I don't want to be a party pooper but why is Shalom Rubashkin such a hero?? What did he do that earned him "movie-star" status?
Don't get me wrong - I am THRILLED that he is free. Prison is a miserable place to be. It is no coincidence that there is a high suicide rate in prisons. BARUCH HASHEM he is out. It could be that the trial was rigged. Maybe. Maybe not. It is likely that his sentence was much more severe than his crime. Maybe. Probably.
But why is he a hero?
It is BEAUTIFUL that Jews who never met him are so happy at his great fortune. מי כעמך ישראל!!
Still - if he committed a crime then why should we be happy? Crime is evil. If he didn't commit a crime and is completely innocent then the reality remains that a TERRIBLE Chilul Hashem was caused through him. The Mishna in Avos says - אחד שוגג ואחד מזיד בחילול השם. We should feel horrible that the name of Hashem and His Torah was desecrated. People believe that frum Jews can be dishonest. That is a churban. I would feel much better if he would get up and say "thank you for your outpouring of love and care. But I am terribly sorry that I added to the already bad reputation that frum Jews have in areas of honesty. Let us be mischazek in being honest in all of our monetary dealings".
Heroes? People who donate a kidney, give tzedaka, honestly fill out their tax forms, greet everybody with a smile or learn Torah with great diligence, are heroes. There are PLENTY of heroes walking around. Let us celebrate THEM.
Why isn't there dancing on the street every time a woman gives birth after 20 years of being childless? Or when a Jew is healed from cancer? Or when a talmid chochom makes a siyum hashas bi-iyun or puts out a "knock your socks off" sefer? Why only here?
There are plenty of people who are suffering and almost nobody cares. People are suffering from financial distress, emotional problems, kids off the derech, marriage problems, lonely single people, health problems and the list goes on and on and on. And on. If everybody cared about every suffering Jew like they cared about Shalom Rubashkin then Moshiach would be here.
