The country is suddenly awash in tears. Not even the Disengagement seemed to touch off quite as much mourning and bewailing. And there is weeping and outpourings of grief from New York to Yerushalayim. Everyone from left to right is uttering premature eulogies for Sharon, celebrating his life and praying for him. Many Jews seem to feel as if they are losing an uncle or a close family member.

Where was the national mourning and the nationwide organized tefilot when those wounded by terrorists bombings are in the hospital emergency rooms. Was there anything like it when a 16 year old girl with her legs torn off was in surgery because the Prime Minister failed to fight terrorism as there was when that same corrupt 77 year old millionaire Prime Minister who took poor care of himself, did not follow doctor's advice and is being operated on by the top surgeons in the world, is ill. For him we run to the Kotel but not for her. Where were all the Rabbonim calling on the country to pray. And whom are we praying to G-d for?

A man who rejected the Torah, despite media savvy appearances with selected Rabbinical leaders, who worked for the transfer of religious authority to Reform and other non-religious denominations. Who threw thousands of people out of their homes, whose regime has held teenage girls as young as 14 in prison. Whose police have beaten demonstrators so badly they wound up in emergency rooms themselves. Under whose rule Jews for Jesus recieved an Amutah. Who planned to transfer the Ministry of Education along with the souls of hundreds of thousands of Jewish children into the hands of one of the founders of the anti-religious Shinui party.

What are we praying to G-d for that he can recover so that he can complete his work? Have we truly gone mad? Are we praying to G-d for a man to recover so he can continue to destroy faith in G-d? Have we contemplated what the cost of such a request will be before we ask it? Is this a request G-d can look upon with favor anymore than if we prayed for Yerovam?

I am not speaking of rejoicing at Sharon's possible death. I am speaking of what this says about our priorities. What does it say about us that we see such a man as more deserving of prayers than the children sick with cancer, than the crippled victims of terrorist bombings? Is this truly the Achdut that G-d wants from us, to pray for the victimizers rather than the victims? Is it Achdut or Rachmanut Tipshim? And does this really divide us so far from the Neturei Karta who gathered to pray for Arafat?

Right now a cult of personality is growing around Sharon. In a coma he is more popular than he ever was and his party is projected to gain over 40 Knesset seats. As with Rabin, his successors in the party that had no purpose but to keep him in power, are calculating how to use the national outpouring of mourning to gain political office. As with Rabin the cult of personality will be used to silence criticism and opposition and quite possibly allow Shimon Peres to clamber a second time to power over a dead Prime Minister.

The left that eulogizes the Sharon, whom they once hated more than the devil, because of his expulsion of Jews. The right eulogizes Sharon out of guilt. Out of a 'Shanda for the Goyim' complex directed at other Jews whose criticisms they fear. Yet the left never had any such fears or concern for decency. We have seen the smiling photos of those who dug up the dead of Gush Katif enjoying their time in the sun. Baruch Goldstein's grave was demolished. The tombstones of dead soldiers from Gush Katif are forbidden to mention Gush Katif. Simple decency has never stood in the left's path.

I remember when the news of the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane came over the radio. I was with a liberal couple who were very nice and pleasant people. They smiled happily when the news was broadcast. It was not a unique reaction. Like any arab terrorists, they were happy he was dead. They were not bad people. They had simply been programmed by decades of liberal that that Jews on the far right were evil. Many conservatives criticize liberals for not believing in evil but liberals believe very much in evil, to them evil is not a terrorist or a murderer but a conservative. Conservatives meanwhile continue extending their hands only to have them bitten off.

The question for the right now is will we fall once again into the trap of Rabin and Oslo? Will we do as I have seen some do, question their ideas and their politics and surrender to a cult of personality for a corrupt politician against whom new evidence emerged on the very day of his stroke. Will we fall into the trap of hero-worshipping a man over G-d? Of prioritizing manners and public opinion over what is right? Will we weep for a sedated millionaire rather than for children being shelled in Sderot? For teenage girls kept indefinetly imprisoned in his jails? For thousands of families left homeless and deprived of their possessions? For all the soldiers who have committed suicide since Disengagement over what that same man forced them to do?

Yes Ariel Sharon is a fellow Jew. As are many others from serial killers to rapists to pedophiles to terrorist sympathizers. Being born of a Jewish mother is not enough. A Jew can only have as much claim on his fellow Jews as they have claim on him. The average Ger who converts to Judaism, the Baal Tesuvah who returns from a secular life is of far more worth than a man whose only Jewish affiliation is an accident of birth and who actively worked to undermine G-d and the Jewish people.

I will not rejoice in Sharon's death nor will I pray for him. His life is as it has always been in his hands and in the hand of G-d. May the G-d who watches over the Jewish people and the world do what is best in his eyes to keep and preserve our scattered people and judge every one of us with mercy and kindness and bless us with peace. 16 comments Permalink Email Post (Backlinks)

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