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From the Bimah
May-June 2007

As I write this column I am mortified by the news coming out of Blacksburg Virginia. On the campus of Virginia Tech, 32 innocent students and instructors were murdered this morning, and well over fifteen were wounded, some seriously.

That East Coast campus of higher learning now has the undeserved distinction of being the site of our nation's worst shooting massacre.

In the days and weeks ahead we will learn more about the murdered and wounded victims; my prayers and my heart goes out to them and their families.

In the meantime, I am evermore convinced; most of the suffering we endure, witness, or find out about in our lifetime is the result of our own, collective human doing.

Do we not have free-will?

So I ask you: Who is to blame for what occurred on the campus of Virginia Tech, God or human beings? If you say God, do you expect God to come down from the heavens and deflect the gunman's bullets and then magically build a protective barrier around those poor innocent students, shielding them from harm and loss?

Granted, if you believe in a supernatural God, as I do, then you can and should indict God. The question I struggle with is why God created human beings with such a propensity towards evil?

What's more, if you believe that divine miracles are possible, as I do, then you can and should question why they weren't more evident during, let alone prior to, the shooting spree? As with so much in life, the questions raised are often more probing than the answers offered.

One thing's for certain: We humans have been told what is right and wrong. That's not to infer moral reasoning is a simple matter -- it is not. But undoubtedly in this case, a shooting massacre in Blacksburg Virginia, on a college campus where young people go to improve themselves, and, one hopes, improve the world, we know it was absolutely wrong and morally indefensible.

The reality is what happened across the nation at Virginia Tech could have just as easily happened on one of the college campuses here in L.A. In reaction to such a possibility, we are quick to say: "God forbid." But, saying: "Human beings forbid," might actually be more appropriate.

For the time being, all we can do is express our condolences to the families who are experiencing the most unimaginable suffering, offer our prayers, and diligently teach our children so that with each new generation, we humans continue to improve the world, morally and spiritually.

Rabbi Michael Gotlieb