Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday morning visited to’eva headquarters on Nachmani Street in Tel Aviv following motzei shabbos’ fatal shooting attack that claimed two lives, leaving others injured. Seven victims remain hospitalized, with two listed in serious condition.
Making the situation surrounding the injuries even more complicated is the fact that most of the parents of the hospitalized victims were unaware of their to’eva lifestyle of their children, only learning of the harsh reality when informed of the injuries as a result of their presence at the time of the shooting.
The prime minister’s visit was conducted under extremely heavy security arrangements, and members of the media were distanced, compelled to wait about 2 blocks away.
Israel Police Chief Dudi Cohen was also present, as were a number of other ministers and senior officials on the national and local level.
Mike Hammer, a spokesman for the to’eva community expressed his appreciation for the high-level visit on Thursday, adding this and President Shimon Peres’ planned participation in a motzei shabbos rally add legitimacy to their community, perhaps acts that will broaden general acceptance.
A court gag order prohibits the release of any details of the ongoing investigation into the shooting attack in which an assailant dressed in black entered the to’eva club and opened fire indiscriminately with an automatic weapon, then fleeing the scene.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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16 Responses
YW, you still don’t get it, do you? In the original story about this attack, it was good to see how many people realize that it is not the people, nor the urge, that is a “toeiva”, it is an act.
Unless you’ve been in the bedroom of each person at this community center, it is highly inappropriate to go around labeling it a “toeiva center” and labeling the people a “toeiva community.” Dan l’kav zchus is NOT a matter of convenience.
Everyone loves to bemoan the fact that more people seem to be leaving Judaism, and that there are more intermarriages. Has it ever crossed anyone’s mind that this type of unbridled, illogical hatred towards other people is what turns them off? Nobody is saying to condone anything against the Torah; but some modicum of respect, ESPECIALLY when people are dead, is called for.
How many of those parents and relatives are Charedi? That some of them will not visit their own wounded children in hospital tells me that there were young Charedim in “the word that cannot be mentioned on YWN” club that night.
Respect for what?
casualobserver,
You don’t get it?
The community is named by it’s members as the community of these “acts”, so since that act is a Toeiva, as you said, it’s most appropriate to replace the name of the act/community as “Toeiva”. This is what they stand for.
You can see how the PM visiting them without any intention to give them legitimacy, but just to show that he despises the crime against any human being, but they take it as legitimacy for the “act” as marriage, because THAT’S WHAT THEY STAND FOR.
In addition to the excellent comment above by casualobserver, it’s been known for weeks that the location was not a “club” at all, but a youth center / community center. Why does YWN keep calling it a “to’eva club?”
And seriously, in the title – “To’eva Headquarters???” Is this a different establishment than the one mentioned in the rest of the article?
#1, you are right, we should respect the dead people.
id like to comment on what casualobserver said.what he called “illogical hatred towards other people” we dont hate anyone for sure not our brothers and sisters.But we do hate what they stand for. if you read all the israeli news papers they say how this center convinced kids how its ok to do these sins ,WE CAN NOT AND WILL NOT REPECT THESES PEOPLE. these people may not know better but that dosnt mean you should respect them! there isnt anything els to call it other then TOEVA HEADQUARTERS!
#2: You are mistaken. Many ehrlicher yidden, such as yourself, think that to’eiva is a heartache only to heimisher yidden. B”H, the world is not as sick as you may think. To’eiva lifestyle is a heartache and sickness in the entire civilized world. This to’eiva center was busy trying to legitimize this chiyuv s’kila in k’lal yisroel and the world. the fact that they were taking young nefoshos who knew no better and convincing them behind their parents’ back to announce to the world that they chose to lead a sick lifestyle, doesn’t mean the parents in question were chareidi, or even that they were religious or traditional at all…
Balak, Bilaam, Zimri & Kozbi are also dead and the torah does not respect them. Nobody deserves respect for dying, except if it was al kidush H’.
#7:
Who said this center was teaching that anything was ok? For all you or I know, it was simply a place where kids could go and feel safe, and feel like they weren’t hated by everyone (see, e.g., #6 if you need proof that such a feeling is probably warranted).
#8:
On a similar note, you also seem to be unable to grasp the concept of this community center. They weren’t taking young nefashos–the young nefashos chose to go there, and even sought the place out because of the isolation they felt from their families and communities (which again, stems from the fact that if they were honest with said people, they would be further ostracized or disowned). They weren’t convincing these kids to do anything behind anyone’s back–from everything I’ve read and seen, they merely provided a place where these kids could feel safe.
I will not continue trying to convince anyone here otherwise, as I’ve learned the futility of presenting compassionate and logical arguments to some of you. I have been blessed in my lifetime to have encountered, lived with, and worked with so many different types of people, and there is no substitute for such perspective. If you do not see the folly of your own ways, it will be on your head on Yom HaDin, not mine.
#9 boy are you right, and if we were to abolish the rest iof the torah, how many more members judaism will have.cant you see, all those billions of christians would be jewish.
i want to comment on what casualobserver said “presenting compassionate and logical arguments ” what the torah calls a toava we can not have compassion , you maybe right that these people dont have easy life and need help but a person that has an issue with drugs dosnt get help from a dealer . this place isnt a community help center these are people who believe in a way of life and try to pull as meny peolple as they can .we must stand against what they belive in .ovcorse people that need help need too get it but not from people who are preaching against all religions
casualobserver: the people here, including myself, are stating no feeling or opinion of our own, just standing up for the Tora; we have absolutely nothing at all to worry about on yom hadin. you, however seem to be emotionally invested in to’eiva people on a personal level. for some reason, you seem to be driven to identify with them, and “I have been blessed in my lifetime to have encountered, lived with, and worked with so many different types of people”, is a poor explanation. as a counselor and therapist myself, i can say at least as much. you should definitely get to the root of your need to justify this behavior, especially in defensive ways like “I will not continue trying to convince anyone here otherwise, as I’ve learned the futility of presenting compassionate and logical arguments to some of you”.
Just as that lifestyle is an abomination to Hashem, so is the act of murder. It is up to Hashem to punish, not us. No one should accept an act of murder.
Remember, it is the “act” itself that the Torah calls an abomination, not the individual. We should have compassion for the victims and their families.
I guess G-D is not “compassionate” enough for some of you, since he called this lifestyle a “Toeva.”
I’m sorry, but some things are just not acceptable, and the PM’s visit has legitimized the unacceptable.
#11 should be to #1