Seeing the Approaching Storm on a Clear Day

by HaRav Shaul Yisraeli zt"l

Chazal point out that our parasha begins (Bereisheet 47:28) without the traditional break between sections in the Torah, a phenomenon called stuma (closed). Rashi cites the reason: "Since Yaakov died, the eyes and heart of Israel were closed due to the anguish of the enslavement." Indeed, our parasha technically precedes the actual enslavement and describes a time when Bnei Yisrael still had the advantage of being the family of Yosef, the famous courtier. However, it contains harbingers of the enslavement, which is not formally introduced until Sefer Shemot. 

Without the textual break, we are to read our parasha as a direct continuation of the end of Parashat Vayigash: "Israel lived in the Land of the Egypt, in the Land of Goshen, and they settled it, and were fruitful and multiplied there greatly." Rashi points out that the term for settlement was one which shows a strong connection to the land. The family no longer felt as strangers in a foreign land and found themselves all over the land. This was seemingly an ideal situation, which leads to our parasha: "Yaakov lived in the Land of Egypt," which sounds like the wandering Yaakov finally was able to live in tranquility. 

On the other hand, there is no mention of the continuation of Yosef’s career. What happened to the relationship with the king who had said about him: "There is no one as wise and smart as you" (ibid. 41:39)? In the one recorded interaction, through an intermediary, Yosef had to plea to fulfill his promise of burying his father in his homeland. We see hints of Yosef’s influence waning. After the Hebrew made his great contributions, he was less the subject of adoration, and he and his people were more the subject of jealousy, peaking with the statement that started the enslavement: "Let us deal wisely with them lest they multiply and ... join our enemies" (Shemot 1:10). 

How interesting it is that specifically Yosef, even when he was at the height of his success, was the one who sensed in advance the stormy situation ahead and was able to warn his brothers. He coached them to not become too entrenched in Egyptian life, but to stay in a separate region. Both Yaakov and Yosef gave instructions to the family to remember the time that they will return home to the Land of their forefathers and to bury their respective remains there, in the case of Yosef, at the time of national deliverance. It was Yosef, the great believer, whose eyes were not blinded by success, who passed on the code to deliverance: the words "pakod yifkod," which would be used by the eventual savior.

This has been the challenging necessity in each exile and time period, whether in Egypt, Babylonia, Spain, Germany, or Poland: always cling to our unique identity and wait for redemption, without being blinded by the successes of the golden periods. Look during bright days for the clouds that foretell stormy weather ahead and cling to the hope of redemption while weathering the storm.

The Death of Europe in Slow Motion: France's Macron Submits to the Arab World

A Gentle Christmas Day Word of Caution

by Giulio Meotti

• The tragic dead end of French fake "secularism" is that it allows public expressions of the Islamic religion in France, but prohibits the Christian ones.
• Far from defending the Judeo-Christian values ​​on which France, the West and Europe itself was founded -- such as individual liberties, freedom of expression, separation of the church from the state and the judiciary, and equal justice under the law -- President Macron recently launched an apology for Islam before Arab-Muslim dignitaries.
• The balance of Macron's recent frenetic trips to the Arab world: lavish contracts, apologetic words to Islamists, repentance of the French colonial past and silence on anti-Semitism and radical Islam. Meanwhile, in France, authorities were busy dismantling its Judeo-Christian heritage.
• Macron's special envoy for heritage, Stéphane Bern, proposed charging a fee to enter French cathedrals and churches -- as if they were museums.

This month alone, France voted twice in the United Nations to support Arab-sponsored resolutions against the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Pictured: French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at the UN General Assembly in New York, on September 19, 2017. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

In Abu Dhabi, members of the victorious Israeli judo team were recently made to mount the winners' podium without their own anthem and flag. A few days later, French President Emmanuel Macron landed in Abu Dhabi, where he denounced as liars those who say that "that Islam is built by destroying the other monotheisms". Macron did not raise an eyebrow about the anti-Semitism and racism displayed by the Emirati authorities. Macron merely praised Islam in a country that punishes with death those Muslims who convert to Christianity or profess atheism.

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Rabbi Rubashkin’s Freedom

Editorial of The New York Sun | December 21, 2017

President Trump’s decision to commute the sentence of Rabbi Sholom Rubashkin is being celebrated tonight in the world of religious Jewry. It is the world the Rabbi had served, heroically in the view of many, as president of what was, the report in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency notes, the largest kosher slaughterhouse in America. He had been convicted on various counts of fraud allegedly committed as he tried to keep his company afloat.

The commutation is notable for a number of reasons. Rubashkin’s sentence of 27 years, handed down in 2010, was shockingly severe after a prosecution that took on, in the eyes of many, a vindictive tone. It horrified a number of distinguished figures. Among those who supported a presidential review were three former attorneys general of America (Bill Barr, Michael Mukasey, and Edwin Meese), a former solicitor general, Seth Waxman, and an erstwhile director of the FBI, Louis Freeh, himself a one-time United States district judge.

Supporters of a presidential review also included more than 30 congressmen and senators from left, right, and center. Mr. Trump cited their messages in announcing his decision to commute Rubashkin’s sentence. It is remarkable that Mr. Trump acted even though the rabbi was originally ensnared in a raid in search of undocumented workers at Rubashkin’s plant, known as Agriprocessors, in Iowa. Mr. Trump has sought to make a political issue of such employment.

What we find most notable about the case, though, is the way it illuminates the role of the presidential pardon. This is an example of it being used in its most profound constitutional sense — not so much as an act of mercy, though it may have have been that, but as a way to correct a miscarriage of justice. Mr. Rubashkin was rebuffed in the courts, including the highest one, which refused to hear his appeal. Mr. Trump’s action falls short of a full pardon, but a runaway prosecution has been rectified in a considered constitutional way.

Missing Mr. Moynihan

Editorial of The New York Sun | December 7, 2017

As we begin what might be called the Jerusalem Era in American foreign policy, we find ourselves missing Daniel Patrick Moynihan. It was the magnificent senator of New York who began agitating for our recognition of Jerusalem and against the State Department’s intransigence on this head. How nice it would have been had he survived to savor this moment, when an American president laid out the logic that Moynihan himself began to sketch.

We first experienced the Moynihan treatment in the early 1990s, when the senator came to see us at the newspaper we were then editing, the Jewish Forward. He pulled out of his pocket a State Department telephone directory, which had Jerusalem listed as, in effect, its own country.* The senator, formerly America’s envoy at the United Nations and ambassador at India, ranted at our foreign service. He was eager to move forward with some kind of legislative action.

At the same time, Moynihan quoted a warning that he attributed to Israel’s sixth prime minister, Menachem Begin. It was that the Jerusalem question can’t be solved in the United States Congress. His point was that only Israel herself can decide where her capital is. Of course, Israel had long since done that, and his view was that it was up to us to acknowledge, to recognize it. Had he lived, the Democrats might have had a leading role in winning recognition.

Unfortunately, Moynihan was succeeded in the Senate by Hillary Clinton. She voted with Israel on proxy issues, like the requirement that the State Department honor any request for an American born in Jerusalem to be issued a passport listing the birthplace as Israel. Her heart wasn’t in it, though. Once she was state secretary, she went to court against the very Jerusalem measure passed unanimously by the senate of which she was at the time a member.

It will be pointed out, no doubt, that the president Mrs. Clinton served was, in Barack Obama, unwilling to recognize Israel’s rightful claims in respect of Jerusalem. In the years after Moynihan, the Democratic Party started to put distance between itself and Israel’s democratically elected government. This became painfully obvious in 2012, when the Jerusalem issue was temporarily stripped from the Democratic platform and the party’s pro-Israel faction was left humiliated.

This caught up with the hapless senior senator of New York, Chas. Schumer, in 2012 in an appearance on CBS (see below), where Charlie Rose left Mr. Schumer blubbering evasions about the fact that President Obama opposed the recognition of Jerusalem that Mr. Schumer was claiming the Democrats were for. Now Mr. Obama has been replaced by, in Donald Trump, a president with the courage to enforce the law Congress wrote. How Daniel Patrick Moynihan would have enjoyed the moment.

__________

* Mr. Moynihan apparently discovered the State Department’s phone book anomaly when he was our ambassador in New Delhi. He marked the point in a letter to L. Bruce Laingen, a career diplomat who had once been held hostage by the Iranians at our embassy in Tehran. The letter is contained in an anthology of his letters edited by Steven R. Weisman.

'Israel is an inspiration'

Czech President Milos Zeman tells Israel Hayom he fully intends to follow the American lead, relocate the Czech Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem • "We need real action, not just words," he says • Says he understands the U.S.'s and Israel's decision to quit UNESCO.

by Eldad Beck, Israel HaYom

   Czech President Milos Zeman

The international backlash surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement earlier this month officially recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital caught Czech President Milos Zeman in the midst of his own domestic tumult: Next month, he will vie for reelection in the country's presidential election. The veteran politician, 73, has headed the Czech Republic at one of the most unstable periods in the country's history since the fall of communism.

Zeman, the third president of the Czech Republic since the fall of the communist regime, was the first president to be elected directly by the voting public. But a recent political upheaval in his country puts his reelection into question. And still, amid all the political turmoil, Zeman took the time to vocally support the American president and explicitly declare his intent to relocate the Czech Embassy in Israel from its current location in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, following the American lead. This declaration elicited immediate criticism from the newly elected prime minister – former businessman Andrej Babis.

In an interview with Israel Hayom, Zeman explained that he has already instructed the new Czech government to begin preparing the relocation of the embassy.

"It was my pleasure to publicly support the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump, who acknowledged Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordered the launch of necessary steps to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv," Zeman said.

"Nobody can accuse me of having an ulterior motive. In 2013, during my visit to Israel, I already spoke in favor of relocating the Czech Embassy to Jerusalem. And again, this September in New York, while receiving the Warrior for Truth prize [awarded by Jewish American newspaper The Algemeiner], I mentioned that we need a candle in the dark. We need real action, not just words and words and words. And the act of relocating the embassies of democratic countries from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem could be such an action. I can promise you that I will appeal to the new, just appointed Czech government to proceed with real action."

Q: Why is the Czech Republic the only European state to declare its support for the American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel? Do you know of any other European states that might join the Czech Republic in its support?

"There is an extraordinarily strong link between my country and Israel – a powerful friendship. Czechoslovakia helped Israel in 1948 in the decisive moments, when enemies sought to obliterate the young state. And today, we are grateful that Israel uses its pride and vitality to support us in Europe, where we are confronted with terror and evil."

Q: Recently, UNESCO once again denied the historical link between Israel and the holy Old City of Jerusalem. Do you agree?
"I fully understand the U.S.'s and Israel's decision to quit this organization. And I am glad that this year, the Czech MPs unequivocally condemned the anti-Israeli steps taken by UNESCO. They have my full support."

Q: Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with European Union foreign ministers in Brussels and urged them to "stop spoiling the Palestinians" and start pressing them to accept the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East. Do you share his opinion, that Europe has indulged the Palestinians?
"The cowardly European Union does everything in its power to ensure that the pro-Palestinian movement gains advantage over the pro-Israeli movement. I support the latter. To prove my point, I would kindly remind you that the European Parliament recently allowed a convicted Palestinian terrorist to deliver a speech on its premises. This lady compared the lives of Palestinians in Gaza to the Holocaust. I haven't heard such chutzpah in a long, long time."

Q: Should the EU rethink its Middle East policy?

"All of us in the EU who oppose the anti-Israel stance should put our strengths together to achieve a change in the EU's policies toward Israel. I will encourage this approach very systematically and patiently on our local political scene as well as in my interviews abroad."

Q: Are you optimistic about the future of the EU? What are the main challenges facing the EU right now?

"The EU has already experienced many crises and has managed to cope successfully with them all. We are currently facing a major migration crisis associated with terrorism, which forces the EU to take some very specific and effective steps. This is a serious situation in which an incompatible culture of hatred is threatening the fundamental values of Judeo-Christian European culture. As I have already mentioned, Israel and its heroism is an inspiration for us."

Q: Can the Visegrad group (an alliance of four Central European nations – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) contribute to changing the EU from within?

"The Visegrad Four, which have the unfortunate past experience with totalitarian regimes, could and should be the real engine of change within the EU. Our position must be consistent. We must not bow to the uncultured evil that is attacking Europe and work to prevent a reprise of what happened before World War II, in the form of the appeasement policy. We must never allow that to happen again. Let's keep in mind the memorable saying: Never again shall we march like sheep to the slaughter. Never again!"

Popular American Rock Band Shares ‘Passionate’ Video of 600 Israelis Covering Its Song

The American rock band Imagine Dragons shared on Facebook on Monday a video of 600 Israelis, including 50 with special needs, who gathered to cover one of its popular songs.

The almost five minute-long video shows the group of Israelis, from all backgrounds and ages, singing a tune called “Believer,” while holding scripts in their hands and facing a stage where musicians played instruments. Imagine Dragons wrote in the video’s caption, “this 600 person choir singing ‘Believer’ blew my mind this morning as I watched. So much passion.”

The clip was originally uploaded onto Facebook by the Koolulam Project, an Israel-based initiative that also organized the event. Koolulam Project invited 600 people who did not know each other to the Bascula arts center in Tel Aviv on Dec. 10 to sing together as a way to kickoff the annual international billboard of Israel’s Galgalatz radio station. It took about an hour to teach the group the song.

The Koolulam Project describes itself on Facebook as a “social-musical initiative aimed at bringing together people from all corners of the diverse, multi-cultural Israeli society. Our idea is to stop everything for a few hours and just sing – together. The project enables its participants to enjoy the feeling of togetherness through a deep communal experience — our sounds and voices coming together to create a social choir, full of hope and optimism.”

Watch the group sing a cover of “Believer” below:

The Missing Piece

by Rabbi Herschel Schachter

I remember hearing form Rabbi Mordechai Gifter many years ago that he enjoys reading the seforim of two baalei batim (businessmen) who were never rabbis. One was the Rashash, who was a successful businessman in the late 1800's and a president of the Vilna kehillah, and the other was Reb Moshe Leib Shachor (Rabbi Zevulun Charlop's great grandfather) who wrote the sefer Avnei Shoham on the Chumash.

In Parshas Vayigash the sefer Avnei Shoham has a very interesting comment. We know that Yosef haTzaddik was testing his brothers to see if they had done teshuvah for reacting so harshly and with such jealousy towards him because he was Yaakov's favorite son. The Torah describes the tragedy that resulted from Yaakov Avinu favoring Yosef in order to teach us not to show favoritism to one child over others. But Yosef haTzaddik knew that his father probably continued to have this approach in raising children and Binyomin would be the favorite son now that he (i.e. Yosef) was absent. Yosef wanted to test his brothers before he was going to be mochel them to see if they did teshuva. Through his tests Yosef saw that they were in fact prepared to protect their father by protecting Binyomin, even though Binyomin was the favorite son. Later on Yosef did forgive them, and said that just as he had no grudge against Binyomin similarly he had no grudge against any of his brothers. He realized that everything was min Hashomayim.

Although we understand why Yosef was acting the way he was towards the brothers, for them it was such a puzzle; they couldn't understand the strange way Tzafnas Paneach was treating them until finally in Parshas Vayigash he says, "ani Yosef ha'od avi chai - I am Yosef! How did you sell me? Why weren't you afraid that our father is going to have a heart attack and die? It's good, however, that now you are afraid of the effect that losing Binyomin would have on our father." Yosef saw that his brothers were chozer beTeshuvah.

Because Yosef's brothers were missing one piece of information, i.e. that this man is Yosef, everything was puzzling and they couldn't understand what was going on. The same thing occurs in the history of the Jewish people; there are so many strange things in Jewish history that we don't understand. The haftorah for Parshas Vayigash tells us that le'asid lavo, when we will experience the geulah ha'asidah and look back in retrospect, everything will be able to be understood in context. Right now we don't have the whole picture and therefore we don't understand many things in our history.

In Parshas Bereishis the Torah says regarding almost every day of creation, "Vayar Elokim ki tov", but on the sixth day the Torah says, "Vayar Elokim et kol asher assah vehnei tov meod." The Medrash says "'Tov' zeh ha'chayim, 'tov meod' zeh ha'maves", i.e. that even when someone dies it's "tov meod." This is difficult for us to understand; we experience death as a tragedy and we recite a bracha, "baruch Dayan Ha'emmes!"

When you look at everything in proper perspective, "Vayar Elokim es kol asher assah", if you look at everything all put together and you're not missing any point of information, everything is in fact tov meod. We don't see all of history at once. How long does a person live, a hundred years? We may study history, but we don't really fully understand it from the beginning to the end. When all of history will be unfolded and we will look back in retrospect and understand all of the puzzling things that never made any sense. Why was there was "tzaddik ve'ra lo, rasha ve'tov lo"? Why did the Jewish people suffer so much? We'll look back in retrospect and understand that everything was really le'tovah. That's the connection between Parshas Vayigash and its haftorah. In Vayigash the brothers were missing an important piece of information (that the man that they were talking to was Yosef) and that's why they couldn't understand what was happening. Once they were told that he was it all made sense. Similarly, in the haftorah we are told that leasid lavo, after all of Jewish history will be unfolded before us, everything will be understood in context.

Continuing the Struggle in the Courtyards of Your Sanctuary

By HaRav Eliezer Melamed
Rosh HaYeshiva, Har Bracha


President Trump’s Declaration
About a week ago, a storm erupted following U.S. President Trump’s declaration of recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. On the one hand, there is nothing new in this declaration because this has been the reality since the establishment of the state 70 years ago; since then, Jerusalem has grown, developed, and strengthened, and is the center of Israeli sovereignty in all respects. The declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital today, can be likened to a person who married years ago, had children and grandchildren, but just now people remember to congratulate him on his wedding! On the other hand, however, the strong opposition to this declaration attests to its importance, because for various reasons, haters of Israel are pressuring all countries not to recognize the special connection of the Jewish people to its land and to Jerusalem, its holy city.

Regrettably, the representatives of the Jewish community in the United States did not pressure the administration to fulfill its promise, rather, it was Christian lovers of Israel through their representatives in Congress, the Senate, and the government such as Vice President Pence and U.N. Ambassador Hailey who initiated the declaration. Our blessings go out to them. Their steadfast support for the State of Israel’s existence and the strengthening of its capability warms our hearts.

In Contrast to the Balfour Declaration
Of course, there is no room to compare the Trump Declaration to that of the Balfour Declaration. First of all, during the times of the Balfour Declaration the situation of the Jewish people was at a low ebb. Jews had no political, military, or economic standing whatsoever. And then, lo and behold, the foreign minister of Britain, who at the time was the world’s leading superpower and on the verge of conquering the Land of Israel, declared that Britain would work to establish a national home for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. True, Lord Balfour was not Prime Minister at the time, however he held a very important position given that in his previous capacity he had served as Prime Minister, and thus, had enormous influence. Stemming from his deep religious faith, he saw it as his duty and privilege to fulfill the lofty mission of history, to realize the vision of the prophets, and to help the Jewish people regain their independence in their sacred homeland.

Unfortunately – not unlike the Reform movement today – then as well, a Jewish minister in the British government objected to the recognition of the right of the Jewish people to its homeland and together with him, the haters of Israel sabotaged and weakened the declaration: instead of it being drafted as a declaration of His Majesty’s Government and directed to the Zionist Movement as planned, it was written as a declaration by Lord Balfour, and delivered as a personal letter to Lord Rothschild. Nevertheless, the declaration still carried tremendous weight, and was the basis for the decision of the League of Nations in San Remo regarding the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, and the preference for the national right of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel over the rights of the Arabs and other non-Jews who lived there at the time, who were promised only religious and civil rights, but not national ones.

The Reform Movement’s Opposition
Sadly, the Reform movement who wished to sabotage Trump’s declaration about Jerusalem out of animosity towards the President and Jewish nationalism, were the ones who decades ago removed the Land of Israel and Jerusalem from the wording of prayers, and who now want the State of Israel to recognize them as a legitimate stream of religious Judaism equal to that of traditional Torah Judaism, and they are the ones who want to change the accepted and beloved customs at the Western Wall, which was conquered by the State of Israel in opposition to their beliefs. And when their position is not accepted they provoke hatred, and slander the State of Israel and faithful Jews throughout the world. They perform an act like Zimri through assimilation and sabotage of anything national, but seek reward like Pinchas the holy representative of Judaism for generations. How much agony and grief have we suffered from the pains our Reform brothers have afflicted us. We wish to embrace them as beloved brothers, and receive them here in Israel as full partners in the revival of the nation, but instead, they continue to wound and sabotage.

***

The Victory of Chanukah
The days of Chanukah are the days of victory of Judaism over Hellenism. All the surrounding nations at the time became Hellenistic; Hellenistic Jews collaborated with the foreign government in order to force other Jews to worship idolatry. However, those loyal to the Torah adhered to their faith and with self-sacrifice and devotion, raised the banner of revolt against the ruling culture. In a difficult and tormented process, they succeeded in liberating the Temple, and restored the sacrificial services to its former state.

The Spirit of Judaism versus Hellenism
True, from a geopolitical point of view the Greeks, and after them the Romans, nevertheless remained rulers both politically and culturally, and as a result of this, Hasmonean rule also failed, with the great grandson of Matityahu the Priest, King Yanai (Jannaeus) and his descendants attracted to Hellenism themselves. But in the awesome days of splendor in which the Temple was liberated and the miracle of Chanukah took place, the Jewish spirit was released from its bonds, and established its status in the Beit Midrash (study halls) of the Oral Torah, and by virtue of this, we are alive and exist to this day. Not only that, but in a tortuous process the Jewish spirit shattered Hellenism, and turned it into a tool for revealing values ​​that had been taken from Judaism.

Judaism can manage with Hellenism because Judaism gives expression to profound and ethical values, and has no problem utilizing Greek wisdom as a magnificent tool for revealing and expanding these profound ideas. However, Hellenism cannot remain a dominant concept as long as Judaism is in the world, because Judaism touches on questions of the soul for which Hellenism has no answer. That is why the Greeks tried to assimilate the Jewish people through their decrees. But as long as the Jewish nation adheres to its faith and Torah victory is assured, because our roots stem from a deeper and higher place – from the Eternal Source.

In Our Times – The Temple Mount
Today as in the past, the Jewish spirit striving for ‘tikun olam’ (perfection of the world) by means of revealing the spiritual holiness that gives eternal, moral meaning to all human and national contexts, finds itself in a profound struggle against the secular, democratic, liberal worldview – the successor of the Hellenism – which aspires to arrange the world by means of superficial equality that denies the revelation of holiness in the national and collective order of life.

And once again, the struggle comes back to center around the Temple Mount, the site of the Holy Temple, which manifests the revelation of sacred values within physical reality. And just as in the past, the winds of foreign culture blowing throughout the world are extremely powerful – hundreds of millions of talented people are developing it, billions of people consume it, and even many of our fellow Jews are drawn after it and do not understand the importance of the sanctity of the Holy Temple, and its significance.

However, the Holy Temple is the foundation of everything. “And I will dwell within them” – God dwells within the actual, physical reality of the Jewish nation – despite all the complications. And thus we learn from the holiday of Chanukah, that from all the Hasmonean victories and their numerous achievements, nothing remained for generations except the days of Chanukah, in which we celebrate the purification of the Temple, and the restoration of its holy service. Only because the Hasmoneans were aware of this and despite all their transgressions, constantly remained connected to the Temple, did their kingdom endure. Even the evil Herod acted to fortify and adorn the Temple, and consequently, the period of his reign is also included in the two hundred years in which Jewish sovereignty returned to Israel as a result of the days of Chanukah (Rambam, Laws of Megillah and Chanukah 3:1).

Self-Sacrifice for Faith
Dealing with this is difficult and complicated. If we were meant to ignore the entire world surrounding us and in consequence, God would miraculously assist us, things would be relatively easy. However, our task is to perfect the world in the kingdom of God, to be connected to the nations as the heart of man is connected to his limbs – to study their ways and cultures, in order to give each and every nation and tongue its important and respected place.

The great difficulty is in creating the proper balance between the tendency of convergence into the uniqueness of Judaism, into the Torah given to Israel alone – “He did not do so to any other nation; and of His laws they were not informed” (Psalms 147:20), and the opposite tendency of encountering different cultures, to acquire from them wisdom, science, and artistic means, and influence them from the Inner Light – “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples” (Psalms 96:3).

When we fail to precisely maintain the pure Torah position, conflict and complications arise. Nevertheless, as long as the Jewish people are willing to sacrifice themselves for their faith and beliefs without sacrificing the wisdom and inherent morality of the cultures of the various nations, which emerged from the Image of God in man and is inspired by the values of our Torah that have spread to different cultures and beliefs – as long as we remain steadfast on this straight course – our path is paved for success. However, even if we fail to properly define the challenge before us the values ​​of holiness will nevertheless prevail, however, the process will involve suffering, leaving us no choice but to adhere to the values ​​of holiness.

One Who Adheres to His Faith Will be Heeded
Ultimately, one who strengthens himself in faith and does not budge from it, his enemies will fall beneath him and his thinking will be heeded by all, as was the case with Joseph who, although sold as a slave, did not succumb to the seduction of his master’s wife – ” She spoke to Joseph every day, but he would not pay attention to her” (Genesis 39:10), and in the end “Pharaoh took his ring off his own hand and placed it on the hand of Joseph… [Joseph] was thus given authority over all Egypt” (ibid, 41:42-43); not only that, but Osnat, the daughter of his master’s wife, was given to him in marriage.

Leadership and Brotherhood

by Moshe Feiglin

“And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph, does my father still live?” And his brothers could not answer him because they were afraid of him.” (From this week’s Torah portion, Vayigash, Genesis 45:3)

Why didn’t the brothers recognize Joseph earlier? True, he had grown a beard. He was also in a completely unexpected place, boasting a completely unexpected status and wearing unexpected attire. But still – the eyes are the same eyes, it is the same forehead, the same tone of speech. Wouldn’t you identify your brother in his old kindergarten picture? Or your father in an old black and white photo from when he was a young boy of 17?

Still, Joseph’s brothers – who are certainly not stupid – come face to face with their brother, speak with him, focus on him – and not one of them catches on? Not one of them thinks, “What is going on here? This guy reminds me of somebody. Where do I know him from?” Nothing?

Nothing. Because in their minds and hearts, Joseph was no longer their brother. When they threw Joseph into the pit, the brothers buried the brotherhood that was in their hearts. Even when the brothers were face to face with Joseph, they did not recognize him, because they had erased him from their consciousness.

How can such a complete rift ever be mended? Two conditions must be met: First, Joseph must become a leader. Instead of his fate being in the hands of his brothers, their fate must be in his hands. But that is not enough. It does not bring the brothers to the point at which they remember that they actually have another brother. For that, the second condition must be fulfilled.

The second condition is that Joseph will remember their common roots – in this case, their father.

“Does my father still live?” Joseph asks immediately upon revealing himself to his brothers. It is a strange question. Throughout Joseph’s dialogue with the brothers, their father is mentioned time and again. It is obvious that he is alive. But Joseph does not ask if our father still lives. He does not address his question to his brothers, at all. He addresses it to himself. Does my father still live within me? After all these years of distance and pain am I capable of becoming once again a son of the same father as these other men? Do I have the fortitude to once again become part of the family – a brother to the people who hurt me so badly?

Leadership and brotherhood are the secret of mending the gaping hole.

And specifically in that order.

Shabbat Shalom.

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"Do Not Argue on the Way”

by HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

Yosef Hatzadik sends his brothers from Egypt back to their father Ya'akov, saying to them, "do not argue on the way".

Rashi explains that he was worried that they might quarrel over his sale on the way, each of them accusing the other, one saying that the other was the instigator of his sale, and the other retaliating by saying that the first spoke lashon hara of Yosef, causing them all to hate him and such like.

As of now, Am Yisrael too is on a long journey of thousands of years and we have not yet reached a state of peace and tranquility. Yosef's request of his brothers, "Do not argue with one another and do not accuse one another", must light our way, especially at the moment, when we are fighting for our hold on our land, we must find a way to unite, all of us together in opposition of those who wish to remove us from our land.

The way to unity passes through the roots, just as a tree in which the roots - and the trunk which draws its life-source from it - unite and join all the branches, so too in our nation, the roots are that which unite us. The forefathers are our ancestors, the grand Jewish history belongs to us all, our Father in Heaven is everyone's Father, and He loves all of us, as we say in the blessings of Shema, "the one who chooses His nation of Israel with love".

And through the connection to our Jewish roots, we will grow and flourish and bear fruit, overcoming all difficulties from within and without, meriting redemption speedily and in our days.

In anticipation of redemption, Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Ari Kahn on Parashat Vayigash: Is My Father Still Alive? (video)

Zehut's Education Plan for Israel in a 2 minute video

President Trump’s security strategy: the impact on Israel

by Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger

President Trump’s national security strategy – as enunciated on December 18, 2017 - reflects a realistic assessment of clear and present threats to the US, rejecting the politically-correct worldview of the foreign policy establishment, which has been crashed, repeatedly, against the rocks of reality. It provides a prescription for the enhancement of the flourishing, mutually-beneficial US-Israel relationship.

Contrary to the US and West European government, academic and media foreign policy establishment - which are highly critical of Israel and top heavy on wishful-thinking concerning the supposed Arab Spring, ostensible democratization and peaceful coexistence of the Arab World – Trump recognizes the complex and inherently brutal reality of the Middle East. Trump is aware of the lethal threats posed by Shiite (Ayatollahs) and Sunni terrorism and the threats posed by the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement.

Apparently, Trump does not embrace the myth of the Palestinian issue as – supposedly - a core cause of regional instability, a crown-jewel of Arab policy-makers, nor the crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

According to Trump, apologies, appeasement and multilateralism have been replaced by America-first patriotism, the independence of unilateral US military action, the resurgence of the US posture of deterrence, an expanded defense budget and peace-through-strength.

Will Israel leverage these principles in its own battle against Islamic/Arab terrorism and its public relation posture in the US?

Trump underlined US national goals, which already benefit from Israel’s own experience and knowhow, harboring a much greater, mutually-beneficial potential:

1. Improving ballistic missile defense and cyber technologies feature Israel as a top partner with the US in the area of groundbreaking research, development and production;

2. Operational and technological homeland security and counter-terrorism highlight Israel’s unique experience as a game-changing contributor to the US’ intelligence, training and operations;

3. The stress on innovation underscores Israel as a platform of cutting-edge technologies for over 200 US hightech giants, as well as the leading battle-tested laboratory of the US defense industries, upgrading the latter’s research and development, global competitiveness, exports and employment-base.

Moreover, Israel has been “the largest US aircraft carrier” – as suggested by the late General Alexander Haig - which does not require US soldiers, deployed in a most critical region for US national security, sparing the necessity for the US to deploy a few more real aircraft carriers and additional divisions to the area between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean (at an annual cost of $15BN-$20BN).

The President announced that allies of the US, which benefit from US protection – in the form of US military bases and personnel – “should reimburse the United States for the cost of defending them.” However, unlike Germany (70,000 US troops), South Korea and Japan (40,000 troops each), etc., Israel does not require US military bases and/or personnel, on its soil, for its defense.

In fact, Israel constitutes a most effective, reliable, battle-tested and uniquely unconditional US beachhead, stretching the strategic arm of the US in a most critical region for the American homeland and national security.

Will President Trump’s realistic national security talk be matched by effective walk?

Rav Kook on Parashat VaYigash: The Hazards of Leadership

Joseph Dies First

The text implies that Joseph was the first of Jacob’s twelve sons to die:

“Joseph died, and [then] his brothers and everyone else in that generation” (Exod. 1:6).

Why was Joseph’s life shorter than that of his brothers?

The Sages suggested that Joseph’s early demise was due to his position of public office. When one assumes a position of authority, “one’s days and years are shortened” (Berachot 55a).

Yet this hardly seems fair. Why should those who dedicate their lives to public service be penalized by having a shorter life?


Joseph’s Mistake

Working for the public good is certainly laudable. However, there are certain hazards inherent in such a path. Precisely because one is busy attending to important communal affairs, one may neglect one’s own personal needs. A communal leader may come to view his own needs — whether material, spiritual, or moral — as insignificant.

We may observe this phenomenon in Joseph. As viceroy, Joseph was busy supervising the national and economic affairs of Egypt. He saw his position of public office as the vehicle through which God’s covenant of Bein HaBetarim — which foretold the exile of Abraham’s descendants in a foreign land — would be realized.

When Joseph heard his father referred to as “your servant,” he did not object to this display of disrespect toward his father. Joseph was occupied with the overall objective; he did not want it to be compromised due to his obligation to show his father respect.

Joseph’s error is not uncommon. This is a universal lesson for all leaders: they should not allow any goal or aspiration, no matter how lofty, to lead them to disregard lesser obligations.


The King’s Sefer Torah

We find a similar idea in the special laws pertaining to a Jewish king. The Torah instructs the king to write his own sefer Torah and keep it with him at all times. In this way, “his heart will not be raised above his brothers, and he will not stray from the Law to the right or to the left” (Deut. 17:20). The Torah specifically cautions the monarch that, despite his involvement in critical national affairs, his public service should not lead him to neglect his private obligations. He is obligated to observe the law in his personal life, like every other citizen.

The Torah promises that a king who heeds this warning will be blessed with a long reign. Unlike those who fail the tests of public office, such a king will not live a life of “shortened days and years.”

Life is not just major goals and aspirations. All of us, even those serving in high public office, must conduct ourselves appropriately in all facets of life. Those who maintain their integrity in their personal lives will be blessed with success in their most important and loftiest goals.

(Sapphire from the Land of Israel. Adapted from Ein Eyah vol. II on Berachot IX: 25)

Rav Nachman Kahana: Fake News – Fake Jews or real Jews with fake beliefs

BS”D 

Parashat Vayigash 5778
HaRav Nachman Kahana

Paro welcomed the Hebrews to Egypt

The most surprising and even amazing reaction exhibited by any of the personalities in our parasha is that of Paro (45,16) when he was informed that Yosef’s brothers had arrived in Egypt (45,16):

16 When the news reached Paro’s palace that Yosef’s brothers had come, Paro and all his officials were pleased.

17 Paro said to Yosef, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan,

18 and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land’.”
This was surprising and amazing in light of the repugnance that Egyptians felt towards Hebrews, as stated when the brothers were brought to eat in Yosef’s home (43,32):

32 They served him (Yosef) by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians.

and in 46,33-34:

33 When Paro calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’

34 you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”

But from here we get a glimpse of HaShem’s intervention in directing human affairs without negating the principle of free choice, as follows:

Why was it necessary for the parasha to inform us of the financial transactions that occurred during the initial years of famine? That during the first year, Yosef concentrated all the county’s currency (gold and silver coins) in the hands of Paro. In the second year, the Egyptians purchased seed and food from the central government by paying with all their livestock; in the third year the people sold themselves and their lands to Paro in return for seed and food.

The Egyptians were farmers who detested the culture of livestock breeding, except for horses which were used for war. But suddenly at the end of the second year of famine, Paro finds himself in control of all the nation’s livestock with no one to manage the millions of animals. At this crucial time in Paro’s governing, Yosef’s brothers arrive on the scene. Paro is informed that they are masters in managing livestock.

Paro was elated that the brothers would now create a system for dealing with this national problem, even turning it into a profitable venture. He did not suddenly become a Judeophile, he gave them the choice grazing area of the country to fulfill their task.

HaShem did not dictate what Paro should do. HaShem directed the timing of events that led to the obvious rational decision that He wished to come about in history.

HaShem’s timing is the major factor in human decision-making in every generation, as He guides the Jewish people through the difficult challenges of galut, He is working overtime in our generation.

The contemporary Egyptians, Jordanians, Saudis and others detest the Jews and the Jewish state. However, HaShem has timed it so that their fear of Shi’at Iran is greater than their hatred of the Jews. So, we Israelis find ourselves being wooed and solicited by our enemies.

In conclusion: As in the words of King Solomon, “There is nothing new under the sun… after all is said and heard, the essence of life is to be in awe of HaShem and to follow His commandments”.


FAKE NEWS – FAKE JEWS OR REAL JEWS WITH FAKE BELIEFS

Many years ago, when I was young and naive, I was interviewed twice by different newspapers here and once by radio, which was recorded and edited. In all three interviews, my words and intentions were misrepresented to serve the interests of the interviewer or his editor.

I learned my lesson. Since then I have refused all offers to be interviewed. The well-known television interviewer, Peter Jennings, came to my home and requested an interview regarding Yerushalayim in its many aspects. I consented on the condition that it be live and unedited. He claimed that it was against company policy. He left disappointed. Several months later, he called again and received the same answer. He has since passed away.

Perversion of the truth, distortion of reality, aberration of the intentions of well-meaning people, intentional creation of a hostile atmosphere and attitude towards a person or an ideal is in one word – sheker.

Goyim; Christians and Moslems are masters of sheker when it comes to Jews. The top experts came out of Berlin with the big lie that eventually ended with people being incinerated in death camps.

President Trump coined the term “fake news”. I would humbly borrow a leaf from his book and say we suffer from “fake Jews” and from “real Jews” who possess fake beliefs.

From the time when HaShem appeared at Mount Sinai to this day, our nation has suffered from “real Jews” with fake interpretations of Judaism. Its first manifestation was the episode of the Golden Calf. Korach contributed his distortion, as did the ten scouts who convinced the people not to enter the holy land.

It continues to this very day in the galut. When the Reform movement recognizes the offspring of a Jewish father and gentile mother as Jews, they create “Fake Jews”. On the other side of the coin, there are the “Real Jews” who cling to “Fake” presentations of Judaism. Such as the deniers of the most fundamental truth of the Torah: that our status as God’s chosen people is not based on human rights or on liberal equality for all (as long as one’s neighbor is not black), but on living a Torah life in Eretz Yisrael. Shabbat in the public domain and halacha governing industry, the military, import and export, the medical field. In short, in every human endeavor and discipline.

“Real Jews” with “fake” beliefs are to be found even among people who fulfill the mitzvot, but whose practical application of Torah is perverted. The fact that with rabbinic consent Jews are still in the galut after the establishment of Medinat Yisrael, whose first law was the “Law of Return”, is a distortion of the will of HaShem – “Real Jews” with fake beliefs.

Shabbat Shalom,
Nachman Kahana
Copyright © 5778/2017 Nachman Kahana

Twilight over the "Palestinian Cause" (or: start cueing the Fat Lady and Violins)

by Guy Millière

• Reports from the West Bank after the Six Day War show that the Arabs interviewed defined themselves as "Arabs" or "Jordanians", and evidently did not yet know that they were "the Palestinian people". Since then, they were taught it. They were also taught that it is their duty is to "liberate Palestine" by killing Jews. The Palestinians are the first people invented to serve as a weapon of mass destruction of another people.
• "The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality, today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese." — PLO leader Zuheir Mohsen, interview in the Dutch newspaper Trouw, March 1977.
• Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the European Union has become the main financier of the "Palestinian cause", including its terrorism. They are also contributing to war.
• Iran, strengthened enormously by the agreement passed in July 2015 and the massive US funding that accompanied it, has been showing its desire to become a hegemonic power in the Middle East.
• The grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh, recently issued a fatwa saying that "fighting the Jews" is "against the will" of Allah and that Hamas is a terrorist organization.

Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the PLO, at the Arab League summit in Rabat, Morocco, 1974. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

For many years, "Palestine" has not stopped aspiring to new heights in the so called "international community". "Palestine" has been present at the Olympic Games since 1996, and, later, became a permanent observer to UNESCO and the United Nations. The vast majority of the 95 "embassies" of "Palestine" are in the Muslim world; many others are in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. In 2014, the Spanish Parliament voted in favor of full recognition of "Palestine." A few weeks later, the French Parliament did the same. 

There is no other instance in the history of the world where a state that does not exist can have missions and embassies presumed to function as if that state did exist.

Now the time has probably come for the "Palestinians" to realize that they have lost and fall back to earth, as noted by the scholar Daniel Pipes.

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Treating Peace Process Delusional Disorder in Israel and Worldwide

Peace Process Delusional Disorder (PPDD), the obsessive and delutional drive to create an dangerous Arab/Islamic state in the Land of Israel, has plagued many leaders and activists throughout the world, and in Israel, and might soon be listed in the DSM-6. After having smoked the peace pipe for almost twenty five years, many Israelis on the left of the political spectrum, need help recovering from their delutions and peace addiction. Not only the Israeli far-left, Breaking the Silence, Peace Now, Meretz and the other addicts like them in Israel, but those who unwittingly imbibed second hand smoke as well, like grassroots BDS activists worldwide, urgently need help, overcoming their dilibitating PPDD.

PPDD caused by Peace Addiction, has become the scourge of the new millenium. A new twelve step program of recovery, Peace Addicts Anonymous (PAA), has to be promoted vigorously, to rid those afflicted in Israel and globally.

And what is Peace Addicts Anonymous (PAA) twelve step program, you ask?

1. We admit to being powerless over the peace drug. Our lives have become contumacious and endangered.

2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore our security.

3. Made a decision to turn our political will over to the God of Israel as understood by the Jewish sages.

4. Made a searching inventory of ouselves and the anti-Israel propaganda we've spread.

5. Admitted to God and to society, the destructive nature of radical Islam and peace addiction.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of political analysis.

7. Humbly asked Him to fix our moral compass.

8. Made a list of all persons injured and murdered because of our political arrogance and became willing to support Israeli communities throughout the Land of Israel.

9. Made direct amends to such people and communities wherever possible.

10. Continued to take pesonal inventory and strive to reset our moral compass when we saw how wrong we were.

11. Sought through prayer and political activism to improve our contact with the God of Israel as understood by the Jewish sages, praying for knowledge of His will for us, true political insight, and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual and political awakening because of working these steps, we tried to carry this message to all peace addicts, and to practice them in our lives and political affairs.

A new dawn is arising, change is coming, the light of day is shining on a world where only Islamic darkness, addiction and despair had previously reined. Islam calls itself the “Religion of Peace,” yet almost everywhere on the globe where you find war and terrorism, you find Muslims perpetrating it.

Donald Trump seemed until recently, to understand who the enemy is and said it publicly, Radical Islam.

But in his recent declaration on Jerusalem, Trump said, “Peace is never beyond the grasp of those willing to reach it...I repeat the message I delivered at the historic and extraordinary summit in Saudi Arabia earlier this year: The Middle East is a region rich with culture, spirit, and history...But the incredible future awaiting this region is held at bay by bloodshed, ignorance, and terror. Vice President Pence will travel to the region...to work with partners throughout the Middle East to defeat radicalism...It is time for the many who desire peace to expel the extremists from their midst...And finally, I ask the leaders of the region — political and religious, Israeli and Palestinian, Jewish and Christian and Muslim — to join us in the noble quest for lasting peace.”

Notice he refered to radicalism, not Islamic radicalism, and extremists, not Muslim extremists. Has President Trump also been exposed to second hand smoke from the peace pipe? Well, all seems well with Trump, after hearing his National Security Policy speech...

After working on tax cuts, I hope the Trump administration overhauls Obama-care, and add a version of the PAA twelve step program to their health care system. It’s about time they start taking PPDD seriously and treat it as the public scourge it is.

And what about Israel?

The chief “peace pusher'” in Israel, Shimon Peres, retired to his new residence, permanently, not long ago. Will Israelis be treated, to get off the peace pipe? Will Israel add peace addiction recovery programs to it's basket of health services as well? Will PPDD be recognized by the National Insurance Institute as the public health and security problem it is? Will Netanyahu finally declare the two-state solution - a euphimism for Islam’s final solution - dead?

Or, does Netanyahu himself have to go to rehab? Only time will tell...

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2017/5777 Pasko

The Conflict over Jerusalem Is ALL Obama's Fault

by Alan M. Dershowitz

• First, it is beyond the jurisdiction of the UN to tell a sovereign nation what it can and cannot recognize.
• The United States often stands alone with Israel against the world, and the US and Israel have been right. The bias of the international community against the nation state of the Jewish people has been long standing and evident, especially at the UN.
• Recall the infamous General Assembly Resolution declaring Zionism to be a form of racism. It received overwhelming support from the tyrannical nations of the world, which constitute a permanent majority of the UN, and was rescinded only after the US issued threats if it were to remain on the books.

(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The US acted properly in vetoing a misguided UN Security Council resolution designed to undo President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

First, it is beyond the jurisdiction of the United Nations to tell a sovereign nation what it can and cannot recognize. If Turkey, for example, were to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of "Palestine," there is nothing the UN could or would do. (Of course, most UN members would applaud such a move.)

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