There was a guy driving in Lakewood and while making a left turn, a car coming the other way ran a stop sign and forced him off the road. As he was trying to get his cortisol levels back to normal, he hears a knock on his window. He lowers his window and in front of him is a Yungerman. The Yungerman yells, “Are you crazy? Do you realize what you just did? You almost caused three thousand women to have to waste a night going to a tznius asifa!!!!”

Not giving a 17-year-old kid a license and car at 2 a.m. is a much better segula to make sure that teenagers don’t die than what 100 tznius asifas can do. It completely removes accountability for the adults who allowed for this situation to occur, and it makes people who had nothing to do with it responsible for not being “good enough” Jews.

The central point of reflecting upon oneself in this context has been completely skewed. There is a concept that when something bad happens to us as a community, we should reflect on ourselves and look for areas we can improve in. The point was NOT for people to grandstand and proclaim that as crazy as it may seem, their specific agenda was the number one cause for all of this. And the only way to rectify this is if all you mortal sinners immediately take XYZ upon yourselves, lest the wrath of God raineth down upon thee. Also, quite arrogantly, implying that if you don’t cut 10 inches off your wig, you just don’t give a damn about the poor dead children.

Keep it a buck and hold people accountable. These tragedies happen when people are not responsible. Not because Mrs. Lefkowitz’s skirt is too short, or because Chaim Ber doesn’t have a filter on his phone. It’s also a time to reflect upon yourself and your shortcomings, not to run around and lecture strangers on what they can do better.