On Wednesday morning, Rabbi Taubes addressed the entire student body after davening to reflect upon the unspeakable tragedy that took place last week in Newtown, Connecticut, which resulted in the devastating loss of so many young and innocent lives. He stressed that we dare not think that just because this was not an attack specifically targeting either Jewish people or a Jewish institution, it does not deserve our attention and thoughtful contemplation. Our Torah in fact teaches, as articulated in the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos (3:14), that every human being is beloved, because every human being was created b'tzelem Elokim, in the image of G-d. A horrible story like this should therefore prompt us to ponder the precious nature of each and every individual. We cannot allow ourselves to become desensitized to the value of a human life, which can happen in a society in which we have grown accustomed to "body counts," whether real - as regularly depicted in images in the news through various media outlets, or fictional - as often seen in movies and video games.