Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Stop Running from Iran

By Shmuel Sackett

 As a child I was taught to stay away from certain 4-letter words. I never realized, however, that the list of these 4-letter words would grow each year as I entered into my adult life. I fully believe that - somewhere in the world - there is a group of very nice, politically correct men and women who make sure to keep this list fresh and up to date. My imagination has been flying all around and I have come to the conclusion that this year's new additions to the "4-letter-words-you-may-never-say-in-public" are: IRAN, NUKE and BOMB.  (At this point, you are allowed to write and read these words, so don't worry – you are still safe!)

By now, is there any doubt – at all - that IRAN has the NUKE and will use it to BOMB our beloved Israel, G-d forbid? Reports have been surfacing the last several years that Iran has crossed Bibi's famous "red line" a long time ago and is simply laughing at him and his empty threats. Even if you believe that they are not there yet, which is a minority opinion among leading security experts of the world, Iran is certainly moving in that direction and is working 24/7 at making it a reality. The question, therefore, is quite simple: What do we do? How do we defuse the situation and restore quiet and stability to the region? Let's be honest. Living very close to a nuclear-armed Iran is not exactly the way I want my children growing up… so what do we do?

First of all, let's state what we must NOT do. 
Politicians love to talk. The official term used in today's politically correct world is "diplomacy". Oh, what a word! I have no idea what the official definition is but if I were writing the dictionary I would define it as "the art of stalling and talking until you are blue in the face while never solving the problem you have been dealing with." Think about it. How many years have you heard about the threat of Iran becoming nuclear? It has been AT LEAST 10 years. We have heard speeches from US Presidents and Israeli Prime Ministers, have seen worldwide sanctions against Iran and have heard UN resolutions condemning Iran. The result? Iran has the nuke and will use it the first opportunity they get. So much for diplomacy.

The next favorite tactic is the old "wait-and-see". My father z"l was a stockbroker for over 40 years and he would recommend stocks to clients all the time. He told me that never once, in his 40 years, did a client buy a stock after saying he would "watch it for a while". My father said that a sentence like that is the kiss of death because one of two things would always happen. Either the stock would go down and the client would say, "It's a good thing I didn't buy it" or the stock would go up and the client would say, "I should have listened to you, but it's too late now." 

Personally, I never understood how (except in extreme cases) any rational Yid can say "wait and see". Problems need to be solved and when Hashem gives you the opportunity, you perform the action right away! This is true, not only in the negative concept of problems, but also on the positive side. When things are going well, when Hashem has blessed you with success and good health, THAT is the time to do more for Am Yisrael. That is the time to increase your Torah learning, your acts of Chessed and yes – that is the time to call Nefesh b'Nefesh and begin the process to come home. Jews don't "wait and see" because we are a people of action as opposed to spectators in a stadium. 

The same is true on the world stage. When our leaders say that they will wait and see, inevitably nothing good will happen. No serious actions will be taken and no positive results will be achieved because this is a formula for disaster. This is why our Fathers were commanded to wipe out the 7 Nations in the Land of Israel immediately upon entering the Land! They didn't wait and see if they would harm us (similar to all the times the city waits until 3 people die on a street corner before installing a traffic light), they initiated the action and did some very politically INcorrect things!

Therefore, my friends, as you read, hear and see a lot these days about the government in Persia and how much different the new Haman is from the old one, sit down and take a deep breath. Realize that a very serious danger exists and the more we talk about it the more we lose because time is not on our side. If we don't deal with this head on, our Nation will be forced to say many Kaddishes in the not-too-distant future. I am sure you agree with me that our people have said more than enough Kaddishes! We have sat shiva and have built more monuments to honor those killed than any other nation in the world. Sorry, but I am not interested in another Yad Vashem.

Stop being afraid of these 4-letter words: Iran, Nuke and Bomb. These are Israel's problems and our leaders need to end the threat quickly, heroically and completely. To do it, we will need the help of our own 4-letter word – a Name actually - the one that powers the entire world and will NEVER let us down: It is a Hebrew word and very, very holy: "Yud-Hey-Vuv and then Hey". Those 4 letters have unlimited and immeasurable strength and will use a 3 letter name: "IDF" as its messenger. May that day come soon and bring true peace to the world.
 

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