Confronting Evil

It's unfortunate that we are being reminded about the evil that there is in the world. We see it in Jersey City, in Pittsburgh, in Poway, a young man being beaten up in Muncie, and people getting battered in Crown Heights and in Borough Park. What should we do? There are a few things we need to do. Number one, we have to cry out. We can't just open the newspaper and say, “Oh, that's terrible.” We have to cry out to Hashem and say, “Stop, it's too much. I don't accept it. I don't want this. Please, Hashem, help us.” Number two, we should never get used to evil and say, “This is the way the world is.” We can't get used to it. We have to fight against it. That's what the Jew is about. Number three, we have to deepen our love for our fellow Jews and for Judaism. The more that we bring the Shechinah (Divine Presence) into the world, the more Hashem smiles on us, the brighter the world becomes. Number four, know that every Jewish life is a world and that too many worlds have already been destroyed. Number five, we have to build lives faster than they can destroy them: children, outreach, bringing our fellow Jews back into the fold. And number six, finally, we have to long for and practice unity. Number seven, we have to pray. I'm not saying we have to accept everything that every Jew does. There are a lot of people on the left and on the right who do things that we don't like, but accept the fact that they are Jews. And the fact that they are not doing what they're supposed to do—that's up to us to help them. We should never get used to evil. Hashem wants to bring the final redemption for us. It's up to us to pray for it, long for it, and never accept the status quo that this is the way things have to be. Pray to Hashem. And Bimheirah v'yameinu (speedily in our days), He will bring the final redemption.