When an institution, organization or government loses its heart and is unable to override a system of rules and regulations that it itself has created, that spells its demise.
There are many movements that started out with the right ideals. People who were truly motivated to do good and benefit mankind. But as they succeeded in developing a structure and hierarchy, the attention shifted from the ideals to the system itself—and ultimately to the power of those running the system.
The State of Israel was founded on the ideals of creating a safe and secure home for the Jewish people—a land where Jews would not have to fear persecution, pogroms and expulsions from their homes and villages. Thousands upon thousands of young Jews gave up their lives to create this home and to ensure the security of their fellow Jews.
Among all the holy souls that have lost their lives to this ideal, there are those that stand out for their awesome acts of heroism and self-sacrifice.
One of these heroes is Roi Klein.
The government of Israel is now poised to evict Roi's widow and orphaned children and expel them from their home. Without discussing the political issues involved, let's assume that this decision is legally correct. (Parenthetically, ignoring thousands of illegal Arab structures while destroying the Jewish ones is blatant discrimination, and hence illegal in any country, specifically in a Jewish homeland.) Let's also assume that in the minds of those responsible for this decision, destroying Jewish homes and expelling Jewish families will somehow increase the security of the State of Israel. Nonetheless, I believe that from a Jewish point of view, this act is unconscionable and goes against the very core of Jewish values.
Let's rewind 3,000 years, to the historic narrative when the Jews were suffering under the brutal oppression of their Egyptian overlords. One cannot imagine a more justifiable mission than the one given to Moses by G‑d Himself, to free the Jewish people.
The mission entailed breaking the stubbornness of Pharaoh's heart through ten miraculous plagues which would ultimately teach Pharaoh that defying G‑d's order to free the Jewish people was useless.
Irrespective of the importance, justice and morality of the cause, there were certain plagues that Moses was unable to perform. G‑d did not instruct Moses to strike the Nile to transform it to blood and produce the plague of frogs, nor did He instruct him to strike the earth in order to bring the plague of lice.
Why?
Because some eighty years earlier, the Nile had offered Moses' protection. As he was floating in a tiny basket within the Nile's waters, Moses was rescued by Pharaoh's daughter. The earth, too, allowed Moses to bury a cruel and vicious Egyptian task master whom he killed for brutally beating a fellow Jew.
The idea of lifting up a stick against inanimate objects that involuntarily offered Moses protection many decades earlier was simply not an option.
Not even for the most moral, justified cause. Not even for the sake of freeing his oppressed brethren from their brutal slavery. Not even for a mission that G‑d Himself had chosen him.
Roi Klein did not only offer protection to his fellow comrades in order to save their lives, but he did so at the cost of his own. He did it voluntarily. He did it with the full knowledge that his devoted wife and children will suffer the heartbreaking pain of his loss for the rest of their lives.
Roi Klein's act embodies the greatest of virtues that a human being could possibly aspire to attain.
For the government of Israel to lift up a stick against his family, and not only strike them, but actually destroy their home and expel them from their community, is simply beyond the pale of everything that Judaism stands for.
To sign the petition against the demolition of Roi's home, click here.
