How a Boycott can link a Christian Church to Arab Jew-Hatred: Part One

By Tuvia Brodie

Canada’s largest Protestant denomination, the United Church of Canada (UCC), serves as many as three million Canadians. Among Canadian Christians, only the Roman Catholic Church attracts more followers. The UCC’s General Council –its highest Legislative Court--meets every three years to vote on Church policy, and during the last two Councils, in 2006 and 2009, boycott-Israel resolutions were debated and then defeated. This year, another boycott resolution is scheduled for a vote during the newest General Council Convention, being held August 11-18, 2012 in Ottawa, Canada.  According to the Toronto Star, a United Church working group has written a report that labels Israel as ‘the primary source of on-going violence’ in its region, and because of that conclusion has recommended the boycott of Israeli products made “in Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank”. The debate for this resolution is set for Tuesday, August 14.  In addition, a separate proposal from Vancouver representatives to the General Council proposes that the UCC remove from future communications and policy statements all wording that recognizes Israel as a Jewish state.

Commenting only on the boycott recommendation, David Ha’ivri, executive director of the Shomron Liaison office, asks the Church, ‘Do you realize what you are doing?’ (see Arutz Sheva, ‘Boycott of Samaria products will harm PA Arabs, says Ha’ivri’, August 9, 2012). Ha’ivri explains that a successful boycott will harm the Palestinian Arab community—the very people the Church says it wants to help. To illustrate his point, Ha’ivri refers to an Industrial Park in Judea-Samaria that is home to 140 factories which employ 6,000 workers, approximately half of whom are PA Arabs. Ha’ivri says that PA Arabs who work at the Industrial Park earn almost triple what they could earn in PA-controlled areas. Arab workers who lose their Jobs because of a boycott against their factories run the risk of becoming destitute. The PA cannot help these laid-off workers financially (the PA itself is destitute) and these workers would therefore turn to Hamas social programs because Hamas—not the PA-- actively helps poor Arabs in PA areas who have no income sources. As UCC efforts force these Arab workers to lose their income, Ha’ivri could be correct—the unemployed will turn to Hamas for help and Hamas, not the PA, will win as a consequence of this boycott.

Perhaps the Church does not understand how a boycott could help Hamas. Perhaps the Church does not understand Hamas. Hamas will not talk peace with Israel. Hamas is not interested in peace. It is an organization dedicated to war against Jews. Their war is not political. It is religious. If you have never read the Hamas Charter, take a look at some relevant quotes: “…Israel exists until Islam abolishes it…our battle against the Jews [not Israel or Zion] is great… There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except Jihad [Holy War]… The Jews’ Nazism includes brutal behaviour towards Palestinian women…The Jews, by means of their money, have taken over the international communications media: the news agencies, newspapers, publishing houses, broadcasting stations, etc…they use their money to incite revolutions…for their own interests…they use their money to found secret organizations and scattered them all over the globe to destroy other societies and realise the interests of Zionism. Such organizations include Freemasons, Rotary Clubs and the Lion’s club…they are destructive espionage organizations…[the Jews] were behind the First World War…they were also behind the Second World War…they [the Jews] ordered the establishment of the United Nations…No war takes place anywhere in the world without the Jews behind the scenes having a hand in it…the problem of Palestine is religious…The Christian conquest is evil…it [the evil Christian conquest] relies heavily on the secret organizations it gave birth to, such as the Freemasons, Rotary and Lion’s Club and similar espionage groups [Yes, Hamas blames first the Jews and then the Christians of creating these conspiratorial and secret espionage organizations  although, after accusing the Christians of giving birth to these groups, the Charter then says these groups are nonetheless directed by ‘the Zionists’]…They [the Jews] are behind trafficking in drugs and alcohol, to make it easier for them to take over the world…The Zionist plan has no limit. After Palestine they aspire to expand to the Nile and the Euphrates…Their plan [or, plot] appears in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”

Anyone who has studied the political use of language understands the hate within--and the historic Anti-Semitism of--these words. These words have been used for hundreds of years to demonize Jews as part of orchestrated incitement against Jewish populations. If you wish to see how language has demonized Jews, do a google-search for  ‘traditional anti-Semitic literature’, ’Russian anti-Semitic literature’, and ‘Polish anti-Semitic literature’. It’s all there:  the Hamas Charter uses exactly the same accusations and even the same language found in traditional Western Jew-hate literature; the Charter even relies on what has become  the most widely-used  (and viciously false) anti-Jewish propaganda tool, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The Charter is classic Jew-hate literature.

When such historic hate-language permeates the founding documents of a political organization, you can be sure that the central goal of that organization is hate—and, in this instance, the destruction of the Jewish state.

Why would a Christian church support those who want to destroy? The short answer is, this is not the UCC’s goal. The Church has explained that they propose a boycott because of a request made to them by Palestinian Christians.

Of course, it is possible that Hamas will not benefit from a Church boycott. Perhaps the Church vote wouldn’t involve them at all. Raising Hamas-related fears might just be fear-mongering by David Ha’ivri. 

Is the Church correct to suggest that its wish to help Palestinian Christians is benign?

All You Need Is Love

By Michael Hirsch

This week's Torah portion includes one of the most enigmatic verses in all of the Five Books of Moses: " And now, Israel, what does the Lord, your G-D ask of you? Only to fear (be in awe of) the Lord, your G-d, to go in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord, your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul. To observe G-D's commandments, and His statutes, which I have commanded you today, for your benefit" (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).

Gee, is that all?!?! As I said, enigmatic. It would take a thesis-size paper to include the various and sundry commentaries on these verses, which on the surface are beyond strange ("What is G-D asking of us, only to achieve perfection). For the moment, let us focus on but one aspect—the verse presents the two extreme measures by which one serves G-D: either out of fear/awe ("yir'ah"), or out of love ("ahavah").  Which approach is "preferable"?

I believe we are presented with a number of clues. In last week's Parasha, V'etchanan, we read the first paragraph of the Shema ("Hear, Oh Israel,…") which begins, "And you shall love the Lord, your G-D with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might/wealth."  This week, we have the second paragraph, which begins, "And it will be, if you heed My commandments, which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord, your G-D, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul…" (11:13).

At this point, the scoreboard reads: Love-2, Fear/Awe-0. And the Parasha concludes with the tie-breaker: "For if you will carefully heed this entire commandment  which I have commanded to fulfill it; to love the Lord, your G-D, to walk in all His ways, and to cling to Him" (11:22). Conclusion: the ultimate way to serve G-D is through love. One stands in fear/awe of a flesh-and-blood military a/o political leader. Do we love them? Hardly.

We may carry those feelings over to the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient Almighty. As we are told in this week's Torah portion, when the nations of the world heard of all the miracles G-D had performed, all the displays of might, the conquering of the two mightiest military figures of the day (Sichon and Og) without the loss of a single combat soldier, they quaked in fear and awe.

It is our "job" as Jews to rise above that, to serve G-D out of love. Out of an appreciation for all He has done for us in the past, all He does on a daily basis, and all He will continue to do in the future. In the inimitable words of The Beatles: "All You Need Is Love."

HaRav Nachman Kahana on Parashat Aikev 5772

BS"D

Parashat Aikev 5772

Devarim 8:9:

ארץ אשר לא במסכנת תאכל בה לחם לא תחסר כל בה ארץ אשר אבניה ברזל ומהרריה תחצב נחשת

A land where you will eat bread without scarceness, (a land) which lacks nothing; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig for copper.

The following was sent to me by E-mail before Shabbat and deserves a reply:

Dear Rabbi Kahana,

Thank you so much for your words.

I wanted to reach out to let you know that when I mention to people that I read your Dvar Torahs every week, the reaction is "Why? He is anti-Rabanim. Be careful from his words, he speaks lashon hora about gedolim,i.e Rav Ovadia Yosef, etc.

Here in..., talk of the Holy Land is a dream. I hear things like "We need to wait for Maschiach to bring us. Their is lots of avodah to do here with the JEWS, there is no rush. The government is run by fools and will get Jews killed. You don’t need to go to Israel to grow in Torah. Why be bound to join the army"

BH my family and I are making Aliyah in the very near future, and I hope to meet you someday and shake your hand for giving me a new fresh perspective on my Torah chinuch and for opening my eyes from its old narrow hashkafah."

signed....

Congratulations Mr.... and family for you decision to close the door on your family’s 2000-year exile and to come home.

The ideas and reactions quoted in your letter represent the mainline, paralyzed thinking of most of the one million religious Jews in the United States.

Of the six million Jews now in Eretz Yisrael, those who declared themselves in the last census to be religious or traditional make up about 80%. I would not be very wrong in saying that nearly all of these 80% agree with the basic premises of my writings: 1) there is a Torah mitzva to live in Eretz Yisrael; 2) there is no Halachic justification (although there are personal reasons) for a Jew to be in the galut today; and 3) the religious leaders there are not encouraging Aliyah but just the opposite, either passively by ignoring the issue or by directly telling their students, congregants or chassidim the statements quoted in your message.

There are two major reasons that I have been writing these messages over the last ten years.

Firstly, since I was born in Brooklyn and went through the chareidi yeshiva system, I know what was taught and what is being taught - and I know what is being left out. I can listen to any religious person from the States and know immediately what he believes, and where he is vis-a-vis the historical responsibilities placed upon the Jewish people in this generation.

I know what is in his mind. I know how secure he feels as an American and how much the "money" means to him. I am aware of how little the average religious person there knows of the Tanach and Jewish history, and that only about 20% of America’s religious Jews have ever stepped foot in Eretz Yisrael, including rabbis and teachers of religious subjects.

Secondly, in my view, the task of a rabbi is to be responsible for the spiritual wellbeing of his community and students. But any rabbi who feels that this is his sole mission is not fulfilling his calling. From the great rabbinical leaders throughout the generations, we see that their  first and foremost task was to care for the physical wellbeing of the people - their parnassa (livelihood) and certainly their very lives.

The rabbi maintained the tzedaka system in his community. He furthered commercial interaction in business. He told a woman who had recently given birth when she must eat on Yom Kippur, and unfortunately he also had to tell the people when and how to die on kiddush HaShem.

I see in the not-distant future the demise of the Jews in the galut through assimilation or by physical means. Rabbis everywhere have the responsibility to save the lives of Jews wherever possible. We rabbis in Eretz Yisrael have to cajole, beg, and sometimes insult in order to arouse the Jews to come home - here is where the ends justify the means.

Just for the record, I want to respond to the opening paragraph in your message. 1) I am not anti-rabbanim - I was born into a rabbinic family and have been a rav in Eretz Yisrael for 50 years. 2) We do not speak lashon hara in my family. To the best of my recollection, I have never mentioned Harav Hagaon Ovadia Yosef in my messages. I personally know Harav Ovadia Yosef; and, in fact, when he served as our Chief Rabbi he wrote a very warm approbation for the sefarim that I author. I have always been very careful never to criticize anything in Eretz Yisrael; certainly not any rabbinic personality. To criticize Eretz Yisrael in front of people who live outside is to be a partner with the miraglim.

To return to the matter of rabbinic responsibility.

Several years ago, after finishing a speech before a certain organization in Yerushalayim, I opened the floor for questions.

The first to speak was a very alert and clever elderly woman who asked me a question with tears in her eyes.

She began, "Ich bin ah poilishe," (I am from Poland) from a little shtetl. Before the German invasion of Poland, my father went to our rabbi and asked for his blessings because my parents had decided to leave for Eretz Yisrael. But instead of his blessings, the rabbi tried to convince my father not to go to Eretz Yisrael. The following day we left Poland. We are the only survivors of our shtetl. Rav Kahana, why did the rabbi tell my father not to go to Eretz Yisrael?"

The tears in her eyes suggested the many relatives and friends who could have come to Eretz Yisrael stayed in the shtetl and were murdered by the Germans.

I answered that there are many other instances where rabbanim told their followers not to go to Eretz Yisrael. Unfortunately, I cannot take away your pain, because I myself do not understand it – unless we come to the distressing conclusion that Moshe Rabbeinu did not succeed in eradicating the meraglim mindset from many of our leaders.

The next speaker was a gentleman with a familiar face, but I could not remember where we had met. He said that, 13 years ago when he was in a quandary regarding himself, I was able to help him resolve the problem.

He related as follows: "I was very far from anything that had to do with Eretz Yisrael. I was an American and had no wish to even visit Eretz Yisrael. One year, my wife nagged me to death (his words) that we should spend Pessach in Eretz Yisrael. I agreed on the condition that after the trip, Eretz Yisrael would never be mentioned again in our home. After arriving, descending from the plane and walking several steps on the ground, something came over me and I felt that I could never leave.

I asked many rabbis to explain what had come over me at that moment, but no one was able to until you made it very clear.

You told me that the Hebrew word for coming to Eretz Yisrael is aliya, and that word is also used to describe being called up to the Torah. When one is called up to the Torah, the gabei calls you by your specific name. Likewise, no one comes to Eretz Yisrael until he or she is chosen for an aliya and his or her name is called out in the shamayim. You explained to me that HaShem invites people to His palace according to the neshama of the person and HaShem knew that my neshama would awaken the moment I walked on the soil of Eretz Yisrael."

I recalled the incident and thanked him for reminding me of it. I then turned to the woman "from Poland" who had so tearfully asked about her rabbi and said, " Here is the answer to your question. I cannot understand your rabbi, but it is clear that HaShem wanted your family here in Eretz Yisrael."

The rabbi of that shtetl, and others like him, are to be blamed for not encouraging their flock to return home. But their guilt is limited, because they did not have a precedent for what "enlightened" goyim of the 20th century would be capable of.

The situation today is quite different . No one can escape the knowledge of the past; and for those who did not read or hear about it, there are Holocaust museums galore.

Jews are encouraged today not to wear their kippahs while walking the streets of Paris - home of the French revolution – or of London - the home of the Magna Carta. The situation is not so bad yet in the US; although if the ground is not burning there, dark clouds are lingering just beyond the horizon.

Life is no longer "business as usual" at times of economic insecurity and social unrest, which eventually find their expression in blaming the Jews – such as investment bankers like Lehman Bros., Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs and the likes of Bernard Madoff.

When it comes to piku’ach nefesh (a life-threatening situation), there is no difference between a clear and present danger and between a safek danger. The rabbis in the various lands of the galut are playing with fire as they ignore the signs of anti-Semitism around them.

Although the return to Eretz Yisrael should be motivated by the recognition that it is here where HaShem wants a Jew to be and keep his Torah, anti-Semitism is a tool HaShem uses to arouse those who lack the spiritual sensitivity to realize where Jewish history is going. And for those who cannot see the approaching danger of living in the galut, it is the responsibility of the spiritual leader to lead his community to the Promised Land.

In view of the reality among my observant brothers and sisters in the galut and their spiritual guides, it is more than naive to think that there will be a meaningful and voluntary Aliyah in the near future. So my appeal to the rabbinic leaders of all sects and persuasions is to at least declare publicly that it is spiritually better to live in Eretz Yisrael than in the galut.

We should not lose sight of the simple fact that if the religious Jews of the United States would come here and vote in our parlimentary system, Medinat Yisrael would become a State based on the laws of the Torah.

In conclusion, our parasha states: ‘A land where you will eat bread without scarceness, (a land) which lacks nothing; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig for copper.

Indeed, the land lacks nothing, except for one very important factor - not all her children want her.

Shabbat Shalom

Nachman Kahana

(c) Nachman Kahana 2012/5772

The 2012 Olympics: Israel Disappears!

By Tuvia Brodie

The Arab-Muslim effort to take Israel off the world map can celebrate some major successes at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England even before the Games have ended. The most public of their Olympic successes—but not their most significant--was the absolute refusal of International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge to grant a minute of silence at the opening ceremonies to memorialize the loss of eleven Israeli Olympic athletes murdered by Arab Muslims during the 1972 Munich Games. This is the fortieth anniversary of those murders, and several nations, including the US, had requested such a commemoration. As others have already noted, it is a sign of how little respect the United States receives these days that her effort to request a minute of silence for Israelis was so easily rejected.

The request for this minute was not a pro-forma exercise. One of the widows of those murdered athletes, Ankie Spitzer, is reported to have hand-carried (with other widows) a petition containing 105,000 signatures requesting the minute. When Jacques Rogge refused that request, he did so stating explicitly (according to Israeli reports) that the opening ceremonies were not a fit place to remember the Munich massacre. At that interview, Ms Spitzer asked Rogge point-blank, ‘is it because the athletes are Israeli?’ Mr Rogge remained stone silent. He would not answer the question.

In Jewish tradition, such silence in such a situation is the same as affirmation. Ms Spitzer called his refusal, ‘pure discrimination’. But for many, it was not a ‘smoking gun’ proof of outright anti-Semitism.

That proof was reserved for Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Hebrew month, Av—a day of national mourning for national tragedies that stretch back almost 2,500 years--a day for Jewish tragedy.

The ninth day of Av, this year, fell on Friday night-Saturday, July 27-28, 2012, beginning in London at about the same time Olympic opening ceremonies began.

  Jonathan Tobin, writing in Commentary Magazine (and appearing also on calevbenyefuneh.blogspot), tells us about the killing of perhaps 52 people on July 7, 2005, in England just 24 hours after the British had announced that the 2012 Olympics would be held in London. According to Tobin, there appears to be no direct connection between those killings and the Olympics; but the British associate them with their Games; as Tobin comments, ‘fair enough.’

The 52 who died had been killed by bombs set by Islamists and, as Tobin describes it, may play a role in the IOC’s refusal to offer a minute of silence for the murdered Israeli athletes. You see, while the IOC had no time for one minute to remember actual Olympic athletes murdered by Islamists, it did have time for a six-minute choreographed commemoration for those 52 deaths ‘associated’ with the Games. That six minute commemoration took place during the opening ceremony.

Is that a ‘smoking gun’ of anti-Semitism?

Naturally, that six-minute commemoration caused an outcry. But the outcry was not prompted because the IOC had allowed a memorial for a lesser case (British murders) while rejecting a stronger case (Olympic murders). The outcry occurred because NBC TV, the American broadcast network carrying the Olympics to the USA, had cut away from the six-minute commemoration to show something else; this insult was compounded because the NBC host, Bob Costas, had the gall to discuss the murders and then, even worse, chose perhaps unilaterally to grant a five-second on-air commemorative silence as the Israeli team entered the stadium.

How dare NBC allow such insult to the Olympic spirit?

As if to highlight that outright discrimination aimed at Israel was not exceptional, but was rather part of the Olympic fabric, we learned several hours before the opening ceremonies that members of the Lebanese judo team were outraged that day because they had found themselves unable to practice--Israelis were sharing a mat with them! They complained immediately. Olympic officials put up a wall so that the Israelis would be hidden.  

So far, however, the greatest success of the Arab effort to use the Olympics to erase Israel did not take place on a training mat or during an opening ceremony. It took place before the Games began.  

On your search engine (I used Google), type  ‘2012 Olympics Homepage’. On the toolbar above the day’s main Homepage picture-of-the-day, click on ‘countries’. Then, underneath that same toolbar, you’ll see a list of regions; click on ‘Asia.’ As of this week, Israel’s flag is not on the list of its region’s participating countries. Palestine is.

According to the official Olympics Homepage, Palestine exists as an Olympic participating country in the Middle East. Israel doesn’t. It has disappeared. Yes, you can find Israel—but only under ‘Europe’, which is a fiction.  The Arabs don’t care about fiction in Europe.  They care about what’s real in the Middle East. They want Israel to disappear. The IOC enables their wicked dream because now, thanks to the IOC, the Middle East is Judenrein (Jew-free), just as the Arabs wish. Perhaps that’s why the IOC couldn’t remember the 1972 Israelis: you can’t commemorate what doesn’t exist.

A Nation Searches for Meaning

By Moshe Feiglin



20 Av, 5772
August 8, '12

Translated from the NRG website

For some reason, Tisha B'Av has managed to break out of the walls of religion and knock on the door of Israeli culture. Something about this day 'clicks' with many Israelis.

What is that something?
A search for identity?
Sorely lacking unity?
Lost solidarity?
Fear of baseless hatred?
And perhaps – the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple)?

All of the above are correct and there are probably a few more correct answers, as well. But I would like to propose an answer that is out of the ordinary:

Tisha B'Av is more relevant to non-observant than to observant Jews. In truth, the religious Jews do not want the Beit Hamikdash, while the non-observant do. Or more precisely, there is something about the Beit Hamikdash that is more natural to the non-observant than to the observant.

Sounds preposterous? Here are some statistics:
Three years ago, just before Tisha B'Av, Israel's leading Ynet website, along with the Gesher NGO, publicized a poll of 516 Israelis taken by the Panels polling company. The headline on Ynet read: 64% of Israelis want the Beit Mikdash.

When the participants were asked if they would like the Beit Hamikdash to be rebuilt, 64% answered in the affirmative. Of them, 33% said they wanted the Beit Hamikdash very much and 31% fairly want the Beit Hamikdash. 36% of the participants answered in the negative. Of them, 31% do not want the Beit Hamikdash very much and 5% do not want it at all. Analysis of the religious orientation of the participants reveals that not only the ultra-orthodox and religious anticipate the Beit Hamikdash, 100% and 97% respectively. 91% of the traditional and 47% of those who define themselves as secular also answered that they want the Beit Mikdash.

Two years ago, the Knesset Channel asked the same question in a much less professional manner. 49% of those who responded to their internet poll said that they would be interested in the Beit Hamikdash.

Clearly, the answers to these polls are coming from a place detached from daily fears. If the participants had been asked if they would like the Beit Hamikdash to be built now, the answers would probably have been quite different.

Nevertheless, I am meeting more and more completely non-observant Israelis who simply say: "I want the Beit Hamikdash." Considering the fact that there is almost nothing that has been used to frighten the Israeli public and turned into an object of loathing more than the Beit Hamikdash, there is definitely something in these surprising figures that points to a very strong, essential connection between a broad spectrum of non-observant Israelis and the Temple Mount and Beit Hamikdash.

They connect to Tisha B'Av because they long for a different essence. They long for the culture of the Third Temple.

Why?

The very nature of religion that was enlisted to preserve our national identity has, for all intents and purposes, replaced the Beit Hamikdash. Religion and the Beit Hamikdash are mutually exclusive. That is why the Beit Hamikdash is accepted more naturally by the non-observant.

What was the ideal, the tremendous surge of energy that brought the State of Israel to life against all odds? What was the spirit that restored the Nation of Israel to history? It was the shirking of religion that was justifiably identified as the noose that kept the Jews hanging outside of reality – and from a nationalist perspective, would never allow them to connect to it.

When the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, the nationalist Jewish connection to reality was severed. The Beit Hamikdash - the perfection of reality to reflect G-d's sovereignty over the world – is our connection to reality. It is the ultimate purpose of our national existence and it is the axis around which the lives of the individual and the collective revolve. The Beit Hamikdash is the focal point of Jewish time: the trice-annual ascent to Jerusalem for the holidays and the entire cycle of life are defined by it. Jewish sovereignty without the Beit Hamikdash is like a country without a capital, without a parliament, without national holidays; like a body without a heart. The Beit Hamikdash was and still is the beating heart of our Nation, the ultimate purpose of its existence and above and beyond everything else – the authentic connection (not the religious connection) to our Father in Heaven.

It is to G-d's home on earth that we come on the holidays; it is to Him that we come home with a small gift: the first fruits or the Passover sacrifice. It is to Him, to our Father and King, that we come to request help when we are in trouble; on Him Whom we rely in the face of external threat. It is the Beit Hamikdash that charts our ethical path when relating to widows, orphans and the stranger in our midst. The Beit Hamikdash is the home that invites guests from around the world and that heralds a new message to all mankind. This house is open for the prayers of all nations: "For my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations." This is the authentic, genuine peace plan for which humanity yearns, deep down. When the children come home, guests can also be received. And the guests are waiting:

"We dreamt of a place where the new Book of Books would be written as a preface to world redemption; for you are, after all, a treasured nation. The world had great expectations, but look what you have done." (Professor Ze'ev Tzachor in an interview with Meir Uziel in Makor Rishon, quoting his British colleagues' disappointment in Israel)

Herzl understood this and wrote about the Mikdash. Jabotinsky also talked about it, as did Yair (Avraham Stern) in his manifesto.

Religion in its present configuration is the most successful start- up in history: It virtualized a nation and preserved its national existence outside reality – as the walking dead- until its return to Zion (Mount Zion, specifically) and the building of the Beit Hamikdash. But in the course of 2000 years, the virtual became an existential consciousness. The Lamentations of Tisha B'Av have their permanent place on our bookshelves, where they wait to be taken out again next year. The Mashiach has been transformed from a practical aspiration to a sort of non-committal Santa Claus. He has become the greatest impediment to the arrival of the Mashiach.

The Zionists of last century cut loose the lifeline/noose of religion. Suddenly, they felt the hard ground of reality under their feet. They sensed reality beginning to respond to their national muscle-flexing: Suddenly, we were a normal nation. A massive wave of redemptive energy, repressed for 2000 years, burst forth as a result of the disconnection from religion. This energy carried the Zionist revolution on its back. Its remnants swelled the sails of the ship until after the Yom Kippur War.

But that wind is no longer blowing. The sails of the Zionist ship have sagged. Directionless gusts throw the ship to and fro. The sharks in the sea are the same sharks. The sandbanks and the storms are still just as threatening and the wind-tossed nation on the deck is still searching for meaning.

Some people find meaning in a return to religion. But that return gives them direction and meaning only in their personal lives. From a national perspective, they have returned to the place from which their ancestors fled. They have given up on the connection to reality. They have surrendered.

Usually, the newly observant distance themselves from the national experience. They are no longer interested in what was said on the news; certainly not in politics. The national reality once again becomes virtual for them. And the truth is that without the Beit Hamikdash, the entire state and our national existence is becoming more and more virtual. The world no longer accepts our right to exist because we flee our destiny. We flee the Beit Hamikdash.

In the depths of our hearts we know that the real return, the return that is moving forward on the shoulders of the tremendous accomplishments of Zionism, the return to our own meaning, the return that advances into reality and doesn't retreat into religion – is informed by the practical yearning for the Beit Hamikdash.

Deep down in our national psyche, we want a home. We want a father. We want meaning. All the energies from the summer protests lead there.
 

Iran: What We Believe

By Tuvia Brodie

Iran presents a problem: does she really seek an atomic bomb?  If she gets one, will she really use it against Israel?

No one knows. We believe evidence exists to show that Iran aggressively enriches uranium to make a bomb. But we don’t know what to believe when Iran president Ahmadinejad says Israel should be annihilated. What does that mean, exactly? Is it just more Middle East bluster, or is it a Hitler-style ‘I’m-telling-you-in-advance-what-I-will-do’?

No one knows. Many at the UN seem to believe that it doesn’t matter. They believe that if Israel has ‘the bomb’, why can’t Iran? The US seems to believe that Iran does actively pursue a bomb. But the US also believes that immediate action isn’t necessary. The US believes that sanctions against Iran will convince her to stop its nuclear pursuits. Is this belief correct?

No one knows.

The Israelis, meanwhile, seem to believe that Iran is serious: she wants a bomb—and she’ll use it. The Israelis just don’t know what to do about it. In the past—with Syria and Iraq—Israel attacked nuclear sites and destroyed not only nuclear facilities, but also future nuclear ambitions. Iran, however, is different. Her nuclear sites are spread across different locations—some far away from Israel’s reach—and buried deep beneath ground, in bunkers everyone believes to be impenetrable. Everyone believes that Iran has turned its land-mass into a kind of nation-wide nuclear production facility. Everyone also believes that Israel does not have the weaponry or the aircraft to attack. Are all these beliefs correct?

No one knows.

Within Israel, there is no consensus on Iran. Some believe that an attack is necessary--the sooner the better. Even if an attack succeeds only in delaying the production of a bomb, these voices suggest, a short delay is better than no delay. Others believe that the ‘cure’ will be worse than the ‘disease’; an imperfect attack will cause Israel more harm than good—and it won’t stop Iran; it will just make her hungry to attack Israel.  Still others believe that Iran cannot achieve her goal soon enough to harm Israel; an attack would be stupid.

Which of these beliefs are correct? No one knows.

When it comes to Iran, it seems that the only thing we read about is what nations believe.

Isn’t it odd that, for the first time in memory, the nations of the world spend so much time discussing belief rather than fact? Even with the case against Saddam Hussein’s Weapons of Mass Destruction, the United States went to great length to showcase ‘facts’ sufficient to convince the West that action was necessary. With Iran, no such successful case has been made—or if it has, not enough believe it. Fact seems irrelevant. The question about Iran should be, what actions do fact—or our inability to verify fact-- suggest we take?  But the focus on Iran is not action or fact. Instead, the focus is belief; specifically, the belief that action can be avoided.

The world believes Iran will listen to reason. In this case of belief versus reason, what do you believe: will sanctions convince Iran to change direction? Will she attack Israel?  Will a nuclear Iran seek peace?

On top of all this, the president of the United States apparently believes that an Israeli attack against Iran before the 2012 US presidential elections will hurt his election chances; he is rumoured to have threatened Israel to delay an attack until after the elections. Is this belief correct?

No one knows.

How strange that, at this point in world history, we so eagerly put aside reason and focus instead on belief. Why is it that the world’s greatest threat since the atomic war scare of the 1950’s doesn’t involve reason or reality, but belief?

Make no mistake: the future of Israel does not depend upon fact. With this Iran business, it will depend upon belief: if Israel’s leadership believes Israel’s survivability requires an attack, she will attack; if that leadership believes we are safe, she won’t. Israel’s focus on Iran focuses on belief.

You may have missed this, but some believe that belief itself is the key to surviving Iran. They say that if Israel’s leadership accepts G-d, our survival is assured. But if our leadership’s belief is misplaced, our future could be ‘misplaced’. It’s all in our Tanach.  Belief and Israel, they say, should go together. Unfortunately, since the founding of the modern State of Israel, Israel’s Jewish leadership has rejected belief. They so prefer non-belief, they wouldn’t even include G-d in Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

Now, with Iran, their language becomes, ‘Well, we believe that…”?

Of course, there could be no connection between G-d and the Iran problem. All this talk about belief could be a coincidence. Then again, it could also be G-d’s way of saying, ‘hello, remember Me’?

Only G-d knows.

Torah: Blueprint for Wisdom and Success

By Moshe Feiglin


And you shall observe them and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples, that, when they hear all these statutes, shall say: 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' (From this week's Torah portion, Va'etchanan, Deuteronomy 4:6)

When they came to establish a nation on the foundation of liberty, America's founding fathers turned to the Bible. The Biblical principles that they adopted were the secret of America's success. The downgrade of the US credit rating parallels the downgrading of those principles.

The depth of the Divine wisdom concealed within the ancient words of the Torah is well known to the nations. They are fully aware that the authentic application of that wisdom is exclusively in the hands of the Nation of Israel. It is Israel that testifies to the existence of G-d and it is Israel's responsibility to actualize His message of liberty and prosperity for all humanity.
Shabbat Shalom

The New Manhigut Yehudit Jerusalem Center

Dear Friends,

Three days ago, I emailed you about the new Center that Manhigut Yehudit will be opening in Jerusalem.

We are giving everybody an opportunity to share in this exciting project but you better hurry!

A total of 555 shares are being offered and over 70% of them have already been taken !!!

We have just 148 shares left.

If you want a piece of this project – please respond NOW! 

Note: Since we began the project we found that the program we are using only accepts credit cards from USA, UK, AUSTRALIA or CANADA.

For all other countries, please simply REPLY to shmuel@manhigut.org and I will help you get involved through our regular site.

Sorry – I didn't realize this when we signed up but it is all for the best.

Here is the email I sent last week.

Once again, please hurry and respond today. Only 148 shares remain!

Announcing the
MANHIGUT YEHUDIT JERUSALEM CENTER

This Center - located in the heart of Jerusalem - will be the place for all Manhigut Yehudit meetings, classes, activities and exciting events. It will also be home to the new office of Moshe Feiglin, Shmuel Sackett, Shai Malka, Dovid Shirel and other key Manhigut staff members. Volunteers will love this Center as well as they will - finally - have a central point for their activities, especially the new computer and telephone center!

We are all very excited about the Manhigut Yehudit Jerusalem Center,
which is scheduled to open on Sept. 1st. Immediately following Tisha B'av, renovations for our Center will begin.

YOU can take a part - and have a share - in this exciting project! 

Our goal is to sell 555 shares, at $18 per share. When the goal has been reached - and ONLY WHEN THE GOAL HAS BEEN REACHED - will we then charge your credit card for the amount of shares you purchased. (Sorry, no checks or PayPal - this program works with credit cards only)

This is not a gimmick. Please take a look at this webpage and learn about how we designed this program.
Every one who purchases a share will have their name listed on a plaque - with their number of shares - in the middle of the Manhigut Yehudit Jerusalem Center. When you are in Jerusalem, please visit us in the Center and see your name on our wall!

It is simple, modest and very exciting.
Please note that we are not building a palace nor a 5-star luxury kingdom. We are renovating a location in the heart of Jerusalem - with parking! - so we can achieve the goal of new leadership for the State of Israel.

Here is the program. I already bought a share as well! Please join this exciting project! Click here.


Thanks,
Shmuel Sackett
Co-founder and International Director
Manhigut Yehudit
 

HaRav Nachman Kahana on Parashat Va'etchanan 5772

BS"D 

Parashat Va’etchanan 5772

A:

The Jewish Army

One day many years ago, I received a distressing call from my father, HaRav Yechezkel Shraga Kahana zt"l. He asked to see me, and I heard in his voice that he was crying.

After hurrying to my parent’s home in the Kiryat Moshe section of Yerushalayim, I saw my father crying for the first time in my life. We sat together and he began telling a story of his childhood, parts of which I already knew.

My father was born in the Galilee city of Tsfat and, in the middle of the First World War in 1917, he reached bar mitzva age.

As the Turks were retreating before the advancing British forces, they took everything edible. In addition to the hunger, a devastating typhus epidemic broke out in Tzfat. Life lost its orderly functions, and there certainly were no yeshivot or organized Torah study. Since Torah study was top priority in our family, my grandfather, Harav Nachman Kahana zt"l, decided to take his youngest son, 13-year-old Yechezkel, to Europe where he could study and develop in relative quiet. However, he was left alone and with no means of support other than from the yeshiva.

The yeshiva was located in a Galician town that had three names. The Jews called it Ushpitzin, which means guests because the Jews there were known for their hospitality; the Polish name was Os'wie’cim (oshvi’chim); and twenty or so years later, it was renamed Auschwitz by the Germans.

My father had occasion to be in Warsaw, Poland’s capital, where he ventured into the city center. He did not know that it was the same day the Poles had declared their independence and were staging a grand military parade. My father, who was dressed in the black kaftan and cap of a yeshiva bocher, wanted to see the parade. At that moment, a Jew approached and warned him in Yiddish, "Young boy, don't go there, but know that when the Mashiach comes, we Jews will have a huge military parade." My father followed the man’s advice and left. He quickly forgot the incident.

Many years after, when my father was already living in Israel, he was standing on Jaffa Road in Yerushalayim when he suddenly heard music. It was Yom Yerushalayim, and the music was part of a big military parade. At that moment, he recalled what that man had told him half a century before in the city square of Warsaw — that when the Mashiach comes, we Jews will have a huge military parade. My father could not stop crying, and called me to his home.

The years have passed and my parents are no longer with us. My attention is now focused on the future generations.

Our youngest son is a very senior officer in Tzahal. Last week, he invited his Abba and Imma to attend a unique military event at one of Israel’s most guarded bases. Among those present were the Defense Minister, the Chief of Staff, the Generals of the Air Force and Navy and the heads of various security agencies.

Major generals, brigadier generals, colonels, lieutenant colonels abounded. But despite the differences in rank, two outstanding features unified them: the grave look of experience mixed with responsibility, and the inescapable look of a sweet Jewish face.

I have an undeniable military streak in me. One of the most emotionally uplifting events in my life was when I was inducted into Tzahal and wore a uniform for the first time. My military orientation is not the result of playing with tin soldiers as a young boy, but rather because of the way I absorbed the sum total of my Torah learning. The Tanach - Chumash, the Books of Yehoshua, Shoftim, Shmuel, Melachim etc. - and Jewish history as it played out in Eretz Yisrael all contributed to my understanding of the unique Jewish personality of God’s chosen people in Eretz Yisrael, as opposed to the personality of a Jew in the galut.

The role model of the authentic Jewish character is a man who was destined not to be born, because his soul was so closely tied to HaShem. According to the Midrash, Adam himself donated 70 years of his life so that this man should be born. He is David, son of Yishai from Bet Lechem, the King of Israel and principal ancestor of the Mashiach.

King David was a talmid chacham, dayan, posek, military general, leader of men, fierce and relentless towards the enemies of the Jewish people. Yet, he was sensitive enough to author Tehilim, humble, aware of his shortcomings, zealous in his defense of the Jewish people, and magnanimous enough to forgive those who caused him anguish.

In our time, the study of Torah and intense nationalism are seemingly opposing values. However, nothing can be further from the truth, as we see in the end of parashat Devarim continuing into our parasha:

ואת יהושוע צויתי בעת ההוא לאמר עיניך הראת את כל אשר עשה ה' א-להיכם לשני המלכים האלה כן יעשה ה' לכל הממלכות אשר אתה עבר שמה:

לא תיראום כי ה' א-להיכם הוא הנלחם לכם

)פרשת ואתחנן)

ואתחנן אל ה' בעת ההוא לאמר:

ה' ה' אתה החלות להראות את עבדך את גדלך ואת ידך החזקה אשר מי א-ל בשמים ובארץ אשר יעשה כמעשיך וכגבורתך

אעברה נא ואראה את הארץ הטובה אשר בעבר הירדן ההר הטוב הזה והלבנן:

21 At that time I commanded Joshua: "You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. 22 Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you."

23 At that time I pleaded with the Lord:

24 "Sovereign Lord, You have begun to show to Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand. For what diety is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works You do?

25 Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon. "

Our history over the following 850 years, until the first Temple’s destruction, was replete with wars. When there was a brief period of unusual tranquility after the victories of Barak and Devorah and later after the victory of Gideon, the Book of Shoftim records

ותשקט הארץ ארבעים שנה

the land was tranquil for 40 years

The reason for the wars of old has not changed and is very relevant in our own times, and has no chance of changing until HaShem Himself intervenes in human affairs.

The reason for the gentiles’ animosity towards the Jewish nation, wherever we are, is explained in the Talmud (Shabbat 89a):

מאי הר סיני - הר שירדה שנאה לאמות העולם עליו

Why was the mountain called "Sinai" [similar to the word ‘sinah’ meaning hatred]? – it was the mountain where hatred descended upon the nations [toward the Jewish people, because we received the Torah from HaShem].

Anti-Semitism exists in the galut just as it does when we are in Eretz Yisrael. The nations say to the Jews in galut, "Go to your land"; and when we are in our land the nations say, "Go back to where you came from".

However, there is a vast difference between our reaction to anti-Semitism in the galut and when we are in Eretz Yisrael. It can be encapsulated in one word - Tzahal.

In the galut, we are unable to physically defend ourselves. In Eretz Yisrael, our enemies fear the head and iron fist that wear tefillin, as stated by Rabbi Eliezer in Brachot 57a. (Rabbi Eliezer refers there to the head tefillin, because the hand tefillin are covered).

B:

Today, the first of August, marks the end of the Tal Law that deferred full-time yeshiva students from serving in the army.

It does not mean that tomorrow every 18-year-old yeshiva student will be drafted into the army, but it does mean that they are eligible for army service. There is a slow-but- growing-number of chareidi young men who are becoming involved in the Medina and its institutions. Every year, more and more volunteer for army service, with many chareidi men and women studying in academic institutions.

This obviously upsets many chareidi people, but I see it as a positive step in our nation’s recovery from the degrading and spiritually debasing mental illness brought about by 2000 years of galut.

What I see happening in Eretz Yisrael during more than 50 years that I am here can be summed up in the first two words of kaddish - yitgadal ve’yitkadash - it will be great and it will be hallowed.

The reference is to HaShem’s holy name, which in time will be known and made great among all humanity and become hallowed.

I see these two words as the protocol for what we are now experiencing as HaShem returns His people to Eretz Yisrael. This protocol states that the Medina will become "great" by establishing itself socially, economically, militarily, scientifically and internationally, and then the inborn spiritual nature of the Jewish people will make the land holy. Yitgadal ve’yitkadash!

The situation in which "the study of Torah and an intense nationalistic orientation are seemingly opposing values" is rapidly changing.

King David’s world outlook that military service to protect the Jewish nation in Eretz Yisrael is a God-given requirement will become second nature, so much so that people will look back on our times in embarrassment.

I see, in the not-distant future, a Tzahal composed of young talmidei chachamim, where a non-observant person will not be permitted to join the ranks, because to be victorious in battle the army camp must be a hallowed site.

The words of Rabbi Eliezer (Midrash Devarim Reah 4) will be actualized:

הסייף והספר ירדו כרוכים מן השמים

The sword and the book descended entwined from heaven

What I am suggesting is drawn from the writings of the Rambam (Hilchot Melachim chapter 11):

ואם יעמוד מלך מבית דוד הוגה בתורה ועוסק במצוות כדוד אביו, כפי תורה שבכתב ושבעל פה, ויכוף כל ישראל לילך בה ולחזק בדקה, וילחם מלחמות ה', הרי זה בחזקת שהוא משיח, אם עשה והצליח ונצח כל האומות שסביביו ובנה מקדש במקומו וקבץ נדחי ישראל הרי זה משיח בודא

If a king will arise from the House of David, who, like David his ancestor, is steeped in the study of the written and oral Torah and will bring all of Israel to walk in the way of the Torah and restore its mitzva observance and will fight the wars of God, he can be considered as the Mashiach.

If he succeeds in all the above, defeats all the enemy nations, builds the Bet Hamikdash and gathers in the remnant of Israel, then he is surely the Mashiach.

The time will come when peace will reign in the Holy Land. But it will be conditional upon fulfilling the stipulations set down for Yehoshua Bin Nun in our parasha - liberating all the lands according to the Biblical borders and defeating all the enemies of the Jewish people.

There is no doubt in my mind that this will be performed by God-fearing men dressed in the uniforms of Tzahal - the Mashiach’s army.

C:

The July 27, 2012 Jewish Press edition ran a headline, "US Jewish Federations to Drop ‘Zionism’ from their Global Plans".

The article states that the Jewish Federations of North America rejected the inclusion of the term "Zionism" or "Israel" in its major system-wide planning document that determines the allocation of money for new Federation initiatives outside the United States.

Jews in the United States are distancing themselves more and more, both emotionally and practically, from the State of Israel. It is found in Jewish groups on opposite sides of the religious and ideological spectrum, and everyone in the middle.

Although these Jewish Federations are headed, for the most part, by non-observant Jews, they share common feelings regarding the Jewish State with their chareidi brothers in the US.

Is it possible that one feeds off the other as they share in their animosity to the renaissance of Jewish life in the Holy Land?

Is it possible that behind all this is the desire by certain religious groups for the money which is usually earmarked for "Zionist Israel" to find its way into their coffers?

These two groups, which are so far from each other in every way, find common ground in their anti-Israel feelings.

But do not be surprised; it was predicted by the prophet Zecharia (12:1-2)

משא דבר ה' על ישראל נאם ה' נטה שמים ויסד ארץ ויצר רוח אדם בקרב

הנה אנכי שם את ירושלם סף רעל לכל העמים סביב וגם על יהודה יהיה במצור על ירושלם

A prophecy: The word of the Lord concerning Israel.

The Lord, Who stretches out the heavens, Who lays the foundation of the earth, and Who forms the human spirit within a person, declares:

"I am going to make Jerusalem a noxious cup to the enemies who surround her. And Judah too will besiege Jerusalem.

D:

Last week I wrote, that tens of thousands of God-fearing Jews publicly celebrating the conclusion of the daf hayomi in the galut when the gates of Eretz Yisrael are open for all Jews, is bizzare.

In a stadium in New Jersey, they pay homage and revere the Talmud; the very Talmud that states that one who voluntarily lives in the galut is as if he has no God.

Whatever I wrote on the matter cannot compare to the devastating commentary of Rashi, in this week’s parasha.

Moshe tells the Jewish nation ?(Devarim 4:9)

רק השמר לך ושמר נפשך מאד פן תשכח את הדברים אשר ראו עיניך ופן יסורו מלבבך כל ימי חייך והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך:

Only be aware, and guard yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

And Rashi comments:

אז כשלא תשכחו אותם ותעשום על אמתתם תחשבו חכמים ונבונים ואם תעוותו אותם מתוך שכחה תחשבו שוטים:

When you will not forget them (the laws of the Torah) and uphold them earnestly, you shall be considered intelligent and wise. But if you shall pervert them through unawareness, then you shall be considered as fools.

　

Shabbat Shalom

Nachman Kahana

Copyright © 5772/2012 Nachman Kahana

　

Moshe Feiglin Answers Call for Debate

Dear Friends,

Our good friend Jeremy Gimpel, challenged Moshe Feiglin to a debate (see email below).

I am proud to announce that Moshe has agreed to this debate, with two conditions:

Condition #1: The debate is to be between Moshe Feiglin and Naftali Bennett.

The reason is clear.

Moshe Feiglin is running for the head of Likud.

Jeremy Gimpel is running for the "Young Leadership" spot on the Bayit Yehudi Knesset list ? spot #5 - which is considered by most pollsters as an unrealistic Knesset spot.

Naftali Bennett, on the other hand, is running for the head of Bayit Yehudi.

Therefore, let the debate be between the two people running for the head of their respective parties.

Condition #2: The debate is to be in Hebrew.

While we respect the English speaking audience in Israel, an important debate such as this one cannot be limited only to English speakers.

Israelis across the country must hear this debate and be active participants.

Of course, the debate will be video-taped and once it is over, Moshe will personally finance the translation into English, Russian and French and post it all over the internet with the proper subtitles.

Since it is now summertime, with many people away, the recommended date for this debate should be in the beginning of September.

Kol Ha'Kavod to both Jeremy Gimpel and Ari Abramowitz for this idea.

This is a perfect example of why they were just honored by Moshe Feiglin with "The Young Leadership Award" at the recent Manhigut Yehudit USA dinner in June.

We welcome this initiative and look forward to having it become a reality.

Special: Likud or Jewish Home Party? A Friendly but Serious Debate

A written exchange between Manhigut Yehudit supporter, Martin Ingall and Jeremy Gimpel, candidate for the Jewish Home party. 

Dear Ari and Jeremy -

I'm the guy you've heard cheering you from time to time when I see you around town, downtown or on Rehov Haim Bajayo or at Hechel Shlomo, etc. I hope there are many others like me. I'm a big admirer of your work, of your Tuesday Night Live, of your bringing light, of your sincere and successful efforts. May you meet with growing success and impact!

Now, here's my beef. God bless both of you and Daniel Hershkowitz, Naftali Bennet and Zevulun Orlev, but you're all wrong about the needed role of the Religious Zionists in Israeli politics. A separate religious party has and always will make the wrong statement. In fact, it comes form the wrong place, from an inferior and unhelpful mindset: "We are a sectoral group, advancing and protecting our sectoral interests, a pressure group, perhaps swing votes in a coalition government, certainly using our seats in the Knesset as a platform to promote our ideas. We are essentially a lobby like the other smaller parties, aspiring to be a coercive pressure group to the biggest party that forms the next government coalition. If we're real good, we'll offer a religious voice that will prevail over those of Agudat Yisrael and Shas. Our goal is to have ministers running the Interior and the Religious Affairs ministries, and maybe a chairmanship of a Knesset committee or two, on top of the Science Ministry. Just imagine our influence at that point."

It has always been and continues to be preemptive surrender, in some respects accepting and even embracing second class citizenship for the Religious Zionists. It's like you actually want to be the designated hitter on a baseball team, or the sixth man on a basketball team, or a special teams specialist on an football team. By that I mean you are relinquishing the possibility of religious Jews being among the actual political leadership of all of Am Yisrael, representing a broad spectrum of right wingers, conservatives, free marketeers, religious, nationalists, Sephardim and so forth that indeed comprise the broad and raucous spectrum of Israel's national camp. Why not set out to be the quarterback who wins the Super Bowl, the center who dominates the court and leads his team to the NBA championship, the pitcher who wins the Cy Young and MVP awards?

I believe we are called upon to fully participate and lead, by being leadership of our nation. It's way past due for orthodox Jews to stop wanting to primarily lead orthodox Jews. It's way past due that the religious see themselves as the leaders of all of Am Yisrael, the explicit leaders, holding that right and that mantle side by side with those less religious or not religious, fully, completely, without reserve. This can only be done through Likud. Whether you are fully on board with Manhigut Yehudit's agenda or not, Moshe Feiglin is 100% right about this.

Let me put it another way. Do you really see your role as primarily defending the settlements, or the Hesder yeshivot, or the Tzohar rabbis? Is it really your desire to merely influence policy as a pressure group on the majority party, Left or Right? Is that the calling of the orthodox Jew in Israel? No!

Thus, only through Likud can the religious take our rightful place as leaders in Israel's national camp, including the direct leadership of Israel's national camp.

Naftali Bennet, God bless him and with great admiration, has drawn exactly the wrong conclusions from the knockdowns of Manhigut Yehudit by the Likud Leadership. I said knockdowns, not knockouts. For it's not how hard you fall but how high you bounce that counts. You see, it is a long, plodding exercise to metabolize into the Likud leadership, to produce and attract a constituency internal to Likud that sways and then determines what will always be the leadership party of Israel's nationalists. The only choice is a multiyear, often tedious, step by step building within Likud.

So, I wish you all the best but want to be clear that your jumping on the Bayit Yehudi bandwagon is a fundamental mistake, even if you meet with some prompt or tactical success. Daniel Hershkowitz and Zevulun Orlev could have advanced our - your and my - cause most effectively long ago, by merging the party into Likud and bringing the votes from Jewish Home with them. We must deep in our kishkes see our cause as that of all Israelis, not merely that of religious Zionist Israelis. You may claim you do, but in practical terms the opposite is expressed through a sectoral party like Bayit Yehudi. Rabbi Amsalem is making the same mistake, may Hashem strengthen him in his work. All this amounts to yet another obstacle to the pace at which voices like yours and mine and people like you and me have in the party that leads Israel

Even with, for example, ten seats, Jewish Home will remain a sectoral party, with talented people like you making much less of a difference than you could have in the long run. How sad, for it is people with such ideals that are needed most in the party that leads Israel.

With Admiration and Friendship,
Martin Ingall
Jerusalem

================================================

Shalom Martin!

Thank you so much for your well written and articulate letter. I agreed with everything you wrote in principle. I think the question is about strategy. We are hoping to run for the Jewish Home party and create an alternative to the Likud/Kadima/Ehud Barak Mish-Mash and offer people a large national (not necessarily religious) party that will eventually lead the country.

We love Moshe Feiglin. In fact we met with Shmuel Sackett today for well over an hour. He backs our move 100% as we are all working toward the same goal. Am Yisrael is not yet at the place that we can rightfully take leadership from the helm. The nation is just not there yet. That's why we love Moshe. He's a visionary. At this time we represent 15-17 seats in the Knesset but we are the most unrepresented demographic in Israel. Our homes are being destroyed and all of the "right wing" Likud MKs can scream until they are red in the face but in the end in order to lead agendas you must have political power. Shas, the Charedim, Leiberman, they have power. We have almost nothing.

We believe that the Likud is not our natural home but if we build a true national block and a real alternative we will be able to lead the country in the direction we want. It is time for us to unite and lead the country by example not assimilation.

In the end we see the value in getting involved in the Likud, but it's not the place for us. We want a unified Jewish Zionist Party and not an uphill battle trying to create the Likud into something that it's not.

May Hashem bless you for your sincerity and love of Israel.

B'Ahavat Yisrael,

Jeremy
Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel

================================================

Hi Jeremy -

Thank you for your reply to my email.

I appreciate what you wrote and would like to tell you and all recipients of this email why I respectfully disagree.

You write that "the nation is just not there yet." I take it you mean that the nation is not yet ready for religious leadership. Jeremy, this is neither the issue nor the problem.

The issue is whether the Religious Zionist community itself enjoys a self-concept of full and equal status in the State of Israel.

Apparently, in your view, the answer is no. In my view, the religious community as a whole is amidst a transformation in this regard right now, joined by others who desire more religiously traditional leadership or - more simply - agree with many faith-based policy prescriptions. That's why good leadership and specifically your talents are needed. Good leadership can pull the community forward. As for the rest of Am Yisrael, they are not as averse to religious leadership as you imply. In other words, I ask you to consider how your self-limiting concept, and the self-limiting concept of any sectoral or special interest party, limits what you can achieve. The way you see the matter has defined your limitations for you.

The mish-mash of the current government would be ever more dominated by Likud if the sectoral and special interest parties were operating within the Likud framework, joyfully engaging with Likud's internal constituencies and struggles and vested interests and personalities, and working hard to establish themselves as forces within the party to be reckoned with. But to do that, these parties must see themselves as striving for leadership of the nation. If this were so, Likud itself would shift to better reflect the diversity and rightward tilt of the national camp. It is a multi-year and even decades long struggle, but the only efficacious one available.

Thus, National Union as well as Yisrael Beitenu along with Jewish Home should make themselves a part of the decision making process by joining Likud and urging their constituencies to follow them. As you know as well as anyone, the leadership of the small parties is inclined to adjust political agendas to their personal agendas, namely having that Knesset seat. That is one reason why we have so many party chieftains with so few warriors.

Jeremy, as the ruling party, Likud concerns itself with all issues of concern to our country - the post office, roads, fiscal policy as well as Yesha and Hesder yeshivot. All issues, everything. Sectoral parties like Jewish Home become narrow, flagging a few issues important to the party and its limited constituency, and trying to squeeze some influence in those areas with the ruling coalition. This creates a self-perpetuating cycle of a limited constituency with limited priorities and limited leadership with limited goals.

With only admiration for your talent and creativity and accomplishments and earnestness and emunah, you and Ari, along with Naftali Bennet, have cast your lot with a party that has for decades self-selected and self-defined itself out of the inner sanctum that determines the future of Israel. Israel needs people like you and indeed the current Jewish Home MKs as part of the national leadership. I know it's a longer and harder and more complicated road to vie for position and status within the Likud, but that is where the prize is.

Time will tell which one of us is correct. I'll be happy if, bimhayra biyameinu, either one of us is. As someone with a successful track record of looking over the horizon and getting it right, I'm confident in my position and the mistake Jewish Home continues to make, election after election.

You guys are A League talent, first stringers, starters, high draft picks, ready for prime time. You should be trying out for the major leagues, but (with all due respect to Jewish Home) instead you're playing it safe by signing up for the B League.

In partnership and admiration,
Martin Ingall
Jerusalem

Social Insecurity

By Moshe Feiglin





Editor's note: Several weeks ago, Moshe Silman set himself alight at a 'social justice' protest. Silman was in debt to Israel's social security and his truck, which was the means of his livelihood, was confiscated by the agency as a result. Silman eventually died of his wounds, but the debate over social justice rages on. 

More than anything else, Moshe Silman was killed by 'social justice.' Who confiscated his truck and for what purpose? Social Security: the fulfillment of the dreams of the social protesters. What is Social Security if not the mechanism established by the State to ensure 'social justice'? It is an institution authorized to take from the 'haves' and give to the 'have-nots'. And from whom will the Institute for Social Justice take if not from the owner of a moving company? And to whom will it give the value of the truck? To the tycoons? Of course not. It will give to the have-nots, or to those who know how to hide what they have.

The story of the Institute for Social Justice and the truck of the 'tycoon' Moshe Silman is the precise story of socialism. It is a flashing warning sign for everyone who has fallen captive to the charms of the social justice movement.

They want many more institutions for social justice and many more Moshe Silmans from whom these institutions can confiscate their only source of livelihood. Most important of all, they want many more poor people who will justify the existence of more and more institutes for social justice. Let Israel turn into one big commune, and be finished with it.

When tycoon Arcady Gaydamak erected a tent city for the victims of Olmert's War of Convergence, the 'social' defense minister, Amir Peretz, bellowed at him: "We will not let you take over our poverty!"

Poverty is an asset. Public outrage over it can be directed at those who open businesses, produce jobs and income and pay taxes. Then more and more social justice mechanisms can be established. More and more income producing property is stolen from more and more Moshe Silmans, poverty is translated into political fortune and the new social justice warriors are born. The productive segment of society shrinks, poverty grows and those with the means to produce more income look to invest in markets that boast more freedom.. The economic ship falls over on its side, is inundated with the poison of legalized robbery – socialism, or in its purer form, communism, and begins to sink, for the glory of the State of Israel.


Does this sound unrealistic? Track the money that is funding this 'social justice' movement. It all goes back to the New Israel Fund and Naomi Hazan. For those still in doubt, do a simple search on Ms. Hazan and her ideological roots.

The social justice protesters are right about the fact that most of the money in Israel is concentrated in the hands of just a few monopolies. The price of housing is sky-high, food is unjustifiably expensive and the salary gap between rich and poor is second only to America's. But the solution for this illness is just the opposite of the centralization that the social protesters demand.

The solution is privatization to the public instead of mafia-like allocation to controlling corporations. The solution is to allocate Israel's land to the public and to close Israel's Land Authority; privatization of the Water Company, Electric Company and banks – not to big business but to the public; straight into their bank accounts. Social security should work like a commercial firm, such as a car insurance company. It should be run by the Jewish Agency – for the Jews. Social Security is not an institution that is supposed to exploit one nationality so that it can feed a different nationality. More than half of the truck confiscated from Silman was distributed to the Arabs in Israel.

True release from the clutches of centralization and the politically correct will significantly increase the individual's free income and leverage Israel's economy. Social justice, on the other hand, has already accomplished the opposite.

The economic strain is real. But its roots are in a completely different place. Moshe Silman was a man without a family or community. The socialists who led Israel when it was founded erased the institution called 'community', turning Israel into one, big community. The individual has become very lonely as a result, bereft of the buttressed walls of community that the largely religious public still enjoys, particularly in the small towns in Judea and Samaria.

Politically, the lack of community is expressed in the fact that there are no voting districts in Israel. This means that there is no local government representative to whom people can turn when in need.

Over the past fifteen years, the institution called family has also been diminished. No longer is it politically correct to note that someone is widowed or divorced. Nowadays, they are "single-parent families." Even a couple of the same gender is considered a family. Everything is family, so nothing is family. "There are no more men in Tel Aviv," a young Tel Avivian sorrowfully agreed.

The woman makes the home. The man makes the family. Feminism and homosexuality have eliminated manhood, thereby eliminating the family.
The protesters are searching for family. They are searching for a father figure. With no one to turn to, they turn to the state. Standing there all together, the protesters replace the feeling of family – if only for a few fleeting moments. The children stand there in unison, shouting out for Mom and Dad - in this case, the state.

The state cannot replace family and community. But the protesters don't know anything else. The traditional family has been taken from them and the state has been empowered in its stead. This has given birth to the summer's protest. The dominant elements of the protests do not stem from poverty stricken areas, but from the heart of Tel Aviv: the place where there are no more men and no more families.