A Soulful Journey

Shortly after World War II, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, who became the first President of Israel, visited the concentration camps of Eastern Europe.   He saw emaciated bodies, squalid living quarters, even scratch marks on the walls which helped inmates count the number of days spent in that hell upon earth.   Moved and angered by what they witnessed, some of the people who accompanied Dr. Weizmann turned to him and said: “Dr. Weizmann, what are we going to do about this?   How shall we Jews get our revenge on these beasts who perpetrated such crimes?” Dr. Weizmann answered: “The Jews do not seek revenge. The Jews build.”  - Rabbi Louis Tuchman

"He who sheds human blood, humans will his blood be shed" (Genesis 9:6).  "He who would shed human blood" is not only about punishment but prevention as the sacred text means only if there is no other way to stop the potential murder. - Sanhedrin 72b Our task is ultimately about justice, not revenge.  While we may be angry to the point of fury, we must never lose sight of the sacred call to justice.

A samurai or Japanese solider had the duty of avenging the murder of his lord.   When the samurai cornered the man who had committed the murder and was about to plunge his sword into him, the man in the corner – in all his terror – spat in the warrior’s face.   The samurai sheathed his sword and walked away.   He was angry.   Now had the warrior killed him it would have been a personal act rather than an impersonal act of vengeance.   –Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth May it be our deepest wish that we banish thoughts of hurting another for the sole purpose of avenging our ego.