Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: Maintaining a Friendship of the Spirit – part II

#266 – part II

Date and Place: 11 Shevat 5670, Yafo

Recipient: Rav Pinchas Hakohen Lintop, the rabbi of a Chassidic community in Lithuania. He had learned Kabbala with Rav Kook when Rav Kook was in Boisk. The two were very deep and like-minded thinkers. We have previously seen a letter between them (#184), written a year earlier.

Body: [Last time, we saw Rav Kook try to alleviate Rav Lintop’s feeling their relationship had cooled. Now we get to a discussion of philosophical matters. In the background, Rav Lintop’s apparently critiqued Rav Kook’s recent article, “Derech Hatechiya.”]

I hope for great, practical miracles, no less than all who look toward Hashem’s salvation. These shall come from Hashem’s Hand to His servants, in the sky, and on the ground, in the seas and pertaining to everything within them. There will be spiritual miracles, finding expression in the kidneys and heart, and all the compartments of the spirit and soul. It will occur on a national and individual basis. From there, it will impact every nation and human being. Even the animals in the fields and forests, the birds, and the crawling creatures, everything with a soul breathed into it, will be included in the miracles. Even the vegetable and inanimate objects will not escape the ripple effect of the great chain of life, as the eternal Hashem reveals His light.

However, in order to improve the world and for all of the miracles to create blessing, so that they are recognized and followed on a paved path, all living things, including humans, especially the nation whose soul is part of Hashem’s revelation, must smooth out the wrinkles of the souls with the power of He Who straightens such things. This is done by the spiritual intellect, which is full of light and heat, and by pure emotions of reliable love for the wondrous nation from which we were hewn and according to the “value” in all directions, which fills the whole world. This is in line with the pasuk, “Like the four directions of the sky I spread you out” (Zecharia 2:10). This connects with the constant deepening of [the people’s] understanding of the divine, His goal, and the way He relates to everything, bringing a person greatness of the soul. Then, his emotions and wisdom are in line with those of the world, and he will not be disturbed if a foreign man of distinction follows a different line of thinking.

The depths of the miracles expose the wellspring of power, which teaches understanding to us and the whole world. Then we recognize that all great thinkers who oppose our way of thinking would have happily changed to ours if they would realize how lofty our storehouse is, filled with great riches and Hashem’s blessing.

I do not wish to be defensive and say that my article, “The Way of the Reawakening” in “Hanir,” will suffice to produce all the spiritual heights I allowed my spirit to touch on. It is not the work of individuals, a generation, or an era to refine all of the intertwined holy visions, which are very entangled when they are limited by entering the difficulties of life.

However, we have never refrained from presenting the essence of historical progressions when they add life to those with wise hearts. Even if they are not fully appreciated, they still encourage those who contemplate them. Considering everything, we cannot withhold writing visions that are presented clearly on a tablet (see Chabakuk 2:2), spelling out every element according to one’s ability to explain that which is expected to transpire beyond what is generally understood even by the choice members of the nation. When speaking in such general terms, we reference the roots of the [spiritual phenomena]. We do not specify one nation vs. another and certainly one person vs. another. When we look at the “Book of Adam,” we can see every generation and its specific spiritual leaders. However, first we must present the basis of the whole wonderful book: Man was created in Hashem’s image. After this is understood, we can deal with the specific names of different people from whom streams of humanity emanated.

We continue next time.

Election Enigma

by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky

(First published at Israelnationalnews.com)

The challenge: How could Democrats replace a feeble Joe Biden who refused to step aside with a younger identity-politics driven candidate, without subjecting that candidate to the voters?

The solution: The only way for Democratic bigwigs to get Biden to quit was to expose his frailty to himself and the public. This was accomplished in a remarkably shrewd way by playing to Biden’s vanity and have him debate Donald Trump in June. Such an early presidential debate – even before the nominating conventions – was unprecedented! They knew he would fail, and then intense pressure could be applied coercing him to step down, too late for primaries and right on time to install their candidate of choice. And Trump fell for it – there was no need for him to agree – owing to his own narcissism issues.

It was a brilliant strategy, marred only by three realities: that almost the entire Democrat establishment had collectively lied to the American people for years about Biden’s incapacity (including Kamala Harris); that Harris had been perceived by that same establishment as a mediocrity who could not win or govern; and the doubt that Dems could get away with not explaining to the American people why Biden changed his mind so abruptly and how, if he is too incapacitated to run for re-election, he is still vigorous and lucid enough to govern.

These three statements are all true and on each score the Dems have escaped accountability. Chalk that up to a compliant media and a willfully blind public. How was it that Joe Biden swore that only a direct message from God would cause him to drop out – and then just days later he’s passing the torch to a new generation? Who was it that kneecapped him with the torch? Americans would surely know by now if they weren’t either so incredibly docile or politically ossified into two rigid camps in which each camper just votes for his or her team.

Harris is an unserious individual being adroitly handled by serious people who want to win at all costs. They know exactly how to market her, how to fool a gullible population, and how to obscure her vulnerabilities, which primarily means hiding her. She has made a career of failing upwards, the beneficiary of social promotions with an undistinguished record in every office she has held and placed in critical positions by powerful male patrons. The disappearing trick can work not only because the American voting public is easily manipulated but also because of the weaknesses of her opponent.

Donald Trump is in an uphill battle. He should not be but he is, owing to the quirks, so to speak, of his personality. Even supporters (like me) should accept the reality that Trump, to my mind, was a good president, but he is a weak candidate, even a horrible candidate. The fact is that campaigning and governing are two different skill sets. Few people possess even one of them, much less both.

There are visible problems with Trump as campaigner. His rallies have become boring, although there has recently been a slight uptick in enthusiasm. He repeats the same lines, jokes, insults, clichés, and boasts. Perceptive viewers see the empty seats at his rallies and the disengaged audiences. But worse than that, the substance of his remarks is always designed to win the laughter, applause, and approval of his audience, but never to reach beyond that audience to other voters. Like Harris, he speaks in ambiguities, endlessly repeating the same hyperbolic clichés – “the worst ever… the best ever…a disaster…never would have happened…we will have to see…, etc.” It is as if he sees his primary function to be entertainer rather than leader, such that he would rather get laughs than votes. It is not just that Trump is undisciplined; it is that he thinks discipline itself is a detriment to his brand.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that there are no second acts in American lives. In the last century, only one man has lost a presidential election and then won on another attempt (Richard Nixon was defeated in 1960 and prevailed in 1968). It is well known that only one man has won two non-consecutive terms to the presidency – Grover Cleveland, who won in 1884, lost in 1888, and then won again in 1892. What is less pondered is that Cleveland won the popular vote in all three elections against his opponents. Trump, by contrast, has lost the popular vote in his two elections and, by all accounts, stands to lose the popular vote a third time as well. Worse, Republicans have won the popular vote for the presidency only once in the last 32 years, the George W. Bush second term victory in 2004.

That is not a good formula for electoral success because it means that the Republican message is not permeating or persuading the electorate. True, Democrats get to run up the popular vote margin in such heavily blue states like California and elections are won by majorities in the electoral college. Nevertheless, it should be exceedingly rare to lose the popular vote and win the electoral college majority. It is not healthy for democracy for that to be the norm. That Republicans are behind the popular vote eight ball in every election is worrisome. The path to victory requires threading the needle and winning just the right number of votes in several swing states by, as has become the pattern, extremely slender electoral majorities.

That too is a sign of the deep polarization in American politics that will be exacerbated by this year’s election outcome, whatever it is.

Kamala Harris is even more inept, arguably a worse campaigner except when reading a teleprompter, and flirts with incoherence every time she opens her mouth without a script in front of her. But with Harris peculiarly but wisely under wraps, the Democrats have a far better approach. She can be controlled; Trump cannot. To illustrate the problem, Harris’ nomination speech was 37 minutes long, not particularly illuminating, or inspirational, but mercifully brief. By contrast, Trump’s nomination speech was a good 37-minute speech that he delivered over a rambling 97 minutes. It was replete with half thoughts, run-on sentences, and boasts, and it was designed to appeal to no one except those already in his camp. But given the built-in Republican deficit in the popular vote, Trump is far less capable of squandering or turning off independent voters then is Harris. Someone should realize that before it’s too late.

The debate is unlikely to change any minds. An unprepared Trump simply repeated clichés and embellishments, was reticent on details, and could have challenged Harris on multiple issues but was easily sidetracked. His best moment came at the end – “why haven’t you done this already?” – but that is a point he should have pounded repeatedly. Harris dabbled in jumbled words in search of a cogent thought but adroitly – with the moderators’ assistance – dodged every question that attempted to pierce her shell and pin her down on past or present policy. Harris will return to her protective casing and Trump will be left to wonder why his message is not resonating. It is because his message is generally meandering, focused on what was, as devoid of substance as are Harris’ word salads, and speaks only to his base.

The only escape from this predicament is for Trump to expand his base and cut into the traditional Democratic voting blocks. That is easier said than done. With each election cycle, the hope builds that Republicans will gain more black votes and Hispanic votes and Jewish votes and urban votes, and yet it really never materializes. It could, and it should, but it does not. American politics is exceedingly tribal; most people vote for their team regardless of what their team represents or proposes. Jews especially will find every reason – and they are not beyond fabricating reasons or denying the reality that is right in front of them – to vote for the Democrats. For most American Jews, voting for the Democrats is akin to a religious obligation, and the only such religious devotion that they take seriously and perform enthusiastically. Israelis especially should internalize that American Jews’ attachment to Israel is waning – owing primarily to the impact of intermarriage and assimilation – and the Middle East situation ranks very low on the American Jewish list of electoral priorities, far behind abortion and the American economy.

The race remains unpredictable because every poll is within the margin of error and any victory will be narrow. Trump won in 2016 because of an electoral margin of about 70,000 votes in three states and lost in 2020 by a margin of around 42,000 votes in three states. That is volatility.

It is a shame that Trump is such a poor campaigner and digressive debater because he would again be a fine president, even with the uproar his triumph will cause in a hopelessly polarized society. It is a choice between the chaos that follows Trump but whose policies are mostly sound, and the chaos symbolized by the US retreat from Afghanistan, or on the southern border, or on the streets of American cities where the aggrieved can riot without consequence and Jews can be attacked without redress. Choose your chaos.

The United States of America needs strong leadership as does the world. Israel needs an American president whose support is not conditional, who doesn’t mouth supportive platitudes in public while wielding the hammer in private, an American president who prefers an Israeli victory instead of the survival of Hamas and is willing to do what is necessary to achieve it, an American president who will help ensure that Iran does not become a nuclear power rather than one who subsidizes Iran’s nuclear program and other global, terrorist mischief.

One dramatic difference between the two parties is that Trump has ruled out the establishment of a Palestinian state as impossible at this time in history, whereas Democrats have made it their passion project regardless of its effect on Israel. Biden and Harris have never called for the defeat of Hamas, surely an American and Israeli interest, only for a cease fire which, by definition, will allow Hamas to survive to murder, maraud, and molest another day. Anyone who feels that Trump is not the better candidate for world stability, for a stronger America, and for a more secure Israel is hopelessly partisan and beyond reason.

That being said, would that Israel always act in a way that furthers our interests and advances our strategic goals rather than looking over our shoulder at our patron. When American support for Israel declines – as it invariably will given the demographics of American society – we will be compelled to do that anyway. Why not do it now – and show the free and sane world what leadership is?

Yeshivat Machon Meir: How can we be compassionate? (video)

The Yishai Fleisher Israel Podcast : WHY LAME NARRATIVES LOSE FOR ISRAEL

SEASON 2024 EPISODE 36: Yishai and Malkah Fleisher discuss why Israel's PR efforts seem to fail to attract support and how to fix the weak-Jew approach. Yishai gives a good example of a strong narrative by sparring with a Spanish TV reporter. Then, the debate between Trump and Harris and how their policy ideas could affect Israel. Finally, Ben Bresky on the surprising history of Jewish board games.

Brotherhood

by Rav Binny Freedman

“Achi!” “My brother!” These were the words that always greeted me when I got to the meeting point for reserve duty every year, and it was the most common word on everyone’s lips. Men who had not seen each other often for nearly a year and commonly had little or nothing to do with each other during the year for a few weeks a year rediscovered a brotherhood for those weeks of reserve duty. It’s a funny word “Achi” which does not easily translate as ‘my brother’; there is a power to it in Hebrew as in Israel it connotes much more than a blood relation, being closer to a ‘brother in arms’, and it means that these are men who would lay their lives on the line for each other, quite literally.

I never imagined I would see this anywhere else but in the context of the army, perhaps subconsciously assuming it was the product of intense sometimes life threatening situations which bound us together.

But this week in a most unexpected and mundane fashion I discovered I was wrong.

This past week we welcomed the incoming (ninth) class of Yeshivat Orayta; seventy 18-19-year-old boys from thirty-one different high schools in twenty-seven different cities, including eight public school boys. Perhaps the most diverse group of incoming classmen we have yet welcomed to Jerusalem’s Old City halls….

Yet, it has been remarkable to see the fashion in which they have bonded as a brotherhood so quickly. Part of this of course, to be completely honest, is by design. It is our belief that boys who are unhappy socially will not be happy in their studies, so from the moment they board the El Al plane to Israel we are focused on creating a sense of community. Yet, there is something more which we cannot plan and which nonetheless occurs again, every year.

One of the characteristics of an Orayta Shabbat is the sharing that goes on at the Shabbat meals. On Friday night (our first Shabbat at Orayta) boys were standing up and sharing something they had not expected to find and yet did, and one of the boys expressed his surprise, having expected to make new friends and discovering that after only three days he felt he had joined a special brotherhood. At the moment, even for Orayta I was surprised by the sincerity of his words, especially after only a few days, but was equally surprised to see a lot of the boys nodding their heads in agreement, and I had a flashback to a moment I had forgotten about which I experienced over the summer.

This past summer in Teaneck we were welcomed by the Bnei Yeshurun Teaneck Jewish community for an inspiring Orayta alumni Shabbaton with close to 50 students participating. While we have run many College campus Shabbatonim for alumni as well as spring get away retreats, this was the first time we did something like this in the middle of the summer, having noted many students do internships in NYC, and we were pleasantly surprised to see so many students come out for the weekend. Friday when I arrived, boys were still trickling in and I watched the shouts and hugs as they embraced friends they had not seen in a while and heard one of them scream out that same word: “Achi! “… It was the only time in my life that I can recall experiencing that comradery and brotherhood outside of a Sunday morning start of the reserves… so what is that??

Another boy this past Shabbat told a story that suggested it is not even about close relationships. A couple of boys on Friday morning had decided they wanted to walk to Meah Shearim (an Ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood) to buy some Jewish books as well as explore some of the unique sights and sound of this special Jerusalem community.

But they were not sure of the way, so they stopped a Jewish fellow wearing a Kippah and Tzitzit walking into The Old City. The fellow pointed them in the right direction and then, seeing they still seemed confused, turned around and walked them all the way (a 25 minute walk) there while telling them his life story and hearing some of theirs. And this boy realized that in truth, we are all brothers. But what does that even mean?

Perhaps, hidden in this week’s portion of Ki Teitzeh the Torah shares a deeper understanding of this idea.

“You shall not see your brother’s ox or sheep driven away, and hide from them, you shall surely bring them back to your brother. And if your brother is not near you, you shall gather it into your home until your brother seeks it out and the return it to him. And so shall you do … for any lost item of your brother, which you find, you cannot hide (ignore?) ….” (Devarim 22:1-3)

Essentially, the Torah is telling us that when we find something someone may have lost we have a responsibility to return it. This mitzvah, known as hashavat aveidah (returning lost property) is actually two mitzvoth as expressed by Rambam (Hilchot Gezeilah Ve’Aveidah 11:1): A positive Mitzvah (Aseh 204) to return lost items, and a prohibition (Lo Ta’aseh 199) forbidding us to ignore lost property when coming upon it.

The Torah, in expressing this mitzvah uses the word ‘brother’ (ach) no less than five times. Why is this mitzvah, more than any other so connected to the idea that we should be more than just neighbors or fellow Jews; we are meant to be brothers …

Interestingly though a full analysis is not possible here, there are two other places which mark the beginnings of the Jewish people, where the word ‘brother’ features prominently.

The story of Yosef  is commonly known as the story of ‘Yosef and his brothers’. Indeed, Yosef first errs in bringing the “talks of his brothers” to their father, and the entire story opens by describing Yosef as “shepherding with his brothers” (Bereisheet 37:2). It is worth noting the Hebrew word used is “et” which really mans ‘at’ or ‘opposite’ as opposed to the word “im” “with”, which would have been more appropriate. Clearly this was a brotherhood by birth, but not of spirit. It is ‘the brothers’ who conspire, ‘the brothers’ who see Yosef coming and ‘the brothers’ who throw him in a pit.

Yet, at the end of their story when they bury their father (ibid. 50:8; 14) they come back to Egypt as brothers this time truly, as a brotherhood.

And at the other end of the story of the Jews in Egypt, Moshe’s first experience as a leader is when he goes out to “see his brethren” (Shemot  2:11). Indeed, Moshe sees an Egyptian beating a Jew “from his brothers”, and his first act which will see him on the road to becoming perhaps the ultimate Jewish leader, is his decision, despite having been raised as an Egyptian prince, to see a fellow Jew as his brother.

There is a telling comment in Rashi in a most unexpected place which will perhaps shed some light on what brotherhood is all about.

Lavan, Yaakov’s wicked father-in-law, has been chasing Yaakov and his family through the night and, catching up with him on the third day we read (Bereisheet chap. 31) of the ensuing conflict which nearly ends in disaster. When Yaakov and Lavan finally make what must be a cold peace, each going their separate ways, Yaakov tells “his brothers” to gather stones and make a monument to their agreement (ibid. v. 46). Yet Yaakov has no brothers to speak of in that moment!?

Rashi explains that these are his sons, who became like brothers when they came to his aid in distress and battle. Brotherhood then, is much more than biology; it is a singularity of purpose, and the knowledge that whatever the circumstances arise one knows that there are those who will put aside their differences and truly be there for each other.

The story of Yosef is all about growing from being just biological brothers, to becoming a true brotherhood. And it is not accidental that Moshe, who will ultimately bring the Torah to the world, begins his journey by demonstrating that though he may be an Egyptian Prince, even a Jewish slave is still his brother.

We are given the special mitzvah of returning a lost object to our brothers, just as Yosef sought the brotherhood he had lost as a young man (when he went ‘seeking his brothers Bereisheet 37:16). And we are enjoined to reach the point where ‘we cannot hide’. (Devarim 22:3). This mitzvah challenges to reach the point where, when our brother is in pain or experiencing loss, we are simply incapable of not being there; that is what true brotherhood is all about.

Something to strive for as we get closer to Rosh Hashanah ….

Shabbat shalom from Yerushalayim.

Amalek, legal weights and licentiousness

by Rabbi Pinchas Winston

The last halachah in the parsha right before the one to eradicate the memory of Amalek is to always have legal weights. Why the juxtaposition? To warn us that cheating in business leads to attacks from Amalek.

The Gemara discusses the topic in more detail making, what it often likes to do, a counterintuitive statement. It does this to make us appreciate the gravity of a sin we might otherwise take for granted. It says: Rav Levi said: The punishment for middos [dishonest] measures, is more severe than the punishment for arayos—illicit relations (Bava Basra 88b).

Unless a person already knows better, they would assume that as bad as cheating someone in business is, adultery is worse. And they would be right, because a person does not get the death penalty for faulty weights, but they do for most illicit sexual encounters. So what did Rav Levi mean with his statement?

On the other hand, the Gemara does say elsewhere that one of the six questions a person is asked on their day of judgment is, “Did you deal faithfully in business?” (Shabbos 31a). Again, as important a thing it is to be honest in business, aren’t there other more pressing things to ask a person about on the most important day of their life?

The answer given is, while adultery is a terrible sin against God and man, it is one that impacts only a few people. Dishonest weights, or any other form of cheating in business, have a greater impact because it affects so many people. Many of those people you may never meet again which makes it impossible to right the wrongs and therefore, do teshuvah.

Another thing. There is a reason why illicit relationships such as adultery as commonplace as they may be in society, are still not as common as cheating others in business. Most of the phishing mail I get is some kind of scam to weasel money out of naive recipients. The rest is either an honest but unwanted advertisement, or a plea for tzedakah.

Part of the reason for this is that it takes less spiritual corruption to cheat in business than it does to let passion push a person to the point of permanently damaging one’s family and an another’s as well. We all feel the pull of money at some point and can be tempted to cheat financially a little, like on a tax return. But we’re far less forgiving when it comes to sexual recklessness.

But here is the deeper point of the Torah in this week’s parsha and the Gemara explaining it, understood from a different part of the Gemara:

A silver goblet was stolen from the host of Mar Zutra Chasida. Mar Zutra saw a certain student who washed his hands and dried them on the cloak of another. Mar Zutra said: “This is the one who does not care about the property of another. He bound that student, and the student then confessed that he stole the goblet.” (Bava Metzia 24a)

One might think there is a big difference between using someone else’s clothing to dry their hands, and actually stealing from another person. Mar Zutra said that the difference is not that large. Once a person starts to care less about the property of another, they have put themself on a path to stealing in the future. This is why the rabbis placed Pirkei Avos, which teaches ethical values, in Seder Nezikin, the section of Mishnah that deals with damages to others and their property.

The same logic applies here as well. Spiritual desensitization is a dangerously slippery slope that can take a person places they once never imagined going. And when it leads to a lessening of one’s sense of social justice, it can blur the line between right and wrong so much that a person can find their desire and passions too overwhelming to keep at bay. This has often caused people to cross moral red lines they cannot return from.

In this respect, the end of the parsha is very much connected to the beginning of it. It starts off talking about the soldier who overwhelmed with illicit passion, decided to marry a captive woman. The process by which he is “allowed” to take her is designed to help him regain his senses and avoid disaster. However, the question remains: How did a Jewish solider who lives by Torah and regularly performs mitzvos get to such a low spiritual point in the first place?

In other words, the problem wasn’t that he had to go to war or that he was made more emotionally vulnerable because of it. The soldier’s problem began before any of that, the war only acting as a means to reveal his pre-existing spiritual vulnerability. And just like paying attention to small physical symptoms can save a person from larger health issues, taking note of “smaller” spiritual deficiencies can save a person from future spiritual disasters.

Rabbi Ari Kahn on Parashat Ki Tetze: Remembering What to Remember (video)

Rav Doniel Glatstein on Parshas Ki Seitzei and Elul: The Mamzer in the 10th Generation (video)

Rav Kook's Ein Ayah: Stability of the Community and The Advantages of Learning With Others

1. Stability of the Community (based on Berachot 1:49)

Gemara: How do we know that Hashem is found in batei knesset? It is written: “Hashem is set in the congregation of Hashem” (Tehillim 82:1).

Ein Ayah: The power of the masses is very great; therefore, we were warned not to separate ourselves from the community. The masses’s collective power is not subject to change once it is set on a good path, as change is a phenomenon of individuals. The collective does not diverge from an existing situation of allegiance to Hashem, as the pasuk says: “The spirit that is upon you… will not move from your mouth and your offspring’s mouth from now and forever.”

Indeed, the existence of Hashem is uniquely unchanging, as the pasuk says: “I am Hashem; I have not changed” (Malachi 3:6) It is in a beit knesset, where there is an assembly of the collective, that people also have an element of not changing. However, an individual cannot find himself in such a situation. That is why Hillel (Avot 2:4) gives the following two pieces of advice in succession: “Do not separate yourself from the community, and do not believe in yourself until the day you die.” The implication of being set [see the gemara’s citation from Tehillim 82] relates to the continual existence in one state (Moreh Nevuchim).

2. The Advantages of Learning With Others (based on Berachot 1:50)

Gemara: [The gemara discusses the existence of the Shechina when people learn, citing the pasuk: “Then the fearers of Hashem spoke one to the other, and Hashem listened and heard and wrote a book of remembrance before Him for the fearers of Hashem and those who think of His Name” (Malachi 3:16). It brings varying indications as to whether this requires two people learning together or whether the shechina presides for one who learns. The gemara answers:] If there are two, their words are recorded in the book of remembrance. If there is one, his words are not recorded in the book of remembrance.

Ein Ayah: There is a difference between involvement in self-perfection and involvement in perfecting one’s counterpart. Involvement in Torah study to perfect oneself is judged by fulfillment of what he learns. If the moral teachings can be discerned in him, this is a sign that his study was done with proper intentions, as one who uses Torah to get to the right (i.e., to improve himself). This is what Chazal mean by saying that “Va’asitem otam (you should do them) is written as va’asitem atem (you should make yourselves)” (Sanhedrin 99b). In other words, a person should form his personality through the words of Torah he studies.

This is true regarding that which one learns for himself, where the main reward is for taking that which his intellect grasps from the potential to the actual. One who learns for his counterpart’s sake is different, as he cannot ensure impact on his friend. Therefore, he receives reward from the time of the action of learning. This is what the gemara hints at by saying that one’s learning by himself is not recorded in the book of remembrance. If he deserves reward, it is because he will be his own book of remembrance; the Torah will be evident in all he does. However, learning done with others is recorded according to the degree that his Torah was fit to impact on his friend. The reward is not conditional on whether the contributing factors can be seen in his study partner’s actions. Therefore, the reward of learning with someone else is ensured, even if his friend did not actualize the purpose of the learning, and it is, therefore, recorded in the book of remembrance.

Along these lines, the gemara continues to learn from the pasuk, “those who think of His Name.” One who planned to do a mitzva and was prevented from doing so is credited with the mitzva. This is the same idea as one who wanted his Torah to impact positively on his friend, whose reward is not conditional on his success.

The Rebellious Son

by HaRav Mordechai Greenberg
Nasi HaYeshiva, Kerem B'Yavneh

In describing the behavior of the rebellious son, the parents say to the elders of the city, 'This son of ours is wayward and rebellious; he does not hearken to our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard." Chazal (Sanhedrin 74a) note the great difficulty here:

Just because he ate a tartimer of meat and drank a half-log of Italian wine, the Torah said he should be taken out to the court to be stoned? Rather, the Torah understood the inevitable future of the rebellious son, that ultimately he will exhaust his father's money. He will seek his usual habit and will not be able to, so he will go out to the highways and hold up people. Therefore, the Torah said, "Let him die righteous and not die guilty."

We still need to understand, though, since there is nothing wrong with the actual eating and drinking itself, where did the Torah warn not to eat meat and drink wine in a way that a person will be drawn after his habitual desires?

The Ramban writes that one who is a glutton and drunkard violates the mitzvah of "You shall be holy." (Vayikra 19:1) Furthermore, it says, "Him you shall serve, and to Him you shall cleave." (Devarim 13:5) These mitzvot command us to recognize Hashem in all our ways, and one who is a glutton and drunk is not cognizant of the way of Hashem.

In Parshat Va'etchanan, the Ramban writes about the mitzvah, "Him you shall serve," as follows:

You should constantly be to him like a servant who always serves before his master, who makes the work of his master primary and his own needs secondary. Based on this Chazal say, "All your actions should be for the sake of Heaven" -- that even your physical needs should be done for the service of G-d. One should eat, drink and tend to his body's needs in order to sustain his body to serve Hashem, as they say: "'It was very good' (Bereishit 1:31) --This refers to sleep. Is sleep good? Rather, by sleeping a little, a person gets up and delves in Torah."

According to the Ramban's explanation, the rebellious sons only violates a mitzvat aseh (positive command), namely, that he did not acquire the degree of kedusha. Yet, his punishment of stoning to death is not at all typical for one who violates an aseh. R. Yonah explains in Sha'arei Teshuva (1:30) that there is a prohibition to be drawn after one's desires even in permitted matters, since when a person follows his desires, he is drawn to the physical aspect on man, and distances himself from the spiritual soul. His evil inclination will then overcome him, as is says, "Jeshurun became fat and revolted." (Devarim 32:15) But when a person breaks his desires even in permitted matters -- then his soul will succeed.

The Sefer Hachinuch (#387) writes that a person who is drawn after his desires (even in permitted matters) violates the prohibition of, "[do] not explore after your heart and after your eyes after which you stray" (Bamidbar 15:37):

Included in this [prohibition] is not to chase after physical pleasures, since their end is bad and worthy of scorn. ... This mitzvah is a fundamental principle of the [Jewish] religion ... that if you succumb to fulfill your evil desire one time, you will be drawn after it numerous times. But if you succeed to be strong and conquer the inclination and shut your eyes from seeing evil one time, it will be easy for you to do so numerous times...

One who follows his eyes, i.e., he chases after worldly desires, such as he constantly seeks to increase pleasures for himself without intending in them for a positive purpose -- i.e., that he does not do it so that he should be healthy and able to toil in the service of his Creator, just to indulge in self-pleasure -- anyone who goes on this path violates this prohibition constantly in all his actions.

Additionally, according to the Chinuch (#418), there is a violation of the mitzvah of "Ahavat Hashem." A person who focuses his thoughts on physical matters of this world, not for the sake of Heaven -- to do good to people and to strengthen the hands of the righteous, but just to find pleasure or to achieve honor in this world of delusion -- disregards this mitzvah and is deserving of great punishment. This mitzvah is a constant one, which is incumbent upon a person always.

Thus, being drawn after meat and wine, although they are kosher, is a violation of basic tenets of Judaism!

Rav Kook on Parashat Ki Tetze: Amalek - Constructive Destruction

“Remember what Amalek did to you on your way out of Egypt. When they encountered you on the way, and you were tired and exhausted, they cut off those lagging to your rear, and they did not fear God. Therefore... you must obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the heavens.” (Devarim 25:17-8)

True Erasing
The Torah prohibits 39 categories of melachah — activities which are forbidden on Shabbat. One is to erase writing. There are, however, different forms of erasing. Erasing merely to blot out what is written is a destructive act, and destructive acts are not forbidden on Shabbat by Torah law. Melachah is constructive activity, similar to God’s creative acts when forming the universe.

So what form of erasing is prohibited on t Shabbat? Mocheik al m'nat lichtov — erasing with the intention of writing again. One’s intention must be to clean the surface in order to write over the original letters. This type of erasing is a positive, constructive activity, and therefore is incompatible with the special rest of Shabbat.

Restoring God’s Name and Throne
Rav Kook explained that this principle may also be applied to the mitzvah of “erasing” Amalek. The mitzvah is not simply to obliterate Amalek so that there will no longer be any more Amalekites in the world. That would be a purely destructive act.

What then is the true mitzvah of destroying Amalek?

Amalek’s goal was to eradicate the nation which bears God’s Name in the world. Amalek could not tolerate the idea of a people with whom God made a special covenant, a people whose very existence implies ethical obligations and holy aspirations. The complete expression of the mitzvah to destroy Amalek is accomplished when we “erase in order to write.” It is not enough to wage war against Amalek. The destruction of Amalek must have a productive goal. We must obliterate Amalek, and all that this evil nation represents, with the intention of “transforming the world into a kingdom of the Almighty.”

As the Midrash explains:

“God’s Hand is raised on His throne: God shall be at war with Amalek for all generations.” (Shemot 17:16)

“Why is the word for ‘throne’ shortened, and even God’s Name is abbreviated? God swore that His Name and His Throne are not complete until Amalek’s name will be totally obliterated.” (Tanchuma, Ki Teitzei 11; Rashi ad loc)

We are charged to replace Amalek with the holy letters of God’s complete Name. We must restore God’s complete throne — i.e., God’s Presence in the world ­ through the special holiness of the Jewish people, who transmit God’s message to the world.

(Sapphire from the Land of Israel. Adapted from Mo'adei HaRe’iyah, pp. 241-242 by Rav Chanan Morrison)

We Are Our Own Worst Enemy

by Rabbi Dov Berel Wein

The Torah speaks of making war upon one's enemy. Who is this enemy? The simple explanation is that it is a physical or national enemy that wishes to harm the Jewish people or the commonwealth of Israel. To defend oneself from such an enemy, there are circumstances that dictate a type of preventive war that avoids later defeat or catastrophe. This is certainly the simple and literal interpretation of the verse and subject of the Torah reading this week.

There is a rabbinic tradition, running through the works of many of the commentators over the centuries, regarding another layer of meaning to this verse. The enemy described is not so much a physical or national enemy as it is a spiritual or societal foe. In the immortal words of the famed comic strip character Pogo "we have met the enemy and they are us."

We are all aware that many times in life we are our own worst enemy. We engage in harmful practices and commit acts that we know to be detrimental and self-destructive. Yet, we are driven by our desires, and we often allow ourselves to be trapped into a situation that can only lead to disappointment. The Torah as is its wont to do, vividly describes the struggle that we have with ourselves for self-improvement and personal accomplishment. It describes this struggle as a war, a battle against the ferocious and aggressive enemy who must be combatted.

This idea, that our struggle in life is to be viewed as an inner battle in the war of life, is meant to impress upon us to develop within ourselves as wholesome personalities. At one and at the same time, we are bidden to deal with eternity and heavenly ideals, and simultaneously, we are occupied with the mundane fact of everyday living.

Caught in this contradiction of circumstances, we are oftentimes prone to succumb to our daily problems and issues, completely ignoring the larger spiritual picture that is present. It is at such moments of self-absorption that temptation translates itself into reality, and we create situations that ultimately prove to be enormously harmful to our well-being.

Great generals oftentimes engage in a tactical retreat, to achieve a strategic victory. War is always a long-term situation, filled with temporary reversals and plans that remain unfulfilled or even abandoned. But the overarching reality is that basic strategy requires tenacity, courage, flexibility, and a stubborn refusal to succumb to the societal, political, and worldly pressures that beset all of us. It is interesting that despite all our pleas and prayers for peace, war is a constant in human history. It may take on different forms, cold, economic, or military, but it is ever present within our world. By reminding us of this fact, the Torah prepares us for victory in the struggles of life.

Iran Military: Calculations and Miscalculations

by Amir Taheri

• The IRGC and its appendages such as the Mobilization of the Dispossessed (Baseej), the Quds Force and at least four security and intelligence services account for less than five percent of the Iranian population. Yet they have the largest share of plum jobs in the public sector.
• Rather than being the army of a nation-state, it morphed into an armed force that owns a nation-state.
• Khamenei may have another more reason to tone down his usual tantrums: simmering dissatisfaction in both the IRGC and the regular army.
• The favored treatment of the IRGC in terms of salaries and the latest weaponry may be the cause of discontent in the regular army....
• The IRGC's discontent may be rooted in a new wave of purges planned by Khamenei, while aging generals close to him continue to warm their seats.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its appendages such as the Mobilization of the Dispossessed (Baseej), the Quds Force and at least four security and intelligence services account for less than five percent of the Iranian population. Yet they have the largest share of plum jobs in the public sector. Pictured: The head of the IRGC, Hossein Salami, attends a military parade in Tehran, on April 17, 2024. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

"Today we are actively and selflessly present in all domains of national life in the service of our Great Leader and martyrdom-seeking people."

This was how two-star General Hossein Salami, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), boasted about his force's role in Iran.

Leaving aside the "selflessly" and "in the service of...," the general is right.

The IRGC and its appendages such as the Mobilization of the Dispossessed (Baseej), the Quds Force and at least four security and intelligence services account for less than five percent of the Iranian population. Yet they have the largest share of plum jobs in the public sector.

In other words, the IRGC is active in every field except the one that is supposed to be in: national defense.

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Iran’s Ayatollahs challenge the US in Mexico

by Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger

The US State Department determination to suspend and soften economic sanctions on Iran’s Ayatollahs has added – since February 2021 - some $175bn to the Ayatollahs’ national income. This added-income has bolstered the Ayatollahs’ anti-US global terrorism and drug trafficking, while the US persists in its feeble responses to the frequent assaults on US installations in the Persian Gulf, Syria and Jordan by the Ayatollahs and their proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. These rogue activities by the Ayatollahs have undermined the safety of the main trade route (the Red Sea) between Europe and the Far East, while causing a severe economic setback to the pro-US Egypt, and threatening the survival of all pro-US Arab regimes.

At the same time:

*Mexico’s expanding alignment with anti-US, pro-Iran Latin American governments - such as Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil and Chile – attests to the erosion of the US strategic posture in its own hemisphere, as well as the dramatic inroads made by Iran’s Ayatollahs – in collaboration with their Hezbollah proxy - into the soft underbelly of “The great American Satan.”

*Mexico has followed in the footsteps of the tri border area of Argentina-Paraguay-Brazil, becoming an arena for Iran and Hezbollah drug trafficking and terror-financing money laundering. For example, Iran’s Ayatollahs and Hezbollah have trained Mexican drug cartels in the areas of car bombs and improvised explosive devices, supplying them equipment for the construction of underground tunnels, as well as predator unmanned aerial vehicles..

*The collusion with Mexican drug cartels has provided Iran’s Ayatollahs and Hezbollah a potent staging ground to severely undermine US homeland security, while establishing a multitude of dormant terror cells in the US.

*The Ayatollahs’ and Hezbollah’s deep involvement in Latin American terrorism and drug trafficking was initiated in the early 1980s, shortly after toppling the Shah of Iran with the ardent support of the US State Department.

*The Ayatollahs’ and Hezbollah’s penetration of Mexico and the US has been bolstered by their deep entrenchment in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, the capital of the Argentina-Paraguay-Brazil tri border area and the global epicenter of narco-terrorism, in general, and cocaine trafficking, in particular.

*According to an October 25, 2023 House Homeland Security Committee testimony by Nathan Sales, a former US Coordinator for Counterterrorism: “The United States and Israel have common enemies. For the Islamic Republic, Israel may be the Little Satan, but America is the Great Satan, and the Iranian terror proxies that want to slaughter Israelis want to slaughter Americans as well.... The Islamic Republic manifestly bears responsibility for the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack....

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism. Acting through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and numerous terrorist proxies, the regime has murdered countless innocent civilians, taken hostages remorselessly, and shed blood on an industrial scale. The threat it poses is not confined to the Middle East but extends across the entire world—including the United States....

“the Islamic Republic is actively plotting to assassinate a number of former senior US officials here on American soil. Last year, the Justice Department announced charges against an IRGC member believed to be the ringleader of a plot to murder John Bolton, the former national security advisor. The would-be assassin reportedly also was targeting former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. These former officials and others like them now live under constant, twenty-four-hour government protection because of the Iranian threat to their lives....

“In the attempted assassination of John Bolton, Tehran planned to use a Mexican national with ties to drug cartels. It likewise attempted to use a Mexican drug cartel in the 2011 plot against the Saudi ambassador to the United States. There is a significant risk that Iran-backed terrorists might take advantage of these vulnerabilities again in the future. The US Customs and Border Protection field office in San Diego recently warned that [Iran-sponsored] Hamas and Hezbollah and other terrorists ‘may attempt travel to or from the area of hostilities in the Middle East via circuitous transit across the Southwest border....’

“The Iranian regime targets Americans abroad as well as at home. The IRGC was responsible for killing 603 American soldiers in Iraq.... That is one-sixth of all U.S. fatalities during the war in Iraq. In Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic reportedly paid Taliban fighters a one-thousand-dollar bounty for every American soldier they killed....

“Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist group was responsible for the 1983 attacks on the US embassy and Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed sixty-three and 305, respectively. Today, Hezbollah is the Islamic Republic’s proxy of choice for terrorist attacks on Israelis and Jews around the world.... In the past several years, the group has been caught planning attacks or stockpiling explosives in Western Europe, Latin America, the Gulf, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere.... Between 1997 and 2020, 128 suspected Hezbollah members were arrested in the United States. In recent years the FBI arrested three suspected Hezbollah operatives who were conducting surveillance on the Panama Canal and casing potential targets in New York City, including the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Times Square, and Rockefeller Center....

“The US should resume robust sanctions enforcement to deny Iran resources to fund terrorism around the globe. The Iranian regime is richer today than it has been in years.... The bigger problem, in my view, is the fact that the regime has been able to dramatically increase its energy exports, and thus dramatically improve its economic strength. As a result of crippling sanctions, by the end of the previous Administration, Iran’s economy was hobbled, its coffers were drained, and its ability to project power abroad was reduced. Tehran is in a substantially stronger position today. By 2021, the regime’s accessible foreign currency reserves were down to four to six billion dollars—roughly the same as Haiti.... Energy analysts assess that, since 2020, Iran’s oil exports have increased by a factor of four or five [from 500,000 barrels per day to 2-3 million barrels), with the lion’s share of sales going to China....

“Sanctions deny terrorists the money they need to plan and carry out attacks. For years, Hezbollah could count on its patrons in Tehran to provide it with upwards of seven hundred million dollars annually, and Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists received one hundred million dollars a year....”

Iran's New Plan: Lost Gaza, So Take West Bank

by Khaled Abu Toameh

• One of the reasons why the Palestinian Authority (PA) is reluctant to crack down on the "battalions" is because PA officials are aware that the terrorists enjoy widespread support among the Palestinian public.
• The Palestinian Authority eventually fell victim to its own passivity. In 2007, Hamas staged a violent and brutal coup against the PA in Gaza, killing dozens of PA loyalists. According to a Human Rights Watch report: "Hamas military forces captured 28-year-old Mohammed Swairki, a cook for [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas's presidential guard, and executed him by throwing him to his death, with his hands and legs tied, from a 15-story apartment building in Gaza City."
• The Israeli operation aims to prevent Iran and its Palestinian proxies from opening a new front against Israel from the West Bank.
• The PA, however, has constantly violated the terms of the Oslo Accords by, among other things, failing to stop armed groups from operating in its territory and from attacking Israelis. The PA has therefore become part of the problem, not the solution.
• If anyone is upset with Israel for its counterterrorism operation, they need to be more upset with the PA for not standing up to the armed groups and preventing Iran from establishing a terror base in the West Bank.

One of the reasons why the Palestinian Authority (PA) is reluctant to crack down on armed terrorist groups, is because PA officials are aware that the terrorists enjoy widespread support among the Palestinian public. Pictured: Gunmen from a number of terrorist groups, including the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Izaddin al-Qassam Brigades, Al-Quds Brigades, and Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, hold what they called a "joint press conference" in Jenin refugee camp on February 25, 2023. (Photo by Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images)

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has condemned Israel for initiating a large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank, near Jordan, but it has purposely chosen to overlook the reason behind the Israeli security's operation. Israel's counterterrorism operation, called Summer Camps, targets numerous Iran-backed armed terrorist groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), that have been operating freely in PA-controlled territories in the past few years.

The main objective of Israel's operation is to thwart Iran's intention, with the help of the armed groups, to turn not only Gaza, but also the West Bank into another terror base to be used as part of the Islamists' Jihad (holy war) to destroy Israel.

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U.S. Campuses: The 'Taboo' Ignored Pandemic of Muslim Jew-Hate

by Andrew Bostom

• ADL further recorded a total of 400 antisemitic incidents on college and university campuses, compared to only 33 incidents during the same period in 2022. Ugly incidents of U.S. campus antisemitism persisted throughout the spring 2024 semester year.
• Routine empirical, if taboo, observation clearly indicates that often, the most vociferous and violent U.S. student campus antisemites share a common Islamic/Muslim religio-ethnic identity. A courageous, expansive Brandeis University study was just published addressing the potential validity of this anecdotal observation by analyzing U.S. undergraduate college student religious affiliation as a critical, independent factor animating their Jew-hatred.
• Sadly, but with depressing predictability, the study's seminal, if corroborative findings are being ignored by media, and the most voluble talking heads and "public intellectuals," across the ideological spectrum.
• The study authors concluded that although "a climate of universal anti-Jewish hatred" did not exist, Jewish student concerns about antisemitism were justified, and "driven by about a third of students who held distinct patterns of beliefs about Jews and Israel." Specifically, "Identifying as Muslim was significantly associated with being either hostile to Israel or hostile to Jews, even after controlling for other factors." Furthermore, compared to Christians, for example, Muslims were 2.6-fold more likely to harbor the most virulent antisemitism, namely, shared hostility to both Israel and Jews.
• Since 2004, ADL surveys of Muslims have been conducted in Western (European and U.S.) societies, and Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries, where Islam is the state religion. MENA Muslim nations are by wide margins the 16 most antisemitic countries worldwide, where the prevalence of extreme antisemitism ranges from a "low" of 74% (in Egypt and Saudi Arabia), to 93% (among the Palestinian Muslims of Gaza, and the West Bank).
• Largely consistent with these ADL MENA Muslim data, and strikingly concordant with the 2.6-fold excess of extreme Muslim antisemitism, relative to extreme Christian antisemitism, just revealed by the Brandeis study of U.S. college students, 2015, 2019, and 2023 ADL Western European reports, and a 2017 ADL U.S. report, found a 2- to 4-fold excess prevalence of extreme antisemitism, among Muslims versus Christians, or non-Muslims.
• Discussion of the most plausible and discernible explanation for this global surfeit of Muslim Jew-hatred is also shunned: relentless inculcation of antisemitic motifs from the Qur'an itself, and other core Islamic texts, by the pre-eminent authoritative religious teaching institutions in Islam, such as Al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's putative "Vatican."
• Identical, canonically sourced Jew-hating Islamic religious indoctrination is ubiquitous, and even embellished, in mainstream U.S. mosques, a baleful practice that has intensified following October 7, 2023.
• Unfortunately, monomaniacal focus on DEI racist bias has become just the latest device to avoid any serious discussion of Islam, and the global pandemic of excess Muslim Jew-hatred. Hope springs eternal publication of the landmark Brandeis study confirming this disproportionate pandemic has reached U.S. campuses, will finally initiate honest reckoning with such uniquely Muslim bigotry.

Routine empirical, if taboo, observation clearly indicates that often, the most vociferous and violent U.S. student campus antisemites share a common Islamic/Muslim religio-ethnic identity. Pictured: Students participate in a demonstration in support of Hamas outside Columbia University campus on November 15, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The carnage of October 7, 2023 in southern Israel was wrought by an unprovoked attack by the Jew-hating, jihad terror organization Hamas, in conjunction with local Gazan Muslims. Some 1,200 Israelis were murdered, the victims being overwhelmingly non-combatant children, women, men, and the elderly. Atrocities committed against these primarily non-combatant Israelis included, mutilation, torture, beheadings, and mass rape, followed by burning, helpfully documented by the jihadists' own videos and oral testimony (of captured jihadists), surveillance camera videos, surviving eyewitness testimony of the victims, and forensic pathology evidence.

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The Oslo Effect: The Weaponization of Hostages to do Hamas's Dirty Work for It

by Melanie Phillips

• The demonstrators [in Israel] are backed by assorted military and intelligence types in a treasonous attempt to lever Netanyahu out of office by creating division and demoralization while Israel is fighting for its life. Their core claim is that Netanyahu is prolonging the war and condemning the hostages to death solely to appease the extremists in his coalition and thus remain in power.
• Of course, everyone desperately wants the hostages brought back home. But the idea that the ceasefire deal would achieve this is sheer fantasy.
• Only a few of them would be released in the first phase. Hamas would then use the ceasefire to regroup and rearm, spinning out the continuing negotiation farce to keep the rest of the hostages trapped and thus retain control of the Gaza Strip.
• It would only ever release all the hostages (if at all) with Israel's total surrender. That's what those calling for an immediate ceasefire deal are actually promoting.
• It [Hamas] would only ever release all the hostages (if at all) with Israel's total surrender. That's what those calling for an immediate ceasefire deal are actually promoting.
• The only way to save the hostages is through military pressure. That's one reason why it's imperative for Israel to retain control of the Philadelphi corridor, the area of Gaza that borders Egypt.
• The importance of this corridor cannot be exaggerated....an extensive infrastructure of giant tunnels into Egypt—thus revealing the principal route through which Hamas imported its rockets, rocket launchers, vehicles and ammunition. [Emphases added]
• Hamas needs to control Philadelphi in order to resupply itself. Without that, it will be finished. That's why it's insisting that there will be no deal while Israel remains in control.
• The vast majority of the military and security officials who belong to the authoritative Israel Defense and Security Forum are adamant that Israel must not cede control of the corridor. The forum's chairman, Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, said this week that tens of thousands of rockets and thousands of Nukhbah terrorists were waiting inside Sinai to go into Gaza through Philadelphi.
• Even if Israel made only a short retreat, these troops and equipment could be brought in within a week. Egypt had made billions from the smuggling trade into Gaza and wants to continue.
• Moreover, said Avivi, only 30 out of more than 100 hostages were slated to be released in the first phase of the deal—and Hamas reportedly planned to take the rest of them through the Philadelphi tunnels to Sinai and then to Iran.
• In a security cabinet row, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly called Philadelphi "an unnecessary constraint that we've placed on ourselves." Gadi Eizenkot, former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, said it wasn't strategically important. Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel could return to the corridor if it deemed it necessary once the hostages were home.
• Other arguments have included getting Egypt to safeguard Philadelphi against Hamas and using electronic sensors to monitor it.
• This is all utterly delusional. For two decades, Egypt was complicit in the construction and use of the Philadelphi tunnels; entrusting it with Israel's security would be to put the fox in charge of the henhouse. Israeli reliance on electronic sensors was one of the reasons the Oct. 7 pogrom happened.
• Despite the thousands on the streets, most Israelis get this. In one opinion poll, 79% agreed that Israel needed to control Philadelphi permanently to prevent weapons smuggling from Egypt to Gaza. When asked more emotively whether Israel should control Philadelphi "even at the expense of a hostage deal," more respondents said it should than those who balked at preventing a hostage deal.
• Gantz, Eizenkot and Gallant are part of a military and security establishment whose morally and intellectually bankrupt "conceptziya" brought about the Oct. 7 catastrophe in the first place.
• ...America itself bears a significant measure of responsibility for the hostages' fate.
• The Biden administration forced Israel to proceed in Gaza far more slowly than the IDF judged necessary to defeat Hamas and thus save the hostages. Worse, for three months, the administration stopped Israel from entering Rafah—below which the six hostages were murdered last week. If Israel had been free to proceed at its own pace, those six captives and many others might have been saved.
• Whatever happens to Netanyahu, the left will almost certainly discover that, for the second time, it has made a terrible strategic error.
• The first such error was the 1993 Oslo Accords, which gave the Palestinians political power and status—with the Americans even training their police—on the assumption that they intended to live in peace alongside Israel.
• [T]hese same types of people have been doing the work of Hamas for it by promoting Israel's surrender....

Anti-government protesters set a fire and use smoke torches on September 7, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

The enormous demonstrations in Israel against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, might be giving people outside the country the impression that the Israeli public is generally against him because of his conduct of the war and that his days in office are therefore numbered.

What's more likely is that the Israeli left is in the process of destroying itself once and for all.

Israelis are being increasingly maddened by grief and horror over the unconscionable fate of the hostages trapped in the hellholes of Gaza. This month's cold-blooded murder of six of these captives by Hamas savages has tipped many Israelis over the edge.

The demonstrators' demand for an immediate ceasefire deal to release the hostages is not only ludicrous to the point of near derangement, but also poses a direct threat to Israel's security and indeed existence — precisely the outcome that Hamas intends through its diabolical manipulation of the hostages' plight.

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Taking Torah Seriously

by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Esq.

When will we Jews learn to take the Torah seriously?

There are Jews who perceive the Torah as all rituals, filled with virtuous deeds that make us better people, but who derive their values from alien sources. Others embrace the lofty ideas that the Torah articulates but prefer to implement them in ways they fabricate relying on their own judgment. But we are taught that the Torah is “your life and the length of your days to dwell on the land that G-d swore to give to your forefathers” (Devarim 30:20).

The privilege of living in the land of Israel is dependent on our fidelity to Torah – and that is made abundantly clear in an unexpected but revealing way, and quite relevant to current events – in this week’s Torah portion of Shoftim (ibid 20:10-12) where the Torah delineates how we should conduct our wars.

“When you approach a city to wage war against it, you must first propose peace to it. If it responds with peace and opens its gates to you, then the people therein become tributary to you and serve you. And if the city does not make peace with you and wages war against you, you must besiege it.”

Rashi, citing the Sifrei 200:5, defines a siege: “you are entitled even to starve it, to make it suffer thirst and to kill the inhabitants by mortal diseases.” That is a siege, and that is a key to victory. That shows the enemy strength and resolve and is designed to induce unconditional surrender which spares lives on both sides. Rashi, on a previous verse, notes that this tactic applies to an “optional war,” for conquest; how much more so would this apply to a war of self-defense forced upon us by a brutal and evil enemy that invaded our land, murdered innocent civilians, raped our women, pillaged, ravaged, and kidnapped as many of our people as it could.

Was the Torah concerned about the welfare of enemy civilians? In a word, no, except to declare that all their suffering could be averted by surrender of the hostile forces.

Instead of adopting the Torah’s approach of besieging a city with starvation, thirst, and the spread of disease, we have embraced the opposite approach, and then complain when the war drags on, our soldiers are killed, and our hostages suffer privation and death. Instead of “starvation” we provide our enemy with food, instead of “thirst” we furnish them with copious amounts of water and fuel, and instead of “spreading disease” we inoculate them against the polio virus. In its worst corollary, we give the enemy everything they are depriving our hostages.

Rather than make the enemy surrender, succumb, and become subservient to us, we argue amongst ourselves how quickly to (again) abandon Gaza. And we wonder why we have fought over Gaza seven times and never succeeded in achieving any resolution. It is because we have scorned the Torah, hear the above verses without considering their relevance to us, and think that the Torah is silent on the conduct of war.

We think that the problem will just go away. Here again Rashi counsels us otherwise. “If you don’t make peace with it, it will eventually make war against you,” to which Rashi comments, “Scripture is informing you that if the enemy does not make peace with you, it will in the end make war against you. If you leave it alone and go away [you will solve nothing and only hasten an attack against you].”

That has been the Gazan reality for almost seventy years, except when we controlled Gaza. Whenever we “leave it alone and go away,” it becomes a nest of terror and a springboard for deadly attacks on Jews. It would be sobering to say that we have learned this lesson the hard way but, unfortunately, we have not yet learned that lesson at all.

Far be it from me to advocate a siege against Gaza, which would violate the chimera known as “international humanitarian law,” most forcefully utilized as a weapon against Israel and only Israel in the world’s effort to thwart an Israeli victory. An unlikely voice has emerged who articulates similar thoughts – retired Israeli General Giora Eiland, former head of the National Security Council, and, ironically, one of the architects of the expulsion of Jews from Gaza in 2005.

Eiland said this week that Israel should cut off northern Gaza, evacuate all non-terrorist residents, and impose a siege on the territory to starve out the several thousand terrorists hiding there. They will be given a choice – “surrender or death” – and he suggests that such is compatible with international humanitarian law once the civilians leave. If the civilians choose to stay, then they suffer the same fate. “And this is the optimal way to end a war with the minimum number of casualties.”

Many months ago, Eiland expressed similar sentiments in even stronger language: “What happened on October 7 is that the State of Gaza went to war against the State of Israel. State against state. Now, the state of Gaza does have vulnerabilities. It doesn’t have sufficient fuel, food, and water of its own. You can impose a legitimate boycott on that state until the state returns all of your hostages. Humanitarian for humanitarian.”

The reluctance to fight this war along these lines was an epic mistake, notwithstanding the pressure from the US and others to prioritize Gazan civilians over the fate of our hostages or the welfare of our soldiers. We should have pushed back against the West’s bathetic but depraved ideas of war at the very beginning – but even now it is not too late.

Continuing to supply Hamas with food, water, and fuel pursuant to the illusion that this material is reaching the civilian population just prolongs the war. It also fosters the impression among Gazans that Hamas is still in control. That is no way to win a war.

In truth, as the Talmud (Bava Kamma 46b) puts it, “why do I need a verse? It is logical!” We should not need the Torah to teach us the obvious point that strengthening our enemy during a war or abandoning the territory we have conquered is no way to win. And yet, apparently, we do need the Torah even for that – to teach us the Jewish ethic of war, to teach us how to wage war, and to teach how even to bring our enemies to reconciliation and peace. There are no shortcuts and no guarantee of short-term success. After several millennia of existence, we are still learning that we forsake the Torah at our peril, that a complete and wholehearted commitment to Torah is, indeed, our lives, the length of our days, and the only tried and true formula for our eternal sovereignty over the land of Israel. We should take it seriously – during this month of Elul and thereafter.

Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: Maintaining a Friendship of the Spirit – part I

#266 – part I 

Date and Place: 11 Shevat 5670, Yafo

Recipient: Rav Pinchas Hakohen Lintop, the rabbi of a Chassidic community in Lithuania. He had learned Kabbala with Rav Kook when Rav Kook was in Boisk. The two were very deep and like-minded thinkers. We have previously seen a letter between them (#184), written a year earlier.

Body: I received your dear letters with great love. Indeed much time has passed over me, during which the agitating hand of practical burden has banished me from our “Garden of Eden,” from the orchard of thought and lively spiritual feeling, from the lofty light that shines on all who seek Hashem in a serious manner. Against my will, all of my speech and occupation has had to be on classical halachic matters and practical arrangements. It reached the point that I was unable to approach the root of my soul and deal with a quiet spirit with those living matters that are beloved to me, i.e., love of the lofty Hashem, which are the things we must deal with in our correspondence. That is why my response to you was delayed.

I saw in your letter to our joint friend, Mr. A.Z. Rabinowitz, that you had a thought that some sort of philosophical differences between us caused our reliable love for each other to wane, Heaven forbid. [When I saw this,] I said to myself that this is not the time to remain silent. Heaven forbid that I should leave my respected, close friend, about whom I am always interested, with such depressing thoughts on his mind. How many people are there with developed hearts, who can converse about the great matters (i.e., deep, kabbalistic ideas) with which we have dealt together from the time we got to know each other?! Although I am still incapable of going down into the deepest depths and up to the highest peaks on the paths we have traversed together on a regular basis, due to my myriad practical distractions, I will not delay anymore. We will see what my mind will raise and my pen will record during the short time I am able to divorce myself from the practical environment that surrounds me. This letter will end up being more of a reminder of our love and friendship than a philosophical study, although the latter is always the life of our spirit, to the extent that Hashem shares His secrets with those who fear Him.

Believe me, my beloved, concerning what you have hinted at in the last few letters, that something separates between us in the fundamentals of thought, I have not succeeded in understanding exactly what those points might be. I always see some distinctions between us regarding “the branches” (as opposed to the root), i.e., in the way we present things. However, since we have been exchanging letters, and since we spoke together about the thoughts of our spirits, I have been unable to find a basis for any fundamental point that separates us.

I presume that each of us has a different observation point on the special portion of “the field that Hashem has blessed.” The row of the “vineyard” that each of us is “cultivating” is unique, and perhaps each one is in a different situation than the other. Due to this, our respective spiritual motions receive a certain style that is different from the other. However, when we look into the matter well, we will find that we are working in one vineyard. How wonderful it would be if other “workers of the field” will come to our “flag”! They need not copy us, just take for themselves a special row in the midst of this desirable vineyard, whose wine makes Hashem and man happy. How happy we should be if the type of distinctions we have between us will be many, as they will produce a multitude of different colors – “like the appearance of the rainbow in the cloud on a rainy day, so is the appearance of the aura around the image of the honor of Hashem” (Yechezkeil 1:28).

Month of Mercy

by HaRav Dov Begon,
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

We are now in Elul, the month of repentance and mercy. What is this mercy that we are in such great need of in general, and especially at this time? Ramchal [Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto] explains in his work Mesillat Yesharim:

“G-d rules over His world with Strict Judgment, responding measure for measure to our deeds. However a person conducts himself, that is how G-d treats him. G-d watches over everything, large or small, and rewards a person according to his works: ‘G-d declares to man what is his speech’ (Amos 3:13). Even a man’s light conversation with his wife is declared to him at his judgment. ‘For G-d shall bring every work into the judgment concerning every hidden thing, whether it be good or evil’ (Kohelet 12:14).

“‘Strict judgment’ means that G-d judges everything, and that He punishes for every sin, and we cannot escape. If G-d is strict regarding every sin, what then is ‘mercy’? ‘Mercy’ refers to the continued existence of the universe, for without mercy, the universe could not continue to exist. This trait represents G-d going beyond the letter of the law with us.

“With strict judgment, it would be appropriate for a sinner to be punished immediately upon sinning. Moreover, the punishment would be divine wrath appropriate for someone who rebels against G-d, and it would be impossible for him to ever rectify his sin. After all, once someone has sinned, once he has murdered or committed adultery, how can he make amends? Seemingly, it is impossible to remove something from existence.

“Thus the trait of mercy provides the opposite result of that obtained from Strict Judgment. First of all, it provides the sinner with time, such that he is not punished immediately. Also, the punishment itself is not carried out with overwhelming wrath. The person’s rectification, i.e., his repentance, is treated with complete kindness. That is, if someone fully regrets his act and takes upon himself not to repeat it, his uprooting his will that brought him to sin is then treated as though he had uprooted the deed from existence. It is the same as when one nullifies a vow, where the vow is uprooted from existence. As the prophet said (Yishayahu 6:7), ‘Your iniquity shall be taken away and your sin expiated.’ The sin is removed from existence. This represents total kindness beyond the letter of the law.” (Mesillat Yesharim Ch. 4).

G-d treats His creatures mercifully, i.e., patiently, allowing them an opportunity to make amends, and going beyond the letter of the law. We as well must follow G-d’s ways. Just as G-d is merciful, so must we be merciful. Just as He is kind, so must we be kind. We must make a great effort to make peace with our fellow man. We must make peace within the family, husbands with wives, and children with parents. We must find a way to achieve peace within our nation, without conceding the least bit on the truth of Torah and our belief that Eretz Yisrael belongs only to the Jewish People. Valor and wisdom in life consist of living together despite disagreements. That is how it is in the individual family, and that is how it is within the Jewish People. Through this, may we merit G-d’s mercy in judgment, and may through us be fulfilled the words of the prayer: “Rule over us speedily, O G-d, alone, in kindness and mercy.”

Let the year and its curses end and let the new year and its blessings begin.

Besorot Tovot and Shabbat Shalom,
Looking forward to complete salvation,
With love of Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael.

Yeshivat Machon Meir: Shoftim - Protect the Tree, Protect the Land (video)

Bribery

by Rav Binny Freedman

In the IDF, when an officer is due to receive his second bar, making him a full lieutenant, (usually after a year of combat service as an officer in the field), he has to pass a test on the military judicial code. Basically, once he attains this rank he may be asked to preside over a military court-martial in the field, and as such must know the military judicial procedures that are involved.

One of the sections of the military code dealt with the issue of when an officer was required to recuse him or herself from a case and it was fascinating to me to note that the Torah is much stricter with regards to such rules.

I recall there was a soldier who fell asleep on guard duty while we were in Lebanon. It was not an uncommon occurrence, given the extreme conditions we were in, and how exhausted we all were, and one might expect leniency and understanding in such a case. And yet, one could not help but recall the Nachal infantry unit whose soldiers captured a position in the Lebanon war and were so exhausted they fell asleep on top of the hill (in 1982) without posting a guard. Terrorists snuck up on them in the wee hours of the morning and they were all captured by the Amal militia ending up as POW’s for two years…

At the time, I was a lieutenant serving as a platoon commander, and the company commander told me he wanted the soldier punished and ordered me to convene a court martial….

When I found out who the soldier was I realized I had a dilemma: As a principle in the field, Officers did guard duty alongside the men, and to set an example our CO would often take the first shift and we all followed suit. Whenever I took guard duty on our position (mutzav) this soldier somehow found out and he would always show up with a steaming hot cup of coffee that helped me get thru the guard duty. And I was quite sure all the guys knew he did this; so obviously could not objectively judge his case. I also knew him to be a good soldier and knew all the guys liked him, and yet I needed to send a message to the unit. In the field we were all especially tight with each other and this included the Company Commander, so how could any of us be impartial judges?

The easiest judgement would be to take away his upcoming weekend pass (I was allowed to sentence him to up 21 days without leave, more than that required a higher rank…). But weekend passes were holy; and I knew there might be a lot of resentment if I did that. In the end, taking into account his generally stellar service, along with his popularity, balanced by the severity of his offense, I ruled he was unfit for guard and combat duty for the next three weeks and sentenced him to extreme kitchen duties (entailing a lot of pots and pans…) instead.

The day after the court martial, I took some early morning guard duty after coming back from a patrol, and he showed up with coffee, and actually thanked me for not taking away his weekend pass! Which of course gave me a lot of food for thought as to whether I had gotten it wrong….

The Torah in this week’s portion of Shofim is quite clear: speaking to judges it states:

“Ve’lo tikach shochad” “You shall not take a bribe” (Devarim 16:19)

In fact, the laws regarding avoiding bribery are extremely strict in a Beit din:

Obviously if a judge has a relationship with one of the litigants or has ever received favors from them, he is forbidden from sitting on the case. But judges are not even allowed to enter the courtroom until both litigants are present and standing, the theory being that one would subconsciously be inclined towards the fellow who arrived on time.

The Aruch Hashulchan (Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein, the Posek of Lithuanian Jewry in the late nineteenth century) once recused himself from a case simply because upon entering the court, he realized one of the litigants had earlier smiled and said good morning to him!

I justified my decision by noting that this was not a case of financial dispute and in fact (seeing as I presided alone and it was not a halachic court –Beit Din – which requires three judges) it was permissible for me to render a ruling especially as the military system for such low level misdemeanors practically uses the officers of the unit (which allows for a much quicker response time from ‘crime’ to ‘court’). This means it is almost impossible for the ‘judge’ not to have a relationship with the ‘accused’!

But it did give me a lot of pause, and much food for thought on the value of attempting impartiality when rendering decisions, especially in cases where a ruling in favor of one individual is necessarily at the expense of another such as in monetary disputes.

All of this reminds me of an interesting question regarding the story of Yitzchak and his sons:

Yitzchak essentially (for reasons beyond the scope of this article) seems to make a choice regarding which of his two sons (Yaakov and Esav) to bless. And he clearly decides to bless Esav, which Rivka their mother seems to interpret as being at the expense of Yaakov.

And the Torah leaves no room for doubt here: Yitzchak tells Esav (Bereisheet 27:4 )

“Prepare for me the foods as (you know) I love so that I may bless you…”

In other words, Yitzchak is bribed!

In fact, the Torah tells us quite clearly, that Yitzchak loves Esav because he is a hunter, so Yitzchak’s relationship with his son seems to be a relationship (even if only subconsciously) with ulterior motives! But how could a moral giant such as Yitzchak, the son of Avraham, make such a significant decision whilst so obviously partial to one of the ‘litigants’? Would not one expect Yitzchak to recuse himself from ruling on the matter? Or at least we might have expected him to bless both sons equally?

Perhaps this is one of the points of the entire story:

Esav is described not just as a hunter, but also as a ‘man of the field’, an “Ish sadeh”(ibid. 25:27).

His food, then, is the food that comes from the field, so Yitzchak is eating of the food of the field.

So… who else do we know of that lives in the field? Way back in the story of Gan Eden the Torah describes the snake as being the most cunning of all the beasts of the field! (ibid. 3:1) And it is this same snake that tempts Chavah who subsequently convinces Adam to eat the forbidden fruit of the tree. Indeed, eating the food offered (suggested) by the snake of the field, is what ultimately distances us from G-d and causes us to be exiled from the garden.

And when we eat at the suggestion of (read; the food of) the snake of the field, we no longer see things clearly. Indeed, we no longer see G-d, we can only hear G-d (Hashem) in the distance, because we have become distant.

Yitzchak too, has been eating of the food of Esav, the food of the field. Thus, he has become blinded and “his eyes have become dim” (ibid. 27:1); he can no longer see properly. So, it is easy for him to be unclear as to which son should receive the blessings.

Indeed, the Torah tells us, such is the sinister nature of bribery:

“For bribery blinds the eyes of the wise…” (Devarim 16:19).

Yitzchak can no longer see straight. It is worth noting that true bribery is so sinister precisely because it does not appear so obviously as bribery. The Midrash tells us that Esav couched his wickedness with Torah (‘How do we tithe salt?’ and the like, see Rashi 25:27); it seems we are doing the right thing when in reality we can no longer objectively see the right thing!

And make no mistake about it, the Torah, in laying down the law for judges is speaking to all of us: as Rav Dessler (in his Michtav me’Eliahu) points out: we are all judges, and we judge the cases in our lives, every day.

As an example, imagine a person wants to know if it is permitted to play Monopoly on Shabbat. So he decides to look up the sources and see what the Halacha (Jewish law) has to say on the matter. He is effectively going to judge the ‘case’ of playing Monopoly on Shabbat. But why is he looking up the case in the first place? Because he wants to play monopoly! So how can he possibly objectively ‘judge’ the case?

Even a moral giant such as Yitzchak, one of the pillars of the world, who grew up on the knees of Avraham Avinu, can still be ‘bribed’!

And we need to constantly be vigilant, especially when we are making the significant decisions in our lives to avoid the subtle and sometimes sinister ‘bribery’ that so easily creeps into our thought process.

Years ago, many of the yeshivot in Israel got together and decided that when meeting with prospective students we would not even pay for their coffee at a Starbuck’s nor give them any gifts, in order to avoid both the appearance of impropriety as well as any subliminal bribery that might enter their thoughts. If a recruiter for a particular College wines and dines a potential student, that student can no longer impartially choose the University for the right reasons.

Which leaves us with the obvious question: how then can we ever be impartial, about anything? There are actually two things a person can and should do to try to arrive at more impartial and hopefully more objectively correct decisions:

The Rambam in his Hilchot Deot lists eleven mitzvot which he views to be the foundation of ethical behavior and a balanced character. The second mitzvah is “Le’hidabek be’Yodav” literally to cling to those who know Hashem, meaning those who have a healthy relationship with Hashem. In fact, the Rambam (ibid chap. 1) defines a Chacham as someone who is ‘balanced’ leaning to neither extreme. In other words, we need to have role models; people who are more objective about us than we are. When possible, one should always try not to make significant decisions on their own.

Indeed, it is only when Rivkah (the ‘Yoda’at Hashem’’ in Yitzchak’s life?) substitutes the food of Esau with her own food (of Torah?) that Yitzchak begins to see things more clearly…

And the second thing we can do, as pointed out by Rav Avigdor Nevensahl (Sichot Le’sefer Bereisheet, Toldot) is :

Twice every day before we recite the Shema, we ask Hashem to brighten (enlighten) our eyes with His Torah: “ve’haier eineinu be’Toratecha …” .

It is Torah study and the awareness of Hashem as the source of reality which helps us to see things more clearly. Knowing that Hashem created us all for a purpose and seeing what is really important and valuable in this world, helps us to avoid falling into the trap of misguided morals and skewered values. Appreciating that money is given us only so that we can do good with it and help those less fortunate helps us to avoid the mistake of thinking that money and power are the goals, and recall what really matters most in life.

That is perhaps why and how Yaakov, described as the “Ish tam Yoshev Ohalim” which Jewish tradition understands as immersed in the study of Torah, avoids the flawed perspectives of his brother Esau.

We live in difficult times; something is off balance, and we all need to think about how we can get back to seeing things more clearly….

Wishing all a Shabbat Shalom, from Yerushalayim.