I was in Manhattan when news broke of the shooting at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem last year. I was walking along Central Park South and saw the news on a CNN news ticker on a building I was passing. It was hard to make sense of the news in that context, but in what context would it be any easier to understand what happened?

A Palestinian gunman infiltrated the school, burst into the library and opened fire at the children studying there. Eight boys were killed and 11 other students wounded.

It was a sickening and shocking attack – or at least it was for civilized people. Palestinians celebrated on the streets of Gaza, firing rifles into the air. Prominent Palestinian newspapers honoured the killer and Hamas described him as “heroic”. In a major poll taken two weeks later,  84 per cent of ordinary Palestinians polled said they supported the killings.

A year on, we remember the dead. As I wrote earlier this month, there are initiatives connected to the anniversary which are well worth supporting, including one that encourages a day of good deeds in memory of the boys. Please take a look.

The purely righteous do not complain about evil, rather they add justice.
They do not complain about heresy, rather they add faith.
They do not complain about ignorance, rather they add wisdom.
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, founder of the Mercaz HaRav