VITAL SIGNSrn1’OMM6I<^WEAKrn. . ^ – ” ^ ^ ^ ^ a t – ^ ^rn;ijiLjf^rn• ” M ^ ^ ^ : ^rnTo Hicksville andrnHebronrnby Robert JohnrnMass MurderersrnFrom BrooklynrnOn December 7,1993, Colin Fergusonrnloaded his 9-millimcter pistol,rnput 160 rounds of additional ammunitionrnin his pockets, and took a trainrncrowded with homebound commutersrnto Hicksville, Long Island. There he deliberatelyrncommenced firing on thernpacked passengers, killing six people andrnwounding 17 others. As he paused tornreload, two brave men overpowered him.rnEarly in the morning of February 25,rn1994, Dr. Baruch Goldstein loaded hisrnautomatic rifle and went to a mosque inrnHebron on the West Bank of the JordanrnRiver, where the patriarch Abraham isrnsaid to be buried. Firing into the crowdrnkneeling at prayer, he emptied the magazine,rnkilling 30 or more and woundingrnmany others.rnFerguson, a Jamaican, deliberately setrnout to kill white people. Goldstein, a Jewrnwho thought of himself as an Israeli, hadrngone to kill Palestinian Muslims. Why?rnIs the fact that each had spent a significantrnpart of his life in Brooklyn all theyrnhad in common?rnAs a child, Ferguson led a sheltered lifernin an affluent family in Jamaica. He attendedrnone of the island’s best schools.rnIts principal said he was a pleasant, punctual,rnwell-behaved student who playedrncricket, was the star goalkeeper on thernsoccer team, and graduated in the toprnthird of his class. After graduation, hisrnfather got him a job but died when Fergusonrnwas 20. Looking to improve hisrnprospects, Ferguson emigrated to thernUnited States when he was 24. After arnmarriage that gave him citizenship and arntemporary companion, and problemsrnwith jobs and college, he moved tornBrooklyn in 1991. A fall at one jobrngained him worker’s compensation ofrn$26,250 m September 1992.rnBy all accounts, Goldstein was arnmodel student at the Yeshiva of Flatbushrnin Brooklyn, at Yeshiva University,rnand at Einstein Medical School. He isrnsaid to have been a paradigm of selfsacrificernand devotion to others. “It isrnhard to believe that such a person couldrnbecome a mass murderer solely as a resultrnof the pressure of recent events,”rnnoted liberal Rabbi Shlomo Sternberg inrna March 1994 New York Times article.rnWe have become accustomed to thernconcept of the “power of positive thinking,”rnthanks in part to the pioneeringrnprecept of the late Norman VincentrnPeale. And the power of negative thinking?rnWell, the positive proponents warnrnagainst it, some saying it can set you uprnfor cancer or shorten your life in somernother way—through stress, depression,rnetc. In a major clinical study at DukernUniversity, made public at a meeting ofrnthe Society of Behavioral Medicine onrnApril 15, researchers reported that negativernemotions, including hostility, significantlyrnreduced chances of survivalrnfrom the effects of heart disease.rnMany people voice or write of theirrnconcern about the effect on the young ofrnwords and acts, of sounds and sights ofrnviolence on radio and TV. According tornthe National Coalition on TelevisionrnViolence there are more than 700 studiesrnand reports on TV violence. They arernoverwhelming in their conclusion that arndirect and major causal connection tornreal-life violence exists. Dr. Hollenbachrnof the National Institute of MentalrnHealth said that this may be the bestrnproven fact in the whole field of psychology.rnGould this be the factor societyrnis missing in trying to understand thernaberrant behavior in Hicksville and Hebron?rnWhat are the major messages aboutrnviolence related by the media to peoplernof African or Jewish descent? For the former,rnthere is a constant stream of fictionrnand drama about oppression and discriminationrnsuffered by “minorities.”rnFor Jews, the major impact must be fromrnthe repeated forms of presenting “thernHolocaust.” That these are powerful instrumentsrnproducing emotional reactionsrnin white people and in non-Jews isrnevident. There have been countlessrnstreet demonstrations in major cities ofrnWestern Europe by Europeans protestingrn”racism” and by non-Jews protestingrn”anti-Semitism” when a synagoguernor Jewish graveyard has been desecrated.rnIn the United States, we have had riotsrnand street demonstrations relating to thernexperiences of these two groups. Ifrnstrong emotions of empathv and angerrnare evoked in both whites and non-Jewsrnby the stimuli of these presentations ofrnviolence, how must “minorities” andrnJews feel?rnAccording to his landlord, Fergusonrnblamed racism for all his misfortunesrnand shattered expectations. Some Jewsrncould only feel revulsion “when theyrnheard some neighbors of the settler. Dr.rnBaruch Goldstein, gloat over what a giftrnhe had handed them for the Jewish holidayrnof Purim,” reported the New YorkrnTimes last February. Goldstein, one mayrnspeculate, killed and died under the burdenrnof the holocaust, of Schindler’s Listrnand of all that had gone before it.rnMore Jews are becoming aware of howrnpsychologically damaging the repetitionrnof the “holocaust” story is to their people.rnAs the Rabbi Eli Hecht wrote lastrnJanuary in a Los Angeles ‘Times articlernentitled “When Will Jews Let It Rest?”;rnI am sick and tired of this generationrnidentifying Judaism with suffering.rnWhy is it imperative forrn42/CHRONICLESrnrnrn