Since
the terrorist attacks in France last week, I keep waiting for" the other
shoe to drop." I'm waiting for the backlash against Muslims. In fact, last
Sunday the Dallas Morning News had an
article called, "Muslims Wait and
Worry." Mosques across France have been hit by bullets or small
explosive devices. Many have been defaced by racist graffiti. Fire bombings and
marches against the Islamization of Europe. Muslim individuals report daily
insults and attacks in the streets. The news is also filled with stories
of all the violence which Muslims are perpetrating upon one another.
Does
"Allah" Value murder, rape, kidnapping, using 10 year old children as
suicide bombers? Probably not! The Muslim community needs to separate
themselves from these actions. Hassen Farsadu, the president of the Union of
Muslim Associations in France said, "The
terrorist attacks were a despicable, criminal act, which we condemn utterly.
But it's the rest of us who are paying the bill and we fear it will be a
problem in the future. The Muslim community is very afraid."
Oliver
Roy, an expert on Political Islam and a professor at the European University
Institute said, "What needs to
happen is that the Muslim elites who are representative of the broader Muslim
population in all its diversity must speak out." If acts of violence,
terror and injustice are not the "values"
you hold, then show the world, show the Muslim world! Don't only condemn these
actions, do everything you can to prevent them. Otherwise violence will follow
violence in a vicious never ending cycle. I understand that there must be many
Muslim communities that are literally living in fear of reprisals for speaking
out and acting against extremist actions, but silence is agreement and consent!
And you know that for every violent act committed, there will be violent
consequences and reactions.
The
concepts of TOV and RA are given in Genesis 2. In that
account, the contextual meaning of RA, the Hebrew word for “evil” means, “Thoughts, Words and Acts which Destroy Life,
Threaten Life, Make Life Less Functional and Decrease the Quality of Life.”
TOV, the Hebrew word for Good, in
Genesis 1, is contextually defined as “Thoughts,
Words and Acts which Protect Life, Preserve Life, Make Life More Functional and
Increase the Quality of Life.” The TOV appears 7 times in Genesis 1 and any
Hebrew word that appears seven times in a context means the author thought it
was a very important word. TOV is the Creator’s Standard – He used it to
measure His actions.
What
would happen if everyone began using the TOV
Standard instead of the very subjective words “good” and “evil”? There
would be no doubt that acts like those done by radical Muslims in France would
measure RA because they destroyed life. There
is nothing subjective about what they did!
Of
course, tobacco corporations targeting kids for their deadly products or fast
food corporations intentionally creating foods that are addictive and harmful to
human health would also measure RA by the Creator’s TOV Standard – and there is nothing subjective about that
either!
What
is the highest value and top priority of the Creator in the Torah? The answer
is -- Life!
What are your
"God’s Values?”
Do TOV, Choose
Life, and use the TOV Standard!
Rabbi
Jeffrey Leynor
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