April 30, 1999/14 Iyar 5759, Vol. 51, No.31
Seeking solaceEditorialIt is too soon, much too soon, for the enormity of the tragedy at Littleton to sink in.Fifteen dead, many more wounded. A school, a haven of safety and security, of learning and growing, now blood-splattered and bullet-riddled. Two teenagers, among the dead, implicated in the rampage. Exposed, their tragic lives blown apart for all to see; their families, their friends, their dress, their music, their games scrutinized. Looking for clues. Looking for explanations. What happened? What went wrong? The accusers. Pointing fingers. Assigning blame to the parents, the school administrators, the National Rifle Association, the police, the Internet. In our inability to comprehend the incomprehensible, we flail wildly, casting blame indiscriminately at something, at everything. Yet, even as the police uncover the grisly videotapes of the carnage and details of the plan, and as we hear of alienated youth caught up in twisted ideologies, there will be few really helpful answers. For what we seek is solace and peace, and that will only come from redoubled efforts to engender such peace at home. We must strengthen our families and communities. Make time for our children. Talk to them. Listen to them. Guide them. Encourage them. Praise them. Give them a sense of rootedness. Teach them who they are - in our homes, in our schools, our summer camps and youth group programs - so that our children will never feel they are outcasts. Send them to Israel to experience the age-old ties to our land and our people. Support our communal institutions: our synagogues, our Jewish day schools and preschools, our Jewish federation and its agencies, our voluntary organizations. Write checks and share time, to sustain the points of connection that affirm our identity and bring us together. There is no way to explain last week's violence, no way to put all the pieces together in a neat puzzle. But we can each resolve to repair our little corner of the world, by creating connectedness and belonging in our own homes and in our communities. |
