One Year After Mumbai

On November 26, 2008, Islamic terrorists attacked Mumbai, killing over one hundred.  Yesterday, one day before the first-year anniversary of the terrorist attack, seven men of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic extremist party, had been charged with the attacks.  I remember the carnage I saw on television, hearing the horrible stories, the grief, the anguish, the anger.  What was most perturbing about these attacks was that of all places in Mumbai, these monsters happened to attack a Chabad Lubatavich house.  Considering the fact that Jews in India are not "even a blip on the screen," why go after the Chabad House? 

I have two theories about this, both of which may have a degree of overlap.  The first is that these Islamic terrorists, like all other Islamic terrorists, hate Jews.  That would make sense, given the fact that there are more than a sufficient number of Qu'ranic verses supporting that notion.  The other theory is that these people hate goodness in the world.  I think the actions of the Islamic world speak for themselves.  There are a small percentage of Muslims (i.e., 10%) who actually commit these heinous acts, but even a smaller amount actively do something to counter that.  It might be hyperbolic to say I can count them on one hand, but the lack of outrage from the Muslim community as a whole has to make me wonder if the silent majority results from fear or accord with what such terrorists do.  The threat of Radical Islam is one about which I have spoken before, and this anniversary all the more reminds me of how egregious such disregard for life can be.

How does one fight such evil?  By doing good.  It's the reason why these terrorists went after the Chabad House.  They hated what Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg stood for: being a light unto nations, a beacon of hope and goodness for the world to see.  That is why mitzvot are now more imperative in this world than ever before.  Every Jew needs to do mitzvot and acts of gemilut chasidim to counter such terror.  This evil won't be vanquished solely with military power, although it will help.  We have to show these terrorists that goodness prevails, that kindness and joy are the way to G-d, not blowing up people in the name of Allah.  On Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful to G-d that He gives me a purpose--to be a good Jew.  What does that purpose entail?  Making people aware of His oneness, but more importantly, show the world that the way to "walk in His ways" is to emulate His goodness: feed the hungry, bury the dead, give tzedakah, show hospitality, in short, treat all human beings as if they were created in His image.  Not only would that mentality defeat this innately evil ideology, but will also merit the coming of HaMoshiach, and may Moshiach come soon!