HOW CAN THIS BE?

​I wrote to offer comfort in the midst of the epidemic of bomb threats when they landed locally, and now I write again.  The apparent perpetrator has been apprehended, and he is American, Israeli and a Jew.  It is almost incomprehensible, of course.  Not since Son of Sam terrorized New York forty summers ago have Jews been more surprised to hear someone Jewish attached to such terror – and David Berkowitz, crazy though he was, did not target Jews or lay claim to his Jewishness.
 
Let’s keep a couple of things in perspective.  Most important, the children and senior adults who spend their days at JCCs or day schools will not be subjected to this young man’s tactics any more.  They were always safe from him, but now they (and we) know it.
 
Next, the government and private agencies tasked with protecting us did their job.  I am not the only one who criticized the tone-deafness of the President throughout this nightmare, but his Attorney General and FBI Director deserve the credit for pursuing this matter beyond the borders of their jurisdiction and bringing it to successful resolution.
 
And finally, no one got hurt. The psychological damage may need to be addressed, but no life or well-being was compromised. I made that point in the midst of all of this tumult to distinguish the wave of terror we experienced from the attacks on other religious minorities.
 
At this writing, we know very little about the teenager who seems to be responsible, but we know some things about ourselves.
 

1. Insecurity is still close to the surface for the most secure Jewish community in history.  That fact has implications for ourselves and for how we educate the next generation.  The solution is not geographic and it is not political.  It is a soul-issue.
2. No matter what the motivation turns out to be, we will do everything we can to distance ourselves from this kid’s actions, and we will claim that no one truly engaged in the Jewish community could do such a thing. He will be declared an outlier.  Remember that when you hear of children from other religious communities who act contrary to their values.
3. The people who hate us – including the ones who have done physical damage to cemeteries and buildings – are already gloating that they have been vindicated.  We will need to exercise restraint in response. Their smugness is aggravating, but if we take the bait, our genuine outrage if, God forbid, an incident demands it will be devalued.
4. We will want to explain these incidents away to preserve our sense of the goodness of who we are. The medical or psychiatric attention the perpetrator will need in independent of the evil inherent in his actions. There is no reasonable justification for what he did – he is a serial terrorist.

 
Let us take the time we need to learn the facts and process them.  Please be suspicious of anyone (including me!) who thinks he or she can wrap this up in a bow and walk away. And anyone who solicits money on the emotions generated by these discoveries should be considered reprehensible. We need to learn, to cocoon, to grieve
 
And then we need to go back to our lives.