Today, sadly, we buried my grandfather, Dr. Herman Miller.
As I wrote in my first post Game On my grandfather helped establish WarningStar Intelligence. Having lived 99 and half years, he brought a priceless infusion of knowledge, experience, and insight into this young company. Now, with his passing, his gentle spirit continues to inspire us.
At the gravesite, we stood and said the mourners Kaddish, the Jewish prayer that asserts belief in God despite our terrible loss.
Though my grandfather embraced his Jewish identity and was a lifelong supporter of Jewish and Israeli causes, he was no theist. As a trained physician and a man of science born in the early 20thcentury, he witnessed the horror of the Holocaust which, in addition to killing Six Million Jews, also murdered the faith of countless more who couldnt understand how their chosen god would allow such travesty.
Dr. Miller was quite critical of religiosity, especially within his own faith-community of Judaism. As many secular Jews do, my grandfather felt contempt for the radical Hasidic Jews in Israel who dressed in medieval garb, took welfare from the state while righteously condemning it at the same time. He was also critical of liberal Reform Judaism of which he was a part until he left, because of certain rabbis’ focus on money and membership dues.
Now, personally I happen to believe in a Creative Intelligence (no pun intended.) Ive had many great debates with my grandfather about theology and philosophy and was never able to convince him otherwise. But I suspect that my grandfather might concede defeat as he finds himself in a heavenly abode reunited with his lost loved ones. Of course, I could be wrong, but one can hope!
So as our family ritualistically recited the Kaddish prayers, I silently gazed at my grandfathers casket and couldnt help but think about Judaism and the problems within the religion that manifest in extreme forms today.
While my grandfather was being buried in America, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahutook an opportunityto condemn so-called price tag attacks carried out by religious Jewish extremists.
Price Tag Attacks are acts of vengeance carried out by radical religious – often youths – against a variety of targets: Arabs, Christians, Israeli security forces. They are attacks intended to exact a price for perceived or real offensives against the Jewish communities of the West Bank. Offensives could be anything from an actual terror attack against Jewish settlers to the Israeli government tearing down an illegal outpost.
In other words, price tag attacks are meant to serve as deterrents.
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