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My Gun and I

(Times of Israel) Donniel Hartman - My gun is my barometer. Every few years I feel the need to carry it on me (for which I have a permit). Every few years my sense of safety and that of my family and my fellow citizens is undermined, as the streets on which we walk and live become the frontlines. I feel that I have an inalienable right to live and to do what is necessary to defend myself, my family, and those around me from those who desire to murder us. I don't want to live in a world in which everyday citizens need to be responsible for their own safety. My life's work as a teacher and rabbi is geared to fostering kindness, decency, mutual respect, and hope. There is no part in my soul which wants to harm another human being or see another as an enemy. I am an unrepentant optimist who believes in the inherent decency of humankind and in the possibility of peace and rapprochement between Israel and our Palestinian neighbors. I hate that I need my gun, but I am grateful for the fact that when I do, I have the ability to carry it and that neither I nor my people are helpless victims anymore. I know that my gun alone will not give me the safety and security for which I yearn. However, the responsibility for terrorism lies within the terrorist and the society which glorifies it. As long as they do, I need my gun. Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman is President of Shalom Hartman Institute of Jerusalem.
2015-10-16 00:00:00
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