Dec 19, 2017

destroying Rav Shteinman's grave

According to a report on Haredim10, students went to the grave of Rav Shteinman at the conclusion of the shiva only to discover that the temporary headstone on the grave had been smashed and defaced.

I am not one to say every person, even if just every person in the Haredi community, has to follow one specific rav, gadol hador or not. You don't like this rav's approach, follow a different rav.

Destroying a headstone on a grave is not quite the same thing as not following a specific rav. You can disagree with the rav, you can dislike his approach on this or that matter. The greatest anti-semites in history have defaced and destroyed Jewish gravestones. Real haters destroy gravestones (whether Jewish or not).

One is allowed to disagree without turning it into hatred and vandalism and even anti-semitism. You don't like Rav Shteinman or wan to honor hsi memory - don't go visit his grave, don't learn in his memory, don't participate in events to commemorate his death... but don't destroy his grave . That is beyond the pale.



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

3 comments:

  1. Your comments are lacking outrage. In any case, what punishment would you recommend for the person who did this?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I dont know. I dont write the laws and I do not know how to determine appropriate punishment. I guess they deserve some sort of flogging, but I don't think we do that anymore - at least not in Western-oriented countries..I am sure there is some law that deals with this and if the person/people gets caught, they should be punished with whatever the law stipulates.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If they ever catch this criminal, they should put him away for years. Desecration of a meis in any way is not only against all human ethics (especially Torah) and especially when it is a big tzadik is an abomination. Those who insanely worship their own leaders and rabbis but shame in any way publicly other great rabbis and tzadikim are literally criminals.

    ReplyDelete