Steven Sotloff memorial at Young Israel of Beverly Hills

None of us can imagine what life was like for Steven Sotloff, all  alone in the den of terror, held captive by ‘inhuman’ beings isolated from his family and friends. How we wonder, did he maintain his sanity during those terribly lonely days and nights? Who can imagine his anguish and suffering — the words he wanted to convey to his parents and loved ones before he was so savagely beheaded?

As Jews, our faith teaches us that every human being has a purpose and a mission in life, that irrespective of station we each have a task to fulfill. The great Talmudist Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, once observed that the ordinary tour guide whose name we do not even know, who encountered a lost Joseph looking for his brothers and told him where exactly he would find them, is in fact the real ‘Shadchin’, the enabler who set in motion and made possible the great events of the Exodus. Because clearly without him, Joseph would never have met his brothers, would not have been bartered to Egypt and would never have become its prime minister.

When his murderers posted the horrific beheading of Steven Sotloff, just a few weeks after beheading James Foley, they did not know that that would be another 9-11 moment in 21st Century history that awakened the conscience of the world to the threat posed by ISIS, the most fanatical branch of the growing Islamic fundamentalist movement.

Sometimes at crucial moments, ordinary people become the vehicle for transmitting important messages with great consequences for the future of mankind. That this is so, we know from one of the strangest incidents ever recorded in the Torah, the story of Eldad and Medad, who prophesized outside the tent in direct violation of Moses instructions that legitimate prophesy can only be transmitted in the tent where the divine spirit was present. Eldad and Medad, who were nowhere near the tent said that, “Moses our leader will soon die and Joshua will lead us into the land.” An argument then ensued whether the prophecy could be accurate. But Moses intervened on their behalf and said, ‘if only everyone could be a prophet.’ But why was that considered prophecy at all when everyone knew that Joshua, Moses’ disciple, would be the likely successor? The answer is that Joshua was selected not only because he was Moses’ disciple, but because Israel was entering the promised land and there were tyrants and despots there, the forerunners of ISIS, Al-Qaida and Hamas, and only a leader with a military background would be capable of confronting themsuccessfully. As the Torah tells us previously, “And Joshua weakened Amalek by the sword.”

My friends, when you confront ultimate evil, people who commit massacres and destroy religious shrines, crash planes into buildings, fire rockets from hospitals, who use children as human shields, then you are confronting people whose G-d loves death, and who hate us primarily because our G-d commands that we choose life.

You can’t talk to people like that. The only time ISIS, Al-Qaida and Hamas will listen is if you are prepared to surrender. On this day, September 11th, more than any other, we need to be resolute and remind ourselves not only about what happened on that day, but about the terrible price the world paid for failing to confront evil in the 30s. Had we heeded the lone voice of Winston Churchill in 1937 and in 1938, and confronted Hitler, than 50 million human beings would have been spared.

That’s why the Torah expresses memory in two ways. One is positive – Zachor — to remember, when you are dealing with an adversary that it is possible to resolve your differences peacefully, but when you are confronting fanatics who live in the 12th century and seek your total submission, then the only word for memory is Lo Tishkach — do not forget to act decisively and destroy them, because the real purpose of these terrorists and rogue nations is to end western civilization and lead our world to Armageddon.

That is what I take away from Steven Sotloff’s beheading. As his killer stood over him with a knife, Steven looked up at all of us and wrote his final and most important story as a reporter, not with his pen, but with his eyes, imploring us, for your sake, not mine, act now and act decisively and save mankind from these terrorists.