Justice and the Land

By Moshe Feiglin


"Judges and police you shall put in all your gates that G-d, your G-d gives you." (From this week's Torah portion, Shoftim, Deuteronomy 16:18)
"Justice, justice you shall pursue so that you may live and you will inherit the Land that G-d your G-d gives you." (ibid 20)
The Land is from G-d and justice is from G-d. If you forget that, you will not have a Land and you will not have a state. There is no such thing as a state without a court system - that is clear. The very essence of the state is its authority and obligation to create and implement a justice system. But when the justice system thinks that it can draw judgment and justice from within itself - "the test of the enlightened man -" in the words of the oracle of Israel's justice system, the entire system goes into a tailspin and brings about the loss of the state.

In order to inherit the Land, we need judges and police who act justly because they understand Who gives the Land to us.

Shabbat Shalom

HaRav Nachman Kahana on Parashat Shoftim 5772

BS"D

Parashat Shoftim 5772

DEDICATED TO FIVE ANONYMOUS JERUSALEM CAB DRIVERS.

Our parasha begins:

שֹפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת הָעָם מִשְׁפַּט צֶדֶק:

You shall appoint judges and police in all the gates that the Lord God gives you in your tribes, and they shall judge the people in righteous justice.

Rashi explains that shoftim are the judicial wing of the Torah and shotrim are the enforcement agencies, who "coerce the people to comply with the judgements with a rod and whip".

Questions:

1) Is this the best the Torah can hope for from God’s chosen people who are supposed to love and be in awe of our Father the King, that police have to coerce them to abide by halachic judgements? This is appropriate for the advancement of the evils of Islam in Saudi Arabia and Iran, not for the holy people of Israel!

2) Why were Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov not commanded to keep the 613 mitzvot?

3) Which generation is the greatest in Jewish history?

I submit:

Our father Avraham is called Avraham ha’Ivri. The root of "Ivri" is the three Hebrew letters ayin, vet, raish (ivr), which mean the "other side," like the other side of a river. The intent being that, while all the world was on the avoda zara (idolatry) side of human behavior and belief, Avraham was on their opposing side of monotheistic belief and behavior.

Avraham, having been born into one of the leading families of Ur Chasdim, received the highest academic and religious education of the time, together with the sons of the other intellectual elite. What did Avraham possess that the rest of his academic philosophical-intellectual world lacked? Why was Avraham able to see what others did not, or if they too saw, why did they not draw the theological conclusion of the validity of monotheism?

The Midrash (Vayikra Raba chap. 2) states:

אברהם קיים את התורה כולה

Avraham kept the entire Torah

How? He accomplished this intuitively, as the illustrious Bible commentator Malbim explains (Beraishiet 22):

והנה אברהם קיים התורה עד שלא נתנה כי נפשו היתה מלוטשת כמראת הצובאת נוכח האור העליון, עד שהביט בצורת נפשו באספקלריא המאירה כל פרטי המצות, אשר שרשם בהחכמה העליונה, שהיתה כשמש זורח ומגיה אור נפשו וקרנים מידה בסתרי לבבו הטהור

Avraham kept the Torah even before it was revealed. This was a result of his refined soul that functioned as a mirror reflecting the upper light (wisdom), from where he understood intuitively in his inner heart the will of HaShem.

Avraham was blessed with an innate, inherent, intrinsic spiritual orientation. That is not to say that Avraham’s search for HaShem was without struggle. Because Avraham, like all human beings, had to overcome his own yetzer harah (evil inclination), which is part and parcel of the human situation resulting from the expulsion of Adam and Chava from Gan Eden.

But once Avraham discovered the Prime Mover and Creator of all that exists, his soul became in the words of the Malbim, "as a mirror reflecting the upper light".

Avraham, unknowingly, was preparing the spiritual platform for his descendants, upon which the Torah could take root, as HaShem says in Beraishiet 18:18-19

ואברהם היו יהיה לגוי גדול ועצום ונברכו בו כל גויי הארץ:

כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו ושמרו דרך ה' לעשות צדקה ומשפט...

And Avraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through him;

For I known him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to cling to the way of HaShem, to do righteousness and justice...

Avraham’s unique soul was passed on to his son Yitzchak (skipping over Yishmael) who continued to develop the potential of that unique soul. And then to Ya’akov (skipping over Aisav) until the spiritual platform became sufficiently developed to be the innate soul of all future authentic Jews until this day.

The nucleus of the authentic Jewish soul, as we perceive in the lives of our forefathers, is its constant awareness of the Creator’s presence. This is what the Zohar means when it states:

קודשא בירך הוא אורייתא וישראל חד הוא

The Holy One Be He, the Torah and Yisrael are one .

This core belief, that HaShem is our Father and King, is what defines a Jew. Much of our history records individuals and communities who were far from Torah mitzvot, but at the last moment of their lives, when body and soul perceived each other "face to face", these distant Jews cried out Shema Yisrael - "I am a Jew. I know God".

Mitzvot must be learned. If one is born to a family that did not provide for Torah education, the chances that the children will be Torah observant are very slim. There are also people who were born into observant families, but were unable to resist the challenges of life’s temptations, and fell by the wayside of halachic Judaism. But despite one’s disappointing standing on the scale of religious observance, it does not detract in any way from the holy soul within him. If one should, God forbid, perform an act recognized as joining another faith, he remains, eternally, a Jew in this world as well as in the next world. There is no way that one can expunge, extirpate, nullify or obliterate one’s essential Jewish soul. This applies to anyone who was born of a Jewish mother and to righteous converts, to the same  degree.

Next is the answer to the second question, which is why the forefathers did not receive the Torah?

Going through the motions of a mitzva by one who does not possess the unique Jewish soul has no meaning, and can even be detrimental to the world!

The function of our fathers was to connect the ethereal world of spiritual potential with the "realities" of our world through the Jewish soul, so that the mental study of Torah and physical performance of mitzvot could construct the olam ha’tikun (the perfect world) of spiritual uniformity and harmony between the myriad entities created by an infinite God.

Now since the completion of the Jewish soul was accomplished only at the end of the lifetime of Ya’akov, only then could the process of Jewish nation building begin. It had to pass from the stage of Am Yisrael’s servitude to Paro to servitude to HaShem. At the foot of Mount Sinai, millions of Jewish souls stood who were then prepared, as a nation, to perform the mitzvot.

About the first question, why is it necessary to appoint shotrim to coerce Jews to abide by halachic judgements?

The command to appoint law enforcement officers was not in effect while the Jews were in the desert. The command was given only on the eve of our entering the Land. As long as we lived an insular Jewish existence, there was no need to enforce the halacha. But now, when the Jewish nation would be coming into contact with gentile beliefs and mores, those foreign influences might join together with the ever present yaytzer hara in weakening the influence of the Jewish soul.

As to the third question, which generation is the greatest in Jewish history?

We have first to determine the standard which will serve as the measuring stick for a generation.

If the criteria is the quantity and quality of miracles that HaShem performed, then the generation of the exodus wins gold, silver and bronze.

If the criteria is wealth, strength and esteem, then the generation of King Solomon takes center stage.

If the criteria is the dispersion of Torah knowledge among the whole nation, then the generation of King Chizkiyahu would be first, as the Gemara (Sanhedrin 94b) relates that in his time from Dan to Be’er Sheva there was not one person who was ignorant of the Torah, and between G’vat and Antiperes every man, woman and child were erudite in the laws of tuma and tahara (ritual purity).

If religious-national honor is the criteria than the generation of the Macabim would be first.

In my view, the measuring stick is when, for a myriad of reason, spiritual or physical persecution, exile, ignorance, false leaders and more, the generation finds itself far from a conscious Torah-mitzva life, but nevertheless, its innate Jewish soul shines forth to declare its loyalty to and dependence upon HaShem.

A generation that raises its eyes heavenward and says, "Ribbono Shel Olam (Master of the Universe). We have done all that is humanly possible . Now it is up to You to intercede on Your chosen nation’s behalf."

Echoing the words of Yo’av ben Tzeruya, King David’s Chief of Staff, to his troops in preparations for the critical battle against Amon and Aram (Shmuel 2 10:12

חזק ונתחזק בעד עמנו ובעד ערי א-להינו וה' יעשה הטוב בעיניו:

Be strong and of good courage for our nation and for our Lord’s cities. And HaShem will deliver the outcome that pleases Him.

The State of Israel is currently in an extremely delicate political-military situation. Iran, Egypt, Syria, Hizbulla, Hamas, the Arabs in Yehuda and Shomrom, the Arabs who are citizens of the State, and our "friends" in the west who believe they have succeeded in fooling us to believe that they are our friends are all opposing us.

I wanted to test out the mood of the "rank and file" of the silent majority at this time. What better way than the trusted consensus of taxi drivers?

Over the last three weeks, I engaged the drivers of my five taxi trips (there is no one easier to speak to than an Israeli taxi driver) with a vexing opening like, "Nu, hamatzav kasheh," (the situation is difficult).

These men were at best mesorati’im (traditional), and my comment aroused almost the same reaction from each one. "You are a rav. Where is your bie’ta’chon in HaShem? (trust in God).

This is the feeling among the vast majority of Israelis; which explains the optimism that runs throughout the nation, from the army down to the last citizen. This expression of total faith has nothing to do with religious observance. In 1967 we lived in the chassidic community of Kiryat Tzanz in Netanya. During the three week period of preparation preceding the Six Day War, many in the community fled the country, despite living a life of Torah and chassidus.

It has to do with the authentic Jewish neshama in the individual, that appears at the crucial times in a Jew’s life. if one cowers from the challenges of faith, he should question his roots.

No one knows how the future will unfold. Will we attack Iran? If yes, how and when will it happen. Will HaShem bring about an earthquake to swallow up all the Iranian nuclear sites, or tzunamis to engulf our ancient Nile enemy to the west? Will the United States lead the free world in removing the Iranian menace, or will the present U.S. President cringe behind his ideology of turning the US into a second rate country.

But here we all feel that a great surprise awaits the world, very shortly.

The vast majority of Jews today in Eretz Yisrael were chosen by HaShem, who knows the holy souls of each one of His people, to rebuild His tattered nation and land.

How proud are the people of Israel in Eretz Yisrael who are the authentic chosen of HaShem. In time, as the scars of the galut heal and disappear, the entire nation here will return to a life of active Torah study and mitzvot; it is happening daily before our very eyes.

All the ideas expressed above are contained in chapter 27 of Tehillim, which we recite twice daily beginning with Rosh Chodesh Elul until the end of Shemini Atzeret.

)א) לדוד ה' אורי וישעי ממי אירא ה' מעוז חיי ממי אפחד:

)ב) בקרב עלי מרעים לאכל את בשרי צרי ואיבי לי המה כשלו ונפלו:

)ג) אם תחנה עלי מחנה לא יירא לבי אם תקום עלי מלחמה בזאת אני בוטח:

)ד) אחת שאלתי מאת ה' אותה אבקש שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי לחזות בנעם ה' ולבקר בהיכלו:

)ה) כי יצפנני בסכה ביום רעה יסתרני בסתר אהלו בצור ירוממני:

)ו) ועתה ירום ראשי על איבי סביבותי ואזבחה באהלו זבחי תרועה אשירה ואזמרה לה':

)ז) שמע ה' קולי אקרא וחנני וענני:

)ח) לך אמר לבי בקשו פני את פניך ה' אבקש:

)ט) אל תסתר פניך ממני אל תט באף עבדך עזרתי היית אל תטשני ואל תעזבני אלהי ישעי:

)י) כי אבי ואמי עזבוני וה' יאספני:

)יא) הורני ה' דרכך ונחני בארח מישור למען שוררי:

)יב) אל תתנני בנפש צרי כי קמו בי עדי שקר ויפח חמס:

)יג) לולא האמנתי לראות בטוב ה' בארץ חיים:

)יד) קוה אל ה' חזק ויאמץ לבך וקוה אל ה':

Of David.

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked advance to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.

3 If an army shall besiege me, my heart will not fear; if war erupts against me, I will be confident in this....

4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and enter into His temple.

5 He will keep me safe in his dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.

7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.

8 My heart says of You, "I Seek Your face. The Lord, I will seek.

9 Do not hide Your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; You have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior.

10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.

11 Teach me Your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.

12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations.

13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Shabbat Shalom

Nachman Kahana

(c) Nachman Kahana 2012/5772

You Can Run But You Can't Hide

By Shmuel Sackett



This article appeared in the Aug 10th edition of Queens Jewish Link
Living in Israel is about many things but my favorite is the fact that you are surrounded by Judaism, everywhere you go. The cabs all have "Tefillat Ha'Derech" signs and most cab drivers – regardless of how they look – will tell you a wonderful D'var Torah about the Parsha of the week. Every store has a Mezuza – even the ones without a Kashrut certificate, everybody says "Shabbat Shalom" on Shabbat – even the ones at a soccer game and at least once each month Israelis are attending either a Brit Milah, kosher wedding or paying a shiva call.

In Israel, Judaism – or Yiddishkeit as I prefer to call it – is all around you. Don't get me wrong. I am well aware of my Jewish brothers and sisters who would prefer that this not be the case but like it or not, that is simply the way it is. Remember the commercial for Trix cereal where the slogan was: "Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids"?? Well, here in Israel, the expression is: "Silly Rabbit, Israel is for Jews"!!

A good friend of mine told me that recently he spent Shabbat in his father's hospital room in Shaarei Tzedek. The person next to his dad was listening to the radio when the top of the hour arrived for the news. The anchorman began his report by saying; "It is now 10:00 AM. Here is the news from Jerusalem. Shabbat Shalom." That started me thinking. Imagine a totally secular fellow from Ramat Aviv who plans on spending Shabbat wearing his new Speedo with his girlfriend on the beach in Herziliya (I will leave out what she will – or will not – be wearing). The last thing this guy wants is anything religious. He packs the car, picks up the girl and starts driving. A few minutes into the journey the news comes on his radio and the first thing he hears is: "Shabbat Shalom"

As the title of this article says: "You can run, but you can't hide". This poor guy who just wants some fun-in-the-sun is out of luck because Shabbat is coming with him. Allow me to shock you with some additional information. On Friday the beaches in Israel are packed. Most offices are closed on Friday so this has become almost like a "Sunday" to us and people use every second of that precious day. The problem is that the lifeguards go home at 5:00 PM and swimming is forbidden after that time. Why do they leave so early on Friday when the sun is still shining? Well, next time you are by the beach in Israel, hang around until 5:00 and listen to what the lifeguard announces: "Everyone out of the water. Swimming is now forbidden. All lifeguards are leaving. Shabbat shalom." Within minutes the beach clears out, people head for their cars and drive home. Trust me that I know what I am talking about. I live in Herziliya Pituach near the beach and see this with my own eyes each week. The parking lot empties and the streets are clear of traffic for the next 5 hours as people head home for Shabbat - even our buddy in his new Speedo. It is simply incredible.
So what does this all mean? Is Israel a Torah state? No, far from it. Will every Israeli become a "ba'al Teshuva" in the next 10 years? Hopefully, but not likely. Allow me to explain what being in a Jewish country really means.

Simply put it means you know who you are. You are a Jew. You may have tattoos, eat cheeseburgers or drive on Shabbat but deep down, you know you are a Jew - and you are proud of it, whether you are willing to admit it or not. Israel has the lowest intermarriage rate in the Jewish universe and 95% of Israeli couples get married according to the Orthodox Jewish tradition. Close to 98% of Jewish male babies have a proper Brit Milah and over 70% of Israeli women light Shabbat candles on Friday night. Nobody drives on Yom Kippur and close to 80% fast the full 25 hours. Yes, statistics show that even our Speedo-wearing friend will more than likely fast on Yom Kippur and will certainly wish everyone a "Shana Tova" and not mean January 1st. He will also have no idea what happened on December 25th nor what the term "Trick-or-Treat" means, but he will eat Matza on Pesach and cheese cake on Shavuot!

I have always felt that the source of Israel's pride in her Yiddishkeit stems from the fact that most of its citizens fulfill the most amazing Mitzvah of all; The one called "Mesirut Nefesh" (self-sacrifice) where one serves in the IDF and is willing to die for his/her people. I remember listening to a Rabbi in NY complain about how irreligious Israelis are. He had just returned home from visiting his son in the Mirrer Yeshiva and was reporting on his trip to the community. He bemoaned the fact that the Israeli youth don't "look Jewish" and how they have tattoos and body piercing far in excess of the non-Jewish youth in America. After dovenning was over I went to this Rabbi and told him that he shouldn't speak Lashon Hara about these Israeli youth. I told him that while their appearance pains me as well, should a war break out, his son will bolt out of the Mirrer Yeshiva and head straight to Mommy in NY while this tattoo kid will take an M16 and fight Hashem's battle. That tattoo kid – who later grows up to be the Speedo guy – is willing to die "Al Kiddush Hashem" (even if he can't explain what that means!) in order to save Jewish lives and the honor of Hashem. "That is the greatest Mitzvah of all", I said to the Rabbi, "so be careful what you say."

It is in that merit that our Father and King has granted success to the Jewish side of Israel. Yes, we have a long way to go and I am one of those working on it 24/7, but the air you breathe in Israel is one of Jewish tradition. I am sure that you can find many examples to the contrary but I choose to focus on the positive. We have a base on which to build. The people are willing to be "moser nefesh" and are proud of who they are.

Let's build from there.

A Vote at the United Church of Canada: the Tip of a Jewish Iceberg?

By Tuvia Brodie

On Friday, August 17, 2012, the United Church of Canada passed an anti-Israel boycott resolution at its triennial General Council Conference.  After failing to get a boycott vote passed at the 2006 and 2009 Conferences, Church leaders have finally succeeded. Unlike previous efforts, however, this  vote does not require a complete boycott; it focuses only on products made in ‘West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements’.

 Already, the Church stands accused of developing its case against Israel by distorting fact (Frontpagemag.com August 17, 2012). For example, the Church blames Israel exclusively for ‘violence’ in the Middle East and identifies Israel as an ‘occupier’ because it ‘captured territories’ in the 1967 six-day war (National Post, August 17, 2012). The resolution ignores the facts that much of this ‘territory’ had been granted to Israel by the United Nations in 1947, had been conquered and occupied by Jordan in a 1947-48 war of Arab aggression against Israel, and was then finally liberated by Israel in 1967. The Church singles out Israel as the only party in the Middle East solely responsible for peace.

There is no question this vote will be attacked. It is, after all, exclusively one-sided in identifying who should be punished for holding up peace. Someone will certainly call this boycott Church-inspired  anti-Semitism (JTA, August 17, 2012). For those who believe in interfaith dialogue, this vote could be a death-blow to Canadian interfaith relations (see The Globe and Mail, August 17-18, 2012).

But there is another way to look at this conversion of Religious moral authority into anti-Semitic politics-in-the-name-of-religion. The Jewish Tanach (our Bible) describes what will happen when the Destiny of the Jewish people is fulfilled; one of the ‘finalizing events’ is to be a universal recognition that the G-d of Israel is, alone, One and Supreme.

Have you ever wondered how that could happen? Why would non-Jews become motivated to call the G-d of Israel the only true G-d? Other religions have their own gods and religious narrative. What would cause people to turn against their gods?

While we do not have answers to those questions, we might be able to intuit how that scenario might unfold because we can sense a stage being set today for a non-Jewish religious upheaval.

The United Church of Canada (UCC) is a case in point—but not the only case. The UCC may be the largest Protestant denomination in Canada, but its membership has been declining, its finances are in crisis—and its vote against Israel may suggest a potentially disastrous disconnect with rank-and-file membership. It has been reported that less than five per cent of Church membership believe that Israel is the major obstacle to peace in the Middle East (Jerusalem Post), and yet Church leadership not only passed its boycott plan, but also another resolution that expresses regret for previously asking Palestinians to acknowledge Israel as a Jewish state (The Globe and Mail, August 17-18, 2012). The UCC has been pursuing a Leftist political agenda since perhaps the 1960s, and that activism has been credited with sparking a membership loss than continues today (The Globe and Mail, ibid).  According to two students of Church activity, Church membership could reach zero by 2040—an assessment that is probably more suggestive than correct, but is nonetheless a significant comment about the Church’s future potential (National Post, August 16, 2012; Frontpagemag.com, ibid). As the Church turns against Israel, it also turns increasingly to social and political agendas that eclipse its core theological beliefs (The National Post, ibid). In other words, its votes against Israel may be just one more step towards a bankruptcy that could be more than financial.

One month before the UCC vote, An Anglican Church of England Synod endorsed a ‘Programme in Palestine and Israel’ that used language which, at least according to one observer, ‘evoked nothing but simple anti-Semitic themes from history’ (www.thejc.com, July 12, 2012) and seriously threatens relations between Christians and Jews in the UK.

In October 2010, a Synod of the Catholic Church attacked Israel in a more serious manner. Not only did it use similar ‘occupation’ language to characterize Israel, it went further: the Bishop who led the Synod declared that Jews are no longer G-d’s Chosen, and Israel is no longer connected to Jews (CBN News, October 25, 2010).

These events suggest that the United Church of Canada, the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church have successfully created a major Christian offensive against Israel and, indirectly, Jews. Even if their individual attacks were not coordinated, they still, taken together, represent a Christian attack endorsed by Church leadership.

But while this is indeed unfortunate, what will the world’s Christians say when the G-d of Israel works open miracles for Israel? How will they respond to their Church’s openly anti-Jewish/anti-Israel pronouncements? What will happen when they compare the visible actions of the G-d of Israel against the official anti-Israel positions of their Church?

Is it possible that this official behaviour of these Christian denominations is unwittingly  paving the way to a religious upheaval that will in turn lead to a universal recognition that the G-d of Israel is indeed the One True Supreme—and that His Israel is truly His beloved?

Stay tuned.

From Loving Man to Loving Gd

By Michael Hirsch

This weekend marks the transition from the month of Menachem Av to Elul. As I wrote in an earlier note, Av marks many calamities in Jewish history, particularly the destruction of both the First and Second Temples. Also, as I previously noted, the Talmud tells us the Second Temple was destroyed due to idle hatred among Jews. We are also told that the Third Temple will be built when “idle” love between Jews replaces idle hatred.

 

Now, we enter the month of Elul, the prelude to the High Holy Days. This is a time of intense introspection, a time when we must define the path we will take to make ourselves better G-D-fearing Jews. So, that when we talk to G-d on New Year and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), we can sincerely beseech Him for forgiveness for the mistakes we have made in the past, and equally sincerely, promise to do better in the future. We can do this out of fear/awe of G-d, but as I wrote last week, we strive to do so from our love of G-D.

 

In effect then, the link between Menachem Av and Elul is quite clear—love. Last month, we should have worked on loving all our fellow men (remember the message from Rabbi. A.H. Cook of blessed memory); this month, we must work on loving G-D.

 

May the Lord answer all our prayers.

Brotherhood and Giving

By Michael Fuah

"Of a foreigner you may exact it; but whatsoever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release." (From this week's Torah portion, Re'eh, Deuteronomy 15:3) 

The line between 'your brother' and the 'foreigner' is not drawn out of hate or a desire to insult the foreigner, G-d forbid. It is an essential line drawn to build a national framework. A person who grows up in a healthy family framework that is part of a community, united with a nation that has a destiny and significance can give up his property - by choice - for the good of the other. This is the secret of the Shmittah of money once in seven years and the re-division of personal gain once every fifty years, in the Jubilee. On one hand, the Torah sanctifies personal property, which is the foundation of liberty. On the other hand, the Torah demands societal norms of concern for the weak - by choice and not by coercion. This unique way of life is neither capitalistic nor socialistic, nor is it a compromise between the two. It is a Jewish way of life, "for you are a holy nation to Hashem, your G-d, and Hashem has chosen you to be his treasured nation from among all the nations on the face of the earth." 

The ability to willingly and happily give up possessions for the welfare of someone less better off is acquired when there is a common destiny and when there is something to live for beyond material pleasure. "And you shall rejoice on your holidays, you and your son and your daughter and your servant and your maidservant and the Levite and the convert and the orphan and the widow who are within your gates." The nation rejoices when it is united, at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the place that G-d has chosen. 

Shabbat Shalom

HaRav Nachman Kahana on Parashat Re'eh 5772

BS"D

Parashat Re’eh 5772

Our parasha records HaShem’s command that on the very day the Jews enter Eretz Yisrael, they make their way to Alon Morah. There they will find a valley created by Mount Grizim to the south and Mount Eyal to the north. Half the tribes will ascend Mt. Grizim and half will ascend Mt. Eyval. The Holy Arc is to be placed in the valley, surrounded by the kohanim, and around the kohanim will be the levite elders with the main portion of the levites on the mountain.

The kohanim and levite elders will turn towards Mt. Grizim and declare the blessings which HaShem will present to those who keep the mitzvot and the curses to those who would reject them. A particular mitzva was voiced while facing Mt. Grizim, and the people would answer Amen. Then the kohanim and levite elders would turn towards Mt. Eyval and voice the curse on one who rejected the mitzva, and all would answer Amen.

This protocol is seemingly schematically too well defined. Blessing vs. curse; mitzva vs. sin. Isn’t there a middle way where one is not sinning nor is he performing a mitzva?

Let’s return to this later.

A:

This week, our Prime Minister and the Minister of Education went to visit several kindergartens and early education classes in the west of the country. And I asked myself, "Is that the best they can do for us at this most turbulent time in our history; to sit and draw pictures with with 5 year olds?"

Then I recalled a story. There was once a Polish poritz (land owner) whose wide ranging properties were dotted with Jewish shtetles. The poretz told his manager to increase the Jews’ taxes by 10% and then report to him of their reaction. The manager returned and said that the Jew are up at arms in anger. The poretz then instructed the manager to increase the taxes by another 10% and report back. He returned and said that the Jews are angrily demonstrating in the streets. At the third increase of taxes the manager reported that the Jews were now sitting back and laughing. The poretz instructed the manager to rescind the last increase.

The poretz then explained to the manager that when things get so far out of hand for the Jews, and there is nothing they can do, they sit back, have a good laugh and wait for their God to intervene - which He eventually does.

Mssrs. Netanyahu and Sa’ar looked over the globe in the PM’s office and said, "Lets take the day off and laugh with the children".

Where there is a mosque or church, anywhere in the world, it is a source of infective anti-Jew and anti-Israel hatred.

The UN is like a swarming mass of infective germs, microbes, bacterium, viruses etc, swarming around each other under a lab microscope. The automatic anti-Israel hand raise is common place in the Security Council, the General Assembly and in all the UN commissions. Israel is the only UN member state that cannot be a member of the Security Council, because we do not belong to any regional organization!

The European Union is no better in its attitude toward the Jewish State.

Today, most leaders of nations have their plates filled with unsolvable problems, but none have a plate as big as the one set before our Prime Minister.

Some of the minor problems facing the nation are: the civil war in Syria with hundreds of thousands of Syrians just waiting to escape to the Golan; the worsening economies of Europe where 30% of our exports go; the rising price of food and raw materials; the unfriendly nation of Turkey to the north; the wool being pulled over our eyes by the American administration which promises to deal with Iran but passes trivial sanctions, and thinks we believe them; and the millions of Jews in the U.S. who could not care less about the Jewish State.

The more serious problems are three major headaches facing the State of Israel: Hizbullah in Southern Lebanon with their tens of thousands of rockets and missiles supplied by Syria and Iran, Iran (modern day Persia) which is tinkering with the atomic bomb, and the newest member into the Islamic circus - Egypt, with the largest military in the Middle East.

Our situation is the setting for the "Greatest show on Earth", that HaShem will soon perform before mortal man.

I would like to address the major sources of stress in our lives, and attempt the impossible - to understand what HaShem is telling us.

Why Iran and why Hizbullah in Southern Lebanon? Egypt will come later.

The world owes the Jewish people enormous debts for our contributions to humanity, ranging from monotheism, Shabbat, justice, morality, science and so much more.

But there are two nations to whom we own a religious and national debt - Iran-Persia and Southern Lebanon.

Hiram, King of Tzur (Tyre) in southern Lebanon, supplied King Shlomo with construction materials and artisans for the first Bet HaMikdash. And although he was paid handsomely, it appears that his merit has not been fully balanced.

Cyrus; King of Persia, permitted the Jewish exiles in his lands to return and rebuild the Bet Ha’Mikdash. 42,000 took advantage of the opportunity, and returned to Eretz Yisrael to rebuild the Bet HaMikdash under the leadership of Ezra and Nechemia. For this we owe the Persians a debt.

HaShem, whose accounting system of right and wrong, justice and injustice, is perfect, will not consummate the redemption process of Am Yisrael, as long as we, the Jewish nation, continues to owe these debts surrounding the Bet Hamikdash.

With every day of belligerence and hatred by Iran and Hizbullah, the debt becomes smaller, until the hate neutralizes any residual good that they have done for us.

Egypt is another story. Their re-entry into headline history has more far reaching implications - the authenticity of the Bible itself.

Several times in the past, I have brought in these messages the commentary of the Malbim on the book of Yechezkel (Ezekiel) chapter 32 verse 17.

It will come to pass in the end of days, after the Jewish people will return to the land of Israel, that the nations will come together in order to capture Yerushalayim. The prophet names the nations who will come. Gog, the king of Meshech and Tuval from the north and west who are uncircumcised and called "Edom", who are the descendants of Yefet living now in Europe. And Paras, Kush, and the House of Turgama who are all circumcised and adhering to the belief of Yishmael, will join with the children of Edom to attempt to capture the Land of Israel from the Jews.

But when they arrive, they will create chaos among themselves and make war on each other, that is, Edom will make war on Yishmael because their beliefs are different.

And there God will judge them in sword and blood as stated by the prophet Zecharia chapter 14.

And here the prophet (Yechezkel) relates how they all will be lost; and singles out Egypt, Ashur and Elam who adhere to the religion of Yishmael and are today circumcised. He then mentions Meshech, Tuval and Edom, their kings and princes from the north who are all uncircumcised. And between them will there be a war. The first to be utterly destroyed will be the Egyptians, who are the closest to the Land of Israel and will come forward first and fall. Then the Assyrians and Persians will come to avenge their ally and they all will be destroyed.

The Egyptians "will be utterly destroyed" as they were at the time of the exodus. But before they become submerged under the 6 billion cubic meters of water from the Nasser Lake when the great Aswan Dam breaks, I would not be surprised if they undergo a series of plagues reminiscent of what transpired 3300 years ago, as related in the Torah.

With regard to Iran, I quoted the The Midrash Yalkut Shimoni, commenting on the end of the Book of Yeshayahu (#499):

In the future, Paras (Persia-Iran) will be the dread of the entire world. The world’s leaders will be frustrated in their useless efforts to save what they can, to no avail. The people of Yisrael will also be petrified by the impending danger. HaShem will say to us, "Why are you afraid? All of this I have done in order to bring you the awaited redemption. And this redemption will not be like the redemption from Egypt, which was followed by suffering. This redemption will be absolute, followed with peace".

I would suggest to the PM and the ministers not to be nervous, but just fulfill their functions in accordance to what is necessary for the security of the nation. But with full knowledge that the invisible hand of HaShem is always upon us. He will bless His chosen people as was divulged to our prophets.

We, in Eretz Yisrael, will merit to see the destruction of our enemies and the fulfillment of our great destiny.

B:

The Mishna in tractate Ta’anit states that the happiest days in their times were Yom Kippur and the 15th of Av.

The gemara explains that the joy of Yom Kippur was generated by the knowledge that HaShem forgives our sins on that day.

The joy of the 15th of Av was based on a religious-historical event.

In the year 733 BCE, Hoshea ben Elah ascended the throne of the northern tribes of Israel. These tribes separated from the southern tribes of Yehuda and Binyamin through an act of betrayal by the arch evil Yeravam ben Navat. In order to consolidate his newly established "nation", Yeravam prohibited his citizens from going to Yerushalayim. This was the situation when Hoshea ben Elah became king.

On the 15 of Av, Hoshea rescinded the prohibition.

Then the Gemara asks, "Since Hosea ben Elah opened the way to Yeushalayim, why, in his time, did HaShem permit the Assyrians to exile the ten tribes?

And the answer which the Gemara provides is that Hosea ben Elah opened the way to the holy city, but the people did not come! And Hoshea was held personally accountable because he did not force the people to come to Yerushalayim.

Strange: King Hosea could have claimed that he opened the way to Yerushalayim, and if the nation did not come, why is he being held accountable? His status after removing the barriers and border guards was one of neutrality - no mitzva and no avaira (sin).

To return to the blessings and curses on the two mountains. it appears from the protocol of Grizim and Eyval, that there are only two possibilities which apply in our relationship with HaShem - mitzva or avaira. There is no neutral zone.

King Hosea was punished for not forcing the Jews in the north to reunite with their brothers to the south and to the holy city of Yerushalayim.

Sound strangely familiar?

For the last 64 years the gates to the holy land have been open to all Jews. Many came but many did not!

The punishment of the northern tribes for not coming to Yerushalyim was banishment into exile until this very day. What can be the punishment for today’s knowledgeable and Torah erudite Jews of the US and other exile communities who cling to the galut?

There is no middle, neutral road regarding the mitzva of being in Eretz Yisrael - If you are here, you are fulfilling a Torah mitzva; if you are not here, you the Gemara in Ketuvot states that you are as one who does not have God in his heart.

HaShem cannot punish the the Jews who refuse to come home with exile, because they are already in exile.

Their punishment will be to live in Eretz Yisrael!

Shabbat Shalom

Nachman Kahana

(c) Nachman Kahana 2012/5772

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

By Tuvia Brodie

Today, August 14, 2012, the General Council of the United Church of Canada—the largest legislative body of Canada’s largest Protestant denomination—is scheduled to debate a resolution to boycott Israeli product from ‘Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank’. The Church argues that a boycott is necessary because Israel is solely responsible for on-going violence in the Palestinian-Jewish conflict; plus, Palestinian Christians themselves have reached out to the UCC, saying that Israel oppresses them and occupies their land; Palestinian Christians have therefore asked that Christian communities around the world help them—and the UCC is responding to that call.

It sounds noble. But will this Church vote to turn against Israel  promote peace? In Part One of this report, we discussed the observation that such a vote will not help the Palestinian Christians—but Hamas, whose goals, we saw in Part One, are not peaceful. Today, we will explore the Church’s contention that they simply respond to a call for help from co-religionists, Christians from the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The first question is, who are PA Christians? They are those who live under Palestinian Authority (PA) control; and who are the PA? They are Arabs who, if they do not support Hamas, belong to some form of the PLO.

Have you read the PLO founding document? Here are some quotes to consider before we discuss the PA Christian call for help against Israel:

"-Palestine is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people.

- ‘Palestine’ is a place ‘with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate’. [those boundaries are modern Israel; the Charter claims all of modern Israel as its ‘Palestine’].

-the Arab Palestinian people have the right to liberate their country, Palestine.

-Zionism is a political movement organically associated with international  imperialism…It is racist, aggressive, expansionist and colonialist in its aims, and fascist in its methods.

-Israel is the instrument of the Zionist movement and [the] geographical base for world imperialism.

-Israel is a constant source of threat vis-à-vis peace in the Middle East and the whole world.

-Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine.

-The liberation of Palestine…aims at the elimination of Zionism in Palestine.

-The struggle for liberation is an ‘armed Palestinian revolution’…against Zionism and imperialism.

-The establishment of the state of Israel is illegal.

-The Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine and everything that has been based upon them [i.e, international approval to create a Jewish homeland at the San Remo Conference, the League of Nations and the United Nations], are deemed null and void.

-Jews are not a single nation with an identity of their own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong.

-The Arab Palestinian people, expressing themselves by the armed Palestinian revolution, reject all solutions which are substitutes for the liberation of Palestine. [the PLO rejects any solution or proposal that does not allow for the total take-over of modern Israel].

-Zionism should be labelled as an illegitimate movement whose existence should be outlawed and banned in order that friendly relations among peoples may be preserved.

-Since the liberation of Palestine will destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence and will contribute to establishment of peace in the Middle East, the Palestinian people look for the support of all progressive and peaceful forces and urge them all, irrespective of their affiliations and beliefs, to offer the Palestinian people all aid and support  [emphasis mine].”

Just as the PLO Charter declares, Palestinian people [in this instance, Palestinian Christians] have reached out to ask for support-- from the UCC. But as perhaps you can see above, the real goal of that call for support is not freedom, but to help ‘destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence’—Israel.

It is this last expression that is most troubling. The Church says it is answering a call for Christian help. But as we see above, the true goal of that call is the elimination of Israel.

 In the face of language that so clearly calls for the destruction of a sovereign state, the UCC’s claim  that Israel is the primary cause for on-going violence in the region seems at best laughably naïve; at worst, it suggests collusion with Jew-hate. Make no mistake here: by turning against Israel, the UCC supports anti-Semitism of the worst kind. These two Charters are not just political or organizational documents; they are calls for the destruction of a modern nation that, in practical terms, will be coupled with ethnic cleansing. Contemporary Arab TV confirms this.These documents can be read as two halves of the same coin because Hamas and the PLO (along with its modern followers, primarily Fatah) have indicated that they stand together as brothers so far as Israel is concerned—and the two Charters share that common goal;  the Hamas document simply spells out more clearly what the PLO document only suggests.

The UCC will, by its vote to boycott Israeli product from Judea-Samaria, give aid and comfort to the Jew-hate that spews from both these groups. It may be disturbing to suggest that UCC support of these people identifies the Church as anti-Semitic. But when you consider that the UCC General Council will also entertain a proposal to deny officially that Israel is a Jewish state (see Part One), the impression they create is that UCC support for Arab Jew-hate may not be just an accidental side-effect of a good intention.

Perhaps the UCC wants to promote peace. That’s a fine goal. But their boycott vote will not promote peace. Instead, it supports those who promote war. Their boycott proposal makes one wonder: if Hamas and the PLO hate Jews and the UCC wants to vote to strengthen them, what does that make the UCC?

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.