The grim litany rings out in every synagogue in the country every year, last Thursday included. A key passage in the liturgy for Yom Kippur, the somber Jewish holiday of repentance, bids believers to speculate on the ways to die. "Who by fire and who by water," they read in unison. "Who by the sword and who by wild beasts, who by famine and who by drought..." It is a hard passage. Wild beasts? There are usually some raised eyebrows.
Last week they were replaced by tears. There are indeed wild beasts afoot, and their acts packed synagogues even fuller than...
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