Manhigut Yehudit's Strategy: Past, Present and Future

By Moshe Feiglin

From the hysteria that has gripped the Left and the Arabs since this week's Knesset ratification of the National Referendum Law, which will require either a Knesset super-majority or a national referendum before Israel could surrender parts of Jerusalem or the Golan Heights, we can understand that the new law can delay Israel's collapse more than any protests that the Right can organize. It can delayIsrael's collapse. But it cannot prevent it. The collapse is taking place on an essential level, while the law is a technical matter. Nevertheless, this law is an additional obstacle – perhaps even significant – in the path of those who plan to transform the Jewish State into a state of all its citizens – or to destroy it.

The day after the bill was passed, the headline of the radical Left newspaper, Ha'aretz, claimed that the bill can be annulled by a regular majority. In other words, the Left is already planning how to overcome this obstacle. Clearly, if the PM brings a "peace" agreement to the triumphant calls of the press and if the entire horror film that we experienced with the expulsion from Gush Katif replays itself – the Left will find a way to circumvent this law.

Nevertheless, this is an important law. Since Begin's Camp David, every retreat and surrender carried out by the Israeli government has been implemented against the will of the Nation. The fait accompli was executed with media and court manipulation of the will of the majority. In the name of democracy, of course.

The importance of this law is in the fact that in a small measure, it returns the state to the Nation. The Left and elites will take the state back – that is quite clear. But this law is important because it compels them to do so up front. It forces them to openly take the sovereignty away from the Nation and to return it to the elites.

How is Manhigut Yehudit connected to this?
MK Yariv Levin, who initiated the National Referendum bill, would not have been in the Knesset without Manhigut Yehudit. All the opposition inside the Likud to the proposed building freeze – entirely a product of faith-based registration for the Likud – would not have taken place without Manhigut Yehudit.

It is worthwhile to remember the ridicule for Manhigut Yehudit - largely from the Right - when we joined the Likud ten years ago. With all due humility, we can safely say that our entry into the Likud then was the result of the fact that we had successfully identified the truly consequential developments in Israel amidst the barrage of distractions.

Now, we can once again calm all those who say that Manhigut Yehudit has "failed" or "gotten tired." Our change of focus to an additional arena does not stem from a feeling of failure or weakness. It is the product of our strategic perspective. In the near future, when the world will claim that there is no need for a Jewish state and when this will be the hot topic in the elections for leadership of Israel, nobody will ask why a year or two ago Manhigut Yehudit began printing a magazine that explores this topic.

They are renewing the freeze and you are printing a magazine?
Absolutely. We have identified the strategic point – the point where the light of Mashiach is being created. Since the times of the Begin government we have run from one demonstration to the next – failing time and again. The public anti-freeze campaigns that we have seen over the past week or two – the full page ads in the newspapers, the demonstrations in Jerusalem, the municipal strikes – all look like an old, tattered shirt that is pulled out of the closet every few years.

It is the same shirt.
The same patches.
It didn't fit before and it still doesn't fit.

We have matured. The shirt didn't fit before, but we wore it anyway. We youthfully blocked the highways and thought that that would save Israel. There is no doubt that it was important to do so. But if years later, we are still wearing the same shirt and still using the same tactics that didn't help last time, we look pathetic.

Where is the strategic point?
We are losing the Land of Israel because the State of Israel is not a Jewish State. At the very most, it is the State of the Jews and the rest of its citizens. Without true Jewish content and essence, nothing here will last.

Manhigut Yehudit's goal is to reach out to the Israeli public with the tools and at the pace that it can digest. We must convince the public to lift its eyes off the ground and to see the new horizon – the Jewish State that awaits it, just around the corner. We must stimulate broadening circles of the Israeli public to stop fearing the Jewish State and eventually – to yearn for it.

For this reason, Tomorrow magazine does not argue with the present reality. Instead, it presents future reality. It doesn't debate. It creates a new paradigm. If we can consistently produce this magazine, its accompanying internet site and other programs that it will precipitate, we will generate a new consciousness in Israel. We will help to create the light of Mashiach.

How can you help?
1. Donate to help the magazine keep running and grow.
2. Advertise in the magazine or encourage relevant others to do so
3. Help to distribute the newspaper. Contact Ronit Cherki ronitcherki@gmail.com

Light of Mashiach from Behind the Scenes

By Moshe Feiglin

"And it was at that time, and Judah went down from his brothers." (From this week's Torah portion, Vayeishev, Genesis 38:1)

This verse opens the entire story of Judah and Tamar, which took place after Joseph was sold to Egypt by his brothers. Our Sages in Breishit Rabbah have an interesting perspective on the events described in these verses:

"The tribes were preoccupied with the selling of Joseph, Joseph was preoccupied with his sackcloth and fasting, Reuven was preoccupied with his sackcloth and fasting, and Jacob was preoccupied with his sackcloth and fasting and Judah was preoccupied with taking a wife and the Holy One, Blessed Be He was busy creating the light of Mashiach."

Everyone was preoccupied: Drowning in the swamp of their errors, mourning, trying to extricate themselves and not knowing how. The general mood was low; sadness and ambitions prevailed. The brothers did not overcome their jealousy and competitiveness and sold Joseph. Reuven was busy with his ambitions, Judah - busy with his. It looked like the forces of the mundane were poised to overcome the young family of Israel and drag it into the abyss of submission, despair and mourning.

Behind the scenes, though, the King of the World was there, fulfilling His promise to Israel. From amidst all the complications He created the light of Mashiach. Peretz is born to Judah and Tamar. He will become the progenitor of King David and Mashiach, the son of David, in the future.

Sometimes, the truly significant events take place behind the scenes. The challenge is to identify those portentous times and not to miss the truly consequential developments amidst the constant barrage of distractions.

Today, everyone is preoccupied with their sackcloth and fasting. There will be a second building freeze, there won't be a second building freeze - it is completely insignificant. Since the days of the Rabin government – and actually, even prior to that – the strategy of Israel's successive governments has been to choke off the settlements as a prelude to their abandonment. A state that is not Jewish in its essence is incapable of holding onto the Land of Israel. Eventually, it loses the legitimacy for its very existence.

Let us progress to a truly Jewish State.

Let us create the light of Mashiach.

Shabbat Shalom

Boycotting Actors: Stay Home!

By Moshe Feiglin 18 Kislev, 5771 Nov. 25, '10 Editor's Note: Over the past few weeks, a number of actors and performing artists have announced their intention to boycott the new theatre just built in Ariel, due to their objection to perform over the Green Line. The Right's knee-jerk response was to angrily attempt to force the artists to perform in the new theatre. The Minister of Sport and Culture vowed to withhold government allocations from those artists who will not perform in Ariel. Moshe Feiglin has an entirely different perspective. I would like to make a heartfelt request of all the actors who do not want to appear over the Green Line. Please - don't come. If the show cannot go on without you, then let there be no show. The very thought that one of the actors on stage is performing against his will dissolves any desire I may have had to see the play. If I even suspect that there is an actor on stage who is there against his will, I will forgo the entire experience and not buy a ticket. Artists are not service providers. If the Phone Company sends a technician to my home, his feelings toward me or toward the place to which he has been dispatched really do not interest me. But an actor who is forced to act against his will? True, they receive government funding and the settlers also pay taxes and are entitled to enjoy theatre as much as any other tax payer. True, by the letter of the law, they must appear in Ariel. All the technical and legal claims that the Right has made are true - but completely irrelevant. To force artists to fall in step with state dictates against their will is true Bolshevism. Stalin kept the authors and artists in Russia under surveillance. Soviet art carefully poured itself into the party mold. Is this what we want for the performing arts over the Green Line? By insisting that the artists perform over the Green Line against their will, the Right is actually endorsing the dubious fact that Israel's spirit and culture are represented by the Left. If the settlers were really confident in their place as part of Israeli society - as they should be - this boycott would have amused them. I do not believe that the art of an estranged artist is really worth anything. Art and hatred do not go together. When art stems from estrangement and theatre is coerced - nothing good is going to emerge from them. There are excellent performing artists out there just waiting for a quality stage like the one built in Ariel; artists who exude brotherhood and bonding - not estrangement and egocentricity. If all that has come out of Ron Nachman's tremendous investment in the Ariel theatre is that we can now force estranged actors to perform in Ariel, it is doubtful that the investment was worth the 30 minute drive to Tel Aviv. But if the Ariel stage will be home to artists who are not at odds with their identity; if true, new and original artistic content will be poured into the beautiful new theatre building; content that is original in every sense of the word - authentic and Israeli: then we will have to thank the actors who boycotted it.

Manhigut Yehudit in the News

Bernie Quigley at The Hill sees a sea change coming and has high hopes for Israel and Moshe Feiglin. Check it out here.

It's All in Your Head

By Moshe Feiglin

And the messengers returned to Jacob and said: We have come to your brother, to Esau and he is also coming to meet you and four hundred men are with him. And Jacob was very frightened and he was distressed and he divided the people that were with him and the sheep and the cattle and the camels to two camps. (From this week's Torah portion, Vayishlach, Genesis 32:7-8)

"And he was very frightened and he was distressed." Why write the same thing twice? We understand that Jacob was frightened, we understand that he was feeling pressured. Why re-emphasize this as two separate issues?

There are many answers given to this question. But one Chassidic commentary captured my eye. "And he was distressed -" because he was frightened. Jacob naturally reacted toward Esau with fear. But immediately afterwards, he felt great sorrow for having felt fear.

When we moved to the Shomron, the Arab uprising was in its first year. To protect their car windows from being smashed by rocks, many of our neighbors attached metal "cages" to their windshields. Their cars resembled a sorry version of a zoo on wheels.

I took a different tack. I began driving on the roads slowly, with my windows open and an Israeli flag flying proudly from my car. I was the victim of far fewer rock attacks than my neighbors, who would fearfully speed through the Arab villages. When the flag got torn and had to be removed from our car, my wife was afraid to drive!

Much water has flowed since then under the bridges of Judea and Samaria. An Israeli flag no longer conveys pride and ownership - it may possibly even convey the opposite. But the lesson remains the same. A person is where his thoughts are. If you feel that you belong in Israel and that this Land is yours, then you are not afraid. Your internal world projects to your surroundings, reflecting as a world that is, indeed, not dangerous.

Israelis today do not feel that they belong in their Land. They are encased in state-of-the-art protective defense systems, but are suffering from the worst case of existential doubt they have ever had. Their internal perceptions create the external threat. That is why the solution has to be - first and foremost - to change Israel's mentality and consciousness.

It all begins and ends in the world we create inside our heads and hearts.

Shabbat Shalom

Free Pollard: All We Have To Do Is Ask

By Moshe Feiglin

9 Kislev, 5771
Nov. 16, '10

Translated from Ma'ariv's NRG website

When US Vice President Joe Biden publicly comments that it is time to free Jonathan Pollard, it is not by chance. There is no doubt that this remark was coordinated with the President. When this declaration is accompanied by similar comments by the heads of American security agencies that were involved with Pollard's conviction and the highest echelons of the US Defense Department (former Undersecretary of Defense Lawrence Korb) it is clear that something is being orchestrated from above.

After Pollard has served twenty five years in prison, America has suddenly discovered that he did not transfer any information to the Soviets, that the information that he transferred to Israel did not endanger the US at all; that according to a previous agreement, the US was supposed to have relayed that same information to Israel and that the radically severe prison sentence that Pollard is serving is completely disproportionate to his actions and totally unprecedented.

The feeling that something in America has moved motivated activists for Pollard to sign all the 109 Jewish Knesset Members on an across the board petition to the US President requesting Pollard's release. But Netanyahu refused to take the letter to America.

This is not the first time that a petition like this has been signed. When Sharon was PM, 112 MKs signed a similar letter and asked him to present it to President Bush. Olmert also had the same opportunity. They both refused. At the time, it seemed possible that they refused because the Americans advised them to do so. But now, when the voices calling for Pollard's release are coming out of America, it is clear that the source of the pressure not to release Pollard is Israel - not America.

Amazingly, in all the years that Pollard has been imprisoned, Israel has never officially requested his release. In fact, Israel has done all that it could to help the Americans convict him and sentence him to the longest prison term possible. Rafi Eitan, who was Pollard's handler, publicly expressed his regret that we did not put a bullet through Pollard's head and save ourselves this whole complication.

Too many important people in Israel who were involved with the Pollard case don't want him here. It is reasonable to think that they are pressuring Netanyahu. Shimon Peres, who was PM then, is the person who gave the Americans the documents they needed to convict Pollard. The head of Intelligence GHQ then was Ehud Barak. These are just a few of the senior officials who would like to see Pollard die in jail. But ultimately, the responsibility for the fact that our brother, Jonathan, may not see the light of day is completely on the Prime Minister's shoulders.

Pollard is the Jew who saved the Israelis from the Americans. This role is completely unacceptable in our country. Pollard holds up a mirror to Israel, anxiously fleeing its identity (to America). Israel is not interested in peering into that mirror. Pollard says to us all: I endangered myself for you because I am a Jew and you are Jews.

But we do not want to be Jews. We are Israelis. We are no longer a 'nation that dwells alone.' We have America. If Pollard had been jailed like Sharansky in the USSR or a similar enemy of America, we would have turned him into a national hero. But Pollard has fallen right into our internal identity crisis - and we simply can't stomach him.

I have visited Jonathan Pollard five times. His condition is horrendous. He has never enjoyed even one day of furlough. If he dies, G-d forbid, his blood will boil at our doorsteps. To gain his release, all we have to do is ask. But we are not willing to do that.

Is There Life After America?

By Moshe Feiglin

7 Kislev, 5771
Nov. 14, '10

Translated from the Makor Rishon newspaper

The tremendous significance that Israel's Right attaches to last week's elections in the US attests to the fact that the Right also pins most of its hopes on America. In other words, both the Right and Left in Israel suffer from the same delusion. For both sides of the political spectrum, everything depends upon our relations with the US - and not on our relations with ourselves, with the justness of our cause - and with our G-d.

The "pragmatic" perspective that disconnects destiny from existence is what ultimately prevents us from understanding reality and dealing with its challenges.

From a strategic perspective, the political process in the US does not have much importance for Israel. The building moratorium in Yesha began a short time after Rabin took office in 1992. Since then, we have been busy adjusting the height of the flames, while the situation has steadily deteriorated. Now, there is also a building moratorium in Jerusalem - even though officially, no such thing exists.

Obama did not create the problem. The problem is completely home-grown. We created it and the US pressure that accompanies it. True, Obama has intensified the problem and treats us less gently. But his behavior is actually helpful because it indicates which way America is headed - an indication that pragmatists like us insist on ignoring. Instead we look to the mid-term elections in Washington for salvation.

There are more than enough signs that the curtain is closing on America. If someone would have told us ten years ago that within less than a decade it would not be Israelis stuffing dollars into their mattresses but Americans rushing to buy the shekel, would we have believed him? If we had been told that within a decade the Governor of the Bank of Israel would be buying dollars in an effort to maintain the value of the American currency, would we have taken that information seriously?

What happened to the Soviet Empire, the British Empire and all the empires throughout history is beginning to happen to America. It is simply a historical rule to which the American Empire is also subject.
Obama has hastened the pace of this process but he did not create it. Thus, his decline will not prevent it. The very fact that the majority of Americans so enthusiastically voted for the man whose entire being symbolizes the complete opposite of the values that brought about the establishment of the United States, indicates the deep rot that has spread through American society. The inevitable economic collapse that Obama is inflicting upon America is nothing more than a symptom of the moral rot.

Significant sections of the American population are still motivated by the values of America's founding fathers. But they have no real ability to stop the crumbling of their society. The Hispanic immigration on the one hand and the Islamic pressure on the other have forced America to face a challenge that it cannot overcome. "Multi-culturalism has failed," explained Angela Merkel. In America, multi-culturalism is in the Oval Office.

In these very days, when America is pulling out of Iraq with its tail between its legs and when it is already clear that it will suffer a similar defeat in Afghanistan, we can say that Bin Laden defeated Bush - in a big way. He defeated Bush, which just goes to show that the defeat is not Democratic or Republican. The defeat is American, the product of values that cannot face conflict with a religion or an enemy that is not a nation-state.

Where is Israel in this state of affairs? Clearly, nobody in Israel's Foreign Ministry, in its plush universities, in Israeli politics or its generously-funded think tanks is even attempting to think about what will happen when we wake up one morning and America will simply not be there. For them, this would be tantamount to a religious person considering the ludicrous possibility that there is no G-d.

But that is exactly what will happen. First, America will not be there for Israel. And then it will not be there at all. It will collapse or turn into something reminiscent of Argentina.

All the important institutions that are supposed to warn us of this eventuality will fail miserably. That's how it is with institutions. By their very nature, they cannot think out of the box. They will scoff at the type of article that you are reading now, just like they scoffed at everyone who warned that rockets would be flying into Ashkelon. Afterwards they will explain why they were right nevertheless or they will ignore their failure. The people who were paid fat salaries to prepare us for the new reality - and instead left us off-guard and helpless - will write glorious autobiographies and run for the Knesset.

So, despite all the warning signs, America's collapse will catch us completely by surprise. Like the fall of the Berlin Wall, like the collapse of the Soviet Union, it is impossible to know when it will happen. But one way or another it will happen - and Israel should plan ahead and free itself now of its dependence on America.

How will we manage without the American veto in the UN Security Council? Maybe we should pre-empt that problem and simply resign from the UN? Don't we have other strategic allies?

How do we fight without American weapons? Has anybody thought of the fact that in any case, we will not have American spare parts after a certain point? Did the recent F-35 deal take that into account?

In other words, instead of beginning to free ourselves from the sinking Titanic, we have added another rope that ties us to it. Simply because our pragmatism leaves no room for strategic thinking.

Connecting Humanity to its Creator

By Moshe Feiglin

Illustration Courtesy of The Temple Institute

And he dreamed and behold a ladder planted on the ground and its top reaches the heavens, and behold angels of G-d were ascending and descending upon it. (From the week's Torah portion, Vayeitzei, Genesis 28:12)

That's it. No doubts remain. Now that G-d has revealed Himself to Jacob, it turns out that his mother, Rebecca, was right all along. The Kingdom of Priests, the holy nation that testifies to the existence of the Creator and His message to the world hinges on Jacob - not Esau.

This does not mean that now Jacob can rest on his laurels. On the contrary - the significance of G-d's directive means that now Jacob has to actualize the potential that he carries within.

"In the World to Come, they will not ask me why I was not Moses. They will ask me why I was not Zusha," said Rabbi Zusha of Anapoli. Jacob understood Rabbi Zusha's message. Now that he has received the Divine promise, he has no doubt as to his role in the world. The only question that remains is if Jacob will actualize all his Jacob potential. To foster this goal, Jacob vows:
"And this rock that I have set up for a pillar will be the House of G-d." Jacob declares that he is committed to his destiny.

What is Jacob's destiny?

The entire depiction of Jacob's dream begins and ends with the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. "A ladder planted on the ground and its top reaches the heavens."
The Temple is the connecting point between heaven and earth, between the physical and the meta-physical.

"G-d is truly in this place," says Jacob. It is entirely possible to live here in the Land of Israel with G-d in our midst. Judaism is not about Christian asceticism or Moslem animal lusts. At the Temple, we can naturally connect the mundane with the holy.

"This is none other than the House of G-d and this is the gateway to Heaven," Jacob continues. I am setting out on a long and exhausting path, strewn with obstacles. I will have to work hard, establish a family, establish a nation and stave off swindlers and murderous enemies. But I will always remember my destiny:

"And this rock that I have set up for a pillar will be the House of G-d."
This is my role in the world; from this place I must connect the plug to the socket; from this place I must connect humanity to its Creator.

Shabbat Shalom

Feiglin on Freedom, Darwin, Obama and Jewish Identity

This week, Moshe Feiglin was invited to speak at two major Likud meetings. The first was a gathering to support Likud Central Committee member, Dr. Gabi Avital, who was dismissed from his position as Head Scientist of the Ministry of Education after he suggested expanding mandatory science studies to include theories for creation other than Darwin's evolution theory. The second gathering was a "Tea Party" organized by former Likud MK Michael Kleiner under the heading: Saying No to Obama. Both gatherings were well-attended by major Likud figures and commanded much media attention. The following is a summary of Moshe Feiglin's words at these two gatherings.

In Support of Dr. Avital
The fundamental questions behind Dr. Avital's dismissal are: Is the State of Israel a free state? Is it a state of liberty and freedom of thought? As a believing man, I do not feel threatened by the evolution theory for two reasons: For one, it is clear to me that aside from kindergarteners, nobody else can really learn the story of Creation on its simple level. On the other hand, Darwin's theory is no more than a theory that must be able to withstand the critique of common sense.

To me, for example, it is not clear where exactly in the Darwinist chain of development man cultivated the ability to differentiate between good and bad. In other words, from what animal, specifically, did we inherit morality? Obviously, Darwin's theory cannot explain that and actually - under the surface - claims that there is no such thing. That is the secret of the appeal that Darwin has had for humanity ever since it was introduced. It frees man of the chains of morality. What fun to be cultured monkeys, free of any limits or moral concerns.

There were those who took Darwin's theory to its ultimate conclusion and claimed that there really is no such thing as morality. It is all just a fabrication of the elites, they claimed, based on personal interest. From there, the path to the racial doctrine of the Nazis was short.

The enlightened witch hunt organized against Dr. Avital could not have been written better by George Orwell, himself. It was the thought police at their finest.

It would be worthwhile for the enlightened tyranny that forcibly sealed its ears and scurried to fire the scientist who merely suggested that students learn additional theories - to remember that there is no Nazism without Darwinism. This does not mean that Darwinism should be censored. On the contrary, it is important to learn as much as possible. But in this case, the religious fanaticism, darkness and threat hovering over man's liberty and freedom of thought do not emanate from the dismissed, but rather from the dismissers.

Moshe Feiglin's Remarks at Michael Kleiner's Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a major milestone on the way to the independence of the American colonies. Let us pray that this small tea party will also be a milestone on the way to an independent Israel.

In order to say no to Obama, we have to be able to say yes to ourselves. For the past ten years, Manhigut Yehudit has been explaining that the State of Israel must be a truly Jewish state. We asserted that the loss of our Jewish identity is the main cause of our diplomatic collapse. It was difficult for people to listen. It is much easier to declare that we are a Jewish state but in practice to disengage from any practical obligation toward our Jewish essence. It is more comfortable to forget our Jewish identity and to build an imitation of other nations; the Singapore of the Middle East, in the words of Peres.

We didn't want to hear this message from Manhigut Yehudit - so now we are hearing it from Abu Mazen and from more and more nations of the world that do not accept the right of self definition of the Jewish nation. Currently, Israel recognizes the "Palestinian" nation and its right to a state in the heart of the Land of Israel, but this non-nation does not recognize the Jewish nation and is not willing to accept Jewish rights for any type of sovereignty in the Land of Israel - or in any other place on the face of the earth.

But how can we complain about Abu Mazen for not recognizing Israel as a Jewish state when we have abandoned the holiest place for the Jewish Nation - the Temple Mount - to control of the Moslem wakf? How can we complain about Abu Mazen when we allow the remnants of the first and second Temples to be strewn about on the Temple Mount as so much rubbish? If we are complacent when our state turns its back on the foundations of our national identity, what can we expect from the nations of the world?

If we want to say no to Obama, we must first say yes - to a truly Jewish state.

Open Hunting Season on the Ultra-Orthodox

By Moshe Feiglin

1 Kislev, 5771
Nov. 8, '10

Translated from Ma'ariv's NRG website

Editor's Note: A major controversy and media brouhaha has surfaced over the small increase in state funded stipends that married yeshiva students learning Torah full-time are slated to receive. The university students, backed by some politicians, have protested loudly, claiming that the increase is unfair to them.

To me, it looks like somebody involved with the student's protest against the Ultra-Orthodox wants to run for office. Usually, a protesting group has some goals. If the students would be demonstrating for additional funding for higher education, I would understand. But why are they demonstrating against the Ultra-Orthodox? It is impossible not to sense that this is a simple case of Ultra-Orthodox bashing that will help somebody to get elected. I have no other explanation.

We could argue over whether it is worthy or not for a Jewish state to provide men who study Torah full time with a miniscule stipend. What is not clear is why the funds that the Ultra-Orthodox get is called 'extortion', while what the Broadcasting Authority or the theatre get from our taxes is called 'democracy at its finest'.

As a rule, I would be pleased if the state would pay no one. A community that would like theatre should allocate funds for theatre. A community that would like full-time Torah study should allocate money for Torah students. A community that would like both should fund both. I am a proponent of minimal state intervention in every area except for security and justice.

Until that goal is accomplished, though, we have to live with Big Brother and the regime that is still tainted with socialism from the days of Mapai. We have no choice but to try to understand what lies behind this controversy.

The Ultra-Orthodox are completely right about the value of Torah learning. More than the Nation of Israel has protected the Torah, the Torah has protected the Nation of Israel. Our short experience of the last 3,000 years has taught us absolutely that without Torah, the Jews simply disappear off the pages of history. So when the Ultra-Orthodox say that Torah study protects us - we should take them very seriously.

This is the place for two qualifications: First, are all of these Ultra-Orthodox men really learning Torah? Second, why just the Ultra-Orthodox? Why can't every Jew who learns Torah receive a government stipend?

I have no doubt that many men in the Ultra-Orthodox community are seriously learning Torah day and night - despite the smear campaign against them. The problem is that Ultra-Orthodox society more or less forces all young men to learn Torah exclusively. This cannot work. Most people are not capable of learning all day long for years upon years. Ultra-Orthodox society must change its approach to those members of its ranks whose first choice is to join the work force while setting aside time in their busy schedules for Torah study. This is not the taxpayers' problem. First and foremost, it is the problem of thousands of Ultra-Orthodox men who would like to live normal lives and work to provide for their families but instead find themselves trapped on a one-way track.

As to who should receive the Torah-study stipend, there should be no connection between the stipend and the Ultra-Orthodox. Every Jewish citizen of any stripe who decides to devote himself full-time to Torah study should receive the same symbolic assistance that the Jewish state now gives the Ultra-Orthodox Torah students. The Torah is our culture and the essence of our existence - certainly no less than the opera, for example.

This is a fine solution for the demonstrating students. What is the problem? You can also get stipends. All that you have to do is to sit and learn Torah.

Esau: Back to Old Tricks

By Moshe Feiglin

And Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and he rose and he left and Esau scorned the birthright. (From this week's Torah portion, Toldot, Genesis 25:34)

When Esau heard his father's words, and he cried an exceedingly great and bitter cry and he said to his father: Bless me as well, my father. (Genesis 27:34)

Esau scorned the birthright and sold it for a pot of lentil stew. Yet he cries an "exceedingly great and bitter cry" when his brother receives the firstborn's blessing. Esau's descendants practice the same mode of behavior until this very day. Until the Nation of Israel returned to its homeland, the Land of Israel laid desolate, of interest to no one. As soon as Jacob's descendants returned, Esau's descendants woke up and began to cry "an exceedingly great and bitter cry."

It is worthwhile to look at the picture of the Temple Mount above, taken in 1877. Note the thorns and thistles, neglect and desolation. There was no Palestinian nation, no Palestinian state. Before the miraculous 1967 war, the Arabs claimed land inside the borders of what was then the State of Israel. They did not demand land held by the Jordanians. They were not interested in land that was not in Israel's hands.

It is not the blessing that makes Jacob. It is Jacob who gives significance to the blessing. Now that the two have connected, Esau is jealous of the result. The deep hatred burning in his gut stems from the understanding that the essential truth is that he is not the first-born; the dynasty of Abraham and Isaac will not continue through him - and the blessing will not be bestowed upon him.

Esau was right. He really has nothing to do with Jacob's blessing. He knew that then and he understands it well today. But then as now - he will certainly raise a ruckus.

Progressing from 'Who' to 'What'

By Moshe Feiglin From the moment that Manhigut Yehudit understood that in order to save Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel we must establish Jewish leadership for Israel, we faced two problems. The first problem was that we had no candidate. The second problem was that - unlike any other candidate from the Right or Left - we had no clear policies. Ultimately, we decided to simply start. We assumed that when we would designate a candidate, debate about policies would ensue, new ideas would be born, policy papers for a Jewish State would be written and everything would eventually fall into place. It was no simple matter to find a candidate and to position him as a contender for leadership of the country. Ideas that seem unremarkable today looked totally hallucinatory then. Nevertheless, we managed to find the correct political venue and the faith-based candidate achieved second place in the primaries for leadership of the Likud. The media was fascinated and the political establishment viewed the move with the utmost seriousness. We have successfully answered the 'Who' question - but the 'What' question still hangs in the air. Manhigut Yehudit's strategic goal is to bring the majority of Israelis to the conclusion that there is a different path - a Jewish path that is relevant to all of us. There is a different agenda, there are different rules, different goals - an all-encompassing truth that imbues us with confidence and hope. The public has been victimized by a strong dose of brainwashing that blinds it to other alternatives and to the reality that it faces. Manhigut Yehudit does not mean Iran, coercion or a halachic state. It means freedom of thought and freedom of choice. It fits every Jew who wants a state that expresses his essence. Now that our political foundation has been laid and we have gained firm footing in the public consciousness, we are moving the focus of our activities. Over the next months, we will be creating tools to encourage the public to dream the impossible dream and to will it into reality. As soon as the Israeli public sincerely wills an authentically Jewish state, it will become a dream come true, with G-d's help.

Rabin Who?

By Moshe Feiglin

24 Cheshvan, 5771
Nov. 1, '10

Translated from Ma'ariv's NRG website

There is a major discrepancy between the national energies invested in commemorating Yitzchak Rabin and the way the man is perceived by a growing majority of Israel's public. In all the official media, some sort of mourning takes place during the weeks surrounding the date of his assassination. But under the surface, the public is - at best - distancing itself from Rabin.

The assassination of a prime minister is a terrible thing. Its social significance is far broader than its personal aspect. It is certainly appropriate that Rabin Memorial Day should be a meaningful day for all of us. Why hasn't that happened? Why is just the opposite taking place? Because Yitzchak Rabin made a grave mistake when he submitted to the pressure of the Oslo cabal and decided to spearhead this madness.

What does that have to do with Rabin's memorial? Why mix his commemoration with politics? Because Oslo is far beyond a political dispute. Oslo is a menace that perpetually pursues and murders us. Just a few weeks ago, four Jews from Beit Hagai were murdered on the road by terrorists who were released as part of the cursed Oslo process.

The process that began when Yitzchak Rabin shook hands with the head of the Organization to Liberate the Land of Israel from the Jews (PLO) brought us much more than an unending trail of blood. Prior to Rabin, all of Israel's prime ministers - from both Right and Left - understood that it was dangerous to speak with, meet or recognize the PLO in any manner. Our conflict with the terror organizations is not a border dispute. The terrorists' goal is to totally undermine the right of Jews to establish a state in any place in the Land of Israel. Rabin's handshake with Arafat was essentially Israel's recognition of the "Palestinian" claim. Fifteen years later the world says: If you admit that you stole half the Land, then the other half is not yours either. Your presence here is one big crime.

All the Jewish Agency's volunteer ambassadors and all the millions to be invested in PR world-wide will no longer help. From the moment that we recognized the "Palestinian" claim, we pulled the existential foundation out from under our own feet and the State of Israel lost its legitimacy to exist.

To properly commemorate Rabin, we must be able to admit that Oslo was a grave error and to separate the faulty policies from the man. But in the 15 years since Rabin's assassination, just the opposite has occurred. Rabin's political camp created an intrinsic bond between the man and his politics. Whoever opposed his policies was summarily demonized. In this manner - almost coercively - the shock from the assassination was used to force Israeli society to continue down the Oslo path.

It worked very well. The fact is that today, the Likud, Labor and Kadimah all propose precisely the same thing: Oslo. Rabin's assassination was used to neutralize Israeli society from any other option.

With the last remnants of healthy reasoning that have survived the 15 year Rabin brainwashing campaign, the average Israeli understands where Rabin's commemoration is leading - and he has had enough.

It's Not Enough to be Right

By Moshe Feiglin

"And the man looked wondrously upon her, silently waiting to know if G-d had made his journey successful or not." (From this week's Torah portion, Chayei Sarah, Genesis 24:21)

Reality is turning out to be just as we predicted. All of our prophecies of doom have turned out to be exactly what happened. The rockets actually did crash into Ashkelon. Part of Israeli society actually is turning its back on the Land of Israel and its associated values. Israel really has lost its legitimacy as a result. We can only look on in wonder at how accurately we were able to portray what would take place.

We said that ultimately, the High Court's scorn of our Nation's Jewish values would become a double edged sword that would bring about its loss of legitimacy in Israeli society. That is exactly what has happened.

The annual days of incitement against the Right on the anniversary of Rabin's assassination have brought the leaders of the Labor party to find ways to disassociate themselves from Rabin - or face the disdain of the public.

We look on in wonder, as reality plays out the scenarios that we predicted.
But despite the clear proofs that his plan is working, Eliezer the servant of Abraham remains unsure if G-d has made his mission successful or not.

The fact that we were right in no way ensures that we will succeed. As of now, the opposite is true. We look on in wonder, but nonetheless reality continues to march along the Oslo path. Being right does not guarantee results. We have to work to realize our goals.

If we do not introduce Israeli society to an alternative to Oslo, it will continue to march down the only path it knows.

And we can continue to look on in wonder.

Shabbat Shalom

Abraham and Ahmadinijad

By Moshe Feiglin

20 Cheshvan, 5771
Oct. 28, '10

Translated from Ma'ariv's NRG website.

Listening to the Torah reading this past Shabbat in the synagogue, I realized what Ahmadinijad was looking for in his highly publicized visit of Israel's border with Lebanon. After all, Ahmadinijad is not stupid. Why would the president of a large and powerful state come to a dingy Lebanese town to yell into loudspeakers that could be heard all the way to Tiberias? If we dismiss his actions by simply pronouncing him a toy soldier with an ego problem, we are not being serious. Ahmadinijad is a head of state who does not lack attention.

Haman-dinijad could have made his speech in his sheltered parliament in Tehran, far away from the IDF's UAVs and from the risk that somebody in Israel would nevertheless decide to eliminate him. What exactly did he gain by sticking his head into the lion's mouth? What was the gain that justified the risk?

"Go forth," the King of the world says to Abraham; go to the Land of Israel. And Abraham goes forth - no questions asked. Abraham's nephew Lot comes with him, eventually settling in the Biblical predecessor to Las Vegas - Sin City - Sodom. In the meantime, Abraham continues his journey through the Land of Israel. True, he had a promise from the Master of the Universe, Himself. But in the meantime, he was nothing more than a new immigrant, bereft of clear territory and certainly unimpressive relative to the ancient cultures residing in the Land.

Then war breaks out - a war in which the new immigrant has no part:

And the king of Sodom and the king of Amorah and the king of Admah and the king of Tzvoyim and the king of Bela, which is Tzo'ar, went out and waged war with them in the Valley of Sidim. With Kdarla'omer the king of Eilam and Tid'al the king of Goyim and Amrafel the king of Shin'ar and Aryoch the king of Elasar - four kings against the five. (Last week's Torah portion, Lech Lecha, Genesis 14:8-9)

Lot, who had settled in Sodom to make money, finds himself on the wrong side of the battle and is taken captive. The modern-day, strong and sovereign State of Israel is not capable of releasing a soldier held captive for years just a few kilometers from its border. But Abraham does not wait for a minute:

And Abram heard that his brother was captured and he led his trained men, born in his house, forth; three hundred and eighteen, and he pursued until Dan. And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants and he smote them and chased them until Hova to the left of Damascus. (Genesis 14:14-15)

What happened to Abraham? Did he go completely crazy? Why did he and his tiny army of 318 pursue the triumphant alliance of regional armies all the way to Damascus? And all for Lot, who had cast his lot with the evil city of Sodom? Why didn't he just look the other way?

Abraham understood something that is currently completely outside our frame of reference. He understood that if the locals would see that he did not respond after his relative was taken captive, he would never attain the status of landowner in his new home. True, G-d had sent him to this Land, but that did not absolve him of fighting for it when necessary.

There are situations in which pragmatic, rational considerations must be sidelined in favor of long-term concerns. Abraham would never be able to shake off his dependant foreigner status if he would not prove that whoever harms his family would have to pay a steep price. The question of victory or loss in the war was secondary in this case to the necessity to prove that he was willing to fight for his sovereign existence.

Sure enough, Abraham's victory over the Northern Kings Alliance - a victory described by military historian Uri Milstein as one of the greatest strategic triumphs in military history - is followed by the Covenant of the Pieces and inheritance of the Land:

On that day G-d made a covenant with Abram saying: To your children I have given this Land, from the river of Egypt until the great river, the river Euphrates. And the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite. And the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim. And the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite. (Genesis 15:18-21)

Now let us return to last week's events and what Ahmadinijad was looking for. The keen Persian villain understands that we have forgotten Abraham's lesson. He wasn't just looking to come to our border and inflate his chest. Ahmadinijad was well aware that nobody in Israel would dare harm him. That is exactly what he wanted the world to see. 3,748 years after Abraham's war to redeem Lot, it is possible to take Israeli captives, to openly plan Israel's destruction, to dare Israel and its mighty army to attack the chief villain - and to emerge safe and sound.

Ahmadinijad's message to the world is clear: Abraham's achievements were temporary; his children really do not belong in the Land and are not sovereign there. They are simply immigrants living there on borrowed time. This is the achievement that he brought back with him to Tehran.

Leadership and Vision

By Moshe Feiglin

As part of its Yitzchak Rabin memorial project, Ma'ariv's NRG website asked Moshe Feiglin to write an article to analyze if there are any leaders or potential leaders in Israel today who can match Rabin's "leadership and charisma." The following is Moshe Feiglin's essay, translated from Hebrew.

20 Cheshvan, 5771
Oct. 28, '10

It is difficult to separate reality from myth. We build myths to serve our needs in the present. But in no time at all the myths turn into historical fact that defies challenge.

Our natural yearning for real leadership creates the myth of the leaders of the past. But the truth is that the only real leader that the State of Israel has known was David Ben Gurion.

I do not know where Ben Gurion is right now - in heaven or in hell. Ben Gurion, the schemer who crushed anyone in his way, the man responsible for the Saison and the Altalena, who handed his brothers over to the enemy and weaved a small civil war against them to consolidate his power - was also Ben Gurion the private who understood military strategy better than all the generals, the man who truly built the IDF and without whose learning ability, perseverance and historical vision - we would clearly not have a state today.

In other words, I am certainly not a big admirer of Ben Gurion - but the man truly was a leader. I cannot say that of any other leader who came after him. Not even of Menachem Begin, toward whom I feel much more amity.

Many fine and talented people have led our state. Some contributed more and some less. But they were not true leaders. The reason for that is simple: They lacked the most basic requirement of any leader: Vision.
The most experienced driver who does not know what his destination is should really leave the driving to a less experienced person who knows where he wants to go.

Ben Gurion was a leader, not only because of his personality but first and foremost because his goal was clear and simple: To turn the Jewish settlement in Israel into a sovereign state. If he had come into power ten years later, it is doubtful that he would have been able to fully express his leadership potential. The goal, the destiny, the vision - are what leadership is made of - not the opposite.

The leaders who succeeded the first prime minister no longer enjoyed the advantage of having a clear and simple existential goal from which to draw their leadership. They provided maintenance for Israel's existence and ignored its destiny. But as the State's physical existence - military and economic - solidified, the need for a vision outside Israel's sovereign, physical existence became clear. Israel's leaders have preferred to flee this vision. This makes them 'non-leaders.'

Some claim that Yitzchak Rabin and Shimon Peres were leaders because they were the first statesmen since Ben Gurion to establish a new vision: The "peace vision." But this is nothing more than deception. The "peace vision" falsely portrays existence as destiny. It turns the de facto situation into the choice option. "Peace" in this vision is a situation of non-belligerence and serenity. This is certainly a worthy state, but it has nothing to do with vision. On the contrary - it perpetuates and glorifies the lack of vision and effectively expresses the non-leadership/populism of the person who conjures it up.

A quick glance at the values of the French Revolution or the American Constitution reveals concepts like liberty, equality and brotherhood. Peace as a goal does not appear there and cannot appear. Nations go to war for liberty, equality and brotherhood. Peace is the result of these goals - not the goal itself. When peace turns into the goal - when existence turns into destiny - the result is terrible bloodshed and the loss of legitimacy that we are experiencing today.

The peace aspirations of the Western nations cleared the way for the rise of Nazism and led to the most horrific of wars. The simple fact is that the "peace" process has brought us to the point where Israel's leaders can no longer travel freely to Western capitals; some of them even have arrest warrants waiting for them in Europe. The very legitimacy for the existence of a state that is incapable of establishing a vision for which it is willing to fight - is disappearing before our eyes.

Beginning from Yitzchak Rabin's second term, the built-in lack of leadership of the Israeli regime became even more sophisticated: It began to iconize its lack of destiny. Not one prime minister who succeeded him managed to establish true goals and to change Israel's direction. Binyamin Netanyahu, who brought up the issue of the Jewish State for public debate, has a chance to do so and to become a leader - as long as the Jewish State issue will be a strategic statement and not just a political tactic designed to throw the ball to the other side of the court.

Israel's Front Porch

By Moshe Feiglin

12 Cheshvan, 5771
Oct. 20, '10

Translated from Ma'ariv's NRG website.

I get to Elmatan almost every morning - on my mountain bike. The dried creek beds and mountains on the way there and back provide me with half an hour of solace and physical fitness that are the dream of every mountain rider. After ten years of riding here and playing catch with the sun's first morning rays, I thought that I had already seen all the different views from Elmatan. Nevertheless, it is important for me to share this picture of the Elmatan synagogue with you:

Elmatan is a "mixed" outpost - a neighborhood of the Ma'aleh Shomron settlement that is open to everyone - with or without a kippah on his head. They built the synagogue pictured here about a year ago. Israel's Supreme Court has ordered the synagogue to be sealed off. Mosques are popping up like mushrooms after the rain in this entire area - which is under Israeli jurisdiction - and nobody dares touch them. But the synagogue within the boundaries of the Elmatan settlement unhinges the "rule of law" clan. Their norms dictate that the Arabs here are permanent while the Jews are a passing phenomenon. I am talking about Tel Aviv, of course.

Due to the fact that last week it looked like the government was going to seal off the synagogue, the residents of Elmatan asked the residents of Ginot Shomron, where I live, to come and boost the regular prayers there. And so, after my bike ride and shower, I picked up my son and we drove over to Elmatan for the morning prayers.

There are more panoramic views of the country than from Elmatan. From Moshe Zar's house at the top of the mountain, for example, the entire State of Israel is laid out on the palm of your hand; from the slopes of the Carmel Mountain all the way down to the shores of Gaza. I stood there once on a clear day and watched the unloading of coal for the power plant in Hadera through my binoculars. In his better days, Arik Sharon would bring US senators to the home of his buddy from Israel's famous battles and explain the strategic importance of Judea and Samaria to the American lawmakers from Moshe Zar's back yard. "Israel's front porch," he would call it.

I do not believe in basing our claim to the Land of Israel on security interests. It simply does not work. We are here in the Land of Israel because it is ours, because this is our Land and our home and this is our life. Without it, we have no ability to build, strengthen our character and fulfill our destiny. We are here in the most simple and natural way and whoever tries to take this Land from me will have to kill me first. If you are not feeling up to the task of keeping and guarding this Land, you can leave. But nobody has the right to uproot Jews from their homes and their Land. This is very simple and has no connection to the welfare of Tel Aviv with or without the Shomron.

Nevertheless, when a photographer arrived in Elmatan, I asked her to take a picture of the view glittering before my eyes at 6:30 a.m. from the synagogue that the High Court ordered sealed.

Never mind the fact that from here they will fire Katyushas at Tel Aviv, just like they fire them now at Be'er Sheva from the ruins of Gush Katif. That is really not the point. I just felt that there is so much symbolism in this surrealistic sight of the state of Tel Aviv spread out below the small synagogue from which - among other things - it draws the justification for its existence - and which it insists on destroying.

All the towers there, at the feet of the small synagogue, all the modern interchanges and even the permanent cloud of pollution over Tel Aviv that can be detected in the photo - all this amazing achievement of Zionism is planted on shifting sands. The more that we have disengaged from our Land and our identity, the more we have lost the legitimacy for the very existence of a Jewish state on the face of the earth. We have all the military prowess necessary to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat. But we lack the fortitude and courage to do what we must for the coming generations because deep down, we have lost our faith in the justice of our existence here.

If it is illegal to build a synagogue in Israel's heartland, then certainly the Azrieli Towers there on the coastal lowlands are not legitimate. Soon there will be Congressional elections in the US. Afterwards, the cat in the Oval Office will come back to derisively torment the Israeli mouse and invigorate world anti-Semitism. And then what will we do? On whom and on what will we rely after we have invalidated the justice of our existence here with our very own hands?

Physically, Elmatan hinges on Tel Aviv. But the opposite is also true. Just look at what happened to the State of Israel after the destruction of Gush Katif. Just look at how our international legitimacy has eroded, how the dangers surrounding us have intensified and how the ability to defend ourselves has been abrogated.

This week the sealing of the synagogue in Elmatan has been postponed. Tel Aviv can breathe a sigh of relief.

Recognize Us Pleeeaaase!

By Moshe Feiglin

At the beginning of the week the headlines announced that Israel's Prime Minister is willing to renew the building moratorium in Judea and Samaria in exchange for "Palestinian" recognition of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish nation. On the surface, this is another successful maneuver for Netanyahu. It was obvious from the start that the Arabs would reject the proposal and that Israel, in its great wisdom, would be able to roll the hot potato back to the opposite team, saving Judea and Samaria from a building moratorium in the process. If so, we should thank Netanyahu for his brilliant efforts and "strengthen him," as the loyal Likud MKs suggest.

But this is where the problem lies. On the plane on which Netanyahu, Lieberman and many other good people from the national camp work, it is impossible to initiate any position. All that we can say is: "When you finish dealing with the problems in Europe, we will talk." Or "When you recognize us as a Jewish state, we will halt the construction."

"Israel has no foreign policy - only internal policy," said a smart but disloyal Jew, Henry Kissinger, US Secretary of State during the Yom Kippur War.

In truth, Israel cannot have a foreign policy predicated on a nationalism that has no content. The result is a "coincidental" foreign policy that can react but never initiate. "They will give and then they will get. If they don't give, they won't get," in the words of Netanyahu. This is not the product of the weakness of any particular leader. Instead, it is a fundamental weak point that we have carried on our backs since we returned to our Land. We returned to our nationalism - but we left G-d outside.

The surrender of our destiny has cast a long shadow over our existence. "Recognize us, pleeease! We will give you everything if you stop threatening us and let us live in peace without having to deal with our destiny." But the shadow is persistent. "If you are not you, then I am not your shadow. In fact, you are my shadow, and I will absolutely not recognize you."

It is difficult to think of a more humiliating proposal than our offer to the nobodies in Ramallah to take the Land of Israel off our hands if they will just be kind enough to recognize us. Somebody in Jerusalem has forgotten the first verse of this week's Torah portion. Our entire existence as a nation leads to the Land of Israel and is informed by it.

Proposals such as these necessarily lead to loss of our national honor and to the loss of the political gain that the proposed surrender was supposed to garner. International pressure to continue the building moratorium will not decrease. It will intensify, as it has after every retreat. For if you were willing to stop construction in exchange for the lip service of a murderer (Abu Mazen) then you have shown that his demands are just.

Our demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish state will melt away, of course. Because between us, all that we really want is a safe place under the sun - the Singapore of the Middle East, in the words of Shimon Peres. Nobody will really stand up to the determination of the shadow and make a fuss over definitions that to us - are meaningless.

Once again, we come face to face with the facts: The problem is not a particular leader, but rather the frame of reference in which the parties play the game. Slowly but surely, the new arena is being built. Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburg explains that the opening words of this week's Torah portion, Lech Lecha shares a root with the Hebrew word for "dirt." We are getting dirty on the political field. But from this dirt we are building the new consciousness for authentic Jewish leadership for Israel.

The Land of Israel: Destination and Destiny

By Moshe Feiglin

"Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from the house of your father to the Land that I will show you." (From this week's Torah portion, Lech Lecha, Genesis 12:1)

The first Torah portion in the Bible is dedicated to creation and the second to humanity. From this week's Torah portion, we embark on the grand epoch of the Nation of Israel.

" Go forth to the Land." From the very first sentence that defines the Nation of Israel, the Land of Israel is designated as the goal and the irreplaceable tool; everything passes through it and everything hinges upon it. The entire sojourn of the Nation of Israel to its destiny is played out on the backdrop of the Land of Israel. The Land is not only the stage. It is the final destination and the destiny.

"Have you already finished solving all of Europe's problems?" Foreign Minister Lieberman justifiably asked his European counterparts.
Technically, Lieberman is right and it is a relief to finally hear an Israeli official make a remark on an international stage that retains a bit of national pride. But in practice, Lieberman's remarks will make no difference. The drive of the nations of the world to snatch the Land of Israel from our hands has nothing to do with "peace" and not even with conflict resolution. They are simply afraid of the connection between the Nation of Israel and its Land. This connection poses a threat to the evil parts of humanity. They are afraid of the settlements like darkness is afraid of light.

National pride is a vital foundation. That is why the national camp that progressed from socialist universalism to the Israeli pride of Jabotinsky is our relevant arena. But whoever gets stuck in simple national pride finds himself at a dead end. Ultimately, he will do more harm to the connection with the Land of Israel than the Left. Nationalism alone is capable of motivating the nations of the world. But for Israel, it is a means to a holy end. When the holy goal is missing, the tool falls apart.

Manhigut Yehudit's goal is to bring the content into the tool. We look on in wonder at the sea change in the thought patterns of the faith-based public. We understand that the widespread registration for the Likud in the past few months is much deeper than simple political tactics.

With G-d's help, we will merit to speedily complete this process and to lead the Nation of Israel to its universal goal: " And all the nations of the world will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:3)

Shabbat Shalom