Q&A: Baruch Goldstein
Baruch Goldstein
Question
Supporters of Baruch Goldstein (yes, there are such people too) claim that he received a report about a terror attack that was supposed to be carried out by one of the Arabs who was in the Cave of the Patriarchs, and therefore he went to murder the Arabs in order to prevent an attack (that’s what I heard).
If he really did receive such a report, is he actually righteous? After all, he prevented an attack that would have harmed Jews.
Even if responsibility for preventing a terror attack rests with the Shin Bet and the IDF, if someone sees that they aren’t doing anything about it, isn’t he supposed to respond?
In short, does the information Baruch Goldstein received (assuming he really did receive such information) justify what he did?
Answer
This is a general question, and it can’t be answered in such a way. It depends on what exactly the information was, whom he killed, and so on. There is certainly a law of the pursuer, and there is no need to wait for the Shin Bet if you have clear information. The question of whether the law of the pursuer applied here depends on facts that neither of us knows.