Here’s a story with the wonderful news that an off-duty policeman attacked an Orthodox Jew on the streets of Melbourne. Nice.
The softly spoken Melbourne businessman, an orthodox Jew, was walking along a street in his East St Kilda neighbourhood one Saturday in October with two of his young children when drunken football fans in a minibus first verbally abused him. One then punched him in the face.
Attacks such as the one on Mr Vorchheimer reached a record high of 156 in the year to the end of September, according to a new report to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
The category of “attacks” includes abuse such as arson and vandalism, while “threats” include threats via telephone, leaflets, posters or email.
The combined total was 442, including the vandalising of synagogues, a Jewish university student being spat on and worshippers leaving a synagogue being pelted with eggs.
Former council president Jeremy Jones, who has been compiling the figures since 1989 from community reports, said a rise in reports generally occurred when perpetrators believed they could get away with them.
Weeks after the attack on Mr Vorchheimer, with no charges laid, it came to light that the driver of the bus was an off-duty policeman, and last Friday, the day before the Victorian state election, Mr Vorchheimer handed Premier Steve Bracks a copy of his police statement and urged him to take action.
So, what’s the headline to the story? Is it “Anti-Semitic attacks up in Australia”?
Nope.
Rise in attacks on Jews tests forgiveness
Because, after all, forgiveness is what we should be focusing on. Not the rising number of attacks on Jews.
Morons.
The Jewish view on forgiveness is a bit different from the Christian. Judaism requires admission of guilt, sincere repentence, and whatever efforts are possible at restitution.
If any of the people involved in these 442 incidents show that, by golly they should be forgiven. I wonder if any have. As to the rest, well, in the well-chosen words of our hostess: “Just die.”