"A Terrible Morning with Catastrophic News": How to Respond to this Awful Tragedy?

"A long and dreadful night has passed for us all. In a moment, joy and happiness turned into mourning and grief, and from scenes of celebration and uplifting dances of yearning and devotion, we shifted to realms of loss and fear," begins Rabbi Eliyahu Lapin, one of the rabbis of Mir Yeshiva, in his words following the terrifying disaster.

"The verses of accepting the yoke of heaven said so fervently before the lighting at the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai were essentially the last 'Sh'ma Yisrael' call for dozens of holy and pure Jews who were suffocated and trampled to death moments later.

"A dread of death has fallen on so many homes in Israel. A gripping worry of the unknown, a fear for the safety of hundreds and thousands of husbands, sons, brothers, with whom contact was lost. And a terrible morning with catastrophic news heading towards dozens of families. Before the extent and implications of the disaster were even known, many widows, orphans, bereaved parents, and siblings join this circle of destruction within these hours.

"Who did all this to us?", exclaims Rabbi Lapin. "The shocking and chilling documentation of the last moments in the corridor of death, hearing desperate cries of dozens yearning for a breath of air and pleading with outstretched hands to unblock the tragic barrier placed at the entrance of the corridor, and the thought of the dozens trampled where the unblocking came too late, all these might lead us away from the proper reference to this horrific tragedy."

"The ability 'to find the guilty,' which technology supposedly offers us, directs us to the wrong place," calls Rabbi Lapin. "Hashem was there! He orchestrated who was destined to be there. He decided who would live and who would die, who would manage to breathe despite the immense pressure, and who would not survive the crush and be trampled. Everything was conducted according to a terrible, dreadful plan of 'justice' that no human can comprehend."

Rabbi Lapin adds and notes that many years ago, near the town of Mir in Europe, a taxi fell from a bridge into the river, and all its passengers drowned. The great rabbi, Reb Yerucham of Mir, told his students that, viewed from a faith perspective, one doesn't say everyone in the vehicle drowned. Instead, Hashem gathered seven people destined to drown and brought them into one car.

"This is the view Hashem asks of us, do not employ the technicalities, do not engage with the 'how,' look to me, for I bring death and life, I wound and I heal," continues Rabbi Lapin. "And in the long and narrow corridor, at the mouth of Sheol, the verse from the weekly parasha, 'and I shall be sanctified among the children of Israel,' was fulfilled.

"May the strengthening in pure and simple faith be a merit for the elevation of the souls of the holy and pure sons at the sanctum of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and for the healing of the many wounded among the other sick of Israel," concludes Rabbi Lapin.