Cruelty and Mercy 1.Iran 2. Teen drinking

And so we learn:
One who becomes compassionate instead of cruel, will ultimately become cruel instead of compassionate, as it is written (I Samuel 22:19): “And Nov, the city of priests, he smote with the edge of a sword.” Is Nov any worse than the descendants of Amalek?!

Midrash Rabba, Ecclesiastes 7:16.

1. Time to be cruel, not merciful-Iran and bomb-and Sukkot Haftorot The Haftorot during the Festival of Sukkot speak of end times-a huge final battle of Gog and Magog, and final a celebration in Jerusalem at the end when all nations will celebrate Sukkot and recognizes Adonai as God (the final verse of Alenu prayer comes from this Zachariah Haftarah.) Sometimes the events of the world feel like those days.
From The Chicago Tribune editorial Saturday:

Case closed? You wish
Fresh from his performance as a human pinata at Columbia University, the Iranian president took the opportunity this week to remind the nations of the world just how much contempt he and his country held for the UN Security Council. In sum, a lot.
After two sets of sanctions, and many more deadlines for Iran to suspend its nuclear program, Ahmadinejad dared the nations of the world to stop Iran's nuclear program. He scoffed at the power of the UN Security Council and declared that "the nuclear issue of Iran is now closed."
That brought the quick response from the U.S: You wish.
"The Iranian president is badly mistaken if he thinks the international community is going to forget about the fact that his country is continuing -- against the will of the UN Security Council -- its nuclear research programs," said Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns.
And from Germany: "Let's not fool ourselves," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. "If Iran were to acquire the nuclear bomb, the consequences would be disastrous."One of the sharpest warnings came from France's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy. Allowing Iran to build a bomb, he said, would be an "unacceptable risk to the stability in the region and in the world." In his first major foreign policy speech a few weeks ago, he startled some of his countrymen by asserting that Iran could be attacked militarily if it did not abide by Security Council resolutions to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

Whatever Iran does, or doesn't, divulge about its years of deceit is beside the point. Tehran is still running its outlaw nuclear program. It is building and installing centrifuges, enriching uranium and following a path that could lead to the bomb. It is defying the Security Council.
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

2. Don't be merciful (too buddy buddy with our kids when we should be tough:
Remember the Hutsells
In all likelihood, you won't read in these pages again about Jeffrey and Sara Hutsell. They're the Deerfield parents who opened their home for a teen drinking party. In the aftermath, two kids died in a car crash near their home.

On Wednesday, the Hutsells were sentenced for allowing underage drinking at their home, endangering a child and obstruction of justice.

Sara Hutsell was ordered to serve 18 months of probation, do 250 hours of public service, pay a $500 fine and donate $1,000 each to Students Against Drunk Driving and the Lake County Children's Advocacy Center.



...That's likely to be the last public chapter in a case that has, we hope, scared many parents away from hosting teen drinking parties.

A note to parents and teens who might have been watching this case with some detached interest: The punishment meted out Wednesday won't end the Deerfield couple's ordeal. They're likely to face one or more civil lawsuits. There will be the unimaginable pain that comes from knowing that your action -- or inaction -- contributed to the deaths of two teens. Judge Christopher Stride called the Hutsells' actions "a mistake ... that will resonate for a lifetime." Resonate? No, the correct verb there is haunt.

Some parents will, however, ignore this message, just as kids often ignore anti-drinking messages on the illusory grounds that bad things like car accidents only happen to other people. They'll continue to open their homes to teens for drinking parties. They'll shrug and trot out the usual rationalization -- the kids will drink anyway. They'll continue to confiscate the kids' car keys and pat themselves on the back for keeping their teen and his or her friends "safe." They may even secretly, or not so secretly, pride themselves on being a "cool" parent, a friend to their teen rather than an adversary.

They won't remember the Hutsells.


Remember the Hutsells."