Thoughts on the Horrific Killings in Texas

Having just heard the horrific news of 19 children and two adults killed in Texas, I am not only heartbroken but also furious. One school after another, churches, synagogues, stores, homes, countless places where people gather, live, study and pray have become places of danger. Safety feels ephemeral at best. Assaulted in every area of our lives, the pain becomes indescribable and often creates a form of numbness.

Many of us have begun to live with hypervigilance, that neuro-psychological response and self-defense to constant assault on the mind, body or spirit. We anticipate that at any moment the shoe will drop. The political, financial, tragic and health disasters we have all lived with in this country over these past years are bearing down on us. Many people have become more introverted, home-bound and even reclusive in the wake of COVID’s reign over our lives and the increasing frequency of humans who destroy the lives of the innocent.

What is also alarming is that many women and Jews are fighting for the freedom to make a critical choice with regard to their bodies. Meanwhile, those who oppose this freedom of choice but claim to care about life won’t do anything to save lives. So many people who are anti-abortion are the same ones fighting for the right to buy semi-automatic weapons without any common-sense restrictions to prevent those who are too young or too disturbed from having access to them. Many of these same people voted for a President who proudly said he could kill people on Fifth Ave and get away with it. This is the example we have set for our young adults. Murder is now a normal form of expression.

This is the message that is being sent when nothing is being done to seriously respond to these horrific events. How many children need to die before our leaders in Congress will act? What level of shame can we impose that will have an effect? We can’t even convince everyone in this country of the “truth” of the last presidential election. Some still feel cheated and will fight to the death to create their own reality. We watch power brokers in state after state set up new norms: If you lose you just change the facts.

People’s lives hang in the balance. We desperately need action. We need leaders who care about life, fight to protect it and work to sustain it. Talmud teaches when you save one life it is as if you saved the entire world. If you destroy a life, it is as if you destroyed the entire world.

People’s lives hang in the balance. We desperately need action.

Today 21 lives were destroyed. The world is reeling and many of us are weeping. But tears and grief are not enough, though necessary for healing. It is change in attitudes and in laws that we need more right now. Action and movement that reflects true love and concern for life are what we all need. I pray for that.

I pray for the families who are suffering, I pray our leaders will wake up and create a better day. I pray egos will recede while souls come forward and help to change misbegotten laws, so outdated from their original intent because the world is different.

In the memory of every lost soul to violence, please, let us create a more humane way to peace in this world.

Eva Robbins is a rabbi, cantor, artist and the author of “Spiritual Surgery: A Journey of Healing Mind, Body and Spirit.”