I'm in a Jewish state of mind

Probably because of my grief and my Uncle's faith. I've been thinking about a conversation with a very perceptive 18 year old I met yesterday at the shiva. I'm constantly astounded about how cool kids are thesesdays.We discussed our respective trips to Israel where he felt, as did I, a very different place then the one portrayed in the media. After the service he mentioned how the rabbi had made a reference to the 6 million Jews sacrificed in the Holocaust. He did not think sacrifice was an appropriate term for murder which was intriguing to me. I was brought up in the 50's with the then media-popular concept that the Jews were exterminated, an extremely prejudiced and loathsome view, so I had to mull awhile with this one.
This morning I opened the paper and there was a story in the NYTimes with it's usual slanted American view (especially from columnists Myre and Erlanger) about the lastest from the ultra-right, ultra-orthodox, ultra-illegal settlers in the West Bank. They resisted expulsion and attacked the police. Over 200 police and settlers were were injured. As I thought about this unbelievably useless and criminal act, an act against their own Jewish state that so many had sacrificed and died for, it realized what the rabbi meant. It was a sacrifice because it was so shameful and heinous, the world would never forget, so it would not be in vain. It tightened a bond that unites all Jews. And it was a prelude to the ultimate sacrifice, for the State of Israel, a place where peace takes precedent over religion. The sacrifices of Jews should be over, now we have a place of our own. The Rabbi's sacrfice was not in vain.
It's unspeakable that in the midst of external choas and internal instability, that some use this as a political ploy and Jews attack Jews.
You know, in Israel people greet each other with, Shalom. The response is always, Shalom, Shalom.