Finding An Assassin's Bullet
Before It Is Ever Used
Yigal Amir believed he was doing the work of
God when he murdered Yitzhak Rabin. He said
the Torah told him that God commands the Jews
to occupy Israel — all the land, including Judea
and Samaria — whenever it is within their pow-
er to do so. Concluding we live in a Messianic
age, he and his fellow believers contend owner-
ship of the land is a prerequisite for redemption
— a step Mr. Rabin's land-for-peace policies
would prevent.
But there are other arguments based on Torah.
The saving of a life takes precedence over all the
commandments in the Torah, except for idola-
try, incest and murder. The Talmud states that
even stopping to ask a rabbi if it is permissible
to break the Sabbath to save a life might consti-
tute a form of murder, as someone might die dur-
ing such a delay.
As former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Ova-
diah Yosef once argued: "If a question were to
come before us whether it is correct to sacrifice
one life to bring the Messiah, we would certain-
ly rule that the Messiah cannot come at the cost
of the life of even one Jew."
It is possible to cite other points of Torah and
commentary supporting differing religious and
political views. But the tragedy of Yigal Amir's
actions, and the sanction he was apparently giv-
en by his rabbis, is that Judaism, like any reli-
gion, can be dangerous if it is not taken as a
whole.
When Yigal Amir decided to honor one of the
Torah's commandments without consideration
for its other demands, he made a vain sacrifice
in the name of God.
He did so in an age in which Israel exists as
a democracy rather than its biblical monarchial
incarnation. While Mr. Rabin understood he was
a fallible leader rather than an anointed king,
Yigal Amir took a life as if he were divinely in-
spired.
The place of religion in governance is a strug-
gle with which every democracy must contend.
It has never been more apparent in the United
States than it is today. The strain is even greater
in Israel.
We must hold open the possibility that vio-
lence might be required to overcome the op-
pression of a wicked government. But in allowing
for such a possibility, we can clearly condemn
this assassination, confident that changes in Is-
rael's democracy do not require a bullet.
However, dealing with the extremist ideas that
encouraged, if not demanded, that Yigal Amir
follow the course he did is more complicated. A
democracy requires a free marketplace of ideas.
It is difficult, therefore, to draw lines with which
we can be comfortable regarding the latitude gov-
ernment is given to deal with extremists.
Difficult — but not impossible. In the end, we
must not outlaw the ideas of zealots or deny their
freedom to express them. But we must take every
opportunity to denounce them. When their ideas
lead to the breaking of the law — or even the be-
ginnings of a conspiracy to do so — we must al-
low our governments to take preemptive action.
Such action is counter-intuitive to our notions
of freedom and privacy. But we will not feel safe
in any democracy unless we know that an as-
sassin's bullet can be found before it is used.
Letters
Response Great
From Metro Area
Your coverage of the local re-
sponse to the assassination of
Prime Minister Rabin gave read-
ers an opportunity to understand
the enormity of the tragedy and,
even if they were unable to at-
tend, feel like they were among
the thousands who participated
in the Nov. 6 memorial service.
One aspect of the week's de-
velopments did not receive the at-
tention that I felt it deserved. I
am referring to the outpouring of
support that individual. Jews and
Jewish organizations received
from the general Detroit com-
munity. In addition to Mayor
Archer, Sen. Abraham and Rep.
Knollenberg, leaders of the Arab-
American Anti-Discrimination
Committee, the Chaldean Fed-
eration, the Catholic Archdiocese,
the Salvation Army, the Detroit
Interfaith Roundtable, the De-
troit Urban League and the for-
eign consular corps attended the
Nov. 6 service.
In addition, the Jewish Com-
munity Council and other Jewish
organizations have received nu-
merous letters, telegrams and
phone calls in recent days from
colleagues in the African-Ameri-
can, Arab- American, Hispanic
and Chaldean communities.
It is clear that many people
outside the Jewish community
not only sympathized with the
Jewish community's loss, but they
also experienced their own per-
sonal sense of grief and outrage.
We have learned that the efforts
to build friendly relationships
with the various elements of the
community at large have been
important investments. Unfor-
tunately, it sometimes takes a
tragedy to realize that we are not
alone.
Drowning
The Venom
The bullets that killed Yitzhak
Rabin have impacted many of us
in an irreversible manner. Israelis
are doing much soul-searching
about how such hatred evolved,
how such a monstrosity was al-
lowed to occur, how to explain it
to their children and how to hope-
fully prevent it in the future.
Just follow the Israeli writers
in newspapers, magazines and on
the Internet. An Israeli living in
the United States has to deal with
the above and the reaction here.
Traditionally, we (Israelis living
in the United States) avoided in-
stitutional Jewish affairs, the rea-
sons for which are not the subject
of this letter.
Rabin, on the other hand, in his
last visit here, did not mince
David Gad-Hart words when he lambasted the
Executive Director, leaders of Jewish organizations
Jewish Community Council in the United States for their ac-
quiescence to the vocal minority
who uses any means possible to
derail the peace process.
These so-called "friends of Is-
rael," some who dare to compare
the peace agreements to the Holo-
caust, attach vile unsigned notes
praising the murder to the wind-
shields of cars parked at Adat
Shalom during the memorial cer-
emony and spread their "litera-
ture" at every opportunity they
find, including at Yom
Hazikaron, a memorial day for
fallen Israeli soldiers.
Well, it is time to identify, ex-
pose, isolate and condemn these
groups. It is important that voic-
es other than these are heard
loud enough to drown this ven-
om. If the events of the last two
weeks do not arouse such a reac-
tion, we will for sure witness a re-
peat in the future.
Avi Zechory
Bloomfield Hills
Yitzhak Rabin:
My Hero
Returning from a beautiful dinner
in Istanbul, we switched on CNN
only to be shocked by the news of
the assassination of Prime Minis-
ter Yitzhak Rabin. Disbelief
turned to dismay turned to pain.
After a few minutes, we discov-
ered that this unbelievable act was
done by an Israeli.
Although I tend toward the log-
ical, my analytical thought process
went blank. An Israeli Jew vio-
lated every value and tenet of our
beliefs, all in the name of God.
The man who was killed had
spent a lifetime protecting, build-
ing and enhancing the lives of the
Jewish people in Israel and
around the world. How could this
be? Why? Confusion and con-
sternation were my reaction.
Emotions overwhelmed me as
if I had lost one of my parents.
That awful feeling of helplessness
and inadequacy lodged in the pit
of my stomach. This added even
more to my confused state. He
wasn't a friend or even a close rel-
ative or even a close acquaintance.
What he was for me was my hero.
A couple of weeks after he was
elected prime minister in 1992,
but before he took office, a few of
us, as UJA representatives, visit-
ed with him in Tel Aviv. We want-
ed to congratu late him and discuss
our view of the American Jewish
community's concerns in Israel.
He related to us the four major
objectives of his new government.
For these thoughts, the objectives
themselves are unimportant.
What is important, is that in the
ensuing 3 1/4 years, all but one
were totally accomplished and the
fourth, "peace," was moving pos-
itively forward.
We continued to meet over
these years where I had an op-
portunity to observe him. He was
a strong individual who was ded-
icated and loyal to the Jewish peo-
ple. He remained focused on his
vision for the Jewish people even
though there were many diver-
sions, pressures, failures and dis-
appointments. Patience and
perseverance were his hallmark.
Yes, at times he had to adjust,
modify or reconstruct, but always
with integrity and his eye and
mind on the vision.
In the last two weeks, I was
fortunate to be with him on four
different occasions. He was re-
laxed, confident and felt good
about the future, unlike the meet-
ings of the past which were al-
ways serious and businesslike.
He talked about a paper he had
written on the American Civil
War in his student days and
about the importance of the part-
nership between the American
and Israeli people.
With these thoughts and emo-
tions, I left Istanbul to attend his
funeral. The man had left a lega-
cy to all Jews, one that is essen-
tial to our beliefs and to all
mankind — peace.
As Moses led us to the
Promised Land but was not al-
lowed to enter, so did Yitzhak Ra-
bin lead us toward peace, one
that he will not be permitted to
see. If his life is to have any
meaning, then all of us must
work to fulfill his vision. We can-
not permit Jew to fight Jew as we
did during the loss of the Second
Temple; rather we must unite
and redouble our efforts to give
meaning to the life of Yitzhak Ra-
bin.
Joel D. Tauber
Southfield
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