After Biden Sent $1B To PLO, Israeli Deaths Rose 900%

by Daniel Greenfield

When Secretary of State Blinken met with PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas, he boasted of the over billion dollars in aid that the Biden administration had programmed for the terrorist territories.

That aid has come with a very heavy price.

In Feb 2019, President Trump’s total cutoff of aid became official. That year, 10 Israelis or people in Israeli controlled areas were killed in stabbings, shootings, rocket and other attacks, down from 12 the previous year, and 15 in 2017, and 16 in 2016.

In 2020 however only three Israelis were killed.

These numbers reflected the diminished capacity of the Islamic terrorists. The reduction in numbers was not due to the pandemic. 2020 still saw attacks, including firebombings, rocket launches and stabbings, but the success and lethality rates for these attacks were lower.

The numbers turned around dramatically once again in 2021.

In April 2021, the Biden administration restored aid to the PLO. Terror incidents, reflecting attack attempts, shot up sharply from 91 in February and 89 in March to 130 in April.

By May, major fighting resumed with 13 Israelis, including two children, killed.

By the time the year was over, 17 people in Israeli areas had been killed. The over 400% increase in deaths was only the beginning. In 2022, 31 Israelis or people in Israeli areas were killed, up from only 3 in 2020, for a massive 900% increase in casualties since the restoration of foreign aid to the terrorists. This was the worst death toll since 2015 under Obama.

But in January and the first half of February of 2023, 10 Israelis have already been killed, including a 6-year-old boy and an 8-year-old boy.

Three times as many have been killed in a month and a half of 2023 as in all of 2020. That’s a 233% increase over 2020 in just a fraction of a year, but it’s also a marked month-to-month escalation from 2022 which featured no attacks at all in January or February. More people have already been killed by terrorists in 2023 than through most of March in 2022.

What a difference a billion dollars makes.

While the media has tried to portray the terrorism as “lone wolf” attacks, they’re crowdsourced violence of the kind that Al Qaeda and ISIS helped innovate. But the PLO’s version is unique through its ‘Pay-to-Slay’ program which rewards terrorists, regardless of their formal affiliation, including ISIS and Hamas members, with salaries and payments for their families.

Terrorists are paid based on the length of their prison sentence. That means successful killers can earn $2,000 to $3,000 a month in a part of the world where the average salary is around $700 a month. It’s five times more profitable to be a terrorist than a teacher.

The Palestinian Authority calls for the murder of Jews, praises it and then rewards it.

Muhammad Al-Lahham of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, which runs the political movement behind the terrorists of the Palestinian Authority, was caught on videopraising the “patriotic conscience” of a terrorist who had killed a rabbi taking his 2-year-old son for a walk in 2022.

The Trump administration cut off aid to the PLO’s Palestinian Authority and Congress passed the Taylor Force Act banning funds from going to finance Pay-to-Slay.

Throughout all this, PLO leadership have been consistent in refusing to stop financing terrorism.

“We will neither reduce nor prevent [payment] of allowances to the families of martyrs, prisoners and released prisoners, as some seek, and if we had only a single penny left, we would pay it to families of the martyrs and prisoners,” Abbas had bragged. By “martyrs”, he meant those Islamic terrorists who were killed while carrying out terrorist attacks.

Despite this, the Biden administration had restored aid and rebuilt diplomatic relations. Biden and Blinken have met with Abbas. And while they have attacked Israel over everything from letting Jews pray on the Temple Mount (due to Jewish prayers offending Muslim sensibilities) to democratic judicial reform that will limit the unilateral authority of pro-terrorist judges, Biden and Blinken have had nothing to say to the terrorists about the program funding the murder of Jews.

America First Legal, under Stephen Miller, filed suit against the Biden administration on behalf of the parents of Taylor Force: a non-Jewish Afghanistan war vet murdered in Jerusalem.

“The Biden Administration is well aware that the PA pays Palestinian terrorists to injure or kill innocent Americans and Israelis in Israel. Yet, in blatant violation of the Taylor Force Act, a federal law that prohibits the government from sending American taxpayer dollars to the PA until it stops supporting terrorism, President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken have resumed payments to the PA after the Trump Administration had stopped these payments in compliance with the Taylor Force Act,” America First Legal declared..

“The Taylor Force Act, named after our son, was passed by Congress and signed by President Trump to stop this Pay to Slay. Yet the Biden Administration has resumed payments to the PA notwithstanding its Pay to Slay program,” Stuart Force, Taylor’s father, said.

The Biden administration’s decision to fund the Palestinian Authority has consequences beyond Israel. Islamic terrorism is a global threat and has been a reliable killer of Americans abroad.

“Robbi and I call upon President Biden to stop sending fungible taxpayer dollars to the PA that will end up funding terrorism,” Stuart Force appealed.

And the latest wave of violence shows just how ‘fungible’ that money is.

The massive uptick in successful terrorist attacks is not a coincidence. The numbers become more significant when we distinguish between so-called “lone wolf” attacks which are most directly impacted by ‘Pay-to-Slay’ and rocket attacks by other terrorist groups. 14 people were killed in direct terrorist attacks in 2018. That number dropped to 5 in 2019, the year Trump cut off aid to the PLO. By 2020, it fell to 3, in 2021, the year Biden restored aid, it rose to 4 and then shot up to 32 in 2022 reflecting the ‘slow burn’ effect of fungible aid money being taken away and then restored within a government bureaucracy even if it’s run by and for terrorists.

As the Biden administration continues pumping money into the terrorist entities occupying parts of Israel, the violence is drastically increasing. 2023 is already on track to top 2022 which had the worst numbers since 2015. The level of Islamic terrorism is returning to that of the Obama administration and that means that we can expect an even higher death toll in Israel.

The billion dollars in aid is a factor, but an even bigger factor is that the Biden administration, like its Democrat predecessor, has made no secret of its support for the Palestinian Authority. And the Biden administration has gone even further with its diplomatic support for the PLO regime and its pressure on Israel. The latest murders are the work of a terrorist group that knows that Washington D.C. has its back and will intervene to protect it from Israel.

The Biden administration’s decision to appoint Hady Amr, an open supporter of Islamic terrorism and opponent of the Jewish State, as its key liaison to the PLO, who was inspired by the intifada, has consequences, and dead bodies in Jerusalem are among the most obvious ones.

Islamic terrorism runs on money and foreign support. The Biden administration has provided both. The Palestinian Authority spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year on Pay-to-Slay.

The pipeline of terror may end with a 6-year-old boy lying dead on a Jerusalem street but it begins with cash coming out of Washington D.C. The attacks of September 11 cost Al Qaeda about half a million dollars. The cost to the PLO of killing that little boy, his brother and a newly married man going to spend the Sabbath with his wife’s family probably comes out to about $30,000 a year. Or $10,000 per dead Jewish person. That’s a fraction of the millions of dollars in foreign aid which could be used to finance hundreds and thousands of more murders of Jews.

$10,000 to kill a six-year-old boy, another $10,000 to kill his 8-year-old brother. Thanks to the financiers of murdering Jews in the Biden administration, the terrorists have the cash.

And we’re the ones providing it.

Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: #'s 141 and 142

Who Should Get Rabbinic Position? – #141

Date and Place: 28 Iyar 5668 (1908), Yafo

Recipient: Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank (1873-1960), then a young member of the Jerusalem rabbinical court; later, the longtime Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem.

Body: Regarding Rav Y.Y. Halevi, whom my distinguished colleague proposes for the role of Rabbi of Ekron, I rely on you. You know him very well, and your testimony, that he is fit and suitable for the post, is trustworthy in my eyes.

However, some time ago, Rav Z. Braverman recommended to me Rav David Tiktin for the post, and I do not know why that idea was apparently forgotten. If Rav Tiktin removed his candidacy, for whatever reason, I have no reservation [about Rav Halevi], and I hope to help to my full ability. I am very saddened that there is no longer a rabbi in Ekron, after there had been one. Maybe Hashem will have mercy, and we could establish rabbinates in the other settlements as well, so that we could fully be able to call them the cities of Israel, the holy nation.

The rest of the letter is a halachic discourse.


Willingness to Help with Agricultural Supervision – #142

Date and Place: 5 Sivan 5668 (1908), Yafo

Recipient: Rav Shmuel Salant (the aged Rabbi of Jerusalem), Rav Chaim Berlin (Rav Salant’s assistant, son of the Netziv), and Rav Eliyahu Moshe Panigel (newly appointed Rishon L’tzion, Chief Sephardic Rabbi)

Body: My home was filled with light when I received your holy letter. For some time, I have awaited your light and salvation, oh giants of purity who are connected to the special beauty of the Holy City, may it soon be rebuilt. You have come to strengthen my hand in restoring the holy religion to its place, regarding the New Yishuv generally and the holy city of Yafo and the surrounding settlements specifically.

I hope we will build on this and will have affectionate communication on a regular basis, so that we can establish the Torah and Hashem’s statutes among the members of Hashem’s nation who are settling the Holy Land. This is the beginning of their path, to expand the activity to great matters that have a place among the lofty matters of the world. Thereby, the root of Yaakov, which is starting to take hold in the holy soil, through plants and fruits, will be a fulfillment of the prophecy of “Those who come will establish the root of Yaakov, and Israel will sprout and flower” )Yeshayahu 27:6).

Let us deal with what is now before us. Concerning establishing a good system for the taking of tithes from the produce with the supervision of committees, I lend my hand to your efforts. In anything that my weak abilities can accomplish, I will stand by your side. I am ready to transcribe your holy message and add my approbation to what you, giants, have written and present it to the councils of the agricultural settlements. We will see what they answer me.

I also hope to be in the settlements soon to inspect matters concerning orla and kilei hakerem (two of the agricultural prohibitions), as I do every year, with Hashem’s help. It is especially important this year, as we need to find special inspectors for this in all of the settlements because it is almost impossible to find a man as diligent, broad minded, and expert as the departed Rav Z. Shneur, z”l. I have already begun to assign individual inspectors to each settlement with vineyards. However, we still need to reinforce these matters; Hashem should save us by providing us with strength. Due to my visit, we will know clearly how to act in the new situation and improve matters. I hope to let you know everything [I have learned].

I end off with a blessing and a major request. May your holy hands always be with me, to elevate with a holy splendor of Hashem on the “holy mountains” of the New Yishuv, for the sake of Hashem’s Name, His nation, and His lot.

P.S. – What to do specifically with those who refuse [to cooperate], if such people will be found, we still need to decide on the matter with wise counsel.

The Yishai Fleisher Israel Podcast: Pushing Forward in Knesset and OurCrowd

SEASON 2023 EPISODE 7: Yishai and Malkah Fleisher start off with the high highs of nascent Jewish communities being legally recognized, and the low lows of dastardly terror. Then, Yishai speaks with Arutz Sheva's Yoni Kempinsky about the national divide. Yishai then heads to the OurCrowd Summit in Jerusalem and speaks with Advocate Elie Sprung about the legal side of Israeli Start Ups, with Shuey Fogel about finances for Scale Ups, and with Professor and author Gil Troy about the vision of Theodor Herzl and the blessings of our time. Finally, Knesset insider Jeremy Saltan about passing nationalist laws.

Yeshivat Machon Meir: Parashat Mishpatim (video)

Rabbi Ari Kahn on Parashat Mishpatim: Rabbi Yisrael Salanter's Tallit (video)

Redeeming ourselves with coin?

by Rav Binny Freedman

Along with all the challenging events of the summer of 2014, including the terrible kidnapping and murder of the three boys Gilad, Eyal and Naftali, I heard an incredible story:

A teacher who worked in a resource room in a class for children with learning disabilities had a young student who joined the class and started taking lessons. He clearly had no difficulty with his lessons and consistently did well on tests, and yet continued to attend the classes as a remedial student. Try as she might, the teacher could not determine what learning disabilities this boy might have.

Assuming the boy was simply trying to find an easier path of study, she took him aside and explained to him that he could not continue to attend the remedial class as it was a waste of his time and unfair to the other students who were in much greater need of her attention.

Lowering his voice, the boy said he would tell her why he was in her class begging her not to tell anyone.

“I have a friend with a learning disability, and our teacher told him he had to attend this remedial class, but he was really embarrassed to be singled out as having to attend this class. So I told him it was not a big deal as I also take remedial classes. And that’s why I come to you, so my friend will not be embarrassed.”

The boy who came to that class so as not to let his friend be embarrassed was Gilad Shaar, one of those three kidnapped boys. He was ten years old at the time.

How do we find the strength to rise to that level; to care so much about our fellow human being that we can put their pain ahead of our own pleasure?

This Shabbat, alongside the portion of Mishpatim, we also read a special additional portion: parshat Shekalim. This is the first of four special additional paragraphs, read on four special Shabbatot leading up to the festivals of Purim and Pesach, necessitating a second Torah scroll in Synagogue.

In the portion of Shekalim, (Shemot (Exodus) 30:11-16) Hashem commands us as part of what would ultimately become the yearly census, to give, each of us, a half a shekel to be used for the upkeep of the Beit HaMikdash; the holy Temple in Jerusalem. This mitzvah is described in the Torah (Shemot30:12) as the opportunity to redeem oneself; an atonement of one’s soul (“kofer nafsho”).

Today, when our Temple no longer stands, this mitzvah is commemorated with a gift of charity on Purim, whose festival falls in the month of Adar, when this contribution to the Temple was once made. And this is the reason we read this portion this week, in the weeks preceding the time when communities would once have been exhorting their members to donate the half shekel on time.

Interestingly, when a firstborn son is born, there is a mitzvah to redeem the newborn baby, on the thirtieth day after its birth with five shekalim given to a Kohein (Jewish priest), and somehow, many of the commentaries connect these two mitzvoth.

What is this idea of redeeming ourselves with coin? And why the half shekel?

There is a fascinating idea that comes from the Jerusalem Talmud (Shekalim 2:3)

Four thousand years ago, when the brothers conspired to sell Yosef into Egyptian servitude, the Torah tells us (Bereisheet 37:28) that they sold Yosef for “twenty Shekel” (twenty pieces of silver). And the Talmud explains that these were actually twenty dinarim, equal to five Shekalim in Talmudic times; exactly the amount with which we redeem our first born; and Joseph was the firstborn of Racheil.

Further, as there were ten brothers, the portion of each brother in the sale of Joseph was two dinarim which is the equivalent of half a shekel.

And so, for all eternity, Jews will contribute a half a shekel to the Beit HaMikdash in part to remember that terrible moment when we sold our brother into slavery for half a shekel. Perhaps it being a half a shekel recalls the true character flaw that resulted in the sale of Yosef. When Yosef finally finds his brothers in the field, and they first see him approaching, the Torah tells us they see him ‘from a distance’. (Bereisheet 37:18). And the Ramban explains that it was precisely the fact that they saw him from a distance that allowed them to conspire to kill him. It’s so much easier to dismiss people, even to hate them, when we keep them at a distance.

In fact, this is what having a Beit HaMikdash all is about. The Beit HaMikdash was a place where all Jews would come, three times a year, to be together, in the presence of G-d. It was, among many things, a celebration of Jewish unity, and ultimately a place where we could not only dream of peace, but practice it as well. It is so easy to preach about Jewish unity sitting at home; it takes a lot more work when we are all standing together.

Indeed, this is also the message of Purim, which is now just around the corner. When Esther realizes the great danger in which the Jewish people find themselves from the Persian (read Iranian?) Haman, her first response is to “gather all the Jews…” (Esther 4:16). Perhaps because our greatest challenge is not how we fend off our enemies, but rather how we put aside our differences and remember we are one people. In fact, when Haman first presents his plot to destroy the Jews, he describes them as “One people who are scattered… “(Esther 3:8); because when we allow ourselves to become separate, we lose an essential piece of who we are.

The portion of Shekalim reminds us how easy it is to become distant; to forget that we are all brothers and sisters, created in G-d’s image. And it exhorts us to become better, to work harder, to learn to live together in harmony. Be’ezrat Hashem, perhaps this week each of us can find a way, in one moment, in one action, to make it a little closer to being so.

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.

Judicial Reform?

BS”D
Parashat Mishpatim 5783
by HaRav Nachman Kahana

What is really going on in the dispute over judicial reform in Israel?

Both sides are guilty of lack of frankness and transparency by refraining from stating the true subject under dispute. Judicial reform is just the camouflage.

Ninety percent of the objectors are neither aware of the details of the proposed reform, nor do they have any inkling how judges are appointed to the Supreme Court. What is more despairing, they don’t really care.

The core issue is the albatross that has been around our necks since the time of Sinai when HaShem conscripted us into His ranks to serve as His human representatives in this world. To be in the service of HaShem requires that we distance ourselves from other races and cultures. Our purpose is to influence humanity from afar by setting an example of a perfect society under the Torah laws of HaShem in His Holy Land. However, every generation has been witness to a segment of Jews who decry the fact that they were born to a Jewish mother and wish to escape the covenant between HaShem and our forefathers. They are known by different names according to their generation, but the thrust is the same – to escape, to deny!

The initial act of escaping from the covenant was the Golden Calf. It was an active denial by 3000 participants and the many more spectators who did nothing to prevent this tragic sin.

Cattle continue to play sacred roles in world religions such as Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, as they did in ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and ancient Rome. Therefore, since the Golden Calf symbolized a desire for world unity, this act was a call to reject elitism as HaShem’s chosen people.

The worshipers of the Golden Calf did not want to be outcasts in the family of nations, where every facet of life would set them apart. It is just as many Jews today who distance themselves from Judaism, preferring to be integrated into American and European cultures, and who are embarrassed when seeing a God-fearing Jew.

The Torah demands that we set ourselves apart from so-called “universal values” by accepting a halachic life. Our food is different, as is our clothing. Hair coverings, speech (interesting that the Hebrew alphabet is not shared by any other language, whereas alphabets such as Latin and Cyrillic are the written avenues of communication of many nations). Our speech from cradle to grave – as is almost every detail in our lives – is totally Jewish.

Those who wish to escape their historic-religious responsibilities take upon themselves the aura of righteousness by proclaiming their loyalty to the five universal human values of Love, Truth, Right Conduct, Peace and Non-violence. However, they simply don’t work!

There is little Love in today’s world. Truth has become irrelevant, where your truth is not more valid than mine; and moral anarchy has taken a relentlessly solid foothold and continues to grow. Right Conduct among the nations is not universally accepted in its details. Peace is a temporary ceasefire between wars, and Non-violence is non-existent.

So, what is being fought over today in Israel – and, in fact, since the inception of the Medina – is essentially between those Jews who wish to be HaShem’s chosen people as opposed to those who deny the sanctity, relevance and uniqueness of Judaism, and wish to see our country as a land for all its citizens with Judaism playing a minor role.

To be more specific, our current parliamentary government consists of many religious Jews who would be overjoyed to have the Torah as the law of the land; and if not so, at least the aura of Yiddishkeit maintained in the public domain – Shabbat, holidays, kashrut, modest dress, Torah education for all children, etc.

Today’s real issue is not how judges are elected to the high court. The demonstrators claiming that the country is in danger of losing its democratic character are really afraid that this government will limit their freedom to deny and violate the sanctity of the Torah.

They want public transportation on Shabbat and holidays, mixed beaches, civil marriage where same-sex marriages as husband and husband or wife and wife are officially recognized. They fear that Israel will prohibit abortion (statistics show a steady average of 17,000 abortions annually). They demand the freedom to bring up their children never knowing the verse of “Shema Yisrael” and never knowing what the Kotel is all about.

Jews like this have been with us since the day Moshe Rabbeinu descended from Mount Sinai carrying the Ten Commandments.

The last election proved that the religious and Masorti (traditional) segments of the population are increasing in strength and numbers and that this trend will continue to increase.

Jewish Slavery
The Creator chose to begin the halachic code of the written Torah with matters pertaining to the master-slave relationship.

A word of clarification before proceeding. When we see or hear the word “eved” (slave), it automatically brings to mind a picture of a large ship filled with heavily armored and sadistic Roman soldiers whipping half-naked men holding oars and laboring under the beating sun to propel the ship forward.

The translation of the Hebrew “eved” as slave is in the absence of a more precise translation. A Jew who is sold into “slavery” by the bet din (rabbinic court), because of his inability to repay the principal of his theft, is more the master than the slave, as the Gemara (Kidushin 20a) states:

כל הקונה עבד עברי בקונה אדון לעצמו
Whoever purchases a Jewish slave is as if he purchases a master for himself.

The slave receives the choice food and wine and the most comfortable bed to sleep on. If he is married and even with children, the master must support the wife and children without them being subject to him. When the Jewish slave is freed after six years of work, or at the Yoval (Jubilee year), or after financial payment, the master must present him with the financial ability to begin his life anew.

Not exactly the cotton-picking Black slaves in the southern plantations.

Among other details, the parasha sets down the rules regarding a thief who was sold by the court for nonpayment of the principle of his theft. If he can repay the principle – but not the additional fine imposed on him as punishment for his crime – he is not sold into slavery.

During the time of his servitude, the Torah grants the master the right to couple the Jewish slave with a non-Jewish slave woman for purposes of procreation, as is stated (Shemot 21:4):

אם אדניו יתן לו אשה וילדה לו בנים או בנות האשה וילדיה תהיה לאדניה והוא יצא בגפו
If his master gives him a non-Jewish slave woman and she should give birth to children, she and her children remain slaves when the time for his release arrives.

After his six-year period of bondage ends, he is free to leave. However, if he should choose to remain a slave (with his master’s consent), he is taken to the court where he declares his desire to remain a slave and his right ear is pierced, and then he continues to serve until the Yovel (Jubilee Year). This person is defined in halacha as an eved nirtza — a “pierced slave.”

The fascinating part of this process is the “virtual reality” in which the slave lives, and it is made apparent in his declaration before the court (Ibid verse 5).

ואם אמר יאמר העבד אהבתי את אדני את אשתי ואת בני לא אצא חפשי
And if the slave says, “I love my master, my wife and my children — I will not go free.”

Nothing in this declaration is real.

The master is no longer his “master,” because the time for his freedom has arrived. The woman is not his “wife,” since there cannot exist a halachic husband-wife relationship where one of the partners is not Jewish. And the children are not halachically his, because they are non-Jewish slaves like their mother!

This man is living a virtual reality, totally disconnected from the “true” reality. This is the mentality that renders him fit to remain a slave – a human robot totally encased in the bubble of his dreams.

Living in a Virtual Reality Bubble
There are two broadly accepted premises within wide circles in the galut. One is that the State of Israel is in great danger, while the other is that life in the United States or other places in the galut is secure.

This, too, is a bubble of virtual reality that relegates its adherents to being slaves to their personal instincts. We in Eretz Yisrael are threatened, but we are not in danger. In contradistinction, the Jews in the galut are not yet threatened but are assuredly in mortal danger.

Granted that, on the face of it, we who have returned to Eretz Yisrael and have had to struggle in defense of our Holy Land are threatened. We are the only nation in the world explicitly threatened with nuclear weapons, and there is little solace in the non-nuclear threats.

Nevertheless, in “true” reality, we are in the safest place on the planet.

The Torah (Melachim 2 chap. 6) relates a story involving Elisha, the protégé of Eliyahu the Prophet.

The King of Aram learned that Elisha was in the town of Dotan in northern Shomron, and he sent a huge military force to surround the town with orders to capture Elisha.

The force arrived there at night and waited. In the early morning, Gechazi, the student of Elisha, went outside and saw that the enemy had completely besieged the town. In desperation, he called out to Elisha, who calmed the young man by saying:

ויאמר אל תירא כי רבים אשר אתנו מאשר אותם:
ויתפלל אלישע ויאמר ה’ פקח נא את עיניו ויראה ויפקח ה’ את עיני הנער וירא והנה ההר מלא סוסים ורכב אש סביבת אלישע
Do not fear, for there are more on our side than there are on theirs
Elisha prayed to HaShem saying, “Lord, open his eyes (of Gechazi) so he can see (the surrounding spiritual world)”. And HaShem opened his eyes, and he saw the mountain filled with horses and chariots of fire around Elisha

Surrounding Eretz Yisrael are myriads of God’s angels protecting the righteous of the land.

Dear reader, you might be shrugging your shoulders and thinking that what HaShem performed for a great tzaddik like Elisha is not necessarily what HaShem is doing for our lowly generation. Wrong!

Whoever thinks that the establishment of the State of Israel, the victories in our impossible wars, and the quality of life we enjoy today are not the result of HaShem’s personal intervention, is simply not thinking.

The angels are being overworked in their defense of the Holy Land. After every war, we hear tales of soldiers who swore that angels were driving them on to victory.

By every human standard, the State of Israel should have died in “childbirth” and should certainly not have attained the mature age of seventy-five years (and most certainly not have one of the world’s most stable economies). However, we are here in the fulfillment of HaShem’s promise that He will return His children to Eretz Yisrael.

This is the “true” reality, as we shall live to celebrate the defeat of our enemies and will soon celebrate the modern-day Purim festival.

And what of the reality in the galut? A bit of history:

Upon the establishment of the State of Israel, the gates of the land were thrown open, with the first law to be passed being the Law of Return.

HaShem granted the disbursed of Am Yisrael a period of time to return home, in accordance with Israel’s capacity to absorb the returnees.

In its first years, Israel absorbed over one million desperate Jews from Europe and Arab and Moslem lands – a feat unparalleled in history. And all this in the midst of wars. This, in itself, proves that our generation is the greatest one since the generation that entered the land with Yehoshua bin Nun.

As time marches on, we are seeing an increase in the “discomfort level” of Jews in foreign lands.

Today, it is very uncomfortable to be a Jew in Europe and in many other places in the world. We are all aware that latent anti-Semitism is as close as the gentile co-worker at the desk next to yours or behind the gentle-gentile smile on your neighborhood green grocer’s face.

Many Jews claim that the threat of anti-Semitism is irrational, and certainly not in the United States. Yet, reality teaches that the fabric of society is paper thin, and it takes little to turn neighbor against neighbor and friend into foe.

Even so, this thought does not really disturb our brothers and sisters in the galut. Deep in the recesses of the Jewish galut mind is the knowledge that if, God forbid, the situation becomes intolerable, Israel will always be there to take them in. But this, too, is virtual reality.

Rambam writes in the Laws of Teshuva that HaShem declares a period of time for the sinner to return. However, if he does not return, HaShem creates a situation in his life that makes doing teshuva a very difficult, if not impossible, alternative. The day might come when HaShem declares AD KAN (no more!) and the gates will be closed.

We pray in the chapter preceding the morning “Shema”:

ותוליכנו קוממיות לארצנו
Lead me upright to our land.

Meaning: Permit me to return home, not as a poor refugee with only the shirt on my back, but upright in body and spirit, with self-pride and confidence.

There is still time for those who wish to assure their family’s spiritual and physical future, but for how long!

To connect the end and the beginning of this week’s contribution. HaShem has appointed a personal SUPREME COURT over every one of us. It is a spiritual moral sense called the Jewish Conscience.

Shabbat Shalom
Nachman Kahana
Copyright © 5783/2023 Nachman Kahana

The Abraham Accords - the US, Arab interests and Israel

by Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan believe that the expansion of the Abraham Accords, the enhancement of Israel-Saudi defense and commercial cooperation and the conclusion of an Israel-Saudi Arabia peace accord are preconditioned upon major Israeli concessions to the Palestinian Authority.

Is such a belief consistent with Middle East reality?

Arab interests
*The signing of the Abraham Accords, and the role played by Saudi Arabia as a critical engine of the accords, were driven by the national security, economic and diplomatic interests of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and the Sudan.

*The Arab interest in peace accords with Israel was not triggered by the realization that the Jewish State was genuinely seeking peaceful-coexistence, nor by a departure from the fundamental tenets of Islam. It was motivated by the assessment that critical concerns of the respective Arab countries would be effectively-served by Israel's advanced military (Qualitative Military Edge), technological and diplomatic capabilities in the face of mutual and lethal enemies, such as Iran's Ayatollahs and Muslim Brotherhood terrorism.

*Saudi Arabia and the six Arab peace partners of Israel (including Egypt and Jordan) are aware that the Middle East resembles a volcano, which occasionally releases explosive lava – domestically and/or regionally – in an unpredictable manner, as evidenced by the 1,400-year-old stormy intra-Arab/Muslim relations, and recently demonstrated by the Arab Tsunami, which erupted in 2011 and still rages.

They wish to minimize the impact of rogue regimes, and therefore are apprehensive about the nature of the proposed Palestinian state, in view of the rogue Palestinian inter-Arab track record, which has transformed Palestinians into an intra-Arab role model of subversion, terrorism, treachery and ingratitude.

*They are anxious about the erosion of the US posture of deterrence, which is their most critical component of national security, and alarmed about the 43-year-old US diplomatic option toward Iran's Ayatollahs, which has bolstered the Ayatollahs' terroristic, drug trafficking and ballistic capabilities. They are also concerned about the US' embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is the largest Sunni terrorist entity with religious, educational, welfare and political branches. And, they are aware of the ineffectiveness of NATO (No Action Talk Only?), the European vacillation, and the vulnerability of all other Arab countries.

Israel's role
*Saudi Arabia and the Arab partners to peace accords with Israel feel the machetes of the Ayatollahs and the Moslem Brotherhood at their throats. They consider Israel as the most reliable "life insurance agent" in the region. They view Israel as the most effective US force-multiplier in the Middle East, and appreciate Israel's proven posture of deterrence; flexing its military muscles against Iran's Ayatollahs in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran itself and against Palestinian and Hezbollah terrorism. They respect Israel's unique counter-terrorism intelligence and training capabilities, and its game-changing military and counter-terrorism battle tactics and technologies.

*The Arab view of Israel as a reliable partner on "a rainy day" has been bolstered by Israel's willingness to defy US pressure, when it comes to Israel's most critical national security and historic credos (e.g., Iran, Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria). In addition, Saudi Arabia and Israel's peace-partners aim to leverage Israel's good-standing among most Americans - and therefore among most Senators and House Representatives - as a venue to enhance their military, commercial and diplomatic ties with the US.

*Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are preoccupied with the challenge of economic diversification, realizing that they are overly-reliant on oil and natural gas, which are exposed to price-volatility, depletion and could be replaced by emerging cleaner and more cost-effective energy.

Thus, they consider Israel's ground-breaking technologies as a most effective vehicle to diversify their economy, create more jobs in non-energy sectors, and establish a base for alternative sources of national income, while bolstering homeland and national security.

*The Abraham Accords – as well as Israel's peace accords with Egypt and Jordan – and the unprecedented expansion of defense and commercial cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel, demonstrate that critical Arab national security interests may supersede fundamental tenets of Islam, such as the 1,400-year-old rejection of any "infidel" sovereignty in "the abode of Islam." Moreover, critical national security interests may lead to a dramatic moderation of the (Arab) education system, which is the most authentic reflection of one's vision and policies.

Thus, contrary to the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates has uprooted hate-education curriculum, replacing it with pro-Israel/Jewish curriculum.

Abraham Accords' durability
*The success of the Abraham Accords was a result of avoiding the systematic mistakes committed by the US State Department. The latter has produced a litany of failed peace proposals, centered on the Palestinian issue, while the Abraham accords bypassed the Palestinian issue, avoiding a Palestinian veto, and focusing on Arab interests. Therefore, the durability of the Abraham Accords depends on the interests of the respective Arab countries, and not on the Palestinian issue, which is not a top priority for any Arab country.

*The durability of the Abraham Accords depends on the stability of the individual Arab countries and the Middle East at-large.

*The Abraham Accord have yielded initial and unprecedented signs of moderation, modernity and peaceful coexistence, which requires the US to support the respective pro-US Arab regimes, rather than pressuring them (e.g., Saudi Arabia and the UAE).

*However, one should not ignore the grave threats to the durability of the accords, posed by the volcanic nature of the unstable, highly-fragmented, unpredictable, violently intolerant, non-democratic and tenuous Middle East (as related to intra-Arab relations!). These inherent threats would be dramatically alleviated by a resolute US support.

*A major threat to the Abraham Accord is the tenuous nature of most Arab regimes in the Middle East, which yields tenuous policies and tenuous accords. For example, in addition to the Arab Tsunami of 2010 (which is still raging on the Arab Street), non-ballot regime-change occurred (with a dramatic change of policy) in Egypt (2013, 2012, 1952), Iran (1979, 1953), Iraq (2003, 1968, 1963-twice, 1958), Libya (2011, 1969), Yemen (a civil war since the '90s, 1990, 1962), etc.

*Regional stability, the Abraham Accords and US interests would be undermined by the proposed Palestinian state west of the Jordan River (bearing in mind the intra-Arab Palestinian track record). It would topple the pro-US Hashemite regime east of the River; transforming Jordan into another platform of regional and global Islamic terrorism, similar to Libya, Syria, Iraq and Yemen; triggering a domino scenario, which would threaten every pro-US Arab oil-producing country in the Arabian Peninsula; yielding a robust tailwind to Iran's Ayatollahs, Russia and China and a major headwind to the US.

*While Middle East reality defines policies and accords as variable components of national security, the topography and geography of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the Golan Heights are fixed components of Israel's minimal security requirements in the reality of the non-Western Middle East. Israel's fixed components of national security have secured its survival, and have dramatically enhanced its posture of deterrence. They transformed the Jewish State into a unique force and dollar multiplier for the US.

*The more durable the Abraham Accords and the more robust Israel's posture of deterrence, the more stable the pro-US Arab regimes and the Middle East at-large; the more deterred are anti-US rogue regimes; the less potent are Middle Eastern epicenters of anti-US terrorism and drug trafficking; the more bolstered is the US global posture and the weaker is the posture of the US' enemies and adversaries.

*Would the Arab regimes of the Abraham Accords precondition their critical ties with Israel upon Israeli concessions to the Palestinians, which they view as a rogue element? Would they sacrifice their national security and economic interests on the altar of the Palestinian issue? Would they cut off their nose to spite their face?

Pounding the Table: Israel’s January 6

by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky

There is an old trial lawyer’s maxim that “if the law is against you, pound the facts. If the facts are against you, pound the law. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table.” Consider the wave of protests in Israel against the proposed judicial reforms the equivalent of pounding the table. It would be a shame, an offense against democracy, and the humiliation of a right-wing government if it allows these protests to derail the proposals and delay the process. These protests are Israel’s equivalent of January 6 –  except that I fear that the January 6 people at the American Capitol were a little more sincere in their beliefs.

First, the facts. The weakness of the protesters’ arguments is illustrated by their ever-shifting nature. Some just obsessively hate Binyamin Netanyahu and so must oppose anything he supports. The suggestion that any of these reforms will impact his interminable trials is absurd and far-fetched, and is an accusation that is incessantly repeated without a shred of evidence to support it. He’ll be able to have more influence over the composition of the Court years from now? His trial will still be going on? He’ll be able to pass legislation shielding him from liability – and not pay a political price for that? The answer in a democracy is more democracy, not less.

Second, the notion that the proposed reforms will impair Israel’s democracy is similarly ludicrous and is made by those who assume that asserting it monotonously is itself proof of its veracity. The obvious implication is that for the first 50 years of Israel’s existence it was not a democracy and only became one when 25 years ago Aharon Barak usurped the rights of the people and imposed a judicial fiefdom in which a dozen or so robed lawyers make decisions in every aspect of life – political, religious, financial, military – instead of the people’s elected representatives and its duly constituted coalition government. It sounds as ridiculous as it reads. It cannot be a “threat to democracy” if the goal is to restore Israel’s democracy to what it was before the Barak revolution. Government by a few oligarchs is the quintessence of democracy, not the rule of the people? Why have elections altogether if the people’s choices are frustrated in their ability to implement their platforms?

The obvious answer is that the will of the people is only obstructed when they elect a right-wing government that adheres to tradition, love of the people and land of Israel, and willing to take a strong hand against our enemies. When the people – very sporadically, reality reminds us – elect a left-wing government the Court turns a blind eye to its excesses and trampling of human rights.

Thus, third, the talk of civil war and the civil disobedience that is accompanying it and interfering with people’s rights should not be tolerated. Israel’s right-wing, not to mention the settlers themselves, endured an unforgivable trauma when 9500 Jews were expelled from their homes in gush Katif and northern Shomron. The High Court will intervene and halt an attempt to remove a fence illegally erected by Bedouin to seize more land – and ignored the expulsion of thousands of Jews from their homes? Spare us the crocodile tears, the faux outrage, and the placards decrying these reforms as grounds for civil war and a threat to democracy. If the right didn’t attempt to overthrow the democratic process during the expulsion from Gaza (even though that ignoble process was a corruption of democracy) the left should not be making threats about changes to the Court’s method of judicial appointment and the limits of the Court’s jurisdiction. This is not a civil war over slavery or national destiny; it is a threat of civil war from the people who – like on January 6 in DC – do not respect the results of a democratic election in which those who voted for the government were fully aware of the proposed reforms and voted accordingly.

Moreover, we should certainly contrast the treatment of today’s rioters and the protesters of the Gush Katif expulsion. The latter were told that their protests were a breach of democratic norms, thousands were arrested, and thousands more were kept away by the government artificially closing roads and access points to them. The judicial reforms protesters, by contrast, are coddled, allowed to block intersections at will, upset people’s schedules and lives, and are celebrated in the media. Anyone who wants to know why there is such distrust on the right of Israel’s Supreme Court and mainstream media should look no further than the disparate treatment between the two groups. Aharon Barak had no sympathy for the plight of the settlers in Gush Katif and so stripped them of their human rights, permittted their expulsion, the destruction of their homes, the extinction of their businesses and even the uprooting of their dead from their graves. That is not equality before the law but simple power politics, and cruel and mean-spirited at that. Equality before the law means applying laws of civil disobedience consistently across the political spectrum.

Fourth, the threats of grievous harm to the economy are objectively preposterous – unless they are promoted by these suicidal activists. It recalls the statement made by a historian, in another context, that the demonstrators are trying to induce “a real life disaster in order to thwart a mythical catastrophe.” If anything, investors seek a business climate that is stable and in which contracts are respected – not one in which a Court can unilaterally impose its reading of a contract on the parties, against their clear meaning and intent, simply because it wants to do so. The reforms will strengthen the business climate unless the protesters, in their madness and anger against their loss of power in a democracy, sabotage their own businesses and Israel’s prosperity. Sadly, in the Middle East, suicidal misbehavior is not unknown. And, if in the short term, there is a brief economic downturn? We survived Pharaoh, and can survive this as well, especially in a world where Israel’s know-how is desired and benefits millions of people.

Fifth, the exaggerated and risible laments have purposely triggered politicians across the world to weigh in on Israel’s domestic concerns, quite an embarrassing display. It has even induced President Joe Biden to demand that Israel’s Parliament act only with a national consensus. Perhaps he forgot – his words are usually written by others – that in the United States he passed his signature legislation without a consensus, relying just on a narrow Democratic majority. Hmmm, yes, he must have forgotten that before he started to lecture us about our legislation.

The best thing the government can do – besides arresting and incarcerating those who block roads and highways – is pass the legislation quickly, and two weeks afterward people will have moved on to something else. Negotiations on proposed legislation takes place in committee; those who choose to boycott, scream, obstruct and intimidate but not offer any cogent proposals forfeit the right to have their voices heard where it counts – in the Knesset, not the street. (The fact that so many protest leaders – including the politicians have called for similar reforms in the past only underscores the hypocrisy of the left and the political farce it is orchestrating.)

Nothing will change in Israel, and the people’s inclinations and policy preferences will continue to be thwarted, unless the Court’s jurisdiction is limited and the override clause is passed. Without that, any legislation including a change in the composition of the judicial selection committee will be overturned by the Court which perceives itself, wrongly, as the ultimate power in society. Similarly, the Knesset must pass a law permitting override of Supreme Court decisions that repudiate its laws. What is the threshold? It is a good discussion, but is a civil war justified if the threshold is 64 and not 67? That too is absurd. Of course, 64 seems too convenient (the coalition’s current Knesset majority), but if the threshold is 65 or 67, then a Supreme Court majority of 13 or 14 justices (not 12) should be mandated if the Court wishes to invalidate a law passed by the Knesset. After all, if a Knesset law is so egregious, the politicians will pay a steep price at the next elections, of which in Israel there is no shortage. And judges, despite their arrogant overreach, never pay a political price for anything. Those who are unaccountable to the public should be wary of imposing their views on the public, not eagerly and tendentiously seek such opportunities.

And obviously, there should no such individual in a civil society like Israel’s Attorney General who unilaterally has the right to order the government to do something or not do something, invalidate legislation or demand legislation. Why vote for a government if power is so concentrated in one person?

It is difficult to conceive of any Israeli who voted for the current government joining or supporting the protests or even having sympathy for them. As such, what we see before us are the sour grapes of sore losers who would rather destroy Israel as a Jewish state and a prosperous democracy than to see a right-wing government succeed in the mission for which it was elected. They have no respect for the people’s vote; why then should they respect the time, lives and livelihoods of their fellow citizens? I hope the small number of protesters – a small mob in comparison to the population that voted for the government – has the decency to stop pounding the table, that the government has the strength and courage to pass the reforms and quickly, and we can return to facing and overcoming the real challenges that threaten our peace, prosperity, unity and holiness.

“When Adar Arrives, We Increase Our Joy”

by HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

“When Adar arrives we increase our joy, and when Av arrives we decrease our joy” (Ta’anit 29a).

In Adar, G-d shone His countenance upon us and saved us from the plot of wicked Haman. We, therefore, display great joy over G-d’s enormous kindness. Yet even in Av, during which G-d concealed His countenance from Israel and two Temples were destroyed, we do not eliminate our joy altogether but only “decrease” it. The foundation of our faith is that even when G-d, so to speak, “conceals His countenance,” our Father in Heaven is still acting in secret for our benefit. Therefore, a believing Jew who truly, constantly serves G-d, must remain joyous, whether G-d is revealing His face or concealing it.

As our sages taught, “A person must bless G-d for the bad just like he blesses Him for the good” -- with a whole heart and with joy (Redak, I Shmuel).

Joy may be compared to music. The volume can be turned up or down, but the tune of faith, trust, and joy cannot be turned off altogether.

Today, the State of Israel finds itself in a complex and complicated situation. We are at war with our enemies who are rising up to destroy us and to drive us out of our land -- it will never be! Likewise, cultural, social, and political power struggles from within are seemingly weakening the strength and fortitude of the nation. Even so, we trust in G-d, and rely on the truthfully spoken words of our prophets, prophets of truth and justice: “The L-rd will not cast off His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance” (Tehilim 94:14). The farther we march along the upward path to complete redemption, the greater will be the joy of Israel and the whole world. Ultimately we will see with our own eyes how “the nations shall cease from G-d’s land” (Tehilim 10:16); and “the L-rd shall bring the counsel of nations to naught, and make the people’s devices to be of no effect. The L-rd’s counsel shall stand forever; the thoughts of His heart for all generations” (Tehilim 33:10-11).

Looking forward to complete salvation,
With the Love of Israel,
Shabbat Shalom,
Chodesh Tov.

European Union, Biden Administration Embrace Palestinian Lies

by Bassam Tawil 

• By turning a blind eye to Palestinian lies, fabrications and antisemitism, the Biden administration and the EU are sending a message to the Palestinians that it is perfectly fine to continue demonizing Israel and Jews.
• Needless to say, the statement by France, Germany, Italy, Britain and the US totally ignored Abbas's ongoing campaign to vilify Israel, demonize Jews, deny their history and rights to Israel and the Western Wall. In fact, the EU has even been working with the Palestinians to seize as much land as possible to create "facts on the ground" in the large region of "Area C" that officially belongs to Israel.
• The statement also totally ignores Palestinian leaders' glorification of terrorists and the Palestinian "pay-for-slay" jobs program that incentivizes Palestinians to murder Jews by rewarding the murderers and their families afterwards.
• For the EU and the Biden administration, building new homes by Jewish families is more dangerous than the antisemitic remarks and genocidal rhetoric of Abbas and other Palestinians.
• The representatives of France, Germany, Italy, Britain and the US are lying to everyone's face when they claim that the construction of new homes for Jews would "exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and undermine efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution."
• The representatives of Italy, Germany, France, Britain and the US know that the Israeli-Arab conflict started long before the construction of even one house for Jews in the West Bank. All they need to do is listen to what Abbas himself said in Cairo, where he made it clear that the Arab's problem with Israel started already back in 1917, when the Jews were promised a homeland of their own. When Abbas states that the Arabs have exclusive rights to Jerusalem and Palestine, he is actually saying that Israel has no right to exist.
• By ignoring Abbas's remarks, those who issued the joint statement that denounces Israel for intending to build new housing units for Jewish families are complicit in the Palestinian campaign of lies and fabrications regarding Jewish history and rights.
• By failing to call out the Palestinian leader for his lies, distortions and incitement, the officials from Italy, Germany, France, Britain and the Biden administration are again demonstrating their unbending bias against Israel.
• It is time for the EU and the Biden administration to wake up to the fact that the Palestinian leaders are not interested in peace with Israel. They are interested in peace without Israel. The Palestinians do not distinguish between a Jew residing in the West Bank and a Jew residing in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.
• The Palestinian leaders are part of the problem, not part of the solution. The EU and the Biden administration's double standards and failure to see reality as it is, instead of as they wish it to be, are also part of the problem. Only when the EU and the Biden administration take this in will it be possible to start talking about the prospects of a "negotiated solution" for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

It is the Palestinian leadership's refusal to accept Israel's right to exist as the homeland of the Jewish people that is exacerbating tensions between Israelis and Jews. It is the Palestinian leadership's massive campaign of incitement against Israel and Jews and continued glorification of terrorists that is aggravating tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. Pictured: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaks at an Arab League summit in Cairo, on February 12, 2023. (Photo by Ahmad Hassan/AFP via Getty Images)

The Palestinian Authority and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, continue to twist, misrepresent and rewrite the history of the Jews as part of an ongoing campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The campaign aims to negate and reject the connection between the Jews and the Land of Israel and foster hatred for Israel and the Jews.

This campaign -- which, in Europe, at least, has been going on for decades -- is being completely ignored by both the European Union and the Biden administration, whose representatives are too busy bashing Israel to notice. By turning a blind eye to Palestinian lies, fabrications and antisemitism, the Biden administration and the EU are sending a message to the Palestinians that it is perfectly fine to continue demonizing Israel and Jews.

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The IRS Came After Pro-Israel Groups, But Protected Hamas

by Daniel Greenfield

David Boim was only 17 years old when he was shot and killed while waiting at a bus stop north of Jerusalem. The American teenager’s parents, Stanley and Joyce, have spent a quarter of a century since trying to bring Hamas, the Islamic terror group behind the attack, and its funders in the United States to justice. Their lawsuits have targeted, among others, the Holy Land Foundation which was found in federal court to have provided “material aid to Hamas” in what became the largest terrorism financing prosecution case in the United States.

The Justice Department stated that, “from its inception, HLF existed to support Hamas. Before HLF was designated as a Specially Designated Terrorist by the Treasury Department and shut down in December 2001, it was the largest U.S. Muslim charity.”

It was also a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The IRS had allowed money used to fund Islamic terrorists to be funneled through a tax-deductible organization. And that was not the first time or the last.

The Boims are still fighting in court over what they allege are new non-profits that are really ‘alter egos’ that were set up after the Hamas fundraisers lost criminal and civil lawsuits.

One of those is American Muslims for Palestine.

The Boim family lawsuit alleges that, “American Muslims for Palestine is merely a new name for the same terrorism funding enterprise”. Last year, a federal judge in Illinois allowed the case against AMP to move forward.

(Osama Abu Irshaid, Head Of American Muslims For Palestine)

But the bereaved family are not the only ones accusing AMP.

Jonathan Schanzer, Vice President of Research for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee that many “high-level and mid-level figures” from the terror charities “gravitated to a new organization called American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).”

Schanzer, who had formerly worked as a terrorism finance analyst at the Treasury Department, then went on to list the connections to Hamas and its front groups. He told Congress about the case of AMP board member Salah Sarsour, an alleged relative of antisemitic figure Linda Sarsour, who told Al-Jazeera “that the conference aims to keep up with and support the Palestinian people’s continuous intifada.” A 2001 FBI memo to the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) describes how Sarsour’s brother, after being arrested by Israel in 1998, told Israeli officials about Sarsour’s “involvement with Hamas and fundraising activities of HLFRD [Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development].”

American Muslims for Palestine officially denies everything. At its events, it’s another matter.

An American Muslims for Palestine conference panel titled, “Do Occupied People Have the Right to Resist their Occupation?” asserted that “it is well recognized under international law that an occupied people has the right to resist its occupation by any means necessary.” “Any means” implies support for terrorism. The panel further complained that “the US has designated most Palestinian groups as terrorist organizations” and invited attendees to, “come navigate the fine line between legal activism and material support for terrorism.”

The IRS is certainly navigating that fine line by maintaining AMP’s tax deductible status.

Like the dismantled Hamas fundraising groups, American Muslims for Palestine receives tax-deductible funds. It does this through the Americans for Justice in Palestine

Educational Foundation (AJP). AJP got its tax-deductible status in 2010.

A year earlier, Lori Lowenthal Marcus, a journalist, applied for tax exempt status for her pro-Israel group, Z Street. The IRS informed her that it “has to give special scrutiny to organizations connected to Israel.” The lawsuit originating from the Z Street case helped roll back the curtain on the IRS bias against conservatives and pro-Israel Jewish groups.

Lori Lowenthal Marcus told Front Page Magazine that, “One of the excuses given to Z Street by an IRS official was that the IRS had to make sure we were not ‘engaged in terrorism’ because we mentioned ‘terror’ in our mission statement. The part of Z Street’s mission that mentioned terror? ‘We will not engage with, negotiate with or appease terrorists.’ Yet Z Street’s application for 501(c)(3) status was sidelined for seven years while Z Street litigated the IRS’s unconstitutional application of Viewpoint Discrimination against us.”

Despite the connections between AMP and the largest terrorism financing prosecution case in the country, the IRS appeared to have no such reservations about the anti-Israel group.

Was AMP ever asked by the IRS about its views on Islamic terrorism?

Due to the inaction of the IRS, the AMP’s networks and influence continue to expand.

AJP and AMP have created AJP Action, a 501(c)(4), which lobbies on Capitol Hill and endorses politicians: including Rep. Betty McCollum. Apart from its hostility to Israel, it’s also opposed to the Palestinian Authority, complaining that PA leader Mahmoud Abbas has been backed by Israel and the U.S., “as opposed to his Hamas rivals.”

An AJP Action policy paper critical of Fatah’s Palestinian Authority agonizes that security “has often meant repressing members of Hamas to protect Fatah’s power”.

AMP was founded by Hatem Bazian, who was once quoted calling for the mass murder of Jews. He still serves as the chairman of AMP’s national board and heads the AJP Educational Foundation. Bazian had previously fundraised for one of the Hamas charities and had tweeted an article claiming that, “The Europeans who fought Nazism with arms were labeled ‘terrorist’ by Hitler. Hamas is fighting against the occupation of Palestinian lands and is labeled ‘terrorist.”

AMP’s National Policy Director Osama Abuirshaid took part in a conference with top Hamas officials in 2021. He had tweeted, “Whether you love Hamas or hate her, her opponents respect her. She stands by her principles and negotiates from a position of strength.”

Taher Herzallah, AMP’s Associate Director of Outreach & Grassroots Organizing, posted on Facebook that, “Hamas’ rockets are an oppressed people’s audible cry for help.”

At an AMP event in New Jersey this year, Herzallah complained that, “they make us look like terrorists if we fight back, if we throw a rock, or resist. This is a God-given right.”

“Come navigate the fine line between legal activism and material support for terrorism” indeed.

The issue with the IRS isn’t simply that it maintains a ‘hands off’ policy toward nonprofits, but that it displays a transparent political bias in selecting which organizations it goes after.

The IRS targeted Z Street and other pro-Israel groups even though there was no basis for suspecting any kind of illegal activity, but it carefully looked away from the rise of American Muslims for Palestine despite the links to previous nonprofits that had faced criminal prosecution, an extended lawsuit by the family of a terror victim and congressional testimony by a former Treasury Department specialist in sanctioning terrorist fundraisers.

Americans deserve an IRS that objectively enforces the law rather than picking and choosing its targets for partisan political reasons. As long as the IRS continues to be aligned with the Left, it will also be aligned with the Islamic terrorists who have become integrated within the Left.

And that makes the IRS a threat to national security.

How God conducts Jewish history

by Rabbi Pinchas Winston

Friday Night
THIS SHABBOS IS Parashas Shekalim (yes, already), because next Tuesday and Wednesday will be Rosh Chodesh Adar, b”H, making this also Shabbos Mevarchin. Tu BeShevat behind us, we are now in Purim mode. How time flies when you write on airplane. Just kidding. I am firmly grounded.

There might not have been too much to Parashas Shekalim except for the technical halachah had it not been for this:

Reish Lakish said: It was revealed and known to the One Who spoke and the world came into being that in the future Haman was going to weigh out shekels against the Jewish people. Therefore, He arranged for [the Jewish people’s half-]shekels to precede [Haman’s] shekels, as we learn: On the first of Adar [the court] makes an announcement about the shekels… (Megillah 13b)

This of course is not the reason for the mitzvah of Machtzis HaShekel, as commanded in the Torah (Shemos 30:11-34:35). It was a way for the Jewish nation to take responsibility for the upkeep of the Temple and to maintain purchasing of public sacrifices. It was just a very important historic side benefit that God, for some reason, decided it would be sufficient national merit to counteract Haman’s purchase of the right to destroy them. This is what the Gemora calls “the cure before the illness.”

Another example of this idea of “the cure before the illness” was Mordechai’s knowledge of 70 languages. He knew them because it was a prerequisite for being on the Sanhedrin, though he was a long way from Eretz Yisroel, and many years had passed since the Sanhedrin last sat. Yet one of those languages was Tarsian. This allowed Mordechai to listen in on Bigsan’s and Teresh’s plot to assassinate Achashveros, report them to the king, and later be paraded around town by Haman.

How many times have you said, or heard people say, “It’s a good thing I did so-and-so.” It means that when they did the act, they did not anticipate the additional future benefit that resulted. A favorite of mine is, “I don’t usually do things like that, but for some reason I did and it saved me having to do…” Or, it simply saved them, because lives sometimes “just happened” to be saved because something happened that, and the time, no one thought would make such a difference in the future.

All of this is not just a sub plot of Megillas Esther. It is the plot of Megillas Esther. It was God showing us, as 1,000 years of prophecy was coming to an end, how He conducts Jewish history. It was God giving us a peek behind the curtain of how He would be guiding Jewish history henceforth. This was so that we could remain firm in our belief in Him and Torah while He acts in a hidden manner…a very hidden manner. As, for example, when an Arab is able to drive up on a sidewalk and murder Jewish children just waiting for a bus home.

Shabbos Day
MEGILLAS ESTHER ENDS happily. Certainly the Jews who lived through it suffered not knowing their fate at the time, but when the dust settled, Haman was gone, Achashveros was humbled, and not a single Jew died. It is easy to say “all’s well that ends well” when it actually does. But countless pogroms since then have not, and then there was the Holocaust… The happy-ending narrative seemed to end with Purim.

Yes, there was still Chanukah to come, but that seemed to only be a fraction of what Purim was. The story of Purim is almost comical to read because it seems so cartoon-like, reflecting just how above nature it was. The story of Chanukah seems much more “down to earth,” so much more, well, natural…despite the miracles that occurred for the Jewish people.

It seems that the trend has been away from the obviously biblical, except in Hollywood. They have been making epic films about supernatural events and people as a break away from mundane life. This is one of the reasons why so many people have difficulty believing in Torah today. It has just become so distant from everyday life that it falls into the category of fantasy, even delusional according to many.

In a sense, it is very much like the transition from last week’s parsha to this week’s parsha. For me, it always feels like getting off a moving sidewalk, abrupt with a quick deceleration. We go from the fanfare of God talking to the people and giving Torah amidst thick clouds and smoke, with shofar blowing that gets louder with time, not weaker, to laws of slaves.

This is followed by several technical laws that make you feel more like you’re in a court room than at miraculous Mt. Sinai. And all of a sudden, and once again quite abruptly, the channel is changed and we find ourselves back at the giving and the receiving of Torah, drama and all. Why the back and forth?

Actually, it reminds me of another idea. You see that very natural and mundane world around you? How many miracles did you see today? I mean, outright biblical-like miracles, Hollywood-style but without the special effects. Yes, every aspect of life is a miracle, but if we really appreciated that we’d be a lot closer to God. I’m talking about splitting of the sea category miracles. How many have you seen like that…ever? And why not? What’s missing from the world we live in that wasn’t missing from the world of the Jews thousands of years ago back in Egypt and in the desert?

It’s not what’s missing. It’s what was added. Clothing. Not physical clothing like we wear, mind you, but spiritual clothing. It’s on God’s light, ever since Adam HaRishon sinned by eating from the Aitz HaDa’as Tov v’Ra. As mentioned in a previous week, that is what angels are. They are spiritual clothing over the light of God to protect it from the spiritual filth that resulted from Adam’s sin, and henceforth. Nature? That’s just what the light of God looks like when you put “clothing” on it.

Shalosh Seudot
MANY YEARS BACK I read a book called The Masada Plan. The book was set during the Yom Kippur War and posited that the quick stop to the war the Jews were losing, was the result of a potential Israeli nuclear strike on multiple capitals around the world. When the major countries balked, claiming that the Israel lacked the capability to deliver said bombs, the Israelis answered, “They’re already there.”

In other words, the premise was that the Israeli’s had been quietly smuggling parts of the bombs into cities around the world over decades. They had been secretly assembling them on location, and then quietly and strategically planting them for such a future crisis. There had been actual reports of some failed smuggling attempts of things like centrifuges in the past.

When the Gemora says that God makes the “cure” before He sends the “infliction,” the truth is, “They’re already there.” Inside everything in Creation, no matter how mundane and seemingly insignificant it is, is Ohr Ain Sof, the highest, most powerful, and most miraculous light in Creation. If it wasn’t there, the thing would not exist. We don’t have to have wonder how God will solve our problems. We just have to know that all solutions were already built into Creation before the problems even came into existence.

This is part of what Bris Milah says too. We remove the orlah because it is the lavush—clothing—that hides the inner light. By performing bris we remind ourselves that all of life is like this, and that we have to look deeper for the light of God in everything.

This is why bris is on the eighth day from birth, corresponding to the supernatural potential of life. If we don’t see or experience big miracles in life, it is not because they aren’t there. It’s just because they are under layers of “protection” that require Torah merit to remove. The miracles in Egypt, at the sea, and Har Sinai, etc., were just God allowing His light to dress down for an intended period of time to save the Jewish people, and to educate them in this way of life. A little less so in Mordechai’s and Esther’s time.

As history has moved on further away from Mt. Sinai and the period of prophecy, additional layers have been added to God’s light. The light never goes away, but it can become more hidden. When that happens, then nature seems more prominent, and evil seems to get away with murder, literally. The world seems more hefker—ownerless.

Appearances can be deceiving, and in the case of Jewish history, very deceiving. It is one thing to come close to genocide and be saved from it at the last moment. It is very different to actually suffer it, as we did in the Holocaust. I am afraid and uncomfortable to say the words, but they have to be said: We will be shocked to find out how such an incomprehensible tragedy as the cruel murder of six million Jews, including one million children, fits into this explanation as well.

Ain Od Milvado, Part 39
BASED UPON WHAT was just explained, Ain Od Milvado doesn’t mean that God is the only one who can save us. It means that God is the only one who has already saved us. What we need to come out on top already exists in Creation, it is just buried behind veils that block our vision of it.

A great example of this is the story of Elisha and Gechazi, one of my personal favorites.

The king of Aram was greatly disturbed about this matter, and he summoned his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me who of ours [reveals my secrets] to the king of Israel?”

One of his servants said, “No, my master, the King, but Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

He said, “Go and see where he is, and I will send and take him.”

He was told, “Behold he is in Dosan.”

He sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came at night and surrounded the city. The servant of the man of God arose early and went out, and behold an army with horses and chariots was surrounding the city. His attendant said to him, “My master! What shall we do?”

He said, “Have no fear, for those who are with us are more numerous than those who are with them.” Elisha prayed and said, “O God, please open his eyes and let him see.” God opened the lad’s eyes and he saw, and behold the mountain was full of fiery horses and chariots around Elisha. (II Melachim 6:11-17)

We should ask God for the same thing in general, but certainly when we’re in trouble. “Dear God, I know the solution to my problem already exists. Please open my eyes so that I can see it.” You’d be surprised how quickly you all of a sudden become aware of what you need to know to solve your crisis.

Rav Kook's Ein Ayah: The Benefits of Torah and of Eating

Gemara: Rav Yehuda said: How do we know that the blessings on food after one eats are from the Torah? For it says: “You shall eat and be satiated, and bless …” (Devarim 8:10). How do we know that the blessing on Torah study before one studies is from the Torah? For it says: “When I will call out the name of Hashem, give greatness to our Lord” (ibid. 32:3).

Ein Ayah: There are two benefits one receives from Hashem by means of food. One is the enjoyment of the eating - as one eats. It is fitting to give thanks for this enjoyment even if one did not gain any life-sustaining benefit from the eating. However, the main benefit from the food is the fact that it helps sustain life.

There are also two benefits that one receives from Torah study. One benefit is that it helps one act properly, as it teaches him what he should be doing in order to lead his path in life based on the Torah. The act of learning, in and of itself, is one that elevates he who learns to the sanctity of involvement in the sacred Torah, which is a Torah of life, the light of the face of the living King.

It makes sense that in regard to the blessing that is of Torah origin, it is fitting that the blessing should relate to the main benefit, whereas the lower level benefit should be covered by the expansion of the concept, with a rabbinically ordained blessing. This distinction enables us to distinguish between the main and the secondary benefits.

Regarding the blessings on food, the main benefit is the sustaining of life that it facilitates. This benefit is received after the eating has taken place and the food begins to be digested. Therefore, the blessing of Torah origin is the one that comes after eating.

Regarding Torah study, in contrast, the lofty sanctity of the Torah itself is truly above all other actions, so that one who is involved in Torah study lishma (for the right reasons) is made great and elevated over all things. The completeness of a man upon grasping the truths of Torah, even when he does not do an action based on it, is greater and higher than the improvement that he receives from the actions that Torah study enables him to fulfill correctly. Therefore, even though one’s actions are improved only after he has learned, when the knowledge is in place and enables him to act correctly, still the blessing on the Torah that is of Torah origin is the one before the study. This lets us know that the heights of the value of the Torah are in the quest for the knowledge, in and of itself. The study itself is what we refer to as “our life and the length of our days.” This is what we gain right away as we start to learn.

This is also why we cite the pasuk, “When I will call out the name of Hashem…”. We should recognize that the greatness of Torah comes from the fact that it is a manifestation of the name of Hashem. Through it we are to know His great name and when it brings us light, which is loftier than all activities, and no objects can equal its value, including all of the mitzvot of the Torah together (Yerushalmi, Pei’ah). Neither our objects of precious stones nor Hashem’s objects of mitzvot and good deeds equal it (apparently based on Bereisheet Rabba 35:3).

Servants of Hashem

by HaRav Mordechai Greenberg
Nasi HaYeshiva, Kerem B'Yavneh

The first portion in the Torah after the Revelation at Sinai is that of servitude. The Torah's view of servitude, as inferred from the passage, is negative. On the pasuk, "His master shall bore through his ear" (Shemot 21:6), the Gemara comments (Kiddushin 22b):

Raban Yochanan b. Zakai would expound this verse beautifully: Why is the ear singled out from the rest of the body's organs? Hashem said: "The ear that heard My voice at Har Sinai when I said, 'For the children of Israel are servants to Me' (Vayikra 25:55)­, and not servants to servants – and this [person] went and acquired himself a master – shall be bored."

Hashem opens the Ten Commandments with the words: "I am Hashem, your G-d who has taken you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude." (Shemot 20:2) However, the purpose of the Exodus was to make them servants, as Hashem told Moshe: "This is your sign that I have sent you: When you take the people out of Egypt, you will serve G-d on this mountain." (Shemot 3:12) What is the point of rescuing Am Yisrael from the house of servitude only to have them bound again as Hashem's servants?

The definition of a servant can be found in the prophets: "Then you will return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves G-d and one who does not serve Him." (Malachi 3:18) Chazal note the seeming repetition of adjectives: "The righteous is the same as one who serves G-d; the wicked is the same as one who does not serve Him!" Their answer is that "one who serves G-d" and "one who does not" in this verse both refer to righteous people. It is just that: "One who reviews his chapter (i.e. study) one hundred times can not be compared to one who reviews it one hundred and one times." (Chagiga 9b) One hundred is a number that expresses perfection. A person who reviews his study one hundred times knows the subject very well and has certainly discharged his duty. However, this is only when he is studying for his own, practical reasons. When he is studying because Hashem commanded to do so, his love of G-d will compel him to study beyond what he is obligated. This person will continue reviewing his study well after he finished reviewing it one hundred times – and this is the level of servitude.

The righteous person, though, does just what he is commanded, but not beyond. He is not a servant. The servant does not try to avoid his duties; on the contrary he is always looking for more opportunities to serve his creator.

The Netziv writes (Ha'amek Davar Shemot 25:5):

The king's desire is that anyone who is suitable for combat should be a valorous soldier. One who shirks from this, even though he is still within the laws of the kingdom, which do not obligate him to be a soldier ­– still, this is not what the king truly desires. The same applies to Hashem's will, that all of Am Yisrael who are fit for the burden of Torah should become Torah scholars. One who shirks from this, even though he has [acceptable] reasons that cause him to do this ­– he is still called not fulfilling the true desires of Heaven. The Gemara writes in Brachot, and also in Bava Batra, [about some of Am Yisrael] that even though they were involved in serving Hashem, because they were not toiling in the Torah the way they did in the desert – it was not considered doing G-d's will.

This is how the Brisker Rav zt"l explained the continuation of the passage in Malachi: "Your words have become harsh against Me, says Hashem; but you say, 'How have we spoken against You?' You have said, 'It is useless to serve G-d! What gain is there for us that we have kept His watch?'" This is very odd. If they truly said this, then what was the point of their playing innocent by saying: "How have we spoken against you?" The answer is that although Malachi was complaining that they were not setting aside their tithes properly, he did not mean that they did not tithe at all. Instead, his complaint was, as the Gemara in Brachot 35b explains, that there are those who bring their fruits through roofs, through yards and porches so that they will not become obligated in tithes. They are not considered wicked for doing this, because they do so within the framework of Halacha. Yet, servants they are not, for a servant does not look for opportunities to avoid his obligations. This is what the prophet means when he says: "You have said, 'It is useless to serve G-d! What gain is there for us that we have kept His watch?" I.e., there is no need to tithe when it is possible to avoid the obligation. What profit is there from setting aside tithes "unnecessarily" when there is no absolute requirement?

A person who sells himself, and thus his time, to another, and has no control over his schedule, cannot be a servant of Hashem. This is why Hashem introduced the Torah by saying: "When you take the people out of Egypt, you will serve G-d on this mountain," and, later: "Who has taken you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude" – so that you should be Hashem's servants and not the servants of servants. Therefore, the passage on servitude is adjacent to matan Torah.

The Torah concludes with servitude: "Moshe, servant of Hashem died there." (Devarim 34:5) This is also how the Prophets begin: "It happened after the death of Moshe, servant of Hashem" (Yehoshua 1:1) and end: "Remember the Torah of Moshe, My servant." (Malachi 3:22)

"The servants of time are the servants of servants. Hashem's servant – he alone is free." (R. Yehuda Halevi)