22 Tevet 5775
From JPost report...
Rabbi Mazuz eulogizes Paris terror victims: 'There is no place of refuge for Jews except Israel'
The coffins of the four Jewish victims of the Paris terror attacks last week were brought to the Kiseh Rahamim Yeshiva in Bnei Brak early this morning where Rabbi Meir Mazuz, the spiritual leader of the Tunisian community in Israel and the rosh yeshiva, eulogised the men killed in the attack.
All of the victims are from the Tunisian Jewish community and approximately 1000 people were at the yeshiva for the service this morning. The family of one of the victims, Yoav Hattab, 21, specifically requested that Mazuz be part of the funeral proceedings.
In his eulogy at his yeshiva on Tuesday, Mazuz said that the events in France required action to be taken against terrorism and for the Jewish people to unite.
“There is no place of refuge in the world for a Jew except in the Land of Israel,” the rabbi said.
“Terror is striking in the US, England, Ukraine, and now France and we must cut it down. For us, we must unite, and bring an end to hatred and dispute and stop speaking badly of others. Everyone must ascend to the Land of Israel to unite.”
Mazuz also paid tribute to Lassana Bathily the Muslim man who helped save the lives of the Jewish customers in the supermarket where the terror attack occurred.
“The Muslim man who saved the Jews during the attack must be praised, he is one of the righteous among the nations and the righteous among the nations have a place in the world to come,” Mazuz said.
MK Eli Yishai, who is also of Tunisian background, was in attendance at the funeral and he too gave a eulogy for the victims of the attack.
“Millions of people in the State of Israel went into the last Shabbat with fear and worry for the fate [of those caught up in the events in Paris],” Yishai said.
“This is what it is to be Jewish, one nation, one blood, one fate. The martyrs, Yoav [Hattab], Francois [Michel Saada], Phillipe [Braham] and Yohan [Cohen] wanted to buy food to honor the Shabbat, but then the abhorent terrorist came to kill Jews simply because they are Jews. The same terrorism that we have experienced in our own flesh in the Land of Israel against the Jewish people here and around the world.
“The pain is enormous, the pain of the beloved families [of the victims]. But the souls of the martyrs are so high it is impossible to describe. They merit to be interred in the soil of the Land of Israel which our ancestors yearned for for thousands of years. Pray to our Father in Heaven who will say “enough” for our suffering.”
The kedoshim - Hashem yikom damam!
ReplyDelete'There is no place of refuge for Jews except Israel' unfortunately this is not always true, 4 families made aliya to Har Nof......
ReplyDeleteElimelech, people die. But, there is a huge difference between dying in Eretz Yisrael and dying in chu"l, the same way as living your life in Eretz Yisrael is qualitatively superior to living your life in chu"l. The fact is, it is our Father and King's desire that we live in the Land He chose for us. Pleasing Him should be our highest priority. We were promised that we would return from exile and that Hashem would send us Mashiach. That time is NOW. The only future for Jews - from now on - is in Eretz Yisrael. This is where your children and your grandchildren will grow up - with you or without you.
ReplyDeleteElimelech you make a reasonable point. this is why I am not fond of aliyah sales that hinge on the wonderfulness of the economy or the safety there.
ReplyDeleteI take from events of our century and recent years that it's time to go home and hashem is telling us that in various ways. It's not because it's safer there or because of the amount of companies on the nasdaq. It's rather that the world is crumbling, antisemitism is soaring, and geulah is around the corner. That means, the jews return to EY.
Elimelech, Collectively as a nation there are specific reasons for our suffering. Individually we do not know the reasons- they are for G-d alone.
ReplyDeleteWe can, however, unite as a nation and live in Israel (if possible to get there). It is especially needed now as we approach the days of Moshiach.
All these comments are true but allow me to quote 2 well known speakers.
ReplyDeleteThe great Rav Avigdor Miller z'l said in one of his lectures something like 'until Moschiach comes a Jew has no place anywhere in the world that he can feel totally safe, including E'Y. His or her dwelling place is with Hashem wherever he finds himself (Psalm 90)'.
More recently Rabbi Yossi Mizrachi said, in answer to the question should everyone make aliyah, a person must live in the place where he or she is most successful in living a Torah lifestyle and being connected to HaShem; for some it's E'Y and for others it's chu'l. He based this on the opinion of some of the Gedolim.
Elimelech, I have heard the two people you quoted make these statements, and you have quoted them correctly.
ReplyDeleteYou are focused, however, on the wrong thing.
Yes, it's true that four kedoshim made aliyah and died in Har Nof. But the part you're missing is that they were able to LIVE in Eretz Yisroel and reach madreigas that would have not have been possible had they remained in the States.
From all of the evidence it seems that it is no longer possible to live outwardly as a Jew in Paris and many other places.
Jews die every day in Eretz Yisroel, be it from "natural" causes or terror. But until the moment that Hashem decides to the lower the curtain on a Jew's life, the opportunity that that Jew had to LIVE a Jewish life was only circumscribed by his desire or lack thereof to do so.
We, that is, all of us Jews - well a lot of us at any rate (of all degrees of religiosity and Jewish observance) are awaiting and expecting this miracle of Moshiach's arrival and subsequent redemption any time now. But just think - what if he doesn't materialise within a certain span of time, and/or he is not accepted - then what - will our whole religion and culture just fade away, or just be followed by a tiny minority of 'cranks'? Or, maybe because old habits die hard, we might just soldier on as we always have, still believing, hoping and praying . . . well just my random thoughts!
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous @1:09am: When our righteous Moshiach comes, he will be the messenger of H'. Nothing or no one can stop the Redemption. You are thinking in political/human terms. We are in the b'itah time and nothing can stop G-D's ultimate plan for His people and His world. How exactly events take place, only He knows.
ReplyDelete