This post from 2008 was one of the few controversial posts I ever wrote on Little Frumhouse on the Prairie. It’s the only post that a few people actually asked me to take down, unlike on Kol B’Isha Erva, where quite a few people have taken offense to my posts to the point where one or two have insisted that I delete this entire blog altogether.
I wrote a fictional account of a shooting in a Jewish day school, asking people not to assume that our own schools are immune to the violence happening in public schools. In light of the recent video of a chasidic boy being beaten by his rebbe, I think that this post has relevance for today. Little boys grow into big boys. Violence begets violence. If we think that the abuse our young people suffer at the hands of some reprehensible adults won’t have devastating repercussions, we are sadly mistaken.
Allowing abuse to continue unabated and unacknowledged and unprosecuted is like sitting on a ticking time bomb. Everyone has their breaking point, and some victims who are stifled might find themselves unable to contain their pain without justice or appropriate therapy. A lot of innocent people could become casualties in the name of revenge against one particular perpetrator or institution.
Will We Continue To Close Our Eyes To Recent History?
The scene was one of shock and horror at the campus of an all boy’s high school located in a densely populated orthodox Jewish neighborhood. Teenage boys who, just yesterday, would have scoffed at the idea of ever letting their classmates see them cry, were now openly weeping and sobbing into their hands on the stone steps of Yeshiva Koach along with teachers, family, and friends. 12 boys dead and 24 injured, gunned down by a classmate who then took his own life.
“My best friend was shot in the back. I saw him go down in front of my eyes!” a teary eyed sophomore said.
“He hit my cousin twice. There was blood everywhere.”
“I dove under the table. I heard noises like firecrackers and thought someone was playing a prank.”
While Rabbi Kagan, the principal of Yeshiva Koach, admits that Yanky Bloomfield, the junior student responsible for the massacre, was a bit of a loner, he claims there was never any indication that he would harm himself or anyone else.
Bloomfield’s friend Yoel (his parents requested we keep his last name confidential), a sophomore at another high school a few miles away, said that he had no idea that Yanky was planning the shooting. The locations of his rampage were fairly specific. Bloomfield first opened fire on his homeroom class, then the school library, and finally he finished his deadly spree in the school’s lunchroom.
Yoel said, “I knew Yanky was unhappy with school. For some reason, he never fit in with the other students. He was kind of shunned by them and I told him he should come to my Yeshiva. His parents didn’t want him switching schools because his other brothers had gone to Yeshiva Koach and the hashkafa (spiritual atmosphere) was more in line with their beliefs and customs.”
Yoel said that Bloomfield was growing increasingly disenchanted with his orthodox peers and teachers. “How can they sit and teach us platitudes about how to treat your fellow Jew, when kids like me get treated like dirt every day.”
Although Bloomfield’s first name was Yanky, many of his classmates called him Harry. Yoel said that “Harry” is a word used by the Yeshiva students to describe a nerd or someone who doesn’t fit in. Yanky became obsessed with an online discussion group for disenfranchised orthodox Jews – many of whom dropped out of the Yeshiva system. He read books that profiled ex-orthodox Jews who made new lives for themselves, apart from the orthodox communities and families in which they were raised.
Bloomfield and his classmates were subject to a rigorous schedule consisting of a full day of prayer, secular, and religious studies that could last from 7am until 10pm on some nights. The only breaks permitted in their schedule are Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, and certain Jewish holidays which they are permitted to celebrate at home with their families. Bloomfield had told his friend Yoel that he could go entire days without anyone speaking to him except to tease him or give him funny looks.
Bloomfield’s family is sitting shiva, a Jewish mourning ritual that lasts for 7 days, and couldn’t be reached for comment.
Close relatives of Bloomfield’s family said that they are devastated by the shootings and their prayers go out to the victims and their families.
Yeshiva Koach reacted promptly. As soon as shots were heard, Rabbi Horowitz, a Freshman English teacher at the school, called the police from his cell phone.
“I was in the hallway walking to my class when I heard shots and screams coming from a classroom at the other end of the hall. I quickly ducked into the janitor’s closet and began dialing 911. I heard running footsteps pass by my door and I poked my head out. I didn’t see anyone – apparently that’s when Bloomfield ran for the library. I ran into the classroom where I’d heard the noises and saw a blood bath. It was a nightmare.”
No fewer than 42 phone calls were logged at the 911 Emergency Center coming from frantic Yeshiva teachers and students. The police were on the scene 2 minutes after the first call from Rabbi Horowitz. Minutes later backup police and emergency medical vehicles arrived. By the time the police reached the school, Bloomfield had already turned the gun on himself and the active danger was over. Many students were rushed to local emergency rooms and 12 others were pronounced dead at the scene.
Rabbi Kagan held an emergency student, teacher, and parent meeting last night. He spoke of how they must turn to G-d during this time of senseless tragedy for comfort. He drew a parallel between the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 souls lost. He hoped the pain of this tragedy would hasten the redemption of the Jewish people.
The school is set to reopen tomorrow, 3 days after the incident. Rabbi Kagan assured parents that counselors were on call to comfort students and provide guidance. He also said that in the future, the Yeshiva will be working with The County Sheriff’s Office to conduct “active shooter training,” a drill simulating law enforcement response to a gunman loose on the school campus. Law-enforcement departments across the country have initiated similar forms of active shooter training following the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.
The mother of a student injured in the shooting spoke with us after the school meeting. Shaking her head and wiping back tears she said, “Surely G-d is sending us a message. Perhaps those 12 holy souls are meant to redeem us in the eyes of our creator. If only we could merit our redemption without such a terrible sacrifice.”
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Thank G-d, this article has yet to be written. I was inspired to write this fictional look into the future by the latest shooting that happened at the DeKalb campus of Northern Illinois University. With all the attention our youth at risk are getting in the world of Jewish education, should we not be looking for active ways to prevent such horror from happening within the day school system? Do we think that such things can’t happen at a Jewish school? We thought we were above alcohol abuse, drugs, gambling, pornography – but all these things eventually trickle their way into our schools to some degree. Why do we think this trend of violence will not?
