Q&A: The Meron Disaster
The Meron Disaster
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi,
I hear the statements of those affected by the Meron disaster, some of whom lost children, and the mantra keeps recurring that this was God’s will and a decree; some even went so far as to say these are signs of redemption and find support for that in the Zohar…. To me it is obvious that there is no decree here and no sign at all, only the pure result of organizational and safety negligence, stemming in part from the hostile attitude of some Haredim toward the state and the police.
What do you think?
Thank you
Answer
I completely agree with the first part, and I have written this more than once. In their view, there is no contradiction between claims of human negligence and attributing everything to the Holy One, blessed be He. That is a logical nonsense, as I have explained more than once.
The alienation from the state and its institutions is a different issue. It should not be mixed together with the previous debate.
Discussion on Answer
For further reading, see the articles: “The officers came with fire in their eyes,” “Yitzhak was there: ‘I told the policeman…'”, “The procedures are already written – all that’s needed is an implementing body” – all three on the Arutz 7 website.
Best regards, S.Tz.
The cause of the disaster was the slipping of those exiting at the narrow, steep opening that was the only exit the police allowed from the bonfire-lighting area of Toldot Aharon. The people who slipped and fell onto the crowd that was in the area, and a deadly human collapse was created.
People turned to the police forces and begged them to remove the unnecessary barrier that created an unnecessary bottleneck, and were refused; this bottleneck was seemingly preventable.
A dense gathering of hundreds of thousands in Meron has already existed for decades and no disaster occurred. The security forces are supposed to study the terrain and the expected event and conduct themselves accordingly. If they know that masses stream at midnight to the bonfire-lighting of Rabbi Aharalech, they should make sure not to block the exit.
With the blessing, “Open the gates,” S.Tz.