T’ruah condemns Sunday’s shooting at Pamela Geller’s anti-Islam cartoon event in Richardson, Texas, and sends prayers for recovery to those who were wounded. While Geller’s event was offensive and hateful, no amount of offense justifies attempts to take the life of another human being.
Geller’s hateful messages may be protected under our laws, but we strongly condemn any who think violence is the way to counteract it. In the Jewish tradition, lashon hara (“evil speech”) is forbidden, and causing embarrassment is considered to be a form of killing, but the Jewish criminal system does not actually prosecute lashon hara as murder. The actual spilling of blood can never be excused. We believe that the best response to hate is more education and more love, and never violence.
We are grateful for the quick action of the police officers who risked their lives to protect their community. We send prayers for healing also to the Muslim community in Richardson, which is already fearing revenge attacks, despite the fact that the shooters were from out of state and had no connection to the local community. Our American Muslim neighbors should not be treated as collectively responsible for the actions of individual criminals.
We are commanded to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), and grateful to live in a place where our neighbors are Jews and Muslims, Christians and atheists. May the day come soon when there will be no more violence, and when the news is filled with people who love their neighbors.