Tremble
By Moshe Katz, Krav Maga Instructor, Maaleh Adumim, Israel

Yizkor, "Will remember", (God will remember), the victims of Jew hatred;

Murdered at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France.

March 20, 2014

Today I did not post any happy photos on Facebook; no puppies, no kittens. I leave that for others. I shared a photo of 4 Jews. What kind of Jews?

Dead Jews.

They were murdered in France, not back during the Dark Years of World War Two when the French rounded up the Jews for deportation and murder, but two years ago today. (Yesterday actually).

I remember the day, I was on a flight home from a European Krav Maga seminar, and I heard the news on El Al. We all thought, it never ends, it just never ends.

A friend wrote a comment...."I tremble, it makes the heart tremble".

Indeed it does and then I ask myself; what more can I do?

I just returned from a Krav Maga seminar in France, the site of many Anti Jewish attacks, and yet the only Jew at my seminar was from the Netherlands.

Where are all the people?

I recall a trip to Italy, the city of Milan, I met a young woman there. She had come to learn Italian; she was a school teacher and an actress. She was from Amsterdam, Holland, Netherlands.

There were aspects of this Dutch woman that I recall. She was very sweet, gentle, happy. She was a teacher at the school where Anne Frank studied. When she asked me what I do for a living I showed her my website and some video clips.

The woman was shocked and upset. Viewing a video for a gun defense to the back of the head she made a comment I will never forget.

"Who would do such a thing?"

This one little sentence spoke volumes. We were in the same room but we lived on different planets.

She teaches at the Anne Frank school, she knows the history. Anne Franks' death was the result of hatred and cruelty. "Who could kill such a sweet young girl? "Who would do such a thing?"

My dear, many people could do such a thing, and they do it every single day all over the world. But my dear, my sweet friend, in your world such things do not exist. In your happy romantic world (she was engaged to an Italian man, thus the Italian lessons) there are only happy events.

Some people make this choice. I cannot blame them. They chose to be ignorant of the violence, of the hate. When you mention such topics to them you always get this reaction of..."What are you talking about, the world is a wonderful place filled with happy people. Well, there might be a few bad apples here and there".

But in my opinion such a choice only leads to violence. The Grand Ultimate Fool, Neville Chamberlain, achieved "Peace in our time" by signing an agreement with the Devil from Germany. This peaceful approach lead directly to the deaths of millions.

Ignorance is not an option in the real world.

Such an attitude by my lovely friend from Amsterdam may serve her well personally but she can only live such a life because there are others out there protecting her illusion; soldiers, police officers, citizens who have chosen to study Krav Maga.

Anne Frank (12 June 1929 – early March 1945), who would kill such a girl? And yet it happens all the time.

My friend writes, "I tremble". Yes, this is the reality of life, there are real dangers out there and we must be aware of them. For most people the dangers are something they chose to ignore, until it happens to them or a loved one, until it is too late. And then they cry out, "Who could do such a thing!"

The world is filled with people who can do "such a thing".

So I developed a system of defense that is easy; easy to learn, easy to remember and easy to apply. But we must spread the word, we must teach as many people as possible.

I believe in peace. I am a great fan of the late John Lennon, perhaps no man in our time spoke and sang of peace as he did, but he was gunned down and murdered in front of his home. The man of peace died a violent death, in front of his wife.

"Peace, peace, but there is no peace". Spoke the prophets of Israel.

The Prophet Yehezkel speaks, "...they have led my people astray saying Peace, and there was no peace". (Ezekiel, Chapter 13)

And Prophet Yirmiyahu, "They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people superficially, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace". (Jeremiah, Chapter 6)

Nothing changes.

But yet, "The task is not upon you to complete it and yet you are not free to desist from it" (Talmud, Ethics of the Fathers)

We must bring more people to the seminars, we must qualify more instructors, we must spread the word. We are not free to desist from our holy task, even if we can never complete it in our lifetimes.

The Chez Jo Goldenberg restaurant attack was a bombing and shooting attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris's Marais district, on 9 August 1982. Two assailants threw a grenade into the dining room and fired machine guns. They killed six people, including two American tourists, and injured 22 others

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