Karen and I are in Dallas for a cousin’s wedding.
Flags are at half-mast all across the city.
My cousins belong to Congregation Shaare Tefilla, an Orthodox synagogue, and a spectacularly gracious and hospitable congregation. During Shabbat services, Rabbi Ariel Rackovsky read the names and ages of the five fallen Dallas police officers. The Rabbi spoke with great moral clarity about what it means to be an American, a Texan, and a Jew. We are all, he said, steeped in this arc of grief together. It was deeply moving. A moment I shall never forget.
Karen and I draw your attention to the Dallas Morning News. In a front page article, in one sentence, the core of the killer is described as “a smoldering hatred of white people.”
Such forthright honesty is refreshing.
But this is Texas where such virtues are still seen as virtues.
Death must not stop life, and so last night at the wedding, the joy was infectious.
I hope you’re right. But another way of reading it is as emphasizing “gun owner”, i.e., once again blaming the gun rather than the murderer. The narrative would be: if only he hadn’t been allowed to own a gun, there wouldn’t have been any killing.
Of course that’s a lie, given that he had accumulated explosives, and explosives are easy to make even if you’re not allowed to buy them ready-made. But it’s the leftist narrative nonetheless.
Robert,
I have written to you on occasion, and it seems that the occasions when I do are when our country is going through some period of trouble. But as I think about things, it probably is more accurate to simply say that our country has been in a period of trouble for quite some time now, and it simply is a matter of the pot boiling over once in awhile.
I came here just to see how your life was going, and was of course concerned to learn that you were in Dallas, as tensions are high there, against white people in general, and always anti-semitism is in the background. It is certainly a stark contrast when we see the tragedy of this past few days that have occurred when measured against the joyous celebration of the marriage of two young people whose lives are just starting out. That you and your dear wife Karen were able to be there and share in it is a great thing and I am sure most appreciated by everyone involved.
I pray for you and your family. I am so happy that you married the love of your life, and have been able to do what you love, and share it with so many, that I can’t help but be concerned for your welfare. Add to that the fact that you are Jewish, and so you have a built in bias against you from so very many people, and I hold you in high regards.
I will close for now, after having rambled on for quite long enough. I just wanted to drop you a line to wish you and your family safe travels, a great week, and my best to the newly married couple, may they find happiness and joy as much as you and your wife have, and may G-d bless them with many years together.
Shalom
Tim
Pigpen51:
Thanks so much for the kind note and your blessings. Right back at you.