4 | AUGUST 4 • 2022
PURELY COMMENTARY
for openers
A Whole Lot of
Back and Forth
column
Riding the Bus while Jewish
H
ere’s the wind-up
and the pitch … and
it’s a home run!
For those of you who are
sports fanatics, those words
are familiar. For
others of us, the
concept of the
throw and catch
is also familiar
as revealed
by the many
expressions
using those
terms that we employ daily.
Hearing some unexpected
news may throw you a curve
and may throw a monkey
wrench into your plans. But
before you throw in the towel
(or the sponge, on a smaller
scale), plan to throw a party,
a get-together. This will
show that the “news” did not
completely throw you for a
loss.
Are you familiar with
people who like to throw
their weight around? (No, I
am not talking about those
fitness fanatics.) Well, do not
be cowed by their throwing
caution to the wind. Without
throwing cold water on the
problem, throw some light
on the situation in such a
way that no one throws a fit.
(Never present your ideas as
a throw-down!)
When you catch wind of
something, as you catch up on
the news of the day, be sure to
ask, “What’s the catch?”
Try not to let folks catch
you off guard or catch you
off balance. However, do not
expect to catch a break if you
are caught red-handed.
On vacation, you may
catch sight of a great beach
area on which to catch some
rays (sun). Do not overdo
it. Because if you decide to
catch some shut-eye — 40
winks or some Zs — and
then the weather changes,
you may catch a cold. Go
home; wrap up in a fleece
throw and catch up on your
rest.
Let me end by throwing
out this advice: The early
bird catches the worm, but
that diet will never catch on
for humans and may make
you throw up. (Definitely
have your kids read How to
Eat Fried Worms by Thomas
Rockwell. You will enjoy it,
too.)
Sy Manello
Editorial
Assistant
A
nother day, another
stabbing.
Doesn’t it seem like
that has become the standard
news from Israel? It’s all too
easy to fall
into the trap
of getting used
to recurring
violence and
treating it as
something
routine, starting
to think “That’s
just how it is,” and then
turning the page or changing
the channel.
But the recent stabbing in
Jerusalem, like every terrorist
attack, had unique elements
and lessons that deserve a
closer look.
Let’s start with the site of
the attack. It was on a civilian
bus, making its ordinary stops
along the streets of Israel’s
capital city. As it reached one
of them, a Palestinian Arab
man suddenly stabbed a
Jewish passenger.
Pause right there. Mideast
“experts” and J Street types
are always claiming that Jews
provoke Arab violence. How,
exactly, did this bus passenger
provoke the stabber?
The victim was not
establishing a settlement. He
wasn’t “occupying anybody.”
He wasn’t “obstructing peace.”
Civil rights activists in the
United States have coined the
term “driving while Black”
to describe unjust arrests of
African American motorists.
I guess the victim on the
Jerusalem bus didn’t realize
that to some Palestinian
Arabs, it’s a crime to ride a
bus while Jewish.
The Jerusalem Post and
other Israeli media agencies
published a photograph of the
blood-stained weapon lying
on the ground after the attack.
It was a screwdriver.
A screwdriver is not nearly
as sharp as a knife. In order
to stab somebody, the attacker
would have had to use much
more force than if he had
used a sharp blade. And, of
course, in order to carry out
any kind of stabbing attack,
the terrorist has to be within
inches of his victims.
I’m pointing this out
because it’s important to
recognize something about
the psychology of stabbers. A
terrorist who plants a bomb
in a movie theater never sees
his victims at all. A terrorist
who shoots people with a rifle
or machine gun doesn’t have
to look into the eyes of the
people he is trying to murder.
But this screwdriver terrorist
had to be right up against the
person he was stabbing.
continued on page 6
Stephen M.
Flatow
JNS.org