Yeshiva Teacher: Students Coping With Tragedy

Following last week's terrorist rampage that left eight innocent teenagers dead, many people in the media have asked if the murderer succeeded in "breaking" the souls of those kids who survived the tragedy. To be sure, friends and colleagues of the latest victims of Arab violence will need love and strength to deal with the tragedy, but one of their teachers said those who say the attack "broke" the yeshiva simply do not know the flagship home of religious Zionism."When I got to the yeshiva at about 2:30 am after the attack, the psychologists were pleasantly surprised," said Rabbi David Samson, a veteran educator at the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva High School who also serves as Dean of the Lech Lecha Yeshiva."They said that after an on-campus mass murder, you would expect to see dozens, or even hundreds of cases of clinical trauma, but there were really only a handful of boys that were in a state of clinical shock."In an exclusive interview with IsraelNationalRadio.com, Rabbi Samson said that because the yeshiva only accepts 80 new students from 600 applicants each year, the student body consists of high-level boys, most of whom come from strong families and identify strongly with the yeshiva's ideology. That strength has helped them cope with the tragedy.Still, many students find themselves struggling with the "where was G-d" question.Rabbi Samson said he also would like an answer to that question, but he said the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War gave him first-hand experience in dealing with that question."Before Yom Kippur, we assumed that redemption would be a smooth, upward climb. In 1948 we gained independence, in 1967 we returned to the Old City, Judea and Samaria. We naturally assumed that the next war would usher in the messianic era."When that didn't happen, we went to the late Mercaz HaRav Dean Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, who told us that redemption will come slowly, with many ups and downs along the way. That's the way this process is – two steps forward, one step back," he said. by Avi Tuchmayer

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