Podcast Hosts, Detroit, and the Third Temple

This week has been a whirlwind. We have seen horror, and we have seen miracles. We have seen the very worst of humanity, and we have seen its best.
Last week, and again this week, Tucker Carlson went on another one of his evil tirades in his disdain of Jews. Full of lies and conspiracies as usual, this time he singled out Chabad as somehow being behind the war in Iran and America’s involvement in it. Chabad is dangerous, he told his followers, they are everywhere and they support violence against innocents. 
Really. That is what he told millions of people.
Just yesterday, we saw an Islamic terrorist ram his car, loaded with weapons, into Temple Israel in Detroit, where there were about 150 children on site at the time.
I know Detroit well. I lived there for three years. A friend of ours recently enrolled their four toddler in that school.
If the attack itself was not bad enough, to add insult to injury, there have already been subtle attempts to contextualize, justify, and explain the attack. “His brothers were killed by Israel in Lebanon” without of course mentioning they were active Hezbollah terrorists. Or “Temple Israel was founded in 1941 and dedicated to the formation of a Jewish state,” this from the New York Times. Or “It was an 'Israel' synagogue. Its very name is Temple 'Israel',” said on a television show.
Can you imagine a white supremacist attack followed by editorials explaining that it happened because of this or that reason, or a tragic school shooting being explained away? I can’t. But somehow when it comes to the Jews, it is different.
So yes, we have been given another painful reminder of the very worst of humanity. This is part of galut. As we say in the opening words of Vehi Sheamda at the Seder “in every generation they rise up against us.” 
But we have also seen miracles, and we need to recognize them and thank G-d for them. What are the odds that in the planned attack in Detroit not one child, community member, or staff member was killed or injured?
This itself is another powerful reminder that even amidst the horror, G-d still watches over us. As King David says in Psalms “Had it not been for the L-rd Who was with us when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us raw when their anger was kindled against us.”
And locally here we have also seen the very best. This morning we received a donation from someone I had never heard of. I called him to thank him and asked what led him our way. He said it may sound strange, but he heard what Tucker had said this week and was so disgusted and outraged that he decided he had to do something positive rather than just be angry. So he reached out to his local Chabad to make a donation.
This is an important lesson for all of us. We should be thankful and appreciative of those who stand with us. We must also recognize G-d’s miracles and blessings around us, here at home and in the Holy Land of Israel, and turn our pain and frustration into more goodness and positivity. Not only does this make the world a better place, it makes our own lives better as well, ultimately leading to the final words of Vehi Sheamda, “But the Holy One, blessed be He, delivers us from their hands,” with the coming of Moshiach.
​P.S. There has been much discussion recently about the Beit Hamikdash and the rebuilding of the Third Temple. I think you may find this article on the topic informative.