A Rosh Hashanah Letter from Deputy Speaker of the Knesset MK Moshe Feiglin

A Rosh Hashanah Letter from  Deputy Speaker of the Knesset MK Moshe Feiglin     Dear Friend, We are pleased to share with you below Moshe Feiglin's year-end letter to all his supporters, summarizing his accomplishments this last year.  As the letter makes clear, Moshe's agenda is guided not by political opportunism but by a holistic vision for what the State of Israel is meant to be.  The media has tried to paint Moshe as an extremist and to make people fear him. However, when people see his message directly, the fear tends to melt.  People from all sides of the political spectrum are finding common cause with him on one issue or another and seeing themselves in his agenda and vision. As Moshe has stated many times, the real conflict  is not between the Arabs and the Jews.  The real conflict  is between the Jews and the Jews over the nature of Israel's soul and purpose.  Moshe Feiglin is the political figure who most represents a return to our inner identity and mission in the world.   Thanks to you, his supporters, this visionary leader has surmounted enormous opposition to rise to his current position of power and influence within the Likud and on the Israeli political scene. As his letter makes clear, Moshe has been using his newly won power to translate his lofty vision into a concrete legislative agenda relevant to the daily lives of Israelis, and his popularity is growing exponentially. As a result, our goal of national leadership is no longer a starry-eyed dream.  It could realistically happen in 5775.    The key is getting our message to people directly, and that takes substantial money.  The good news is that by US political standards, our political leadership campaigns are a bargain.  In the US, it takes about a billion dollars to wage a Presidential campaign and about $10 million on average to wage a Senate campaign.  To get Moshe elected Prime Minister, we need to raise $3 million.  With that, we can get our message to the people, and we will stand a good chance this time of winning.  The campaign for leadership has not officially begun, but we see strong signs that we'll be in a leadership race before the end of the secular year, and we need to begin our serious fundraising now. Most Tzedakah is given to fund a specific concrete need, and that is certainly a good thing.  Our cause is unique.  Donations to Moshe Feiglin's campaign are funding a dream.  Like the re-birth of the State of Israel, it's a dream that our people has been dreaming about for 2,000 years and that seemed impossible just a few short years before it happened.  Those of us alive today with money in our pockets have a unique opportunity to actively participate in building that dream.  Please give at whatever level you can to help make this dream a reality.  Please note that donations to the "Moshe Feiglin Campaign" are not tax deductible and must be made from personal funds only.  No corporate or "Foundation" funds are accepted. - Sorry, but we don't make the rules... You can donate by credit card by clicking HERE. Should you prefer to donate via check, please make your check payable to: "Moshe Feiglin Campaign" and mail it to: PO Box 241 Cedarhurst, NY 11516 - USA With blessings for a sweet new year,     Shmuel Sackett         Shlomo Vile International Campaign Manager    Campaign Resource Manager

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Letter from Moshe Feiglin To my dear friends and partners,   A fruitful and breathtaking year has passed in the Knesset and I would like to summarize what has happened since last Rosh Ha'Shanah. We have focused our work in two main areas: 1)      Jewish liberty 2)      Jewish identity Jewish Liberty Education and Empowerment of the Family Unit Sponsored a bill to tax a couple/family as such. This will provide true relief for the middle class as the current system actually hurts families financially. Annulment of the 'marriage fine' for couples who work in a shared business. Start of a process that will change the disgraceful treatment of divorced fathers. Advancement of the restoration of responsibility for children's' education to parents and transition to the voucher method. Health System Sponsored a bill to foster rapid, professional and simple treatment with medical cannabis. Beginning of a real change in providing cannabis to relieve the ill, as is accepted practice in the most respectable of countries. Our pressure produced results and more and patients are now authorized to enjoy this gift of G-d. The Blight of Corruption We have managed to prevent the Sarel Company ( a swamp of corruption that has drained the Health Ministry funds for the past 20 years) from receiving a deferral of tender for five years, worth 8 billion shekels (!). We have begun to uncover the extravagant government funded pensions and are formulating a plan to deal with this important issue. The Right to Bear Arms Due to the increase in terror attacks, we have managed, for all practical purposes, to prevent the government from confiscation of most of the firearms owned and licensed to the public. Bearing arms for self defense is one of the most fundamental human rights and we managed to focus government supervision on firearms solely over security companies. Jewish Identity We have four major achievements this year on our Jewish identity program: Religion and State The 'One Chief Rabbi' bill that we initiated was passed by a large majority. This bill advances the Torah of Israel from community status to national status, as befits the Return to Zion. Terrorist Release The blood of Jews is not worthless. As you may remember, I was the only coalition MK to vote against the proposed state budget last year. My vote was my leverage against the terrorist release. As these lines are being written, we have been informed that the Prime Minister has toed the line and understands that Israel cannot continue with this ethical and diplomatic lapse. Arab Verbal Violence in the Knesset: Delineating the Borders of Discourse Within the framework of my role as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, when I chaired the plenum deliberations, we set borders on the 'understanding and containing' discourse that had allowed the Arab MKs to publicly identify with Israel's enemies. We set a rule that any invective against IDF soldiers from the Knesset lectern will result in the speaker's immediate removal from the plenum. The influence of this action still echoes in the chamber. This is actually the first time in ages that a nationalist force has begun to determine the borders of the discourse in Israel. Last, Dearest and Most Important: The Temple Mount The Temple Mount is the holiest place in the world to Judaism. It is the place that endows our entire reality in Israel, all our hopes and our future with significance. It is the first and foremost of all our aspirations. Despite all the pressure and attempts to prevent it, we led an historic deliberation in the Knesset on the question of Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount. Just a year ago, I was prohibited from ascending the Temple Mount with all sorts of excuses. I must share my feelings with you: On this issue, we merit true Heavenly help. I have the merit to ascend the Mount as a representative of the Nation of Israel. At this point, I do not enjoy complete freedom of movement on the Mount and the Dome of the Rock is still off limits to me. However, a positive process of change has begun. A new spirit drives the Jews ascending the Temple Mount and despite the intensifying Arab violence there, their numbers are growing, thank G-d. Over the year, I have been much sought-after for interviews on varied issues and my Hebrew Facebook page has grown to 100,000 likes, from both Right and left. My feeling is that Israeli mentality has begun to hold a dialogue and is opening its mind to the Manhigut Yehudit alternative. This feeling has intensified over the last year. The end of the year (this past summer), saw everyone, including ourselves, involved in the events in Gaza. We managed to keep our ideology and vision strong by focusing every statement we made on our ultimate goal; A strong and proud Jewish State! We understood that it was important for the true solution to be publicly stated, so we said things and - literally - stood alone. "We must conquer Gaza," we said time and again. "But we must conquer Gaza in order to stay there and to make it a bustling Israeli city similar to Jaffa." This was a unique statement that could have emerged only from our study hall. It was accompanied by a detailed plan and realistic answers to the questions that arose. I was interviewed about this plan over 50 times including by the biggest international media outlets. The end of the operation in Gaza left the problem simmering and additional rounds of fighting are anticipated. This clarified to all that the existing leadership does not have the capacity to deal with the problem. Despite Israel's military power, above and beyond Gaza's capabilities, the existing leadership can do nothing more than perpetuate the current situation. It is incapable of defining who the enemy is and what victory is. It became clear that only we, who were able to say the simple words, "Gaza is ours," could construct from within that concept a strategy to deal with the root of the Hamas problem. We were able to say the words and to form the necessary tactics for a real and swift victory. Those who truly struggled against the Oslo Accords and declared even then that "ZO ARTZEINU" (This is our Land); those who did not accept any type of foreign sovereignty in our Land; those who remained connected to the Temple Mount - only they are able to think out of the 'peace industry' and two state solution box, which has rendered the State of Israel incapable of winning its wars. The foundation of Israel's flight from Gaza and its inability to return there stems from its lack of identity. If Israel cannot say: "Israel is first and foremost Jewish," it cannot return to rule Gaza. If we cannot return to rule Gaza, it is impossible to win this war. And if we cannot win in war, we cannot safeguard our dear state - not from its internal challenges or its external challenges. The combination of our Identity track and our Liberty track is the key to success. It is the key to the new significance with which we strive to imbue our national and private lives. There is no doubt that we have progressed a lot and our hearts are filled with thanksgiving to the Creator of the World. The political reality in the State of Israel is full of surprises, and we do not know what the future holds. According to all the political pundits, this coming year could very well bring us to Likud primaries, and possibly to general elections. Your support and enlistment now are important. Each and every one of you can get the word out by sharing our Facebook posts on social media far and wide and commenting on the page. And don't forget to talk about our Jewish Liberty, Identity and Meaning ideas at every opportunity. Thank you for your support and loyalty.    Wishing you a sweet and blessed new year.   Moshe Feiglin

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Netanyahu: Feiglin Full of 'Good Surprises'

Elul 21, 5774, 16/09/14 12:16

For the first time Likud head Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has publicly referred to MK Moshe Feiglin.

Yaakov Levi

For the first time Likud head Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has publicly referred to MK Moshe Feiglin, leader of the Manhigut Yehudit faction of the Likud. Feiglin has been a formidable force in the party over the past several years, but until now Netanyahu has chosen to ignore his membership in the Likud, and in the Knesset.

That changed Monday night at a meeting of party activists. Netanyahu introduced numerous ministers and MKs who sat on stage with him at the event in Petach Tikvah, and unlike in the past, made a point of introducing Feiglin, about whom Netanyahu said that he “always was full of surprises, many of them good. I appreciate this.”

Although Netanyahu has ignored him, Feiglin has certainly not ignored the Prime Minister, sharply criticizing him on most of his policies. It should be noted that Feiglin was supposed to be number 20 on the Likud list, but Netanyahu tried to engineer his being places only at number 36 on the list. Had that occurred, Feiglin would not have won a Knesset seat.

The sharp difference in views between Netanyahu and Feiglin is expressed on the future of Judea and Samaria, which Feiglin says should be annexed and where Arab residents should be encouraged with liberal financial aid to leave Israel.

Netanyahu has tried to maintain a centrist view, maintaining support for Jewish communities in Judea andSamaria but leaving open the possibility of destroying many communities and expelling their residents. inorder to create a PA state, leaving large blocs and Jerusalem in Israel's hands He previously has offered such concessions to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who rejected them out of hand as being insufficient.

Jerusalem Post: Divorced Dads Join Likud in Droves

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Divorced-dads-join-Likud-in-droves-374865

Fathers copy MK Moshe Feiglin’s tactic of enlisting Likud members to fight for equal custody rights.

By LAHAV HARKOV \ 09/09/2014 17:36

Hundreds of divorced fathers joined the Likud in recent months to lobby the party’s MKs to change child custody and alimony laws in their favor.

Tamar Har-Paz, an attorney who works on alimony cases and is a Likud Central Committee member affiliated with MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud), recruited 200 divorced fathers to join the party and create a pressure group in the leading party.

The fathers’ goals are to convince Likud legislators to adopt the Schnitt Committee’s recommendations in 2008 to give parents equal custody of children after divorce and the Shifman Committee in 2012, which recommended that divorced parents equally divide children’s expenses.

Har-Paz was inspired by Feiglin, who enlisted thousands of Likud members with an eye on pushing the party rightward, and the MK expressed his support for the move after meeting with the divorced fathers’ group.

“We all know Feiglin’s ability to recruit Likud members and ever since we got his backing, the number of divorced fathers joining the party increased significantly,” she said. “If we continue at the current pace, 2,500 divorced fathers will join Likud by the next primary.”

Har-Paz pointed out that one of every three marriages in Israel ends in a divorce, which means that there is a lot of potential for fathers and their relatives to join Likud.

The Oslo Accord Reality Check

By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger
*The 21^st anniversary of Oslo highlights the tragic gap between the underlying assumption of the architects of Oslo – the New Middle East, transitioning to peace – and the Real Middle East. 

*The Real Middle East is represented, most authentically, by the Arab Tsunami, which is gaining momentum, not transitioning toward democracy, in defiance of policy-makers, columnists and academicians who defined it as the Arab Spring.

*The Arab Tsunami is a natural derivative of the Real Middle East, as it has been for the last 1,400 years (in reference to inter-Arab relations): the role model of violent intolerance; non-compliance with agreements; unstable/tenuous regimes, coalitions, policies and agreements, which are signed on ice, not carved in stone.

*The following article sheds light on the critical deficiencies of the Oslo state of mind and its derivatives, such as the two state solution and the "disengagement" from Gaza.

The Oslo Accord Reality Check

On October 24, 2013 (the Diplomatic Conference) and October 16, 2013 (the memorial ceremony for Prime Minister Rabin), President Peres, the architect of the September, 1993 Oslo Accord, claimed that the Israeli-Palestinian accord was the "opening to dialogue and peace.”  Is Peres' claim vindicated by a reality check?

The Oslo State of Mind

The Oslo state of mind was most accurately pronounced by Peres, at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, on Sept. 16, 2000, on the eve of the 2^nd Intifada, 2000-2005 wave of Palestinian terrorism: "I believe that the previousborders, made of barbed wire, minefields, military positions, are irrelevant to our life…. I sincerely believe that agood hotel on the border will provide more peace and security than a military position.... I can see very little use for the past. Two things lose their importance: land and history. … To imagine is more important than to remember…. War is out of the question now…. I doubt very much if the Palestinians will go back to terror. … Once a nation's economy turns from a focus on land to a focus on brains, borders are irrelevant….”
The blueprint for the Oslo Accord was documented by Peres in his October, 1993 book, The New Middle East: "The international political setting is no longer conducive to war (p. 80)…. Peace is the means for security (p. 84)…. We need soft – not rigid – borders…. While signing the documents on the lawn of the White House… you could almost hear the heavy tread of boots leaving the stage…. You could have listened to the gentle tiptoeing of new steps making a debut in the awaiting world of peace (p. 194)…. "

The new – VS the real – Middle East

The Oslo Accord state of mind, and the new Middle East vision, have been trounced by the Arab Tsunami, which imploded the real Middle East, transitioning the region toward further fanaticism, terrorism, tyranny and anti-"infidel” sentiments, away from moderation, peace, democracy and tolerance. 
The Oslo state of mind underestimated the potency of the deeply-rooted 1,400 year old fundamentals of the real Middle East, which are sweeping the combusting Arab Street in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and other Arab countries: violent unpredictability, uncertainty, unreliability, instability and shifty regimes and policies; religious, ethnic, ideological and geographic fragmentation; violent intolerance toward other Muslims and the "infidel;” no freedom of speech, religion, press and association and no gender equality; no intra-Arab comprehensive peace and no compliance with most intra-Arab agreements, which are tenuous in nature.

Has Oslo transformed Israel and the Palestinians?

Ariel University's Dr. Yuval Arnon-Ohanna, formerly with the Mossad and one of Israel's leading experts on the Palestinian issue, documented in Line of Furrow and Fire- the conflict for the Land of Israel, 1860-2013 (Achiasaf Publishing, 2013) that the 1993 Oslo Accord snatched the PLO from the jaws of oblivion.  Arab regimes severed financial assistance to – and most contacts with - the PLO, due to the PLO's collaboration with Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The US suspended its dialogue with the PLO in 1990.  The 1^st Intifadah - wave of Palestinian terrorism - was largely subdued by Israel in 1991. The PLO lost two key co-founders, Khalil al-Wazir (1988) and Salah al-Khalaf (1991). Its popularity, among Palestinians, was significantly marred by corruption and embezzlement, attributed primarily to Arafat and his wife, Suha, Mahmoud Abbas and his sons, Yasser and Tareq, Arafat's financial advisor, Muhammad Rashid, and the Tsumud (steadfastness) Fund. The Oslo Accord resuscitated the PLO, which still oversees the Palestinian Authority, legally and operationally.  

The Oslo Accord transformed Israeli policy dramatically, strategically and tangibly.  Israel made concessions to the Palestinians, never extended by the Ottoman Empire, the British Mandate or the Arabs, transferring parts of Israel's own cradle of history to its arch-enemy and advancing Palestinian sovereignty. Israel imported some 70,000 Palestinian terrorists from Sudan, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia to Gaza and the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria - the door steps of their intended victims - arming them with weapons and lobbying on their behalf in Washington, DC.  
   
Contrary to Israel, the PLO was transformed tactically and intangibly, while sustaining its strategy, as enunciated by its 1964 Covenant, considering the Land of Israel a divinely ordained Muslim land (Waqf). Arafat stated that the Oslo Accord was provisional, aiming to destroy Israel, triggering an unprecedented level of  Palestinian non-compliance with agreements. 

Mahmoud Abbas established a hate-education system.  And, an unprecedented wave of Palestinian terrorism erupted in April, 1994, producing so far over 1,600 Israeli fatalities, five times as large as the toll of the twenty years prior to Oslo. 160 Israelis were murdered during the pre-Oslo 1^st Intifadah, compared with 1,000 during the post-Oslo 2^nd Intifadah.  In June 2001, Faisal Husseini, the PLO darling of the Western media, clarified that the Oslo Accord provided the Palestinians with a Trojan horse in the heart of Israel.   

The Oslo-driven Palestinian conduct has been consistent with the Palestinian intra-Arab track record of subversion and treachery, which caused Arafat's and Mahmoud Abbas' expulsion from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Kuwait. It has also been consistent with the Palestinian collaboration with the Nazis, the Communist Bloc, Khomeini, Saddam Hussein and Bin-Laden.

The Oslo Accord reality check documents that contrary to the hope of its architects, the Palestinian leopard does not change spots, only tactics.

MK Feiglin Warns of a New Intifada in Jerusalem

By Hezki Ezra, Ari Yashar

MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) visited eastern Jerusalem and the Temple Mount on Thursday with members of the Internal Affairs Committee, where he told Arutz Sheva that he is convinced the wave of terror in the capital will only increase in coming days.

“The loss of control over Jerusalem, and by continuation also over Gaza, started on the Temple Mount,” Feiglin said, while at the French Hill gas station that Arab rioters tried to explode on Sunday.

Feiglin’s comments come in the wake of the dismantling of a new access ramp to the Temple Mount in a folding to Jordanian pressure, and recommendations by MKs, including those of the Jewish Home, to maintain the status quo of de facto Jordanian Waqf (Islamic Trust) control.

“The one who controls the Mount controls the land, and first of all (controls) Jerusalem,” emphasized Feiglin to Arutz Sheva. “Whoever thought that they could abandon the Mount for over 40 years to Hamas and extremist Islam and conquer Jerusalem through the Zionist method of ‘another sheep another dunam’ (i.e. building) – I think we must understand now that they were wrong.”

Feiglin stressed that the Temple Mount is the center of Jerusalem, warning that many “still think we can take our Zionist actions in reverse, and that the Israeli leadership that ignores the Mount will advance us in the process of redemption and everything will be okay.”

However, the abandonment of the Mount and “depressed” ending of Operation Protective Edge, in which decisive military action to remove the Hamas threat was not recorded, will only spur terror in Jerusalem according to the MK.

“Hamas in its mind won the war, its standing in the Muslim world was increased enormously, and what we did to them in Gaza interests (Hamas leader) Ismail Haniyeh about as much as last year’s snow,” remarked Feiglin.

“After the Six Day War there was quiet here, and also after the Yom Kippur War,” reminded the MK. “The fact that a new intifada is starting here in Jerusalem is a direct continuation of the depressed result of Protective Edge. These two processes – the abandonment of the Mount and the result of Protective Edge, join together into a threatening intifada.”

Indeed, reports on Monday revealed that in the past few months terror attacks in Jerusalem have been growing exponentially, with 152 terror attacks and incidents in July and August, a stark rise from previous months.

“There is no ‘settler’ that suffers more in all of Judea and Samaria than the ‘settler’ here in the very heart of Jerusalem,” stated Feiglin. “It’s already throughout the country, but as usual – its more pleasant for Israelis to ignore (the reality).”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185032#.VBSi1pSSyCQ

Who’s Afraid of Israel?

A Torah Thought for Parshat Ki Tavo 

By Moshe Feiglin

And all the nations of the world will see that the Name of G-d is called upon you and they will fear you.” (From this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo, Deuteronomy 23:10)

This week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo, is the key to forging Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel. It is a thorough and detailed description of how to build a Jewish kingdom in the Land of Israel such that all the nations of the world will immediately understand that the King of this nation is the Master of the Universe Himself – and their hearts will automatically fill with awe and admiration.

“And it will be when you come to the Land that Hashem your G-d is giving you for an inheritance and you shall inherit it and settle in it. And you shall take from the first fruits of the earth that you shall bring from your Land that Hashem your G-d gives you and you shall place them in the basket and you shall go to the place that Hashem will choose for His Name to dwell there.” (Deuteronomy 26:1-2)

The King of Kings, the Master of the Universe, dwells in your midst – in the royal palace; the Holy Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. And you, before you harvest the fruits of your economic success and close yourself off in your own world, are commanded to first ascend in joy to the royal courtyard; its gates are open for you. There, in the courtyard of G-d’s house, you will thank your King, remember and appreciate Him and internalize the loving kindness that He has bestowed upon you. You will coronate Him again as King over you, your family, your community, your nation and the entire world.

Afterwards, your daily routine will be informed by the guidance that you received at the Temple, in accordance with the holistic Torah that emanates from the place chosen by G-d. The Temple is really the only place from which the Torah can emanate in its pure, complete, unified and relevant form.

If a Jew does not live in the Land in this holistic way, he really has not yet entered the Land. Deep in his heart, he believes that he is merely a guest. The other nations of the world can protect their interests beyond their borders, but Israel dares not do so. Not because we are physically weak, but because we do not feel that this is our home. We have not come to the place chosen by G-d. True, we are the legal inheritor, the sons of the queen. But we have hurriedly passed the responsibility on to the son of the handmaiden. Israel does not ascend to the courtyards of G-d, but to the courtyards of Uncle Sam.

There is only one way to change direction. The face of the nation is its leadership. Israel urgently needs G-d fearing leadership.

And all the nations of the world will see that G-d’s Name is called upon you and they will fear you.

Shabbat Shalom

Fire Arab Doctor Who Called IDF Soldiers ‘Murderers’

By Moshe Feiglin

In a letter to the Director of Jerusalem’s Shaarei Tzedek Hospital, the Health Minister and the Prime Minister, MK Moshe Feiglin expressed his shock upon learning that an Arab doctor in the hospital, who was put on leave after he called IDF soldiers ‘murderers’ during Operation Defensive Shield, has returned to work. The same doctor also published a caricature of PM Netanyahu with the blood of Gaza’s children dripping  from his mouth on his Facebook page.

“Does anybody really think that this emergency room doctor can separate the hatred that he feels for the Jewish Nation from the professional care that he is supposed to be giving to Shaarei Tzedek’s predominantly Jewish patients – soldiers included?” Feiglin asked.

Feiglin demanded the doctor’s immediate and permanent dismissal from the health system in Israel.

First Fruits from a Chosen Nation: HaRav Nachman Kahana on Parashat Ki Tavo 5774

BS”D  Parashat Ki Tavo 5774 Rabbi Nachman Kahana The First Fruits Our parasha begins with the mitzva of Bikurim – bringing a sample of Eretz Yisrael’s first fruits to the Bet Hamikdash (Devarim 26). The offerer stands before the Kohen and declares: הגדתי היום לה’ אלהיך כי באתי אל הארץ אשר נשבע ה’ לאבתינו לתת לנו: “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us. The Kohen then places the basket of fruit in front of the mizbai’ach (altar), and the offerer states a synopsis of Jewish history: )ה)… ארמי אבד אבי וירד מצרימה ויגר שם במתי מעט ויהי שם לגוי גדול עצום ורב: (ו) וירעו אתנו המצרים ויענונו ויתנו עלינו עבדה קשה: (ז) ונצעק אל ה’ אלהי אבתינו וישמע ה’ את קלנו וירא את ענינו ואת עמלנו ואת לחצנו: (ח) ויוצאנו ה’ ממצרים ביד חזקה ובזרע נטויה ובמרא גדל ובאתות ובמפתים: (ט) ויבאנו אל המקום הזה ויתן לנו את הארץ הזאת ארץ זבת חלב ודבש: (י) ועתה הנה הבאתי את ראשית פרי האדמה אשר נתתה לי ה’ The Aramean (Lavan) sought to do away with my father Ya’akov, who eventually went down to Egypt with his small family, who grew there to become very numerous. The Egyptians mistreated and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. And delivered us from out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great fear and with signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey And now I bring the first fruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.” A Chosen Nation Later in the parasha, Moshe announces before the nation (26,18-19): וה’ האמירך היום להיות לו לעם סגלה כאשר דבר לך ולשמר כל מצותיו: ולתתך עליון על כל הגוים אשר עשה לתהלה ולשם ולתפארת ולהיתך עם קדש לה’ א-להיך כאשר דבר And the Lord has declared this day that you are His nation, His treasured possession as He promised, and that you are to keep all His commands. To raise you above all the other nations He has made, in praise, fame and honor and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as He promised. These two citations from our parasha are intended (among other things) to inscribe within our conscious and unconscious selves the awareness that we, as the Creator’s chosen nation, are not only different, but better and holier than all others. This realization is meant to produce within the Jewish people what is known in modern Ivrit “rosh gadol” – a broad, encompassing, creative, enterprising and conceptual mind – a mind that has no patience for the conventional, insipid, mundane, trite or unimaginative aspects of this world. Truly we are a chosen people born from Avraham and Sarah; Yitzchak and Rivka; Ya’akov and Rachel, Leah, Bilha and Zilpa, who lives physically in this world but is spiritually and intellectually connected to the world beyond. The Rosh Gadol vs. the rosh katan The Days of Awe are quickly approaching. It is that time when we must begin to appraise, consider, measure, judge and list our actions and thoughts of the past year(s). If I may draw upon my own experience, I can say that the “mother of all sins” – and the prime mover of all others – is “rosh katan” the opposite of “rosh gadol”. “Rosh katan” is a narrow, restricted state of mind when a Jew negates his eternal and unique spiritual status as was revealed to us by HaShem at Mount Sinai, and seeks to draw closer to foreign cultures and nullifies his historical mission of “tikun olam” – universal reformation. Rosh katan is illustrated in a short Yiddish story by Y.L. Peretz called Bonche Shveig – Bonche the silent. Bonche had a terrible life. Ill and overworked; never loved or respected by anyone. But despite it all, he never uttered a word of complaint to HaShem or to man. He was indeed Bonche the silent. Bonche died and was received in Heaven with great honor by myriads of angels. The officiating angel said to Bonche: “We have witnessed your behavior these 70 years on earth. Never a complaint; never an accusation. Now it is your time to speak out. You may request anything you wish. Bonche thought for a moment, and replied: “I want solitude and quiet”. The angels began to cry. The angels cried when they saw how life’s experiences had snuffed out the Godly spirit given to this man at childbirth, who wishes no more than to be left alone. Life’s experiences have turned great parts of the Jewish nation, including many spiritual leaders in the galut, from yesterday’s spiritual giants to today’s “rosh katan,” – a people who desire quiet and serenity. The Silence of the rosh katan Do you recognize these names: Shlomo ben Yosef, Dov Gruner, Mordechai Alkachi, Yechiel Drezner, Eliezer Kashani, Yaakov Weiss, Avshalom Chabiv, Meir Nakari, Meir Feinstein and Moshe Barazani? No? Herein lies the problem. I recall that one day, while a high school student in Yeshivat Rabbeinu Ya’akov Yosef (RJJ), our rabbi offered examples of the behavior of rabbis of yesteryear, whose qualities we should attempt to emulate. That rabbi once received a letter with an un-cancelled stamp. He purchased a stamp at the post office and tore it up! He would also pick up stray pieces of paper in the bet midrash so that no one else would have to bother to do so. All nice things, and in fact I try to emulate his conduct to the best of my ability to this day. However, while listening to my very learned and fine rabbi, I was troubled by what he was saying. Let’s return to the above mentioned list. Shlomo ben Yosef, Dov Gruner, Mordechai Alkachi, Yechiel Drezner, Eliezer Kashani, Yaakov Weiss, Avshalom Chabiv, Meir Nakari, Meir Feinstein and Moshe Barazani. Who are they?? These are the 10 Martyred underground fighters who were hanged by the brutish British in the struggle against the British mandate over Eretz Yisrael. I sat in the class and asked myself why the rabbi had chosen the stories of the stamp and the litter for us to emulate, when in our generation there are heroes of Biblical proportion whose willingness to sacrifice for the Jewish people was so astounding, such as the ten martyred young men who gave their lives so that the Jewish people would once again be able to return home to our Promised Land? (I was aware of their great sacrifice and of the struggle which had been raging in Eretz Yisrael against the British, because in the 1940s my father was involved in the purchase of weapons and sending them clandestinely to Eretz Yisrael after the United States imposed an arms embargo on the nascent Jewish state). A while after the above-mentioned class, the Sinai Campaign broke out when Israel was at war with Egypt. I was expecting the rabbi and the rosh yeshiva to speak to us about the war and to offer prayers for the success of the Jewish army in Eretz Yisrael. But on the following morning, the student body was welcomed with a deafening silence and stupefaction regarding what was happening at that very time in the Holy Land. At the time, as a teenager, I was unable to articulate what I was seeing and was not hearing. Later, I realized that the problem could be diagnosed as “rosh katan”. My rabbis were exemplary people, but the historical progression of Am Yisrael was too much for them to fathom. It was like trying to fit 10 people into a 5-passenger car – it just doesn’t work. Connecting a Jewish Heart to a Jewish Brain A nation regarding which our parasha states: “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us. And the Lord has declared this day that you are his nation, His treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all His commands. To raise you above all the other nations He has made, in praise, fame and honor and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as He promised. How can a Jew stand by the wayside and not join in the rebirth of our national life in Eretz Yisrael? The answer is ROSH KATAN. The quickly changing history of our people and of the world is too much for most Jews to fathom. This was what Moshe was thinking when he saw the behavior of many people in his time; when they worshipped the Golden Calf and when they refused to enter the Land – their inability to inculcate the rapid changes into our national life and its repercussions on every individual. In the past, I likened many of the spiritual leaders in today’s galut to the Meraglim (scouts, spies) of the desert; but that was a mistake. The Meraglim had “rosh gadol” but their estimation of what the people were capable of at the time was erroneous. Many of the Jewish leaders in the galut today are simply victims of their environment and education which do not permit them to soar above their mundane everyday interests. To put it simply: A potato farmer in Eretz Yisrael who serves in Tzahal and loves the Medina has a “rosh” far bigger than a math professor in Harvard. A short story to conclude: A rav who was in frail physical condition came to a doctor for help. The doctor inquired into the rav’s daily schedule, to which the rav replied that he builds bridges. At the doctor’s skeptical look, the rav explained that he tries to build bridges that span from the brain to the heart. When the doctor asked if the work was difficult, the rav replied that that is the reason he is seeking medical help”. How does one obtain a “Rosh gadol”? It is obtained by connecting a Jewish heart to a Jewish brain, which results in the delight of a Jewish neshama. Shabbat Shalom, Nachman Kahana Copyright © 5774/2014 Nachman Kahana

We Agree with Egypt!!

By Shmuel Sackett

This past summer was a difficult one for the Jews in Israel. It started with a kidnapping/murder  and ended with rockets and missiles on homes, businesses, camps and day-care centers. Many of our brothers and sisters spent their days and nights in hot, stuffy bomb-shelters and the fun summer of trips and vacations was postponed indefinitely. During the heat of this battle (literally!) my dear friend and Deputy Speaker of the Knesset came out with a statement that all Arab civilians of Gaza should be moved to the Sinai. Moshe’s point was that since Hamas was fighting among the civilian population, it would be impossible to fight a war against them without causing major damage to innocent people.  He put aside the question whether these people are really as “innocent” as they claim – having democratically elected Hamas to lead them – and simply dealt with the matter at hand; destroying the enemy while not harming civilians. The problem, however, is that in the jam-packed densely populated city of Gaza, this is just not possible… and Hamas knows it! Hamas, which stands for “Hides Among Mosques And Schools” (well, not really, but it does spell out “HAMAS”) purposely conducts its terror offensive from within the city, using even hospitals as their rocket launching pads. MK Moshe Feiglin therefore came out with a detailed plan to move the civilians to the Sinai so that the IDF could then fight Hamas “man-to-man”.

When Feiglin’s plan became public, he was bitterly attacked by the liberal media. They accused him of wanting to set up concentration camps for the Arabs of Gaza, even though he never said anything of the sort. The media “went to town” on the Feiglin-Gaza-Sinai plan and CNN’s Wolf Blitzer interviewed him and attacked him for making this suggestion. As usual, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset Moshe Feiglin did not back down from his stand. Rather, he explained his position, clarified his point and defended it as the only humane solution for the innocent people caught in the cross-fire. He said that many Arabs would needlessly die if they stayed in Gaza and this plan was the only realistic one that would both defeat the enemy while preserving the life of women and children. I was in New York when Moshe released his plan and found myself being interviewed on both television and radio on this point. Again and again, both Moshe and I stood strong in the face of adversity as we explained the advantages of this plan and how many lives it would save.

Fast forward now about a month. The war is over (well, at least for now…) and the President of Egypt, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announces a new and surprising solution to resolving the Israeli-Arab conflict: Establish a Palestinian State in the Sinai. He said WHAT???

According to the plan, Egypt would provide a 1,600 square kilometer area in the Sinai Peninsula near the Gaza Strip, making the Strip five times its size, where a state would be established under full control of the PA. Don’t get me wrong, we are not endorsing this plan since it contains other suggestions as well such as giving the Arabs major parts of Yehuda and Shomron. I am merely writing this part about the Sinai to show you how President of Egypt Sisi – who fought the Moslem Brotherhood and is certainly no sissy – is agreeing with Moshe Feiglin in calling for the Arabs of Gaza to move to the Sinai.

Who would have thought that the Feiglin-Gaza-Sinai plan would receive an endorsement of sorts from President Sisi of Egypt? How come our phones aren’t ringing off the hook from CNN and Wolf Blitzer asking for a reaction? Why isn’t the NY Times banging on Feiglin’s Knesset office door begging for forgiveness, after attacking him so vehemently, especially since this is Elul and people usually do things like that during this time! Actually, the last two sentences I wrote are jokes. The last thing we expect are apologies from the NY Times and CNN. We have always told people to leave them alone – they do their job and we have to do ours. We are never bothered by their attacks, lies or condemnations and never demand or expect apologies from these clowns. Every generation has its share of “Thomas Friedmans” and “Wolf Blitzers” so don’t get worked up and high blood-pressure from them.  Leave them alone and do your job.

When a Jew speaks the truth, it may not be pleasant at first, but if he sticks to it – the world will respect him for it. This is what we need from the world: RESPECT and as my Rabbi; HaRav Meir Kahane used to say; “The world will only respect the Jew when the Jew respects himself.”

So, as we enter the final game in the 5774 season we need to stand up for ourselves. We need to speak the truth, explain our vision for a strong and proud Jewish State and keep working until the entire world acknowledges that Hashem is King. Until then, get ready for battle – both physical and spiritual – and don’t be shocked at people who may start endorsing you along the way. Shana Tova – Happy New Year – to one and all.

9/11 and 9/13

By Moshe Feiglin

This article was published in Moshe Feiglin’s book, The War of Dreams.

It is amazing how the Israeli media ignored the tenth anniversary of the Oslo Accords. One would think that the media, always looking for hot topics, would not be able to get out of summarizing and analyzing the significance of the horrifying decade that Israel has suffered since the Accords were signed. But, no. The people pulling the strings of Israel’s media marionettes have no intention of building themselves a defendant’s bench, a place where they clearly have reserved seats.

The 13^th of September passed like any other day. Nobody in Israel stopped to draw conclusions, and the fateful Accords continue to claim their daily pint of blood with ever growing lust.

But the 11^th of September, the day that the Twin Towers collapsed, merited serious attention. September 11^th threatens no one, so Israel’s citizens were treated to a number of media summaries and learned analyses on the massacre in New York.

Both the Israelis and the Americans have a blind spot: Without September 13^th, September 11^th would not have happened. The Oslo Accords brought about the destruction of the Twin Towers. Without the abominable handshake between Rabin, Arafat and Clinton on September 13, 1993, the Twin Towers would not have collapsed on September 11^th, 2001.

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The Oslo Accords are usually defined as peace accords that were established to bridge a physical disagreement as to the ownership of a particular parcel of land. That definition is a smoke screen that the “enlightened” public cannot seem to do without. Even the mystery of the attack on the Twin Towers, bereft of any territorial dispute or military or national conflict was defined within the parameters of the blind Western dogmas of tangible discord. The secular perspective can deal with territorial conflicts that can be solved within the narrow confines of the Western worldview. The Americans needed a state and army against whom to fight and Sadaam supplied the merchandise. The Israelis needed a state and army with whom to make peace, so they brought Arafat and provided him with a nation, army and state.

Both Israel and the U.S. are afraid of facing the truth. They do not have the cultural tools to understand it or to deal with it.

But even more grave: The cultural platform – the founding ethos — upon which both Israel and the U.S. were established, will be severely compromised if they will speak the language that is being used to destroy them. Israel and the U.S. cannot allow themselves to wage a religious war because it completely contradicts their cultures. So they flee to arenas that are rational – but totally irrelevant. America’s citizens are beginning to understand that their adventure in Iraq did not distance terror from their doorsteps. Israel’s citizens have already painfully understood that conjuring up a Palestinian nation and state will not bring them peace.

Our Western rationalism does not like delving into the meta-physical roots of the Oslo process and Islamic terror. But even those who will not relate to what they cannot feel with their hands must answer one question: How is it that before Oslo there were no suicide bombers? The phenomenon of Arab/Islamic suicide is atypical in modern history.

The comparison of the suicide bombers to the kamikazes of World War II is incorrect. There have always been soldiers willing to sacrifice their lives in war in order to advance their cause. There are also many examples of this type of self-sacrifice in Israel. The kamikaze pilot could not have gotten his explosive-laden Zero jet onto the American aircraft carrier without committing suicide.

But suicide as first choice, in other words, death as a monstrous ideology — made its premier appearance after Oslo. Most of the suicide attacks could have been perpetrated without committing suicide. The terrorist that exploded in the pizza shop near my home in Karnei Shomron could have left his explosive-laden backpack in the shop and disappeared. But he didn’t do that, because his death was part of the narrative.

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Most of the world believes in the Bible and knows that “The Torah will emanate from Zion and the word of G-d from Jerusalem.” The world knows that a new revelation will emerge from this Land. But at Oslo, the Jews agreed for the first time in history that the Land of Israel does not belong to them, but rather, to the Arabs. Consequently, the Moslem message is the true revelation that will emerge from Jerusalem and conquer the entire world. At Oslo, the Jews armed the Arab Moslems with the ultimate weapon – the justice of their cause.

Just under the surface, a world war has always been waged between Judaism’s two wayward daughters – Islam and Christianity – over world hegemony. Now, the Moslems received the torch of justice from their “mother” religion, and have set out on a world wide jihad, armed with the most sophisticated and dangerous weapon of all.

Obviously, the Arab rabble that bears the Moslem message of violence and evil can herald nothing but death. But in order to bring this faith into the full consciousness that motivates people to commit suicide, they seem to have needed some sort of moral and theological proof. They needed the Oslo Accords.

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Jews traditionally associate specific dates with significant events that occurred on those dates. The two Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on the 9^th of Av, while five severe blows to the Jewish nation occurred over the years on the 17^th of Tamuz.

After considering this, I decided to check if Oslo and 9/11 occurred on the same Hebrew date. But I was wrong. The Oslo Accords were signed at the White House on the 27^th of Elul, 5753, while the Hebrew date of 9/11 was the 23^rd of Elul, 5761. But then I read Jeff Jacoby’s article in the Boston Globe. His article reminded me that the ceremonial signing of the Oslo Accords was a show for the world media. The actual Accords were signed four days earlier. Arafat signed a letter in which he recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and condemned the use of terror and violence. On the same day, Rabin signed a letter recognizing the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian nation and as a partner in peace negotiations. The date was September 9^th, 1993.

And the Hebrew date?

That’s right. The 23^rd of Elul. Both Oslo and 9/11 took place on the same Hebrew date.