I am not yet ready to think about Leiby or his family.
After perusing the frum blogs and hearing the rumblings within our community I must respond with the following: There is nothing that this situation calls to our attention. There is nothing that this situation teaches us about how we care for our children. No Mussar lesson, no lesson in Emunah or Bitachon. No extorting people to do Teshuvah. Yes we need to be careful and we need to teach our children about safety, and we all have to try an be better in our lives. But this travesty is way beyond the comprehension and has no connection to our daily lives. And even so, we are certainly not ready to begin discussing lessons learned, Mussar, Emunah and Bitachon. We need to be human and allow ourselves to experience the raw pain of having a member of our own community, a man with a Neshoma commit the most atrocious act on an innocent boy, another Neshoma. No one can fathom this craziness. It is above and beyond any atrocities we have ever been exposed to. Theft, adultery, drug abuse, even child molestation do not enter the realm of this monstrosity. The dismemberment of a child, compounded by the fact that the murderer has a Neshoma can only be categorized as Ra- evil. I don't think, especially this soon in the game, it is appropriate to compare any of the other maladies in our lives and community to this. It is almost impossible to wrap our minds around this evil.
The only thing appropriate right now is tears.
Yes, the stigma of mental health might have contributed to years of sick fetishistic fantasies to fester within this murderer's mind and heart and we could shout form the rooftop how this guy might have gotten help years ago had mental health not been so stigmatized in our community. Yes, he might have been molested himself and therefore acted out his pain by committing this gross offense against us a people and against society at large. All of this might be true but when we get lost in the gossip we lose sight of the bigger picture.
The only thing appropriate right now is tears.
I am not a history buff but after perusing my knowledge, my memory, the Kinnus we say on Tisha Ba'Av and discussing this with a few people I conclude that our community has never experienced this type of evil from within. Yes there are rotzchim, killers in the form of Rabbonim who sanction abusive relationships, parents who cover up sexual molestation, mechanchim who try and stuff their students into small robotic boxes, internet and sex addicts who rip their families apart etc... but murder? Chopping another frum boy's body up with a butcher knife and cutting board? That is sick.
The only thing appropriate right now is tears.
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