The Blood of the Youths Cries Out for a Price Tag at a National Level

By Rabbi Yisrael Rosen Dean of the Zomet Institute

"For if Kayin will be consumed" [Bamidbar 24:22]. "This refers to Yishmael, since the children of Kayin are from the seed of Yishmael – that is, Kayin will be consumed by fire." [Rabeinu Bechayei]. (The relationship between Kayin and Yishmael is based on the fact that Yishmael settled on land that had belonged to Kayin.) A short while ago a gloomy darkness descended over the State of Israel. Underneath the pictures of Eyal, Gil-ad, and Naftali, a caption has been added: Let G-d avenge their blood! And I am reminded of the verse of David's dirge for Avner, and in my mind it should be repeated three times: "'Your hands are not bound and your feet are not in chains, you fell as before villains.' And the people cried more over him." [Melachim II 3:34]. A National Price Tag The security cabinet has announced that there will be a serious response, and harsh words taken from language of strength have been sent out into the media: "We will destroy the infrastructure of the Hamas... We will teach them a lesson that they will never forget... We will put pressure on our enemies, until they are destroyed..." – and all manner of showing clenched fists. I do not know what lies behind these ambiguous words and how they will be translated into facts on the ground. I fear that our reactions will be similar to those of the past, but I will be happy to be proved wrong. Our enemies have great powers of absorption, and they can hold their breaths for an impressively long time. They will bow their heads slightly so that the wave will pass over their heads, and once again they will be rescued from the danger of drowning. And even such drastic measures as curtailing their supplies of water and electricity, which I support, will not really help much. My proposal is to turn the tables. Instead of adding ever more words of anger and fury and spreading threats which among other things are meant to alleviate our pent up anger, we should collect payment in terms of a nationally declared "price tag." We must take advantage of the current atmosphere – and especially the internal national feelings – and take political and legal steps as I will outline below. Just let us see if the left and the legal advisors have the guts to object... Two weeks ago, in the wake of the kidnapping, we demanded in this column, as many others did, the immediate annexation of Gush Etzion, "the city close to the victims" [Devarim 21:3]. Two years ago we proposed in this column to make a law requiring mandatory execution for released security prisoners who return to their evil ways, in addition to confiscation of all their property and expulsion of their first-level family members (except for any who affirm their loyalty to the State of Israel and who back up the declaration with appropriate deeds). Months ago laws were proposed on the subjects of Loyalty to the State and the National Homeland of the Jews. Now we must put some laws on a fast track – to make the conditions of security prisoners harsher and to send every released prisoner who renewed any links to Hamas back to prison. The Cancer of Humanity Together with these moves, the State of Israel and the Jewish nation in the Diaspora must initiate a huge project under the banner, "rescuing humanity from the claws of fundamentalist Islam." I can already hear the objections and the claims: "Are you crazy? Do you really want to start a religious war? Should we cause the entire Moslem world to stand up against us?" And my answer is – YES! Just read your newspapers about what is happening in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, and what Iran is planning. And it's all under the banner of jihad. As far as I am concerned, radical Islam, which murders for its own sake and which lives by the symbol of the sword, is very reminiscent of the rise of the Nazis in Germany. If "the world" will not come to its senses when it looks at the Moslem dragon that threatens it, human culture will be forced into a Third World War, fought in the name of the Koran and of "Allah." The world must be inundated with facts, and a wide-ranging and effective propaganda war must be waged, with the financial support of powerful Jewish interests all over the world. The Descendants of Kayin, the First Murderer One of the most impressive things that made my heart tremble, which I experienced a few years ago in a visit to Auschwitz, was a dull voice that came from an ancient loudspeaker positioned near the Wall of Death. It declared, "The sound of your brother's blood shouts to me from the earth" [Bereishit 4:10]. This is the cry that Kayin heard after he had just murdered the other half of the human race. As I write these lines, I can hear a heavenly echo crying out from the Hills of Yehuda, addressed to the Yishmalites, who are the spiritual offspring of Kayin(as in the commentary quoted above): "The sound of the blood of our tender youths cries out to me from the earth of Gush Etzion..."