad guys screws it up. there was never a palestinian people with a palestinian government. it was a bumch of arab refugees that we let live with us in harmony. but they hated jews and couldnt stand to see a jewish country, so they revolted. they have many countries that are very powerful, yet when we have a country smaller than the state of new jersey, the world is mad. i have news 4u ____, welcome to 4000 years of our jewish history. Reply

We Must Be Accurate One more point. In responding to this evil, it is important for us not only to do mitzvot (I am striving to do better), but for us to be absolutely above reproach. Certainly the Holtzbergs were, which is why Chabad is getting so many notes of personal grief from non-Jews: I think the response you are getting shows the good your organization has done and is doing.

The Jerusalem Post reported yesterday that a doctor at the Mumbai Hospital where the bodies were received stated that there were no signs of torture. Later in the article it says that an unidentified doctor and a morgue employee both reported earlier that the Holtzbergs had been tortured. I know these poor people have been buried already in accordance with Halakha, but it is important to settle the question of whether they were tortured accurately. Someone needs to go "on record" to say what he or she saw. Otherwise, this has the potential to become misinformation, which damages the good further. Reply

Responding to Evil Dear Rabbi Tzvi,

Thank you for this thoughtful answer. Sometimes people who reduce the issue to simply one of blessing one's enemy or forgiving one's enemy his or their transgressions do not realize what it is like to be hated, to be targeted because of who you are. The question of evil is a delicate one: as Kabbalah teaches (learned this from you), we all contain a spark of the same G-dly essence, and yet, there are people in this world who choose the path of evil. Leaving that evil unchallenged is not an option.

In the time of the Shoah, the evil of the Nazis was a cancer growing upon the collective body of humanity. The answer was the surgical response of military action to remove it from power. This current evil, radical, fundamental Islamic hatred of the modern west and Jews, not shared by all Muslims, requires a different response. We are not dealing with a state but with a religion. I'm not sure what the collective response needs to be, but there must be one. Reply

Peace can not be made with Jihadists I am a peace loving Hindu from India. There was not a single Muslim in India until 6th century. In 6th century, Afghanistan was conquered by Arabs from Budand in 7th century Sindh (Modern Day Pakistan) was conquered by Muslims. Kashmir was conquered by Islamic rulers in 14th century. From then until 17th century Mughals, Persians and Mongols - all Islamic forces invaded India. All these invasions killed hundreds of millions of Hindus and other non Muslim Indians were killed by these invaders. Unfortunately, there is no official recordings of these killings. There were also millions of forceful religious conversions to Islam. Today, we have two Islamic countries as neighbour - Pakistan on West and Bangaladesh on East. They are waging proxy war with India with the help of Islamic Jihadis. The training camps are run inside thsoe countries. Until these people put down their weapons, there should be no peace talk with these Jihadists. Israel and India need to work together in this fight. Reply

Man and Beast Definitely a considerate and heartfelt response, though I would hesitate to call these murderers "wild beasts." First of all, it takes away their responsibility as human beings. Even if they had been trained to kill and destroy from their youth, they should have searched beyond that and become men. Whatever trace of humanity that may have once been part of their souls should face the disgrace of the cowardice of their actions in using weapons against unarmed, innocent people. Second of all, it insults the true wild beasts who are so by Divine will, not human folly. As we know, "Last and first, You formed me . . ." Certainly these men were far lower than even mosquitos, then. There are no excuses. Not for them, nor for any who follow their crooked lines of reasoning. Reply

Is there a transcript of the last talk Rabbi Holtzberg gave "which was mostly about kindness to animals"? Reply

We cannot rationalize with murderers, of course; however, the person who asked this question clearly has a sincere concern for an important question. How and when will the people of this world see the oneness of G-d? When Moshiach comes, yes, we will all see "the light", but it's important to encourage Jews and non-Jews alike to keep reaching for Oneness. G-d will burn out the evil from this world, but, in the end, all the children of Abraham will have to see that we are one and love one another like brothers. Thanks, Rabbi, and thanks to the author of the question, too! Peace! Reply

thank you rabbi freeman for giving such a candid answer to such a ridiculous question. political correctness and appeasement only serve to perpetuate evil. sympothysing with terrorist butchers puts those who espouse such views in the same camp as them. Reply

thank you so much Rabbi Freeman, well put Reply

Kind of like the American Ku Klux Klan Americans can understand this a little better if they recall the stories of the Ku Klux Klan. It is kind of like that, except the Klan weren't as powerful or rich as the terrorists' backers. Reply

Good Response I am a Christian, and I love the way you respond to that. Thank you :) Reply

Suffering Servant Dear Rabbi Freeman,
Thank you for the wonderful example you set for us all with your kind and patient response. Like the questioner, I was also not born "a Jewish person", but the Jewish response to this latest terrorist massacre--to continue to do good in the world, to always do more good--melts my heart in gratitude for the example the Jewish people set for the world. Reply

A point that must be stressed... I can not emphasize enough how strongly I feel about this idea. It is a message that must be spoken to the world (and the media!) How much longer must people still claim that it is a political issue? Why do so some news articles describe these evil people as militants and not terrorists?

A tragedy like this shows that terrorism against our people has nothing to do with land (This happened in India!) or politics (A Chabad House is not a political place) but rather evil people trained from the earliest age to to kill. We must call a spade a spade. It is our responsibilty to respond by increasing in light ourselves (adding in good deeds, uniting as a people, donating to the cause, etc) but also through getting the message across to others that such evil is absolute (not relative) and must treated as such. May we never have to go through such things again! Reply

Well said, R' Freeman. This was not a "conflict", much the same as those kids massacred in the Mercaz Harav scool in Isreal were in "conflict".

Things like this are what bullies do. I myself deal with them quite more often than I care for. I do not understand the mindset of a bully and nor do I wish to. I only know they must be wiped out, either with kidness or a strong hand...it doesn't matter. Either way, they *must* go. People who have, thank G-d, never had to deal with a bully will *never* understand how such unwarranted violence can exist. But it does.

You still remain one of my favorite teachers, R'! Reply