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Rabbi's Blog

rabbi 05 smallsf badge lgRabbi Joel Landau  (rabbi@adathisraelsf.org) has been the Rabbi of Adath Israel since May 2013. He was ordained by the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem and has served previously as a congregational Rabbi in Charleston, South Carolina and Irvine, California. A full biography of Rabbi Landau is available here.


On Monday night, Jews across the country walked out of the fesitval of Shavuot and into the unimagainable- a country collectively mourning the worst shooting massacre in American history and the most horrific act of terrorism on American shores since 9/11. It seems that there must be some deeper meaning to the timing of these events.  In his article, Rabbi Benjamin Blech tries to put together the pieces. 

Rabbi Blech first notes the timing of the Orlando massacre amidst the holiday of Shavuot: 

The day when a laughing killer calmly took the lives of 49 partygoers was for most people just a plain Sunday. But for Jews around the world it was the holiday of Shavuot, commemorating the most important moment in Jewish history, the day on which we received the 10 Commandments to serve as beacons of ethical and moral behavior for all of mankind. Omar Mateen, the Isis sympathizer who announced his allegiance to Islam in the midst of his killing spree, unwittingly chose the very day on which G-d first proclaimed 'Thou shalt not murder' to carry out his barbaric executions.

Through a detailed explanation of the third commandment, Rabbi Blech explains killing in the name of G-d is actually an act of taking G-d's name in vain. 

The Talmud long ago warned us of the profound meaning of the third commandment. It is commonly translated as 'Thou shalt not take the name of the L-rd thy G-d in vain.' In the original Hebrew the phrase does not read 'in vain' – it says 'to that which is vain or false.' It addresses the source of so much of man’s sin: to take G-d’s name to rationalize evil; to commit atrocities in the guise of serving a holy cause; to desecrate the very meaning of the Almighty’s goodness by distorting it into justification for cruelty and brutality; in short, to commit the ultimate crime of taking innocent human life while at the very same moment reportedly shouting Allah Akbar.

Omar Mateen committed a hate crime. Not only a crime of hate against his fellow man. Not only a crime of hate against gays. A crime of hate against G-d - a G-d Who could never countenance Omar’s actions.

And yet, Omar and all too many other Muslim extremists persist in promulgating the delusion that they are acting in a holy cause. In just the first seven days of their holy month of Ramadan, jihadists have carried out attacks in Tel Aviv, BaghdadDamascusIdlibBeirut, Orlando, and Paris..

Rabbi Blech concludes:

To me this points to an additional way in which we are meant to reflect on the Shavuot massacre; it is not only a wake-up call for greater gun control or any other political or social cause. The attack was nothing less than a spiritual desecration, a sacrilegious violation of Sinai itself. And just as at Sinai the sound of the shofar was heard, and its blast grew louder and louder, so too we must hear its message and forcefully respond to religious terrorism and to all those who threaten humanity with evil horrifyingly committed in G-d’s name.