Posted on 05/22/25
Baltimore, MD - May 22, 2025 - At the start of the week, I allocated time to write down some thoughts and contemporary lessons from this week’s double Parshios of Behar/Bechukosai. Then our world changed. Last night, less than an hour’s drive from us, a young Jewish couple readying to embark on the greatest adventure of building a life together, were gunned down in our nation’s capital because they were Jewish. Jews were murdered in Washington DC – because they were Jews. Yaron Lichinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were a sweet and devoted young couple. They believed in the Jewish people, they believed in peaceful coexistence, they were working on behalf of the Jewish State and her people. Yaron purchased an engagement ring and planned on proposing to Sarah next week in Yerushalayim. There should have been the singing of “Od Yeshoma B’Arei Yehuda, U’vichutzos Yerushalayim, Kol Sason V’Kol Simcha, Kol Chosson, V’Kol Kallah,” but instead there were sounds of gunshots, wailing police sirens and yelling of “free Palestine” by an unrepentant murderer. All of this, just as the shiva is concluding, for Tzeela Gez, the pregnant mother of three beautiful boys who was murdered on her way to the hospital to deliver her 4th son.
I am a very emotional person – some may say even a bit too emotional at times. I must confess, it is not sadness or loss that I feel in this moment, there are no tears running down my face as I feel they have been used up. In this moment, there is one emotion – rage. I am filled with anger as to how the world looks at, speaks about, and feels toward our people. Gunning down an innocent Jewish couple in the nation’s capital happens as a result of consistent anti-Israel and anti-Semitic speech that continues unchecked. Each and every day, in print, online, on campuses and in countries around the world, we are accused of genocide. We are portrayed as the aggressor, who are starving and displacing men, women, and children. Say anything enough times, no matter how false or ridiculous it is, and people will believe. Elias Rodriguez, the murderer who took the lives of this precious couple was singing the same “Free Free, Palestine” chant that has been heard on college campuses since the start of the war. Those protestors, masked in cowardice, have roamed unchecked, spewing hatred for close to two years and for the most part, the adults in the room have been silent. And now even the world’s supposed allies like Britain and France are outraged about the lack of aid going into Gaza. I too am sad that there may be innocent people in Gaza who don’t have what they need. I too am saddened by images of hungry children. But we must never forget how we got here. On October 7th, 2023, Simchas Torah 5783, Hamas burst through the border and raped, murdered, kidnapped, and pillaged. Hamas took our men, women, and children hostage. Hamas murdered Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas HY’D in captivity. Hamas put a bullet in the head of Hirsch Polin Goldberg HY’D. And these are but a few of our stories. We did not ask for this war – but our holy State of Israel and our precious soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces should not stop until we win. If the world is so concerned about aid getting into Gaza – do everything in your power to bring our hostages home. Why are Jewish lives any less important than any other life? Why is the compromise at our national expense? At the end of the day, there is one lesson that has been and continues to be true – Jewish blood is cheap. I wish it were different – but it’s not. Just imagine, if the campus protests that have been occurring over the last two years were targeting the Black, Asian, LGBTQ or any other minority community, they would be shut down before the first keffiyeh and face mask was donned. The protestors would have been met by throngs of outraged counter-protestors. But it’s only us. It’s just the Jews. You can say whatever you want about Jews, Zionism, and Israel because its free speech. But we should not be surprised when consistent hate-filled speech paves the way to violence.
I wish I had a constructive solution to this problem – but I don’t – because it is not mine to solve. This incredible country, the United States of America which affords us so much opportunity and for which we have profound gratitude must take a moment of national introspection and ask, “how did we get here? How have we allowed for a culture where anti-Semitic attacks have become common place? How have we allowed for an environment in which an innocent, beautiful couple, who wanted to make the world better for everyone, could be gunned down in our nation’s capital?” Where is leadership? Where is the chorus of morality, goodness, and light?
Dear friends, we must continue forward with our heads held high. Even if the world tells us we are wrong, we must always know the “rightness” of our path. Even when the world accuses us of genocide, we must remember our Jewish army does all it can to avoid civilian casualties. Even when the world portrays us as the aggressor, we must remember, we didn’t ask for this war – but we cannot afford to appease the nations of the world and lose it. We will continue our sacred path as we have for thousands of years. We will continue to daven for the return of our hostages and the safety and success of our soldiers. We daven the neshamos of Yaron and Sarah will be together in Gan Eden. We daven for our people, for the healing of a fractured world, and for Moshiach, may he arrive speedily in our days.