The Short Vort
Good Morning!

Today is the 19 of Menachem-Av 5779 And August 20, 2019

Yesterday marked the 90th Yahrzeit of the Hebron Massacre when 67 Jews were brutally murdered.
Of the Jews killed, 59 died during the rioting and 8 more later succumbed to their wounds. They included a dozen women and three children under the age of five.
Twenty-four of the victims were students from the Hebron yeshiva, seven of whom were American or Canadian.
The bodies of 57 Jewish victims were buried in mass graves by Arabs.
58 are thought to have been injured, including many women and children.
One estimate put the figure at 49 seriously and 17 slightly wounded.
A letter from the Jews of Hebron to the High Commissioner described cases of torture, mutilation and rape.
It signified the end of the Jewish presence in Hebron for 38 years.
When the riots started, representatives of the Arabs came to Rabbi Slonim, with a proposal: if he allowed them to kill 70 students from the yeshiva in Hebron, they would not kill the other Ashkenazim or the Sephardim.
Rabbi Slonim told them, "We Jews are all one people."
He was the first person to be killed in the riots.
During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel liberated Hebron when it captured the West Bank from Jordan.
Residents, terrified that Israeli soldiers might massacre them in retaliation for the events of 1929, waved white flags from their homes and voluntarily turned in their weapons.
Not one Arab was touched by any Jew.
We do not kill those who were not guiltily.
Subsequently, Jews settled in Hebron as part of Israel's settlement program, and the Committee of the Jewish Community of Hebron was established as the municipal body of the settlers.
Today, about 500–800 Jews live in the city's old quarter.
The massacre was horrific and brutal, however, a great lesson was learned.
Rabbi Jacob Joseph Slonim, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Hebron, stated that after his Arab acquaintances had informed him that local hooligans intended to attack the Yeshivah.
He had gone to ask for protection from District Officer Abdullah Kardus, but was denied an audience with him.
Later on after being attacked in the street, he had approached the British chief of police, but Captain Cafferata refused to take any measures, telling him that "the Jews deserve it, you are the cause of all troubles."
From incidents and responses such as these, the Jews realized:
יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּטַח בַּה׳ עֶזְרָם וּמָגִנָּם הוּא
“The Jewish people (can only) trust in HaShem
He is their help and their shield.”
Tehillim 115:9
Thankfully, we now have brave Jewish soldiers who with the help of HaShem protect us.
May HaShem continue to protect His people and His holy soldiers as we are alive to experience:
וְשָׁבוּ בָנִים לִגְב
“your children will return to their own land”
Yirmiyahu 31:16
May HaShem in His kindness return ALL of His children to their land.

“If not now- then when”?- Hillel
Ron Yitzchok Eisenman
Rabbi, Congregation Ahavas Israel
Passaic, NJ