Jameel from the Muqata blog recently attended the funeral in Shomron of IDF soldier, Captain Benia Rein, 27, who was killed this past Saturday night in Lebanon. His Mother eulogized him as follows:
“Although my voice is breaking, and I’m crying now — I turn to you, soldiers and officers of the IDF, and say, “Be Strong…be Brave…and continue the mission you were given, to protect our country and kill our enemies. Thought I am crying, do not despair, do not break, but as Benia would have wanted, go back, back to the front lines…and decimate our enemies. We will not be broken by Benia’s death, but will continue to be pioneers, continue to have joyous occasions, continue to build the land…and we will continue to do all these things…”Bigadol” (in a big way).
See? It doesn’t matter who you are. Once you are physically present within the territory controlled by Israel, your fate is inextricably linked to that of everyone else’s – Settlers, Arabs, peace activists, Haredim, Christians, tourists etc. One thing this war has brought home is that we are all thus bound. Hizballah can rain Katyushas on us and Islamic Jihad can fire off Kassams, the Arab world can celebrate yet another useless “victory.” It don’t matter none because our hearts and spirits and determination to live, thrive and prosper continue unbroken. You see this on the street, in conversation with cab and bus drivers, in hummusiyas, everywhere, even in the words of a Mother tearfully burying her beloved child.
Their lil’ bo peep rockets may have done some physical harm but they’ve hardly made a dent in this country’s spirit. I hope the cease fire lasts and that the border stays quiet, but if it doesn’t, Israel’s recently taken delivery of some handy bunker busters (finally!). Just sayin…
Read the rest of Jameels’s post on the funeral. Our condolences to the Rein family.
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Why?
TM: Nice. I hope you can expand on this when you have the time.
I don’t have time to post today, but in short, David Smith is completely off the mark on this issue, IMO.
Duly noted. I wasn’t trying to make a political statement. As long as I’m here though, what’s your take on this notion that Benia Rein’s Mom is no different than the typical mother of an Islamic Jihad martyr? Just curious.
ck, Ephraim, who seems to be missing these days, once convinced me that East shouldn’t be capitalized when referring to east Jerusalem.
david smith: Your interpretation is a little off. Benia’s mother did not revel in murder. Given a choice, I am certain she’d much rather have her boy by her side rather than dead and buried. Her’s was not a bloodthirsty call to arms, but a selfless exhortation to continue in the defense of the land and the people within it. Judaism is not a religion of pacifism. When one rises to kill you, you MUST defend yourself. Benia’s mother just didn’t want her tears and grief to be an impediment to others charged with the task of defending the country. Comparing the grieving mother of a fallen soldier to the exhultant mother of a glorious martyr seems off and a tad mean spirited.
Your use of the terms “filthy savages” and other descriptors with reference to Palestinians are your own. The implication that I believe these things to be true is erroneous. To say the least.
My use of the term “territory controlled by Israel” was an attempt to avoid making a political statement. For instance, the Italian peace activist was murdered in
Eeast Jerusalem – despite the fact that we didn’t see eye to eye politically he suffered a fate that could have easily befallen any of us here. Think about it for a seccond, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.As for Uri Grossman, I mourn all of Israel’s deaths. In fact, I mourn all senseless deaths in the region. TM’s post more than adequately covered the subject. For you to infer anything from that implies that maybe you think Jewlicious is my full time job. It isn’t. Just so you know.
I hope my explanations have helped control the bile rising in your throat. I would urge you next time to be a little less presumptuous.
It don’t matter none because our hearts and spirits and determination to live, thrive and prosper continue unbroken.
Oh, God, I can only marvel at the stoicism, the bravery, the raw courage, as ck taps out the letters on the keyboard through his tears, fighting back a swelling ocean of grief. Oh, the humanity! It’s. . .just. . .so . . . beauuuutiful.
You see this on the street, in conversation with cab and bus drivers, in hummusiyas, everywhere, even in the words of a Mother tearfully burying her beloved child.
Oh, yes, the inspiring words and ineffable grief of a mother burying her child! What could possible be more beautiful and moving than a mother summarizing the meaning of her dead child’s life with the exhortation, “kill our enemies,†“decimate our enemies,†Kill…..kill…..KILL.! Funny, but it kind of reminds me of something else; yes, it sounds just like the mothers of suicide bombers who proudly declare their children’s martyrdom, claiming their deaths to have been necessary and worthwhile. Oh, but wait, that can’t be right, can it? Because those mothers are filthy savages, whose words are evidence of Arabs’ lack of humanity, of the fact that Palestinians are inculcated from birth with a murderous hatred of Jews. Wow, could it possibly be that the death of a child transforms grief into some kind of twisted hatred for mothers in all cultures? No, that can’t be it; I’m sure it’s just that, when it comes to Palestinians, life is cheap.
Once you are physically present within the territory controlled by Israel, your fate is inextricably linked to that of everyone else’s – Settlers, Arabs, peace activists, Haredim, Christians, tourists etc. One thing this war has brought home is that we are all thus bound.
Now that’s a rather fascinating locution, isn’t it? Most people would likely describe it as the. . .country of Israel, or the nation of Israel, or the homeland of Israel. But for ck, all this beautiful unity comes together in the territory controlled by Israel. Ahhhh, well it appears that just a teensy, weensy bit of political ideology managed to squeeze it’s way in between the eddies of ck’s cascading river of tears.
So, we have “settlers, Arabs, peace activists, Haredim, and Christians,†all united in peace and harmony. What’s so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding, indeed! Still, all this brotherhood kind of makes me wonder which group it was that was spitting all over Uri Grossman’s grave, as described by TM in A Cancer of Hate two days before this post. Well, I’m absolutely certain that it was only the crippling intensity of ck’s grief that kept him from indignantly denouncing whoever was responsible for that obscenity, and that it was sheer coincidence that his feelings stayed tightly bottled up until there was a funeral for a dead soldier in the territory controlled by Israel, this one with mourners whose heads were wrapped in big, lovely, hand-knitted kippahs.
This is not to say out-of-control bad moral behavior cannot destroy a nation. But again, by practical reasons, not supernatural ones. By slowly bankrupting it with huge social costs as a result of crime, disease and fatherless-motherless maladjusted children.
The practical value of religion is the moral teachings they past along to new generation via a collection of ancient writings consolidated into ‘bibles’ from past wise men in their tribes.
Not the supernatural stuff that cause future generation to believe and behave in sometimes outrageous ways.
Actually Gene, it is those obsessed with the rightousness of their religion, to the point of trying to convert or kill, that Israel and others are having to fight against for their survival. against.
Oh, and no G-d didn’t destroy New Orleans with a flood for its sins. A regular natural occurrence that happens on a regular basis and alway has and always will and we always knew the risk, did.
Gene,
Read Roman’s 3:9-18 in the context of John 8:7. Are you aware of the concept of Lashon Harah and how that’s a sin against God? Think about it the next time you post something vitriolic.
You better think about where you can move to away from the Middle East.
G_d has forsaken your people. In every other war Israel has been in since 1948 G_d has blessed your people with miracles to help you win, but not this war.
Why?
I believe it’s because of the tolerance that has been seen in your nation for homosexuality, BSDM, and other immoral behavior.
Chronicles 24:20
New International Version (NIV)
20 Then the Spirit of G_d came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what G_d says: ‘Why do you disobey the LORD’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’
When I flew to Israel for the first time we were all lining up to get on the airplane, and a little old lady was standing near me, as if she wasn’t sure where the line was. I offered to let her go in front of me, and she said something to me in Yiddish. I asked her what it meant. She shrugged, smiled, and said “We’re all bound by the same string”.
This mother is heartbreaking courageous. She and her son who gives his life for Israel have all my respect.
Those were passionate words by this mother. I’m sure her son would have wanted Israel to not despair and to keep the spirit strong.