When Comments Become Harder Than Bullets

Jan 29
2 min read

Today I read about an attack on the Chabad headquarters in New York.A car was driven into a Jewish building. Fear. Shock. Trauma.

I know that in these times it is incredibly difficult. There is tension in the air. Antisemitism is growing visibly. For Jews around the world, vigilance is no longer abstract; it has become part of daily life.

Precisely for that reason, it was not only the images of the attack that affected me, but especially the reactions beneath the videos.

“Why isn’t he shot dead?” “All that was missing was him screaming about Allah.” “I bet the mayor will personally shake his hand.”

Sentences typed carelessly, yet loaded with hatred, mockery, and dehumanization.

What is happening here goes beyond anger. This is cynicism reducing human lives to caricatures. This is collective punishment expressed in words. This is the moment when fear turns into moral decay.

The Torah and Noahide ethics as well teach something that feels radical today: Justice is not revenge. Justice does not mean abandoning our humanity when things become tense.

That does not mean evil is excused. It means justice must never be replaced by bloodlust.

When people call for the death of a suspect under videos, or mock and demonize entire groups of people, they are not seeking safety or justice. They are revealing a heart that has closed itself off in order not to feel.

And yes, I understand where the tension comes from. I understand the fear. I understand the pain of Jewish communities who increasingly feel under attack.

But that is precisely when the question must be asked: are we becoming what we fear?

A society that answers violence with words that long for deathloses something sacred: the awareness that every human being is created in the image of the Creator.

That I find this painful to read does not mean I am naïve. It means I refuse to become numb.

Because the moment words stop hurting us, the soul has already begun to harden.

Perhaps our task in this time is not to shout louder, but to remain human. Especially when that is hardest.

Written by Sarah The Road of Emunah

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