On the Threshold of Greatness( III): a Singular Jewish Nation-- without America?

By Tuvia Brodie

Today, it is easy to call Israel an outcast. She seems alone and rejected. She alone stands accused of being responsible for the failure to achieve peace between Arab and Jew in the Middle East. The President of the United States practically said as much in a March 2011 meeting at the White House with leaders of major American Jewish organizations—and these American Jewish leaders have subsequently signed on to the Obama proposal for Israel to pull back to pre-1967 borders before peace negotiations with the Arab begin-- so that ‘there can be peace’.

The leadership of America’s Jewish community laments Israel’s refusal to deal with a terrorist organization—Hamas. These leaders call for Israel to surrender land. They want Israel to yield to Obama. They fear for Israel’s safety. They see Israel’s destruction if she does not comply.

But the pain and anguish everyone sees is not a hint of a destruction to come; rather, it is the harbinger of birth. America’s Jewish (secular) leadership does not understand the reality of Israel: she does not stand on the threshold of destruction; she stands on the threshold of greatness. The sounds we hear are not the sounds of the mourning; they are the sounds of the birthing room. The final result of the Arab onslaught against the Jewish nation will not be Israel’s destruction. It will be Israel’s ennoblement.

The leadership of the American Jewish community has taken a stand—to promote the Obama call for pre-1967 borders for the future of Israel. But this leadership decision represents not only a disconnect from the majority of Israel’s citizens, it is a disconnect also from the majority of America’s Jews. Polls repeatedly show this. With this decision, the leadership of the American Jewish community has put itself onto an iceberg—and then shoved off, cutting itself off from those who have fed and supported it.

If this leadership wishes to survive, it should announce immediately that the Obama proposal is a betrayal of the Jewish nation. It should publicly reject J Street. It should reject every call for a two-state solution so long as Hamas clings to terror, calls for the destruction of Israel , and so long as Arab media and mosque demonize the Jew, call for the killing of Jews and honor Jew-killers. To do otherwise is to ignore American Jewish sentiment and betray Israel.

But there is another American Jewish leadership that must now also step up for Israel: the religious leadership. If both the secular and religious leadership of the American Jewish community are to have any role in the birthing room of the new Israel to come, they must both show up.

Until now, the religious leadership in America has been ‘delicate’ about its support of Israel. It has remained (for the most part) silent about modern Israel because modern Israel does not meet their refined criteria for approval. But with Israel now in the birthing room, with the pang and cry of birth echoing in our ears, the time for delicacy and refinement are passed. The religious leadership of America must put down its objections and pick up the Israel flag. They do not need to reject their objections. But they must put those objections aside to declare their unity with and connection to their people. To do otherwise is (potentially) to render themselves irrelevant.

The quality of Torah in Israel grows, deepens and matures daily. Today, it may be possible that, if American Jewry did not exist, Israel’s national and religious life would nevertheless stand—and thrive. American Jewish leadership—both secular and religious—run the risk of cutting themselves off from Am Yisroel, the Jewish nation. We are not quite there yet; but are we getting close?

Our struggle for national survival has reached a new stage. Ours is no longer the struggle of the 1940s or 1950s. We are about to step over the threshold of greatness. Our future ennoblement is before us.

The din of hate that surround us are the cries that accompany our new birth. If American Jewish leadership refuses to break bread with Israel now, they risk everything. In the secular community, more than 50% of our Jewish youth leave our religion; perhaps millions who call themselves ‘Jewish’ may not be halachically Jewish; most in America who call themselves Jewish have little or no understanding of their Jewish heritage—and all of this begs the question: how Jewish is their view of the Jewish State? How credible is their voice?

In the religious community, leadership seems to stand aloof. They know full well what is their heritage, but their apparent ideology of galut—exile—(see Rabbi Dr. Yehoshua Kemelman, Diaspora is Jewry’s graveyard, Urim Publications, 2009, p. 10) turns them cold to Israel.

The leadership of American Jewry—both secular and religious—appear to offer little that is positive for Israel. They seem to find little time to support Israel’s future even as 60,000 Jews a year walk away from America’s Jewish community (ibid, p 9). As Rabbi Kemelman points out (ibid, p10), Israel will survive without America’s children; but will American Jewry survive without Israel?

Israel will survive. Israel will step across the threshold to greatness.

America?

It's Not About Freedom of Torah Thought

By Moshe Feiglin

13 Tamuz, 5771
July 15, '11

Translated from the Makor Rishon newspaper

When the very positive spontaneous protests against the arrest of Rabbis Lior and Yosef gave way to official spin, the initiators of the provocation from the Attorney General's office likely breathed a sigh of relief. Once again, the "enemy" had painted himself into a patently irrelevant corner and the partisan justice system - growing public disgust with it notwithstanding - remained the only show in town.

Everybody understands the ideological foundations that brought about this provocation. The AG's office decides what and whom to investigate according to very clear criteria. One: From what political side of the fence the remark was made. Two: Anticipated public response. That is why leftist author Amos Oz and his call to blow up bridges are immune to investigation on one hand and Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef is immune on the other.

When a small, radical cabal has unlimited sovereign power and uses it for its own unbalanced and callous ideological agenda, the responsible citizen cannot cooperate with the abomination and lend it legitimacy. This is not an issue for rabbis only. Since the expulsion from Gush Katif, the Israeli justice system has designated itself as an unabashed side in Israel's political debate. Every responsible and honest person who understands this must conclude that it is no longer reasonable to cooperate with the system and lend it legitimacy. That is why I did not turn to the High Court when my election to the Likud roster for the Knesset was unceremoniously overturned.

"Refusal marks the borders of the coercive power of the majority. In this way, it serves as the essence of the soul of a sound democratic regime," wrote Professor David Henshekeh in the Akdamot magazine. Henshekeh wrote about unreasonable army orders. But I would humbly like to propose that the same is true of all types of government coercion that is deemed unreasonable by a large enough group willing to pay the price of its disobedience. This is not anarchy but rather the preservation of democracy in the face of the tyranny of the majority or in our case - the tyranny of the unelected minority that has taken control over the majority. The danger of anarchy - at least moral anarchy - lies at the doorstep of the regime. The responsible citizen who refuses to cooperate with the moral bankruptcy of the regime is actually protecting society from it.

But it doesn't end here. Official spokespersons for the protests turned the latest struggle from a civil issue to a religious struggle; they portrayed the protests as a defensive battle fought by Torah adherents against the State that is "attempting to control it." Not only is this claim unfounded, but it forces the average Israeli - his natural support for the settlers and disgust with the High Court regime notwithstanding - to stand behind Deputy AG Shai Nitzan.

Let us imagine what would happen if a young rabbi would write an article in which he would prove that according to Jewish law, we must slaughter homosexuals. Is there not even the slightest doubt that a confused youngster might take his words seriously, sharpen his knife and run to slaughter people in the street? Is the state supposed to ignore the danger only because it is wrapped in halachic garb? Let us imagine that the AG office is fair and also investigates the incitement from the Left. Let us further imagine that when rabbis are investigated, it is done with the honor they deserve. Isn't there still room for the claim that the state must protect its citizens? Does the religious system have enough will and ability to exchange the existing regime for its own system?

When the protestors' claim becomes religious, it is untenable at both ends. The state cannot conquer the Torah because it is the religious who have surrendered it. There is no national Torah to conquer. The only Sanhedrin that actually exists and makes its opinions heard in an authoritative manner is the "Sanhedrin" of the High Court.

On the other side of the divide, the Torah for which the protestors took to the streets is a contracted Torah; a Torah of exile that that does not deviate from the realm of the individual, his family and community. The state has no interest in controlling this Torah, and it is also incapable of doing so. It is no coincidence that Professor Hillel Weiss' attempts to institute a new Sanhedrin and to restore the Torah of national freedom to Israel were met by the religious establishment with a cold shoulder. It is no coincidence that this same establishment is fighting the process of return to the Temple Mount, to the Torah and to sovereignty. It is a fight for the preservation of the Torah of exile and the religious establishment.

The average Israeli instinctively feels that the religious have nothing to offer, that they themselves do not relate to their Torah as relevant on the national plane. How can we expect him - sympathetic to the cause as he may be - to jump off the High Court regime ship to the Torah ship that does not really exist (because of us)?

Many people feel that this conflict will be resolved with internal demographics and the ongoing positive integration of religious youth into the army and other state institutions. But this is not a question of majority vs. minority. The struggle is not against the secular, but rather, against the exile mentality of the religious; against their lack of willingness to take responsibility for national leadership in the name of the Jewish value of liberty. As long as this conflict is not resolved, we can be a large majority - and the High Court regime will still be able to sleep soundly.

The Jewish Family: Building Block of the Jewish Nation

By Moshe Feiglin

After his fiascos in last week's Torah portion, Bilaam understands that his spiritual powers alone are not enough to "force" G-d to cooperate with him and curse Israel.

"And Bilaam saw that it was good in the eyes of G-d to bless Israel and he did not use sorcery as in the previous times and he turned his face to the desert." (Numbers 24:1).

Bilaam forgoes his dark-side sorcery and instead searches for Israel's weak spot. He realizes that he must sabotage the Jewish family; the building block from which the Jewish Nation is built.

Bilaam looks at the tents of Israel, convinced that in his wisdom he will find the breaches so prevalent in non-Jewish families. From those cracks that he was convinced that he would find in the families of the Children of Israel, Bilaam was sure that he would be able to destabilize the foundation of the nation and destroy it.

To his surprise, Bilaam found no such breach. As opposed to his previous attempts to curse Israel, when the Torah writes that G-d put the blessing into his mouth, this time, the blessing flows forth from Bilaam spontaneously. Bilaam was amazed; every tent was positioned so that nobody could see into the entrance of his neighbor's tent. "How lovely are your tents, Jacob, your dwellings, Israel," Bilaam blesses.

This brings us to the turn of events leading up to what is described in this week's Torah portion, Pinchas. Bilaam did not manage to curse Israel, but he did understand how a nation is built. "Let me give you some advice," says Bilaam to Balak, like a professional who did not manage to do the job correctly but whose dedication to the goal (the destruction of Israel) is greater than his professional pride.

Bilaam gives Balak a priceless tip: "The G-d of Israel hates lust," he advises. "Send your daughters to entice them, destabilize the family unit and all the rest will fall into place." This time, Bilaam actually does succeed - until Pinchas arrives on the scene, stops the plague and merits the covenant of peace.

Shabbat Shalom

Rav Nachman Kahana on Parashat Pinchas 5771

BS"D

Parashat Pinchas 5771

A:

This parsha always draws me close to tears. How I feel for the greatest of men - Moshe Rabbeinu - who was forced to succumb to the harsh, decisive judgement of HaShem that he would be excluded from entering the Holy Land.

But it should not have come as a complete surprise to the great Moshe. Among his ten names, Moshe’s holy Jewish name given to him by his parents at birth was Tuvia, whereas Moshe was the name given to him by Batya, the Egyptian princess who saved him as a baby from the river; for Moshe in ancient Egyptian means "to draw out from water".

So from all his names, why did HaShem choose to call him by the Egyptian word "Moshe"? I suggest that Hashem was more than hinting to Moshe that his mission in life would be to draw the Jewish people out from slavery, but he would not merit to bring the Jewish nation into Eretz Yisrael.

And why not? You might reply because Moshe and Aharon sinned by hitting the rock instead of speaking to it, as was directed by HaShem.

That is the superficial cause that appears from the simple text of the episode. However, behind the curtains of the episode was HaShem prearranging the fall of Moshe, that in the existing circumstances Moshe could not have acted in any other way. HaShem could not have permitted Moshe to enter Eretz Yisrael, because to do so would have led to a completely different set of historical moments in our history.

Had Moshe entered the Holy Land, the Bet Hamikdash would have been built, never to be destroyed; no gentile pagans would have been left to influence the Jewish people, and we would have "lived happily ever after". But this was not the Creator’s plan.

The pre-arranged outcome that befell Moshe was in fact a repetition of HaShem’s pre-arranging history, as He had done on the first day of human existence.

By definition, HaShem is perfect. Therefore this leaves no room for Him to produce anything less than perfection. Hence, Adam was the consummate man, Chava the most exquisite of women, Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden) the perfect location and the snake the phoenix of animals.

But HaShem’s plan for humanity was for us to lead imperfect lives, so the problem was how to create a perfect world in every way from which would evolve an imperfect one?

HaShem in His wisdom created perfection, but built into the system the inevitable downfall of all the "players".

Adam was indeed the consummate perfection of man, and Chava the most exquisite of women, but as perfect as she was, she could not escape the fact that she was created second; and from a part of Adam. The snake, which was described in the Torah as the most cunning of creatures, offered Chava the one thing that she so desperately desired - to be equal to Adam, if not more. Chava knew that the Tree of Knowledge held out the only means for her to bridge the gap between man and woman.

She partook of the forbidden fruit and attained a quantum level of understanding that forced Adam to partake as well in order to retain his preferred status. HaShem appeared to all the players who have now descended from their status of perfection by transgressing on the will of the Creator. Each one was presented with a new destiny far from perfection: From now on, Man would have to fend for himself; women would suffer the pangs of childbirth and other distresses, the snake would take on a new physical appearance and the gates to Gan Eden would be closed to them all.

The desire of the Creator was for man to live in an imperfect world. And this imperfect world would serve as a moral and spiritual "battleground" where the forces of good would compete with the forces of evil. Where the Torah way of life would eventually vanquish all other alternative life styles, and the various souls which would be brought into the world would earn their rewards or punishments in relation to the degree that they observed the commands of the Creator.

Adam and Chava in Gan Eden, and Moshe’s presence in Eretz Yisrael would not permit the free expression of human emotions and desires, so life could not develop in the desired battlefield of good vs. evil.

By preventing Moshe’s entrance into the Holy Land, the Jewish people were able to produce the generations of the Judges - from Autniel ben Kenaz to Aily the High Priest. We would have kings like David, Shlomo, Chizkiyahu and Yishayahu. The Men of the Great Assembly followed by the Tannaic and Amoraic Rabbis would become realities. The Torah would now have had the opportunity to overcome the dissident, unholy beliefs of mortal man.

Life under Moshe Rabbeinu in Eretz Yisrael would not have afforded the Jewish people the opportunity to express their insurmountable, invincible, obstinate, resolute, unflinching will to cling to HaShem’s Torah.

No man can recount the collective suffering of the Jewish nation that was inflicted upon us because of our desire to be faithful to the word of HaShem. So, we find ourselves today, after 2000 years of galut and emerging from the disastrous Shoah, not as remnants of 3500 years of Jewish suffering; but as heroes of the battleground which HaShem had created to forge the indestructible people of Israel.

The final test before the close of history is for all the Jewish people to leave the lands of their galut in order to rebuild our ancient Holy Land. This struggle will be the most difficult, because in the global village we call the world, we are the village’s Jewish ghetto.

It is a test that will decide the future of mankind in accordance with the way that they relate to the Jewish State, And it is certainly a test for the individual Jew: Will he make it to the "finish line" in Eretz Yisrael; or will he or she falter and succumb to failure now when the end is so close.

B:

The greatness of a scientist is his ability to manipulate the resources at his disposal in achieving an ensuing desired result that can be repeated and explained as a logical step-by-step sequence of his efforts. When X chemicals are mixed at Y temperature at Z pressure the result will be A, because of the configuration of the molecules or other inherent characteristics.

But it is not humanly possible to repeatedly manipulate factors or agents and achieve outcomes that are diametrically opposed to what logic and experience dictate. That is only in the realm of the Creator, who is above logic and causal experience.

In our parasha, Pinchas is rewarded by HaShem with everlasting membership in the Kohanic peace covenant "Brieti Shalom", the goal of which is to bring about peace between our Father in Heaven and His children Yisrael, and among the nation of Yisrael.

This "noble peace prize" was awarded to Pinchas for his role in the episode of the Daughters of Midyan, when he trespassed into the private chambers of Zimrie ben Salu, President of the tribe of Shimon as he was satiating his forbidden lust with Kazbie bat Tzur, and killed them both.

It was this act of taking two lives that awarded Pinchas with the "covenant of peace" - much like the phrase "fighting for peace".

Our father Avraham and mother Sarah were born physically unable to produce children. Yet our two infertile ancestors brought forth the greatest nation on earth. An inconceivable, unprecedented, impossible occurrance diametrically opposed to the given factors.

Yitzchak placed his hands on whom he believed to be Aisav, in order to endow him with the blessing of the first born, when in reality his brother Ya’akov - the mirror opposite of Aisav - received the blessing.

Ya’akov was fooled and stolen from 100 times by the evil Lavan, but became wealthy by breeding pure white male and female animals and obtaining colored ones.

Yosef was sold into slavery, followed by a life prison sentence, ends his life as the power behind the throne of Egypt.

Only HaShem can sequentially produce opposite effects from what we consider to be the logical norm.

Why does He do so? I believe, in order to confirm that the Jewish nation is essentially not part of this material, temporary world, and as such our destiny is not subject to the empiric "laws" of cause and effect that govern the other peoples of the world.

This phenomenon is happening now on a grandiose world scale.

Our many enemies in the Second World War intended to eradicate the Jewish nation from the face of the planet. But from out of the war’s ashes arose Medinat Yisrael.

The Arab invasions in 1948 were intended to eradicate the Jewish yishuv in Eretz Yisrael. It ended with the Medina doubling its size.

The Six Day War was intended to eradicate the Jewish Medina, with the opposite result that we liberated the lands between the Sea and the river.

The next major event here will produce the unintended result of the majority of the world - the rebuilding of the Bet HaMikdash; the return of all the Jewish nation to Eretz Yisrael, and the recognition of those gentile people who will remain after the great cataclysm that the Jewish nation is indeed the chosen people of the Creator.

Shabbat Shalom

Nachman Kahana

Copyright © 5771-2011 Nachman Kahana

On the Threshold of Greatness (II): the Singular People

By Tuvia Brodie

The Torah story of Bilaam is about a non-Jewish prophet who is hired by a non-Jewish king to curse the Jews. This story may be more than 3,300 years old, but it could also be a modern story. Our tradition teaches that Bilaam was a great prophet, perhaps comparable to the Jewish Moses. He agrees to curse the Jews, but he cannot do so; the words he produces are blessings.

Writing about this story, Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz asks a question: the Jews are so perfect they get only blessings? Jewish history is the story of Jewish sin and punishment. If anything, the Jews appear extraordinarily imperfect. Why is Bilaam unable to curse them?

The answer, Rabbi Schwartz suggests, lies in what Bilaam says during his (failed) attempts to curse. To understand what Rabbi Schwartz is about to explain, let me tell you about my world. I come from an Orthodox Jewish community where parents would, by American standards, be called, ‘strict’. These parents are not shy about scolding or ‘adjusting’ their children—in private. In public, even those children who are constantly a challenge are praised.

If a child terrorizes you by spilling grape juice into your lap—because he can—and you go over to his mother to vent your anger—well, you had better be prepared to duck because there is no anger like the anger of a mother whose child has just been ‘attacked’.

The mother will not curse the child. Why not? Is she blind? No, she is not blind. She will see the child’s imperfections but she will not recite them to you. Yes, she will speak to her child and make ‘adjustments’; but she reacts as she does because she understands the delicate relationship a parent has with a child, and she knows that she must both adjust the child—and protect it (even as she punishes).

Parenting is not just about punishment. It is a balancing act, where you have to make sure your child knows what is right, gets the corrections and punishments he needs—and understands that your love will always be there; because his (and her) future depends most of all on how you show your love, not just your strap.

So it is with G-d and the Jews. The Jews may not be perfect, but Bilaam fails: he cannot curse because G-d will not curse… Israel is a nation that dwells alone and is not reckoned among the nations… G-d has blessed them. G-d sees no iniquity in Yaacov and saw no perversity in Israel. G-d is with [Israel] and the friendship of the King is with [them].

As Rabbi Schwartz points out, the commentary of Rashi on these words is interesting: Bilaam does not say that G-d declares that the Jews have no iniquity or perversity or sin. Rather, G-d simply does not acknowledge it. He refuses to speak of it just as the mother, in public, refuses to speak ill of her child.

The child is special. Israel is special. In addition, Israel has the friendship of the King. Throughout our Tanach, we see how the King does indeed scold, warn and yes, punish the Jews; but that punishment is not meted out because the Jews are evil or rejected by G-d. Rather, it is because the King’s standards are high, the King sees the Jews’ potential, and wants to make sure they grow to that promise.

For example, in my own world, I have seen some of those terroristic children grow up. They no longer spill grape juice in your lap. Some of them have become leaders. Some are brilliant scholars. A couple are brilliant scholars who have become charismatic leaders. These former child terrorists have grown to greatness because of the parenting they received and because of the love and ‘corrections’ they received from ‘kings’ –important teachers, mentors and leaders—along the way. The same is true for Israel, with the qualification that the parent, the ‘kings’ and the teachers are all the same—G-d.

Our Tanach tells us repeatedly that G-d has chosen the Jewish people. He sees our potential for greatness—and when we ‘grow up’, we will see that, too. Until then, he will protect us, scold us, and punish us when we deserve because He knows of our greatness to come. Again, the King’s standards are high—but only because He wants the best for his chosen.

This is an important message for us today, because the Zionism that has so inspired us for over a hundred years has a flaw. Zionism’s founding concept is that we should become (through a national homeland) just ‘like everybody else’. But as the story of Bilaam teaches us, our greatness does not come from our being ‘like everybody else’. As Bilaam himself says, ‘G-d does not curse..[This] is a nation that dwells apart and is not reckoned among the nations [emphasis mine].’ Our greatness comes specifically and explicitly from being different, not from being the same. A dream that only gets us to be ‘like everyone else’ does not take us to greatness; it takes us to ‘average’ which, if you think about it, is what the phrase ‘everybody else’ really means.

A story recently appeared in American sports news about a 14-year old (American) high school football player whose skill allows him to play at a high competitive level against college players (in summer leagues). His potential is enormous, but not because he aspires to be ‘like everybody else’. His behaviour is not ‘like every other 14-year old’: on weekends (he is a wide receiver, which means his job on the football field is to catch a ball thrown to him), he does not do what other 14 year olds do. Instead, he practices, catching up to 1,500 throws a weekend. He will be great because he is different-- and he works at it!

This different-ness, coupled with ‘working at it’ is the secret of the greatness to come for the Jewish nation. G-d set us apart. He taught us how to reach for greatness. Many know how to 'work at it'. Now, the rest of us must make a decision: do we fritter away our weekends with leisure, or do we ‘catch 1,500 throws’? How we answer this question will determine if we will be ‘like everyone else’, or if we will be great. That 14-year old knows his answer: he wants to be great.

We know from our heritage that greatness is in us. It has been programed into us and then refined across countless generations for more than 3,300 years. We are a singular people. No other people have such a distinct focus, and no other nation has a 3,300-year continuous history with a continuous, growing religion. Strangely, horrifically, the only modern analogy I can think of is Hitler’s Third Reich, which was a concept that shaped and unified a nation around a singular ideal which was intended to last 1,000 years. But the Nazi ideal was evil. Its foundation sanctioned murder and was responsible not only for the killing of six million Jews, but also for another 50 million people.

Our singular ideal is different. Yes, some say we are no different from those Nazis. But we know that is a lie. Our singular ideal focuses on life, not death. It focuses on building, not destroying. It has set us apart for more than 3,300 years. It is the reason we have survived, this singularity. It is the reason we are hated. It is also what will make us great. Indeed, when you have this kind of potential, why would you want to be like ‘everyone else’?

Many Jews tell us, ‘You have to be like everybody else.’ But if you have ever been a teenager, you may understand that social peer pressure does not typically lead to greatness. In his own way, that 14 year old non –Jewish American football player knows this. He understands that, to be great, he must be different; he must believe; and he must work.

In Israel today, we are reaching a critical mass of Jews who also know this—about their heritage and their land. These Jews, your brethren, know they are a people set apart. They believe-- and they work. As a people, they stand before the nations of the world with a distinct and unique belief. They are strong. They are singular. They are hated--—and today both because of that hate and in spite of it, they stand at the threshold of greatness because they cannot and do not want to stand with everybody else. All Jews, especially those in the diaspora, will soon need to answer a very fundamental question.

Where and with whom do you stand?

On the Threshold of Greatness: the Singular Ideal

By Tuvia Brodie

The nation of Israel lives. She is not an inanimate object. She has a communal, human spirit—complex, contradictory and subject to all the joy and pain of the human experience. Her national soul is a multi-faceted diamond. It reflects our conflicting aspirations and our hopes—and pulses with an inner war that wages continuously (see An Angel Among Men, Simcha Raz, Kol Mevaser Publications, 2003, p 11). Our mission as a nation is not to fight these inner battles until someone wins—or until they tear us apart; rather, our purpose is to acknowledge that these struggles exist so we can take the best of each warring fragment. We must take and build; and as we build, we will find a gift: a singular all-inclusive unifying concept, a national ideal whose depth and strength will make us great.

Already, we stand at that threshold. Despite our current problems—and despite the negative headlines that bombard us daily-- Israel is ready. Our economy is not only one of the strongest in the developed world, our currency is strengthening as other currencies weaken, our research and development is among the best in the world and the number of patents per capita is among the best in the world. Already, Israel leads the world in business start-ups per capita. The importance of this statistic cannot be overstated because a nation’s total wealth depends on the small –business sector. Freeze, limit or destroy that sector and your national economy can stagnate and fall; empower that sector—especially in a free-market environment—and your nation’s wealth potential has almost no limit.

Our military strength and our democratic institutions are in place and strong. Our freedoms are established.

Recent oil/gas discoveries make Israel, potentially, the world’s number one or two oil/gas country.

For more than 100 years, Zionism was driven by the desire to ‘be like everyone else’. But we must now re-invent that dream because we have begun to separate ourselves from ‘everyone else’.

Look at Europe: the PIGS—Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain—have economies that are on the verge of collapse. Moreover, saving the PIGS could weaken and threaten the survivability of the entire European Union. There are worker-inspired riots in the streets. The European experiment with multiculturalism threatens to destroy the social fabric of Europe. There are religious-inspired riots in the streets.

In America, economic fear spreads like an unchecked virus. The value of the dollar cannot stop dropping. China—which controls an enormous portion of US debt—threatens to destabilize our debt structure. The IMF is already thinking out loud about dropping the dollar as the international currency of choice—an action that could cut down the American economy at the knees. Long-term unemployment is now greater than that of the Great Depression. Gas-pump prices are at historic highs—and going higher. Food shortages and high food prices are predicted. One prominent political pundit has already said that he could see civil unrest in the US coming soon.

The Arab Spring has become a season of fire and destruction.

Israel has seen none of this. Why should we desire to be like everyone else? They falter and fail. We, however, can see greatness before us. But we have a problem: in order to step across that threshold and assume that mantle, we have to change. To use a really bad metaphor, you cannot become a celebrity while you dress like a fashion mistake; to be recognized as great, you have to be great. We are close—but we lack the key ingredient.

Almost two hundred and fifty years ago, a new idea was born. This singular idea became the force that unified a people and made that people great. This idea was called ‘American Freedom’. Not everyone believed it. Not everyone wanted it. Not everyone accepted it. But enough people bought into it that a critical mass was formed—and the American idea of Freedom drove and energized a nation to greatness. That was 1776.

Today is 2011.

Today, there is an irreconcilable difference between the worlds of 1776 and 2011. What worked for America then does not appear to work for America—or Israel –now. America falters. She may have begun to unravel. The fabric of her founding ideal has torn. She is no longer the go-to model for greatness.

Look at Israel. What do you see? Our nation is like the human soul, driven by inner struggle and conflicting aspirations. But this is not simply bad news about us; it is also the good news, for this struggle, these aspirations are the key to our greatness: we are willing to struggle, and we yearn, we dream.

Israel stands on the threshold of greatness. But time is short. We may only have one opportunity. We must act: if we do not advance we will fall behind. To borrow from Yoram Hazony (The Jewish State, Basic Books, 2001), if we are to become great we must commit to a singular, unifying ideal that can energize our national soul. We need an ideal not just for today or next year (greatness is not a flavour-of-the-decade thing); we need an ideal that can be preserved from one generation to the next, an ideal profound enough to withstand the results of application across many times and places. This ideal must be vibrant enough to become a living tradition that can take root in the mind---and stick, from generation to generation. Israel may stand on the threshold of greatness but without this key ingredient—the unifying ideal--we will not advance. We will fall.

If the multiculturalism of Europe and the Americanism of the US and the communism of Russia are faltering—and if the fascism of Hitler and the Totalitarianism of Stalin have failed-- where do we find this singular ideal? Do you know of such an ideal? Can you name an ideal that can actually grow and strengthen from generation to generation, instead of weakening over time?

For almost two hundred and fifty years, we have tried communism, socialism, fascism, totalitarianism, anarchy, chaos, monarchy, Americanism and governing by committee. Everything man’s mind can create, we have tried. All of these ideas have worked—for a time.

There is one idea we have not tried. It is so powerful, it frightens grown men. It frightens men because man cannot control it; and when you are a control-freak—when you believe that all power lies only in the hand of man—then the one thing that frightens you most is giving up control. Do you know what this singular ideal is? It is an ideal that man, who so obsessively seeks control, rejects.

Dare you speak of it? Israel’s media won’t. Israel’s academics won’t. Most of Israel’s political leaders won‘t. The signs of it are everywhere but not everyone will believe it. Not everyone will want it. Not everyone will accept it. But within Israel today we are close to a critical mass, a population ready now to step across that threshold. They know the unifying ideal. They live it. It is Torat Hashem—the Jewish heritage.

Our leaders and trendsetters will not speak of it. They reject. They refuse. They are afraid.

Dare you speak of it?

The Bilaam Look-Alike

By Moshe Feiglin

When I think of Bilaam from this week's Torah portion, the immediate association in my head is Germany; lofty spiritualism the roots of which are sunk in impurity; a nation that is antithetical to the eternal Nation of Israel and that seeks to destroy it.

"We have no place in the world as long as even one Jew exists within it," said the German oppressor, and he was right. Moses and Bilaam are two poles of tremendous metaphysical energy. They cannot exist together.

"The Jew brought morality to the world and thus must be destroyed," he said. Only the nation that brought Beethoven and Goethe to the world could understand the depth of the essence of this war. The threat that they felt was real and the solution that they found was the only one possible, from their viewpoint.

"And he saw Amalek and he lifted his parable and he said, Amalek is the first of nations and his end will be destruction" (From this week's Torah portion, Balak, Numbers 24:20).

The first of nations? Rashi explains that Amalek was the first to fight against the Nation of Israel. The world's predisposition to always search for the "final solution", its rehash of the "Jewish problem" garbed as the "Israeli problem", the establishment of an ever-growing question mark over the necessity and the right of the Nation of Israel to exist - have all taken place after the Amalek of our generation has called for Israel's destruction.

In our times, Amalek is Ahmadinijad. The fact that Israel has not attacked him has opened the gates to attacks by other nations; Bilaam-like attacks- academic/spiritual attacks in the universities of London where they debate how the world will look without Israel. Spiritual attacks are just the promo for physical attacks. That is why Israel must make a strategic pre-emptive strike: not against the nuclear plants in Iran, but against Ahmadinijad.

The Holocaust was the greatest desecration of G-d's Name in history. But it was also a sanctification of the Nation of Israel. For when absolute evil that controls the most powerful army in human history sees a little Jewish boy as its greatest enemy - it actually declares that the Jews are the representatives of the other side - the side of absolute goodness, the children of G-d.

Shabbat Shalom

Rav Nachman Kahana on Parashat Balak 5771

BS"D Parashat Balak 5771

Diminutive in size but giant in spirit, our beloved Medinat Yisrael, has made the world stand still (figuratively) more than once since its re-establishment 63 years ago.

The world looked on in disbelief when, in 1948, a mere handful of fighters with limited weapons and resources trounced the standing armies of seven Arab nations. At the end of the British Mandate on May 14th, 1948, His Majesty King George the Fifth’s army waited in ships off the coast of Haifa to be implored by the beleaguered, desperate Jews to return and save them from annihilation. They have grown old waiting.

Once again, we figuratively made the world stand still in the Six Day War (interesting to note that the war in Afghanistan is in its 10th year), when our young flying angels destroyed the combined Air Forces of all the Arab states in the Middle East in two hours on the morning of the 26th of Iyar 5727. The "mouths" of the world’s leaders dropped in incredulous disbelief, not only at the military success, but even more at the fact that HaShem had restored His people to much of the Biblical lands of Eretz Yisrael.

The world now stands at attention when perusing the statistics of what 5.5 million Jews have accomplished in every important field of endeavor, in a land almost devoid of natural resources - save for the Yiddishe Kup of its children.

The revival of Torah life and scholarship after the shoah, our military and all that that implies, science, technology, the humanities, democratic institutions, financial stability, a growing economy, a super strong shekel and, above all, the happiness and satisfaction level of its citizens are amazing accomplishments, especially on the background of a tenuous security situation.

We have indeed stopped the world in its tracks several times, figuratively. However, even more impressive, HaShem literally "stopped the world" for us 3500 years ago.

The Book of Joshua (chapter 10) relates that five city states of the Amorites attacked the Jewish people. Yehoshua’s army was devastating the enemy, but as night approached, Yehoshua feared that many of them would escape under cover of darkness. Yehoshua appealed to Hashem to halt the sun’s and moon’s movements in order to continue in daylight until the Jewish army could complete the destruction of the enemy. And so it was, that the sun and moon stood fixed in their places, or in modern scientific terms, the earth stopped rotating for a period of time, creating a seemingly appearance that the heavenly bodies were at rest.

Today, the 3^rd of Tamuz, at the writing of these words, is the anniversary of that miraculous happening. The day the world stood still!

There is a concept called "the invisible hand". It originally appeared in the book "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations", authored in 1776 by the renowned economist Adam Smith.

The essence of the book was to promote a non-regulatory economic system, based on the premise that there is an "invisible hand" (unexplainable phenomena) that guides the divergent economic forces in society to an end that provides the most good for the most people. Or stated plainly: Leave the economy alone - it will take care of itself.

The term "invisible hand" has been applied generally to any action whose consequences were unplanned and unintended, even not wanted. But they just happened.

Recent events have proven that Mr. Smith was half right and half wrong. The half right was that there indeed exists an "Invisible Hand" in the history of mankind. His mistake was that it does not function in economics, as seen by the financial collapse of great nations, but does exist larger than life in the history and survival of the Jewish nation.

The "Invisible Hand" of HaShem was at work when the heavenly bodies stopped in their tracks to help the Jewish people defeat the five Amorite nations.

It was the "Invisible Hand" that guided our fathers in their wandering in the desert, and the Hand that guaranteed our survival in the long 2000 year galut and opened the gates of Eretz Yisrael for us to enter.

Balak and Bil’am both learned of the "Invisible Hand" that protected the Jewish people.

Bil’am used all of his experience as an arch messenger of bad tidings to curse the nation that HaShem had blessed. The consequences of his efforts were "unplanned and unintended". Every anathema, blasphemy, damnation, denunciation, obscenity, profanation and vilification that his evil mind sought to express emerged from his mouth as blessings.

The Gemara (Brachot 7a) states that Bil’am’s success as a master of vilifier, was due to his knowledge of the one, instantaneous split second of time that HaShem angers every day. And Bil’am would curse at that time. But what Bil’am did not know was that during the forty years the Jewish people were in the desert, HaShem did not bring forth the quality of anger even when the people sinned.

The "Invisible Hand" of HaShem was at work.

Three times in the last week I saw the "Invisible Hand" at work in quite ordinary situations of life.

Last week, one of our granddaughters graduated from the elementary school in the Old City of Yerushalayim; and the class presented a play depicting an incident that occurred when the Romans conquered the city.

It was quite inspiring to see the talent that these 11-12 year olds are gifted with - but that’s not the story.

While viewing the play, I became overwhelmed by the thought that, while there is no one in this wide world who can claim with any veracity that they are a descendant of the ancient Romans who destroyed the Bet Hamikdash and sent our people into a 2000 year exile, these young children on stage, who have returned to live and study in the Old City, are direct descendants of the Kohanim and Levi’im who serviced the Bet Hamikdash, and of the Jewish people who brought their sacrifices to the Bet Hamikdash.

Is this not the "Invisible Hand" of HaShem at work?

The following night I was invited to speak at the home of Abba and Pamela Claman, two extra-ordinary people who have devoted themselves, through many diverse activities, in expressing their and our love and honor to our soldiers.

That night they were hosting two seemingly very diverse groups. One was the crew of a "Jewish" submarine, and the other a group of about 50 young college aged men and woman from across the USA. When I arrived, the two groups of Jewish young people were sitting on the roof eating a sumptuous meal, in the Claman tradition. What could I say to two groups, one of which would be spending their nights learning the secret codes of the Israeli Navy and then submerging into the deep waters of the oceans to protect Am Yisrael, while the other would be planning their next Saturday night dates?

But in realty, as diverse as they might seem, they have more in common than that which makes them different.

I spoke of the "Invisible Hand" of Hashem that sustains us today as it has done for over 3500 years. I spoke of our common destiny; that what happens to Medinat Yisrael will affect every Jew in the world, regardless of their religious observance or non-observance. I quoted the second verse in the Torah, that the earth was covered with water and the spirit of HaShem hovered over the waters; and that these young submariners take the spirit of HaShem even below the waters.

I told them that education is the planting of a seed, but it is up to the individual to decide if he or she wants to nurture that seed or let it fade away.

The third incident occurred when my wife and I were at the remarkable Israel Museum. We arrived at the meticulously constructed model of Yerushalayim during the Second Temple period, put together with over one million pieces of stone. There was a group of older high school aged boys and girls from the US, listening to their guide who was explaining what they were viewing. He was very informative regarding the buildings and streets etc., but I felt that the neshama (spirit) was missing. I asked the guide for permission to say a few words and, surprisingly, he agreed.

I told these youngsters that my wife and I were born in the USA, just like them; but came to Eretz Yisrael close to 50 years ago. Our only regret was that we didn’t come sooner.

Their bored look started to turn into a more positive one, so I continued. I spoke of our 3500 year history and that we were chosen by HaShem to be His unique nation, as proven by our return to the Promised Land by the "Invisble Hand" of HaShem.

The seed was taking root - the group was smiling and clapping.

Indeed, the "Invisible Hand" is always outstretched, but there is a condition.

The Torah says (Devarim 15:18)

וברכךה' א-להיך בכל אשר תעשה

HaShem will bless all that you do

HaShem will indeed bless us, but we have to initiate and do.

Had Moshe not gone out of his way to see the burning bush, there would not have been an exodus.

Had Nachshon ben Aminadav not jumped into the churning waters of the Red Sea, the waters would not have split.

Had the first chalutzim (pioneers) not dried out the malarial swamps in the Chula Valley, there would be no skyscrapers today in Tel Aviv.

If you live in New York, LA, Cleveland, London, Paris, Sao Paolo etc., you will never realize your Jewish potential; and it would be a life wasted.

In conclusion:

There was once a man who fell into a deep pit, and the rescue workers failed to removing the man, who for some reason did not co-operate. When hope was all but lost, an onlooker asked for permission to try and pull him out. He approached the pit and in an instant the poor fellow was out. Upon being asked by the police how he succeeded in getting the man’s co-operation, he asked the police what they said to the man in the pit. The officer in charge replied, "I told him again and again ‘give me your hand’, but to no avail". Then the hero said "that was your mistake. I said to him, ‘Take my hand’".

The spiritual situation where the Jewish people now find ourselves after such a long galut, makes it almost impossible for us to initiate "giving a hand to HaShem". So HaShem brought about the greatest miracle since Biblical times - the return of the Jewish people to our ancient homeland.

By this HaShem is beckoning to us, "Take My Outstretched Hand".

Am Yisrael Chai

Shabbat Shalom

Nachman Kahana

Copyright © 5771-2011 Nachman Kahana

Rabbi Lior and the "Rule of Law"

By Moshe Feiglin

4 Tammuz, 5771
July 6, '11

Editor's note: Approximately a year ago, Rabbi Dov Lior, venerated Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Arba, gave his approbation on a book on the Jewish laws of war written by Rabbi Yitzchak Shapira. Among other issues, the book deals with the legal ramifications of the Israeli army taking action to kill terrorists even when enemy civilians may also be killed as a result. Rabbi Shapira cites numerous Jewish law sources to prove that this is permissible. The Left immediately accused Rabbi Shapira and the rabbis who gave their approbation on his book of incitement to murder. On Monday, Rabbi Lior was arrested and questioned. Heated demonstrations by the Rabbi's students ensued. The following is Moshe Feiglin's take on this issue.


First of all, I would like to salute all those people who participated in the protest against Rabbi Lior's arrest. An evil cabal has taken control of some key positions in the Ministry of Justice and has transformed its public service positions into a tool of destruction. It makes no difference if the reason for their hostility is ideological or an almost religious hunger for "enlightened" approval, or a combination of both; we must put an end to this despicable behavior.

Deputy Attorney General Shai Nitzan and his accomplices implement their evil actions within parameters determined by ideology and violence. "Law enforcement" is totally irrelevant to their actions. Just one week ago, extreme leftist Uri Avneri publicly called for the killing of settlers. He was not called in for any type of questioning. Why not? Avneri and other "lovers of Israel" are on the correct side of the political divide. Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef will not be questioned for remarks that would have brought Nitzan's legions to the doorstep of any Religious Zionist rabbi because Nitzan and his accomplices are actually a gang of weaklings who attack only those weaker than them. They would never dare "enforce the law" against those who know how to exact a price in the public domain.

When these are the rules of the "enlightened" game, the public that sees Rabbi Lior as its spiritual leader has no choice but to go out to the streets and protest. The protesters are not protecting Rabbi Lior alone; they are also defending the liberty of the State of Israel from a hostile and destructive takeover by an aggressive gang that crushes our society, makes large swaths of our population miserable and endangers the lives of many. The youth protesting in the streets do not know this, but they are the true defenders of Israeli democracy in the face of a wanton takeover by a tiny and belligerent minority.

A legalocracy has taken over Israel. This enlightened idol worship has made it impossible to free Gilad Shalit by making the conditions in which terrorists are incarcerated in Israel less comfortable. It is impossible to overcome bureaucratic obstacles and authorize massive construction of new homes for young couples. It is impossible for a Jew to pray on the Temple Mount, for the police must protect the rights of the violent Arabs instead of those of the Jews. It is impossible to fight our enemies without an attorney for each solder. The Israeli "justice" system does not include itself in Israeli life, but sees itself as an external factor; not just elevated above the Nation, but actually disconnected from it.

If we want to return the justice system to the Nation, we must return the Nation to its own justice system. At this point, we still do not have a relevant Jewish legal codex for our modern reality, but we certainly have an excellent foundation. As soon as we seriously take Jewish law out of its exile and apply it to all facets of our current existence, it will become the most pertinent justice system for Israel; just as the Hebrew language was reborn from its exile to become the natural language for Israel - and just as the Jewish Nation emerged from 2000 years of exile to return to its Land.

Let’s Get Out of the Trap

By Moshe Feiglin

The main cause of traffic accidents in Israel is (a lack of) driving culture. Does our Jewish culture present guidelines to change the way we drive?

The shock of my son’s severe injury in a traffic accident in Israel last year and the family enlistment to care for him overshadowed everything else. The State of Israel took care of his medical and rehabilitation needs and expenses in a most effective manner. Slowly but surely, though, a strange fact seeped into my consciousness: The leading actor was missing from this entire horror film. Where was the offending driver who had injured my son? It seemed that it wasn’t an autonomous person who had driven recklessly and caused his injury, but rather the statistics that had maimed him; some sort of heavenly force.

But then again, we have been receiving all the technical assistance that we need. So why should I care?

“What do you prefer?” I began to ask everyone I met. “To drive over the speed limit or to drive without insurance?” We all know the answer to that question. For the Israeli driver, his insurance is more important than his obedience to traffic law. And so, under the protection of the Mandatory Insurance Law, Israel has developed a lethal driving culture.

The current issue of Tomorrow Magazine deals with the source of the MVA scourge. On the basis of the Jewish legal principle of an ‘unintentional killer’ that states that a person is responsible for the results of his actions and not just for his intentions, we will show how Israel can maintain the full level of excellent care that it affords traffic accident victims, while placing the entire responsibility for the results of the accident firmly on the shoulders of the offending driver. This will doubtlessly create a new driving culture in Israel.

We believe that the adoption of this principle will save a significant proportion of the annual hundreds of MVA fatalities and injured from their terrible fate.

Will we have the courage to take responsibility and emerge from the death trap on our roads into freedom? It all depends on us!