A Halachic Response to the Murder of Naftali, Gilad, and Eyal

On June 12th, three Israeli boys went missing: Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar, both aged 16, and 19-year-old Eyal Yifrach. They were kidnapped while hitchhiking for a ride home - allegedly by Hamas operatives. For three weeks Israel searched in vain for the captives.

Today we received the terrible news that the bodies of the three boys were found in a shallow grave near Hebron. The precise details surrounding their murder are not fully known. The Jewish people are in a state of shock, mourning, and rage. The world waits with bated breath to see what Israel will do to avenge the loss of its sons.

It is especially at times like these that we must look to halacha for guidance. Rambam writes in Hilchos Avel 13:12: 

Any person who does not mourn as the Sages commanded is achzari (lit. "cruel" or "indifferent"). Rather, he should be fearful and worried and should examine his deeds and return in teshuvah (repentance). If a member of one's chavurah (social group) dies, the entire chavurah should worry [in the aforementioned manner]. 

For the first three days, one should see himself as though a sword is resting on his shoulder. From three days until seven days, [he should view it as though the sword is] waiting in the corner. From then and on, [he should view it as though the sword is] passing before him in the marketplace. All of this is so that a person should prepare himself to return [in teshuvah] and awaken from his slumber, for it is written, "You have stricken them, but they have not felt sickened" (Yirmiyahu 5:3). The implication is that one should awaken and tremble.

While we may not have known these boys personally, the overwhelming outcry of the Jewish people around the world during the search is evidence of how many people identified with their plight. To the extent that their death impacts us, this halacha applies. 

A question one might harbor but be hesitant to ask is: "What kind of teshuvah am I supposed to do? I mean, is halacha suggesting that I react to the deaths of our fellow Jews by increasing my vigilance in lighting Shabbos candles? Should I take it upon myself to learn extra mishnayos each day? Should I start keeping cholov Yisrael? Should I stop relying on the local eiruv? Should I stop watching rated-R movies?" 

While it is true that all teshuvah is good at any time, I'm not quite sure that the aforementioned examples of teshuvah are what Hilchos Avel 13:12 is referring to. Rather, the type of teshuvah that the halacha is talking about is clear from the context of the pasuk cited by the Rambam: 

Walk about in the streets of Yerushalayim, see now and know, and search out its plazas; if you will find a [real] man - if there is one who does justice and seeks truth - then I will forgive her (i.e. the city of Yerushalayim). And even if they say, "[I swear,] as Hashem lives!" they will surely be swearing falsely. Hashem, are Your eyes not toward truth? You have stricken them, but they have not felt sickened; You have [nearly] annihilated them, but they have refused to accept discipline. They made their countenances harder than rock; they refused to repent (Yirmiyahu 5:1-3).

Doing justice and seeking truth - these are the personal qualities that the navi urges us to cultivate through our teshuvah in the wake of tragedies like these. When our brethren are slaughtered by evildoers, and halacha urges us to worry about our deeds, to awaken ourselves from egocentric slumber of complacency, and to tremble in self-reflection which leads to teshuvah, it is with the goal of becoming "a [real] man - one who does justice and seeks truth." 

To reiterate: it is certainly appropriate to do teshuvah for all of our actions which can be corrected - from the most major aveiros (transgressions) to the smallest halachic minutiae. However, if the ultimate extent of our teshuvah is merely a renewed commitment to the observance of technical halacha, but our inner orientation towards truth and justice remain unchanged, then we have missed the point. Yeshayahu ha'Navi condemns this surface-level "token teshuvah" again and again:

They pretend to seek Me every day and desire to know My ways, like a nation that acts righteously and has not forsaken the justice of its God; they inquire of Me about the laws of justice as if they desire the nearness of God, [asking,] "Why did we fast and You did not see? Why did we afflict our souls and You did not know?" Behold - on your fast day you seek out personal gain and you extort all your debts. Because you fast for grievance and strife, to strike [each other] with a wicked fist; you do not fast as befits this day, to make your voice heard above. Can such be the fast I choose, a day when man merely afflicts himself? Can it be merely bowing one's head like a bulrush and spreading [a mattress of] sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast and a day of favor to Hashem? Surely, this is the fast I choose: To break open the shackles of wickedness, to undo the bonds of injustice, and to let the oppressed go free, and annul all perversion [of justice]. Surely you should break your bread for the hungry, and bring the moaning poor [to your home]; when you see a naked person, clothe him; and do not hide yourself from your kin. Then your light will burst out like the dawn and your healing will speedily sprout; your righteous deed will precede you and the glory of Hashem will gather you in. Then you will call and Hashem will respond; you will cry out and He will say, "Here I am!" If you remove from your midst perversion [of justice], finger-pointing, and evil speech, and offer your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul; then your light will shine [even] in the darkness, and your deepest gloom will be like the noon.

Do justice, and seek truth. Nothing can undo the horrific tragedy that has transpired, but if we - as a people - move past this event unchanged, then the deaths of Naftali, Gilad, and Eyal will have been in vain. 

May their souls rest in peace, and may our neshamos have an aliyah.

Baruch Dayan ha'Emes. Hashem yikom damam.

Blessed is the True Judge. May Hashem avenge their blood.