Q&A: A Question About a Soldier and About a Murder Victim
A Question About a Soldier and About a Murder Victim
Question
Question 1
A God-fearing soldier noticed that the morning inspections take place during prayer time, so that the religious soldiers — and anyone who decided to go pray in the synagogue on base, even if he is not exactly religious — are essentially exempt from the cleaning “thanks” to the prayer.
This seemed to him like a desecration of God’s name, and therefore he stopped coming to communal prayer with a quorum, gets up earlier, prays alone, and takes part in cleaning the bathrooms and rooms together with the secular soldiers.
- Is it proper to pray alone for the sake of helping with the cleaning?
Question 2
The murder in the U.S. — of a very famous man who influenced millions of people; they say he even had influence on the Trump administration — on the one hand he spread many lies and antisemitism, and on the other hand he defended Israel and even visited the country, etc.
Maybe he was inconsistent; maybe just confused.
- Should he be remembered favorably because he defended the State of Israel, or negatively because he was antisemitic and an enormous liar?
Answer
1. I think it is not proper to place all the cleaning duties on the secular soldiers, unless it is with their agreement. Prayer with a quorum is not a halakhic obligation, and certainly for the sake of sharing the burden and sanctifying God’s name there is room to forgo it.
2. I’ve already been asked about this far too many times. There is no real agreement here even about the facts (whether he really was antisemitic and an enormous liar or not). But assuming he had two sides to him, one can certainly appreciate what is worthy of appreciation and condemn what is worthy of condemnation. There is no reason to sum it all up and weigh it into one bottom-line conclusion. That is the role of the Holy One, blessed be He.