How do I respond to this news of death?
This was my first thought: Baruch Dayan haEmet 

Blessed is the True Judge - the traditional response,
so often said in resignation to the inevitability of death.

Should this have been my response? 
Did I make this blessing of pure faith tamei, impure,

responding to the death of an unrepentant terrorist 
who celebrated the killing of his own people in his pursuit of power?

As a member of the jury, I would have voted “guilty.”
I would have blessed the judge for handing down a harsh sentence.

I refuse to dance in the streets - to celebrate any death. 
But I will not mourn the death of someone who embraced evil.

I mourn for the death of innocents caught in the crossfire,
the dismissal of the lessons of history, and for the death of truth.




(c)2024marthahurwitz