A true Tzaddik, a valiant and loyal son of Israel has fallen. Baruch Goldstein HY"D gave his life to sanctify Hashem's name. My wife and I loved him as if he were our own son. His parents and brother and sister are our dearest friends. His devoted wife and children are the salt of the earth. Their love for G-d, Torah, the Land of Israel and their fellow Jews is indisputable. Our hearts are broken at our loss but are comforted knowing that he is now learning with his mentor, Rabbi Meir Kahane HY"D in the splendor of Gan Eden.

I got to know Baruch very well back in the late '70s. A group of us were holding a "sit-in" at the Israeli Consulate on Second Avenue in New York in solidarity with Rabbi Kahane, who was then being held in Israel's maximum security prison and in his l4th day of a hunger strike. A tall young man joined us in quiet participation, as we sat (and slept) on the floor day after day. He would read from the Book of Psalms with much seriousness and devoltion, and at night before we closed our eyes, he would give us a Dvar Torah. It was as if Hashem had sent us an angel from Heaven to inspire and encourage all of us.

On the Sabbath, Baruch took me to the nearby Stern College synagogue which was packed with young people. Baruch talked to them about Rabbi Kahane and the injustice he was suffering. Their response was overwhelming. They came to the Consulate every day to add their support.

One day as we sat in protest, Baruch approached me to ask my advice on a very personal matter. It was the first time that this gentle and well-mannered young man had said more than two sentences to me. He said that he felt the need to go to Israel to volunteer in the army. He felt very uncomfortable being in America while Israeli boys and girls were giving their lives daily for the survival of the Jewish people. The only problem was that his parents were telling him to wait a while longer to complete his studies in medical school. At that point, he was six months away from his M.D. I told him that his mother and father were right and that Israel could wait another six months for him. And besides, becoming a doctor would be more of an asset to the army than volunteeri as a regular soldier. Then upon completion of his army service, he would be qualified to serve and heal the Jewish people.

And so it was that right after graduating, Baruch left for the Land he loved so much with the degree in his hand. Others who graduated with him opened medical practices in the big cities of America to carve out prosperous careers for themselves. But Baruch turned his back on all that in order to be of service to his people.

As a doctor in the reserve army and a resident of Kiryat Arba, he was always called upon to care for the wounded, comfort the dying and accompany the dead.

As a proud Jew who journeyed so far to be with his G-D in the Land of his people,Baruch was privileged to pray every day at the Cave of the Patriarchs (Machpela) where our fathers and mothers are buried. His prayer was constantly interrupted by the wild and blood-curdling shouts of hundreds of Arabs, from the side designated for the Moslems, calling for death to the Jews (Word has it that shortly before purim, the army found a huge stockpile of weapons and leaflets announcing a pogrom against the Jews of Hebron, but the government and the leftist media were and still are silent on this matter). And so, Baruch responded with an act of Kiddush Hashem.

And yet there are those Jews of little or no faith and even less understanding who are calling Baruch insane, deranged, a psychopath. They are beating their breasts and running to ask forgiveness from the goy. Tbey are spewing hatred out in the most vile way against their own people and groveling at the feet of the enemy. The sad irony of it all is that they are the ones who are insane and deranged. Is there any country in the world, large or small, that whould hand over parts of its rightful and sovereign land to an enemy who vows to destroy it? This suicidal policy can only be carried out by the insane and the deranged.

These self-hating Jewish "leaders" - and the world in concert - are now blaming every incident on one Jew in Hebron. Of course, until this incident, no Arab ever murdered or maimed a Jew. There is no doubt that the small band of Kach "gangsters" and those kippaed settlers in the territories are the cause of the evil in our Land (and elsewhere in the world). And in a frenzy to appease - this "democratic" government is arresting innocent people.

 But you did well, Baruch. You lived your life as a Jew and you died as a Jew. You left us all an eternal legacy of compassion and pride. You healed the sick and helped your fallen brothers and sisters. You visited Jewish prisoners of conscience and instilled them with hope to face the future. You were a light which shone so brightly in the darkness of their tortured lives. You were a ba'al tzedakah. You felt the pain of your people, and your very being was attuned to the note of suffering which, like a voice from Heaven, penetrated your heart...

Is it then not incumbent upon us to pay tribute to this great and brave Jew, who in life lived for His love and for what is pleasing to Him, and even in dying did not separate himself from Him? Lighter than an eagle he was and stronger than a lion to do the will of His Master and the desire of His Guardian (modified from the words of Rabbi Samson R. Hirsch).

Joe Alster
P.O.Box 7499
92261 Jerusalem