Oh dear, I felt awful when I read about the racist yobbos who beat and tried to kill Jamal Julani. What’s the point of any philosophy or civilization or religion if it leads to gangs of youths roaming the streets looking to beat to death those they don’t like? This was in Israel; is this the end to which 60-plus years of Israeli society has led?

Hate crimes have been with us for decades, and they exist in every country, regardless of its style of civilization. Remember Vincent Chin in Detroit? Remember Paki-bashing (beating up supposed Pakistani immigrants) in England?

Surely, such hate crimes are an aberration in a civilized country. In countries where we think  xenophobic brutality is commonplace, perhaps our impression–formed at a distance–is wrong; even if our impression is right, perhaps in time a natural feeling of human compassion and tolerance will overcome short-lived hatred. Perhaps, and perhaps not.

This week’s sedrah (Deut. 21:18-21) discusses the incorrigible child. What is to be done if he won’t listen to his father or mother despite their efforts at discipline? The Torah prescribes death. Why the death penalty for someone who has not committed a capital crime? Rashi explains it’s because such a person is bound to turn to thievery and murder. Can you every be sure that a child is unredeemable?

Of course, the Torah is full of death penalties that are never imposed. During all of Moses’ time as a lawgiver, only two people are executed, and in both cases the penalty is uncertain. The Talmud says many capital crimes outlined in the Torah never occurred, including the case of an incorrigible child, though one rabbi says not only did it happen, but “I sat on his grave” (B.T. Sanhedrin 71a). (JewishVirtualLibrary.org has a useful review of the topic of capital punishment in Jewish tradition.)

So, is there such a thing as an incorrigible child? (Got a teenager in the house testing the limits of your love?) If so, what are the parents to do? And if they ask the authorities for help, what are they to do?

I’m sure many people have quick answers to these questions based on the best scientific research and theory. But as for me, I can only think of the misery involved, shame for the families of the perpetrators, pain and anger for the families of the victim, and hope that some fresh tolerance and understanding will emerge from this shameful act of xenophobia.