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    EXPLODING PAGERS, EXPLODING MEMES

    If you submitted the script
    to Hollywood, it would be
    rejected for being too
    outrageous and
    unbelievable. If you
    proposed it as a plan, it
    would likely be dismissed
    for being too high risk,
    with too many things that

    could go wrong.
    And yet, in a bold, brave and brazen scheme,
    Israel spent years planting more than 5,000
    pagers that were distributed to Hezbollah leaders
    and that were capable of being remotely
    detonated. One day last week, the pagers
    exploded. The next day, more electronic devices
    detonated in Hezbollah hands in a second wave
    of the genius targeted attack. By the third day,
    when the wicked terrorists had no choice but to
    abandon technology altogether, Israel eliminated
    20 commanders who were meeting in person to
    plan an October 7-style infiltration and attack
    from the north.
    How did they pull it off? We likely will never
    fully know but what we do know is that a
    Hungarian shell company was formed that
    signed an agreement with a Taiwanese
    manufacturer. The pagers were new, a brand that
    the group had not used before. They were
    brought into the country about five months ago.
    This operation that interfered with the supply
    chain and introduced very small explosive
    devices built into the pagers prior to their

    delivery to Hezbollah, and then remotely
    triggered them simultaneously, is nothing short
    of a miracle for which we must be incredibly
    grateful. We are thankful to the young woman
    who allegedly introduced the scheme, the
    leadership who green-lighted it, the operatives
    who carried it out, and most of all the Almighty
    whose providence pulled it off.
    Not surprisingly, the usual cast of Israel haters
    and antisemites, instead of praising the targeted
    operation that was specifically designed to target
    and eliminate evil terrorists while sparing
    civilians, criticized and condemned Israel, with
    some going so far as to label the operation
    terrorism.
    United Nations Secretary-General António
    Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed” by the
    beeper attack. UN High Commissioner for
    Human Rights, Volker Turk, said the attack
    “violates international human rights law.”
    Having been silent about Hezbollah’s 8,500
    rockets fired at civilians in Israel in the last 11
    months that took the lives of dozens of Jews and
    non-Jews alike, Congresswoman Alexandria
    Ocasio-Cortez commented, “This attack clearly
    and unequivocally violates international
    humanitarian law and undermines US efforts to
    prevent a wider conflict. Congress needs a full
    accounting of the attack, including an answer
    from the State Department as to whether any US
    assistance went into the development or
    deployment of this technology.” The New York
    Times published an opinion piece titled, “Israel’s

    Pager Bombs Have No Place in a Just War,” with
    the author, Michael Walzer, calling the operation
    “likely war crimes” “terrorist attacks.”
    Like Hamas, Hezbollah has long harbored
    genocidal intentions to annihilate Israel and kill
    Jews around the world, intentions they act on
    constantly. The devices that exploded were not
    sold at retail stores—they were specifically
    deployed to communicate regarding terror
    activities and they were carried by terrorists who
    were dedicated to perpetrating them. There is
    nothing more moral than defending your country
    and the innocent men, women, and children who
    rely on you.
    Instead of condemning or criticizing Israel,
    AOC and all Americans should be expressing
    gratitude and praise for eliminating Ibrahim
    Aqil, wanted by the United States for decades
    for his role in the devastating 1983 attacks at the
    U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks. America
    had been trying to get him for 41 years and had a
    $7 million bounty on his head.
    As I followed the story of Hezbollah’s devices,
    and the technology they paid for blowing up in
    their faces, I shared in the gratitude, admiration,
    glee and hope that we are one step closer to
    eliminating this enemy for good.
    As quickly as the pagers blew up, the funny
    memes, gifs, and jokes were exploding all over
    the internet, in WhatsApp groups, and on social
    media. The creativity and wittiness made me
    smile and sometimes even laugh. But as the
    jokes went increasingly viral, in addition to the
    smile, they made me concerned because they
    weren’t only drawing the attention of Israel’s
    friends, they were attracting the focus and
    comments of our enemies.
    Make no mistake – we can be and must be
    absolutely grateful and even celebrate the
    defeat and demise of enemies who seek to
    destroy us. However, in the modern world
    where things spread far and wide with
    unprecedented ease, I believe we need to be
    thoughtful and intentional with where, and
    when, and how we “celebrate.” These
    questions concern me not because I hesitate to
    be glad and even gleeful over the elimination
    of evil people. Shlomo HaMelech teaches in
    Mishlei 24:17, “When your enemy falls, do
    not rejoice,” but as Rav Aviner writes, “there
    are enemies, and there are Enemies.” The
    Talmud (Megillah 16a) teaches that when
    Mordechai was led around on a horse by
    Haman, Haman challenged, “Doesn’t your
    Torah instruct that you are not supposed
    rejoice in your enemies fall.” to which
    Mordechai responded: “This does not refer to
    you.” Today’s enemies are no better than
    Haman and worthy of the same celebration
    when they are taken down.
    There is a well-known Gemara (Sanhedrin
    39b) that describes how when the angels
    wanted to sing and join with the Jewish
    people’s celebration after the Splitting of the
    Sea, the Almighty rebuked them saying, “My
    handiwork is downing and you are singing a
    song before me?” The Angels were silenced,
    yet the Almighty allowed and welcomed the
    Jewish people raising their voices in song. Do
    we not strive to be like angels? Why was it ok
    for us to sing?

    The Piazetna Rebbe, R’ Kalman Kalonymous
    Shapira Hy’D, wrote during the Holocaust:
    “Was an angel ever hit? Was an angel ever
    murdered? Was an angel ever humiliated? We
    were! The angels did no suffer as we did in
    Egypt, so they could not sing. But we did suffer
    – suffered immensely – and therefore, during the
    the Exodus from Egypt, ‘Moshe sang.’”
    And so yes, when learning of news of the
    destruction of Hezbollah terrorists, prayers of
    gratitude and appreciation in the community are
    appropriate and warranted. A l’chaim among
    friends and family to mark the miracle of the
    courageous pager attack and for each evil that is
    eliminated is reasonable. (The same is true of
    the beautiful videos of singing and dancing that
    took place in several Israeli yeshivas, which
    were expressions of gratitude to Hashem and joy
    in His salvation.) And there is nothing wrong
    with sharing memes or jokes among ourselves,
    even if they are irreverent and humorous.
    However, I think all would agree handing out
    candies at the local mall to celebrate would be a
    mistake and inappropriate. They could and
    would easily be perceived (and gleefully covered
    by the media) as Jews celebrating and glorifying
    death, as being no different than our enemies.
    Where do the internet and social media fit in?
    Are they a more public extension of our private
    community or WhatsApp group, or is it the
    equivalent of publicly displaying memes and
    gifs at the local mall or town square?
    Some are hesitant to gloat because they are
    uncomfortable with the Jewish state being in the
    role of aggressor, the mighty, strong, and capable
    independent nation standing up for themselves.
    This kind of thinking is just wrong and an
    entirely illegitimate reason on which to base our
    behvaior. But, it has been suggested that
    spreading funny and embarrassing memes and
    gifs should be considered part of the online war
    effort, publicly humiliating our enemies.
    Perhaps. Others feel that the world will never
    love us or be fair to us and so who cares what
    they will think. There is merit to that. Still others
    feel the messaging and impression we leave in
    public matters and we should be thoughtful and
    strategic what, how and where we post and
    share. There is definitely merit to that.
    This, like most questions about the war (among
    many other things) is nuanced, multifaceted, and
    complicated. There are different reasonable
    conclusions. What I hope we can all agree on is
    that we shouldn’t simply react and act mindlessly
    and get swept up in what is spreading around us.
    If we are choosing to post, to share, to comment
    publicly, it should be done mindfully and
    thoughtfully. The stakes are too high, the
    implications to great to be carried by momentum
    or by the forces of external actors.
    Please G-d, we will have many, many, more
    chances in the very near future to react to the
    destruction and elimination of our enemies.
    Let’s be as strategic, thoughtful and judicious in
    how we fight online as the fight is happening
    offline.