This week has seen the ugly side of social life in England, the image is of a Police officer guarding shops from Looters in an English city centre. On Tuesday evening the Police had to put 16,000 officer on the streets of London alone.
At this point you may be wondering about the post title. This morning, I heard a thought provoking 3 minute radio item by a Rabbi, that connected the Jewish Fast day of Tisha B'Av with the events here.
The translation of Tisha B'Av is the 9th of AV, or a Jewish calender date that this year coincides with the 9th of August (the day of the worse rioting)
The Jewish Fast is to commemorate the darkest days of Jewish history including the destruction of both the first and second temples in Jerusalem. These destructions were accompanied by the looting of the most holy of Temple artefacts.
Sadly today, for many, the most sacred of things are material possessions. The origin of these objects, the shops, have become Temples for our day. A drive round most of our cities on any given Sunday will reveal far more vehicles on the car parks of shopping centres, than in those of churches. We have raised a society that in greed, want without end at whatever cost. Those that have the means seek more and so do those that don't. The consequence ? Those that don't have, attack and take from the "Temple" of those that do have.
A strange coincidence this happens around the date of the 9th Tisha B'Av ?
Now lest you think I condone, I don't.
Those that are breaking the law should be stopped. Those that have broken the law should be punished and the punishment should deter those, that consider breaking the law in the future. But going forward as society do we need to consider our focus ?
Is materialism as a new God, the one we want to follow ?
The news talk is now a debate between, is this social unrest, or greed and jealousy. I personally think we are experiencing the results of a society that now places more value on materials than morality.
Finally it wasn't the doubling of the Police presence that prevented more nights of trouble, it was heavy rain ! Seems looters don't like getting wet !
