A TIMELY STORY - In 1945, Arabs ran through the streets of Jerusalem throwing grenades indiscriminately. Scores of people were injured and many were killed. The morgue of the local hospital was filled with bodies draped in sheets. R’ Aryeh Levin z”l, showed up at the hospital with a photographer. He walked over to a gurney, pulled back the sheet, and the photographer took a picture. He moved to another corpse, and another, detailing the grisly carnage.
The Rabbanim were aghast. “R’ Aryeh,” they said, “perhaps public opinion is important, and you may want to show the world the atrocities of the Arabs, but where is your sensitivity and compassion for the families of these men? How will they feel when these pictures are sent to the press?”
“You misunderstand me,” said R’ Aryeh. “In a few days, relative peace will resume and these bodies will have been buried. Men will be missing and widows may become agunos, forbidden to remarry. It is compassion which moves me to act in a seemingly callous way. I am taking these pictures to aid these women in being permitted to remarry and carry on with their lives. It’s not enough to sympathize and empathize, we must take action to prevent greater sorrow.”
