by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback
A dear friend of mine got married this past Friday afternoon. Jacqueline and I drove up to San Francisco for the wedding. On the way home, we hit some heavy traffic just south of San Jose—it was the final day of the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Although we lived in Palo Alto for eleven years, we never went down for the event. I turned to my wife and said, “Let’s go! It’ll be fun.”
She was tired and it was 101 degrees outside and so we ultimately decided to stay on the highway and drive on by.
An hour later, she saw the news alert on her phone. “You won’t believe it,” she said. “There’s an active shooter at the garlic festival. One person is already confirmed dead.”
And so it goes in America in 2019, another week, another mass shooting.
Tomorrow is Rosh Hodesh Av, the first day of the saddest month of the Jewish year. It begins the “Nine Days”—the countdown to Tisha B’Av, the day on which, according to tradition, numerous tragedies befell our People, including the destruction of the First and Second Temples.
The Talmud teaches that the Second Temple was destroyed because of sinat chinam, senseless hatred. What could be more senseless than the murder of strangers gathered together to celebrate music, food, and wine? What could be more senseless than the murder of a six-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl?
In the wake of a tragedy, we mourn. But our tears are not enough. Our sorrow is not enough. All this senseless hatred demands more. It demands change. It requires action. (To learn more about how you can make a difference as part of your Wise community, visit https://wisela.org/protectourkids/)
As the month of Av begins, let us each think of ways we can bring more understanding and love into our world. In the face of so much senseless hatred, so much racism and xenophobia, we must be the voices of concern and compassion. We must actively work to make things different.
Will we have the courage to heed the call?