May 24, 2012

The Reason For The Recent Tragedy Is...

After the terrible tragedy of a family lost in a car accident, I kept seeing different announcements of what the "cause" of the tragedy was. I decided to make a list to keep track of the possibilities. these are the ones I have seen (in no particular order)..

  1. Rav Benayahu Shmueli says the reason is because of sinat chinam. The solution is achdus. As well, we must enter a teiva, an ark, that will protect us. The teiva today is the zohar, and everyone should learn 10 minutes of zohar each day. (kikar)
  2. Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar said the reason is because we are too busy dealing with the unimportant things of this world, such as finances, support and all the hevel of this world. When Hashem sees us busy with those things instead of worrying about our afterlife, He exacts his justice on the world (Ladaat)
  3. Rav Shteinman and Rav Chaim anievsky said the Internet is the cause of the recent tragedies. (Bechadrei)
  4. Rav Shick from Breslav said now is not the time to ask questions and to look for the cause. Now is the time to do teshuva - be more careful about keeping Shabbos properly, eating kosher, not harming others or stealing, etc.. (Kikar)
  5. Rav Sharki from Machon Meir said everything Hashem does is just and right, even when I don't understand it. the attempt to find a way to explain everything that happens is a person making himself equivalent with God. (Srugim)
  6. Rav Simcha Kook of Rehovot said everyone must do a cheshbon hanefesh to see what he needs to fix. (INN)
  7. Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger just sent out an announcement, a kol koreh, saying that we all must make a cheshbon hanefesh and see what needs to be fixed. He specifically adds that we neeed to deal better with the situation of parsha sheets in shul. People read them during davening. Gabbaim should only put them out at the end of the tefillah.





------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel
------------------------------------------------------

13 comments:

  1. Lord Garnel Ironheart decrees that the reason for the tragedy was... wait for it... someone was not paying attention while driving. The solution is to pay more attention while driving and to be less aggressive on the roads.
    Bet ya no other leader thought of that!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Someone who caresMay 24, 2012 7:12 PM

    I'm left simply speechless by how these people simply deny reality. The cause was brakes failure most likely caused by improper maintenance. If they were responsible leaders they'd simply encourage people to be more careful in making sure that their vehicles are safe and roadworthy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, that is the one thing we know is almost certainly NOT the case - the brakes had been checked a few weeks before, and the car was almost new.

      Delete
  3. One must consider the timing of this tragedy, the day of and days surrounding it. As with many of the other similar tragedies, one survives to tell everyone about the middot of the deceased family members. There s usually one mitzvah that comes shining through. The cause is physical but there is always another reason ... In Shomayim. Just my observation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some who caresMay 24, 2012 8:18 PM

      How can you observe "Shomayim"?

      Delete
  4. Does Rav Metzger always open with greetings and salvation from the mikdash (שלום וישע רב מעיר הקודש והמקדש)?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rav Show Me the Money SaysMay 24, 2012 9:36 PM

    It's because people don't give enough to Kupat Ha'ir

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I can't stand this.

    The REAL reason is because of the idiotic Rabbis (like these perhaps) that can think of every cockamamie reason, yet when it's time to maintain the car properly, or drive carefully, or not overload the vehicle, or any other safety related issue simply say "everything is in the hands of God".

    Sorry, properly maintaining your car and driving safely IS NOT in the hands of God, it is in YOUR hands. It's the very reason that God gave you a brain and hands!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sorry, I don't agree with your criticism of some of these comments.

    There is a big difference between saying "the tragedy was caused by X" (like the first 3 examples), and says "We don't know why it happened, but now is a good time for us to do Tshuva or improve work on specific Midot" (which is what the others said).

    And in response to comments about driving habits, the accident was caused by a car malfunction, even though the car had passed inspection 3 months ago. I'm sure the investigation will focus on the car manufacturer, and the testing agency that certified the car 3 months 9incluidng a test of the breaks). Blaming the driver in this case is as silly as blaming the Internet, but more offensive.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Let's assume for the sake of argument that this terrible accident was completely unavoidable, and cannot be blamed on improper car maintenance and the like. Nevertheless, we are called to engage in cheshbon hanefesh and teshuvah. While we cannot know the reason for the tragedy, we have to take our best guess...

    My personal guess is that the religious public is extremely lax when it comes to driving safety, speeding, tailgating, seat belts, car seats and boosters for children, etc. When there is a terrible car accident, it makes sense to assume - as best as human beings can assume anything about things like this - that Hashem's message is that we are guilty of putting people's lives and our own in danger when we are reckless in our driving habits.

    Again, I do not want to imply that this family could have done anything differently. But if there is a message, it seems to make more sense to have it somewhat connected to what happened, rather than blaming some other aveira. If someone's computer blew up and chas v'shalom killed someone, I would say we need to do cheshbon hanefesh about internet usage. In this case, we need cheshbon hanefesh about driving safety.

    And yes, I believe b'emunah shleima that driving safety is 100% a Halachic issue of great import.

    (I also suggest that this is a message to the religious public per se not because non-religious people are necessarily careful, but they probably wouldn't be listening to the message, anyway.)

    ReplyDelete
  10. The reason for the recent tragedy is because of rabbis who decree they know what the reason is for recent tragedies.

    ReplyDelete