While yes this is sad, you had to have known and expected that Israel was a potentially dangerous place. This just happens to be the largest attack in recent times
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I'm full of compassion for him and his family. But as an important religious figure, publicly saying that you pray for the fury and anger of your God to go down on your enemies is awful. I understand the sentiment. I understand the anger, I do. But praying for something negative to happen - especially when you are supposed to lead other people - cannot be the right way to go.
Pray for the war to end. Pray for peace. Pray for Hamas to understand their wrongdoings. Pray for the terrorists to realize what they are doing. Pray for them to stop and beg forgiveness. If you want, pray for God to judge them. But praying for violence isn't what prayer should be used for.
But as an important religious figure, publicly saying that you pray for the fury and anger of your God to go down on your enemies is awful
Have you read the old testament?
Some Jews are now openly talking about forcing a destitute and oppressed people to wander into exile. At least initially, through the Egyptian Desert.
And don't see the irony at all.
I know what you mean. But that should be the distinction between religious extremists and "mainstream" religious leaders, shouldn't it? Extremists tend/can promote the negative, brutal, violent parts of their scripture. The modern-moderate mainstream approach is usually to focus on the unifying, loving, connecting, forgiving aspect. And this is why his statement pisses me off so much. Being the representative of the Jewish community in Ukraine, speaking for/to this community, advocating the violent aspects of your religion's scripture is an awful move.
Shh we don't do that one or talk about it anymore! /S
You mean the book where Israel frequently gets attacked by outside forces as a means of punishment from God? The book where God exiles the Israelites to a foreign land because of their extreme sin?
Jewish fundamentalists are radical extremists. This sort of rhetoric isn't rare coming out from this community, nor is it ever frowned upon. They get away with it for obvious reasons.
So they escaped russian occupation of Ukraine to Israel-occupied Palestine. Some irony.
Terrible and tragic. No one should have to endure such terror and trauma, especially children. I wish humans could stop being sadistic, petty, violent animals and work together to solve disagreements and compromise in nonviolent ways. I know it's a naive ideal, but surely it's a better goal to work towards than... well, this.
Better move to Yemen next.
Bad Luck Brian
Sounds like that guy that was able to get away from Hiroshima, and fled to ... Nagasaki
Should've just staid put. It's not like they're going to nuke the same city!
If I prayed, I'd do so for them. May they be able to tell this story to their grandchildren
I remember pleading to my friend not to move to Israel due to the danger of living there. This was 14 years ago. This man has no excuse, he has decades of precedent to go off.
I know Jews who've moved to Canada years ago and are booking flights back to Israel to help out however they can.
Some anonymous guy at JFK paid for the flights of 250 Jews who got called to return to the IDF.
The excuse is that it's their home. They will give their lives to ensure it survives. It's the homeland to every Jewish person on this planet and as you note, there's decades (Millenia in fact) of history written in blood showing just how important that strip of desert is to the survival of the Jewish people.
I don't know what called your friend over there, I assume he's a Jew as well and if so that might actually be all there is to it.
I hope your friend is doing alright. Hope you are too.
That's not the point of my comment. People are well within their right to move to Israel and join the armed forces and sacrifice their life for their cause. However this man moved his children away from one war zone to another war zone, and posts pictures trying to elicit sympathy. I brought up my friend to illustrate the point that Israel has always been known to be a dangerous area. My only guess is that the logistics of moving to Israel was simpler for him than the other options.