Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: The Need for Torah Devotees to Write on Jewish Philosophy – part II

#164 – part II 

Date and Place: 26 Tishrei 5669 (1908)

Recipient: Moshe Zeidel, a protégé of Rav Kook. In earlier years, there were several letters to him.

Body: [Last time, we saw the suggestion that broad-minded talmidei chachamim should correspond in matters of Jewish Philosophy,despite obstacles.]

I am combatting the obstacles as a war of mitzva. We see clearly that [a bright future in Eretz Yisrael] is coming; Hashem shall shine light on us. The hope of Israel and its reawakening is an emerging reality, in a concealed manner in the Land of Life. The great spirit, in which Hashem dwells, is still folded up like a fetus in its mother’s womb. However, before too long, the sound of birth will be heard, after the screaming of labor pains. We will have a new, refreshing sound of a child being born, as a nation will be born all at once, as Zion will go into labor and give birth to her child. The spirit will increase and take hold quickly, and therefore we are called upon to act on behalf of Hashem.

Until this point, Israel’s special culture has been like a silent sheep. Hashem’s word has been disgraced, as none of the non-religious intellectuals has been willing to seek its truth more than the Europeans have, and the Europeans have funneled Hashem’s word through a pipe that is polluted by their religious misconceptions, which causes inaccuracy in the elements of Torah they proudly stole from us. The other nations have no part in our culture, and our national reawakening in the Holy Land, the place where Hashem is to be revealed to the world, is a single reliable dream. Only by mistake does it looks like contradictory, competing systems (apparently referring to religious and secular approaches to building the Land).

We need to work on [developing the Land according to Jewish spiritual values], showing how Jewish society can exist with power, pride, greatness and grandeur. It must be done by scholars of the truth, who fear Hashem with an internal awe that is unaffected by the impurities of a false, external fear that lowers the spirit – those who extoll Hashem with truth and a straight heart.

To accomplish this, we must begin the foundation of literature, both new and old, which will not turn its back on the traditional scholarship but arm the traditional with new tools to reveal the old’s depth of goodness and show that the new goes along with it and consistently completes it. Reliable students will make Torah great and adorn it so that it will give new life to the spirit of Israel and honor and grandeur to the Land of Prophecy, whose sky and mountains forever drip with the dew of life, for the nation that feels that the connection to its soul is there. It will not give such dew of life to a different nation or to those who are assimilated among other nations and do not know the difference between mundane earth and holy soil.

Israel’s intellect will rise up, and its live emotions will awaken in parallel with strength and life. The industriousness to build, plant, and improve everything in the life of a strong nation, on its Land as it used to be, will reawaken the offspring of Israel, so that they will recognize [the Land] and know to return to it with love and a recognition full of productivity and life. Songs of life were created, full of the vigor of Hashem. Fields of new, light-emitting culture will propagate and rise up; they will thicken and be vibrant, and even sing. The old will be renewed, and the new will be sanctified; together they will serve as torches shining over Zion. Zion will begin to use its charm to attract the best of its sons/builders (Torah scholars), and those who beautify buildings, those who plant and sow and create industries and markets. In time, they too will drip with the dew of eternal life; holy waters will be thrown on them, and they will realize their strength as they build the walls and courtyards for Israel in the Land that is eternally desired.

“The Nations’ Rebirth Is the Foundation of the Edifice of Great Repentance”

by HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

“All the prophets commanded Israel to repent - and only through repentance can Israel be redeemed” (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah 7:5). Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai explains that Rambam is referring to the total repentance of Israel that will take place after they return to Eretz Yisrael (Kitvei HaRav Alkalai, page 324).

This interpretation matches with Devarim 30:2-5: “You will return to the L-rd your G-d... The L-rd will then bring back your remnants and have mercy on you. He will once again gather you from among all the nations.... He will then bring you to the land that your ancestors occupied, and you too will occupy it.”

Rav Kook, as well, explains that “the rebirth of the nation is the foundation of the edifice of the great repentance, the lofty repentance of Israel and the repentance of the whole world which will follow” (Orot HaTeshuvah 17:1). In accordance with Devarim 30:6, which continues, “The L-rd will remove the barriers from your hearts and from the hearts of your descendants, so that you will love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and soul,” Israel’s repentance will be “repentance out of love, greater than any other form of repentance” (Or HaChaim, Ibid.).

There is personal repentance, wherein an individual repents from his sins. To do so he must confess his sins, express contrition, and resolve not to sin in the future. There is also the general repentance of the Jewish People which begins with Israel’s returning to the Land of Israel (Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai, Ibid.).

Right now, we are in a period of the ingathering of the exiles, about which the sages said, “Great is the day of the Ingathering of the Exiles, but difficult as well” (Rashi, Ibid.). We are at the start of the great return, the start of the formation of the nation in its land after two thousand years of exile. As is known, all beginnings are hard. We are in the stage of, “I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land” (Yechezkeil 36:24). The day is not far off when the continuation of the prophecy will be fulfilled as well: “Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean... A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you” (Ibid., v. 35-36).

The Jewish People - in their rebirth - may be compared to a newborn infant. At first, the parents worry about the infant’s physical needs - that it should gain weight and grow. Later, when the child has grown and become a lad, his main development is spiritual.

It is the same with the Jewish nation. The Ingathering of the Exiles is part of Israel’s physical development. In the next stage, the nation will progress onward to issues involving its spirituality and destiny, i.e., the historic destiny of the nation. That destiny will involve them spreading light to the world and being benevolent to them, as in G-d’s blessing to Avraham, “You shall become a blessing... All the families of the earth will be blessed through you” (Bereisheet 12:2-3).

Looking forward to salvation,
With the Love of Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael,
Shabbat Shalom.

Yeshivat Machon Meir: The Leadership of Moshe (video)

An Avoidable Confrontation

by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky

“Esther Hayut has made her decision; now let her enforce it!” This potential reaction should give pause to Israel’s Supreme Court as it poises to (again) overrule the Knesset, Israel’s legislature, and invalidate the “reasonableness clause,” the first and mildest prong of the judicial overhaul that the government has promised to execute.

This quotation is a paraphrase of what Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, allegedly declared in response to a decision of the US Supreme Court with which he vehemently disagreed, nearly provoking a constitutional crisis in a democracy that was less than fifty years old. In the 1832 case of Worcester v. Georgia, Chief Justice John Marshall (in a 6-1 decision) ruled that the Cherokee Indian tribe was a sovereign nation which meant that the laws of the State of Georgia did not apply there. This contradicted President Jackson’s policy of limiting Indian territorial expansion and applying state law to these areas.

Marshall defied Jackson, who held that federal law in any event superseded state law, and this retort was attributed to Jackson: “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!" It meant that Jackson was not inclined to enforce a ruling of the Supreme Court that he felt exceeded the Court’s authority. Whether or not Jackson actually said it is immaterial, as indeed he took no measures to enforce the ruling, nor did the State of Georgia abide by the ruling, and Jackson proceeded with his policy of Indian removal. It is even more interesting, and relevant to our current situation in Israel, that Chief Justice Marshall opposed Jackson’s candidacy for president in 1828 and deemed him unfit for office. But Jackson was elected anyway, the people’s choice, and his visage still adorns the $20 bill.

As Marshall died in 1835, the case had no practical, lingering consequences but it is instructive on how democratic societies deal with branches of government that overstep their authority. A stable, functioning democracy relies on checks and balances between the branches. While there are ample checks on Israel’s legislative and executive branches – the primary ones being the collapse of the coalition and new elections – there is absolutely no check on the Supreme Court. It is unbounded by any limitation on its authority and any propriety on the scope of its jurisdiction over the policies, decisions, and legislation of the government, as well as over the lives of Israel’s citizens. It is unelected, essentially self-appointed, and has unilaterally, illegally, and undemocratically set itself up as the ultimate authority in society.

In a democracy, the people rule, and in a representative democracy, the people rule through their elected representatives and the government formed by those representatives. It is seemingly lost on the demonstrators – energized by their signs, slogans, and costumes – that a democracy that can only endure by relying on an undemocratic institution is not a true democracy. Indeed, it is not just a feeble or flawed democracy but one which does not really exist, and more akin to the plethora of “People’s Republics” or “Democratic Republics” that proliferated under Communism. There, the people voted, but absolute power was vested in an undemocratic entity – the dictator, also known as “the people’s choice.” In Israel, where absolute power is vested in another undemocratic entity known as “the Supreme Court,” the differences are marginal. Here, too, the people don’t really rule.

If only the protesters thought beyond their slogans – “Titnagdu,” “Oppose!!” – and realized the implications of their protests. They are fighting against democracy under the guise of trying to preserve democracy.

The Court’s invalidation of the “reasonableness clause” would signal that it will not tolerate any limitation on its power and, as such, would render futile and meaningless any further judicial reforms. That is probably the point of this entire endeavor, which features the judicial farce of a chief justice whose tenure expires next month and is therefore rushing this matter to decision in order to spearhead that decision. Added to the farce is the reality that Chief Justice Hayut has already announced her opinion in the case, which in a normal judicial setting should lead to her disqualification or recusal. No judge should ever sit on a case in which he or she has already made up his/her mind before hearing any arguments in the matter. No civil society and no democracy committed to the rule of law should accept such a mockery of justice. That it is considered normal in Israeli jurisprudence itself cries out for reform.

Given the peculiar circumstances, and the rush to judgment, it would be unsurprising if the Court voided the “reasonableness clause,” and, in a real show of judicial tyranny (call it a judicial coup), declared that the Prime Minister is unfit for office as morally incapacitated and legally compromised. Such leads me to conclude that the latter will not happen, in a risible show of sham objectivity, while embracing the former and putting the brakes on any judicial reform, ever. And then what? Who will say, “Esther Hayut has made her decision; now let her enforce it!”

We tend to bandy about the word “crisis” pretty freely, and few things unrelated to security matters are genuine crises. But this would be a crisis. A Court that invalidates a Basic Law, having itself declared that Basic Laws are the structure of a constitution and thus beyond the Court’s authority, would be a Court that is out-of-control and running roughshod over the people and its government.

It is discouraging that there are politicians and other officials who have openly stated that if the Court exceeds its authority and is challenged by the government, they will support the Court and not the government. But Israel’s Supreme Court – like the Supreme Court in every country in the world, democracy or autocracy – is not sovereign. The people are sovereign, and the people’s will is reflected in the government, not the Court.

As the powerful never relinquish their power without a fight, expect the Supreme Court to fight, aided by an opposition and a media establishment that despises the current government. The test of democracy is not measured by heeding an illegal Court decision but by the extent to which the government represents the people and enacts the laws under which we all live. That also means establishing appropriate checks on the Court’s power through changing the nomination procedures, limiting the Court’s jurisdiction to legal matters – cases and controversies that reflect conflicts of laws – and reining in the unlimited powers of the government’s legal advisors, who have usurped so much power that they see themselves as still another and also unelected branch of government.

Nothing points out the dire need for judicial reform more than the stark reality that the government’s “legal advisor” refuses to represent the government in these matters but is her own authority, the “legal advisor’s opposition to the commission that intends to investigate illegal spying on Israeli citizens, as well as the High Court’s continued preclusion of the government’s intention to expel the thousands of illegal migrants who are now also rioting in the streets. Something is way out of whack.

A real democracy affirms the sovereignty of the people, whose representatives are answerable to the people and can be voted out of office, as well as the independence of the judiciary that limits government encroachment on the people’s defined and legislated rights. That would be normal. What we need is both a Court that humbly accepts its limits and an Andrew Jackson who can forcefully remind the Court of its limitations. Count those among the blessings of the New Year for which we should pray.

The St. Louis

by Rav Binny Freedman

One of the most tragic episodes to come out of the Holocaust was the terrible story of the St. Louis.

In 1939, the last boat that was actually allowed to take Jewish refugees out of Nazi Germany was the St. Louis. At that point, the Germans still wanted only to rid themselves of Jews; they didn’t care much where else they would go. And they saw this as a moneymaking opportunity. So they announced that any Jew who could afford five hundred dollars passage (plus an additional two hundred and fifty dollars entrance visa to Cuba), could book passage on the steam ship St. Louis.

Understand that this was, in 1939, an absolute fortune. In fact, five hundred dollars in 1939 was equivalent to almost eleven thousand dollars today! (Before adding the inflation since then….) Add to that the fact that the Jews of Germany and Austria who boarded this ship, had been under Nazi oppression since 1933, and with the advent of the Nuremberg laws in 1935, they could no longer earn a living in their professions or complete their degrees of study. Soon after, they were forced into ghettos, which meant they had to sell their homes for pennies and pay exorbitant rents to their non-Jewish landlords in the ghetto dwellings, because any Jew without a roof over his head was deemed an indigent and shipped off to Dachau. Most of the fares were gleaned from monies sent from abroad or the last of the family jewels to be sold.

So, the nine hundred and sixty Jews who boarded that ship in early 1939, had nothing left.

By the time the boat reached the coast of Cuba, however, that country, experiencing its own economic woes, began re-considering their decision to let nearly a thousand Jewish refugees in. For three days the boat sat in the harbor, until the Cubans finally announced the Jews could enter their country, but only at an additional visa cost of two hundred and fifty dollars a person! Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars was an unheard-of sum, which the people on the boat clearly could not raise, so for three more days they sat, while the world watched. Finally, three major Jewish organizations (including HIAS, the Hebrew International Aid Society) succeeded in raising the entire sum and offered to wire the money down to Cuba.

But by this time, it was too late; the press had gotten wind of it, and large demonstrations were filling the Cuban port, as workers rallied against allowing illegal immigrants in to take away their jobs. Cuba was going through its own economic crisis, and the government, for fear of being overthrown, did not want to rock the boat, and so the doors of Cuba were slammed shut.

And then began one of the saddest sagas of modern Jewry, as the St. Louis plied the high seas, from port to port, begging a place to bring these wretched Jewish souls with nowhere to go. They even lay anchor off the coast of Florida, while a special congressional sub-committee debated whether they should be allowed into the United States beyond the yearly refugee quota, which had already been filled. Here too, they were denied entry.

South America and North America, France, Spain, England, in short all the ‘civilized democracies ‘ of the world refused entry to these miserable refugees. And so, in the end, the entire boat (save for some of the children whom England accepted) was sent back to Germany. Nearly all of these refugees, who had actually made it to the coast of Florida in 1939, disappeared up the chimneys of Auschwitz.

“U’vau’ Alecha’ Kol HaKelalot Ha’Eileh, Ve’Hisiguchah”
“And all of these curses shall come to pass on you, and will catch up with you (wherever you may be).” (28:15)

No matter where you will run to, says the verse, these curses will catch up with you.

Every teacher who explores the Torah, ends up developing a special relationship with a few sections here and there that speaks to him or her. Chapter 30 of the book of Devarim contained in the first of this week’s double portion (Nitzavim-VaYelech), is actually one of the two chapters in the entire Torah, along with chapter 28 here in Devarim, that most speak to me personally, and indeed, they are a major part of the reason I am where and who I am today.

If I could pinpoint a specific text which most influenced me to come home to Israel and stay there despite all that has gone on in the past thirty years, it would be these two chapters (28 and 30) in the book of Deuteronomy. So, before we can understand the second (chapter 30, from this week’s portion) we need to go back first, to chapter 28 in last week’s portion, Ki Tavoh.

We must, however, make two points before beginning. First, it has become our custom to introduce the Torah thought with a story that illustrates the point. This week, however, it is the stories that are the point. So, if you are waiting for the content that follows the stories, don’t hold your breath, because I know of no other way to make the point this week, than through the stories themselves. This week, it is all about the stories.

Second, what I share with you this week cannot be taken as an objective truth. Indeed, it would be easy to suggest that our supposition this week is entirely mistaken. It may be that my suggestion as to the events referred to in these two chapters, is completely mistaken. I do not claim that these two chapters are absolutely referring only to what I am about to describe; I am suggesting rather, is that this is what these chapters mean to me.

In the end, one of the challenges when we learn Torah is to develop a personal relationship with the text, so that it speaks to you on a personal level. Here then, is what these two chapters (Devarim 28 and 30) mean to me:

To be sure, chapter 28 of the book of Devarim starts out well:

“And if you will hearken to the voice of Hashem your G-d, and do all of the mitzvoth…then all of these blessings shall come to pass… you will be blessed in the city, and blessed in the field…blessed in your coming and in your going…” (28:1-6)

In short, for fourteen magnificent verses, the Torah speaks of all the good and blessings we will enjoy if we only follow the recipe as laid out in the Torah. And the picture that is painted is an idyllic one of bounty and blessing and peace in our own land.

And then, in verse fifteen, the Torah presents us with the frightening reverse side of the picture painted so beautifully at the beginning of the chapter. What, indeed, will happen if we, as a people, do not hearken to Hashem’s words?

“And if you will not hearken to the voice of Hashem your G-d, and do all of the mitzvoth…then all of these curses shall come to pass… you will be cursed in the city, and cursed in the field… cursed in your coming and in your going…” (28:15-17)

And what follows are fifty-three of the most difficult and painful verses in the entire Torah. Indeed, so horrible are these ‘curses’ or ‘verses of reprove’ (‘Tochacha’), as they are known, that the tradition is to read them in a lower tone in the Synagogue as if to signify our pain and horror at even hearing all the terrible predictions that they contain.

To me, and I stress here, to me, these verses chillingly speak of the terrible events of the Holocaust, more than any other period in Jewish history.

“You will be cursed in the city, and cursed in the field… you will be cursed in your coming and in your going.” (28:16, 19)

There is a powerful set of responsum that came out of the terrible years of the Holocaust, compiled by Rabbi Ephraim Oshri, who was one of the last rabbis of the Kovno ghetto.

But the most powerful in this set of responsum are the short stories or explanations of the background of each question.

In one question, Rav Oshri describes a fellow who had come from Warsaw, with thousands of refugees, seeking refuge from the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Poland. And this man describes how the thousands of refugees heading east towards Lithuania, passed an equal number of refugees heading towards Warsaw, trying to escape the atrocities already occurring in the East.

The Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe did not know whether they were coming or going. It seemed wherever they went was the wrong way to go.

“Hashem will send upon you all manner of diseases…scurvy and pestilence….” (Verses 20-21) Some of the commentaries (including the Malbim) suggest that these are all diseases caused by starvation and over-crowding. There are survivors who suffer to this day, from the disease and malnutrition they experienced in the camps and the ghettos.

“Until you are decimated … until you are destroyed from the face of the earth (land) which you have come there to inherit.” (28:20-21)

It is interesting to note that at no time in Jewish history was there such a total destruction of the Jewish communities as there was in Europe during the Holocaust. In the Spanish expulsion the Jews were exiled, not destroyed in their entirety, and in all of the destructions from the crusades to Chmelnitski’s massacres in Poland, the community as a whole was never wiped out, and always succeeded in rebuilding itself.

But in the Holocaust, the Jewish community was completely wiped out. Poland today is a Jewish graveyard.

More telling, however, is the comment of Rav Meir Simchah of D’vinsk, on a similar verse in Leviticus, which many consider to have bordered on the prophetic. In his commentary (published posthumously in 1927), this Torah giant warns that:

“There is a great storm coming upon the Jewish people, and it is a storm the likes of which the Jewish people have never seen. It will destroy everything we know about our community, but it will be the impetus for our return to Zion.”

That storm, said the Meshech Chochma, is coming from Berlin….

Some of the commentaries point out that when the above-quoted verse speaks of the ‘land you have come to inherit’, it may not be speaking of the land Israel, which is normally the place being referred to when the Torah describes: “the land which you have come there to inherit.”

Rather, what we are speaking of is the land that you think you have come to inherit.

In other words, says G-d, there will come a time when you will think the land of your exile is your home; when Jews will consider themselves more German than the Germans.

I will show you, says the Torah, that that land is not your home. How many Jews thought: ‘it could never happen here…’ and were still struggling with how dedicated they had been to Germany, in the cattle cars on the way to Treblinka?

There was a fascinating case I recall from around the time I finished high school (1980-81). The ADL, if I am not mistaken, was suing a number of major industrial concerns in Germany and Poland that were buying up large parcels of land which were discovered to be rich in minerals, and particularly iron-ore. Apparently, this would save significant amounts of money as the shipping (transport) costs from the Russian mines would be greatly reduced. Problem was, all of these lands were the sites of mass killings of Jews So these companies were trying to buy up the fields of Treblinka and Chelmno. Apparently, the bones and bodies over the years had somehow enriched and brought up the natural mineral deposits in the area.

And a visit to the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau will point out another interesting detail: Take a good look at the corners of the ceilings in the gas chambers, and you will notice the cement is colored by a greenish copper hue. This is the result of one of the key ingredients contained in the Zyklon-B gas pellets used to murder the Jews, copper-dioxide, which turns a greenish hue when exposed to Oxygen.

“Ve’Hayu Shamecha’ Asher Al Roshcha’ Nechoshet Ve’Ha’Aretz Asher Tachtecha’ Barzel.”
And the sky (air) above your head will be like copper, and the earth beneath your feet will be iron (minerals).” (28: 23)

While there are different explanations for these verses (including the idea that this was a generation too firmly rooted in the possessions of the material world), some of the commentaries are at a loss to explain the exact significance of the heavens of copper, and the sky related to iron….

“ Hashem will give the rain of your land as dust and earth, which will rain down from the heavens and destroy you.” (v.24)

There will come a time, says the Torah, when death and destruction will come from the skies…

“Hashem will make you as a plague before your enemies…and you shall be as an embarrassment (or a horror) to all the kingdoms of the land.” (28:24-26)

From 1933 until 1940, Hitler (as outlined in Mein Kampf) was not at all intent on destroying the Jews; he simply wanted them out of Europe. But no one would take them.

In 1940, in Evian, the Europeans convened a conference to tackle the problem of refugees, which everyone understood was a euphemism for the Jews. Incredibly, not one single country present, including the United States, offered to reduce its quota by even one single additional refugee.

Each country had a different reason for refusing to allow even a single Jew to enter their borders, but the most incredible response, (contained in the minutes of the meeting on display at Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust Museum) came from Australia.

“We have no anti-Semitism in our country”, claimed the Australian representative, “And if we allow Jews in, we will be encouraging the spread of anti-Semitism.” Eighty years ago, we were an embarrassment to the entire world, which preferred to pretend we weren’t even there.

“And your carcasses shall be food for the birds and the beasts, and no-one will even tremble.” (28:26)

One of the most powerful photos to come out of the Warsaw ghetto is a photograph of a couple, walking down the street amidst throngs of passersby, sharing a moment amidst the destruction and deprivation of the ghetto.

What is chillingly apparent from a closer look at the faces of all the people in the streets, is that no one even takes notice of the bodies strewn about the streets and being loaded into a wheelbarrow.

“And you shall grope around in the noonday sun, as a blind man gropes in the darkness, and you shall not find your way, and you shall be oppressed and robbed every day, and none will save you.” (28:29)

In the summer of 1944, as the last great Jewish community in Europe was being readied for the slaughter, Adolph Eichmann made an astounding offer: The German front lines were collapsing as their supply lines became stretched too thin; with all the rail lines diverted to transport Jews to their final destinations, they were in desperate need of mobile transport. So, Eichmann offered to trade the 400,00 Jews of Hungary for one thousand trucks. To prove his ability to make good on his offer, he stopped the transports for two weeks in the summer of 44’. At that time the crematoria of Auschwitz were killing as many as 10,000 Jews a day.

Imagine, a thousand Jews for a single truck. What did that make a single Jew worth? A steering wheel? A fender? There were no takers; nobody wanted the Jews.

The verse here does not seem to make sense. What difference does it make to a blind person whether he is groping around in light or darkness? Perhaps the difference is that when he stumbles in the darkness, he also knows that no one else sees his struggle, and so no one will come to his aid. During the nightmare of the Holocaust, we were screaming and stumbling in broad daylight, but no one wanted to see….

One day, in the Kovno ghetto, a man came to Rav Oshri with a terrible question. A large group of children had been caught up in one of the Nazi’s infamous children’s aktions, and it was clear to all that they were to be killed in the morning.

The man’s son had been caught up in the group, but he had some valuables sewn into his coat and he was able to find a guard (one of the Jewish kapos) that was willing to release his son for this bribe. However, he made it clear that he would have to find another Jew to replace him, as the Nazis were meticulous about numbers. And so, the man wanted to know if he was permitted to free his son, knowing that another would be sent to his death instead.

Rav Oshri begged the man not to ask him this terrible question, but the man insisted.

“How can I tell you who is to live and who is to die, asked Rav Oshri, you must not ask me to answer this terrible question!”

But the man insisted yet again:
“You are our only rabbi, and I will do whatever the Torah requires, but I want to know, and you must tell me!”

This dialogue went back and forth all day, while they could see the man’s son, along with the other Jews awaiting their deaths, behind the fence of the fortress gate.

Finally, the man said:
“If you are not telling me I can do this thing, then it must mean that there is no halachic dispensation, and I am obviously meant to allow my son to go to his death.”

“No!” cried Rav Oshri, “I am not telling you that, and you must not hear it! I cannot tell you the Jewish tradition forbids you to save the life of your son; you must act as if you have never asked me and do what your heart tells you…”

But the man responded:
“If it were permitted for me to free my son, you would certainly have told me, so I know I may not do this thing, and, knowing that this is the will of my creator, I gladly accept the privilege of being tested with the binding of Isaac.”

And the two of them, with tears in their eyes and the verses of Psalms on their lips, watched the son, along with the other boys, loaded on to the cattle cars for their final journey….

“Your sons and your daughters are given over to another nation, and your eyes see them and long for them all the day, to no avail.” (28:32)

Eli Weisel, in his book Night, tells of the day he arrived on the platform at Auschwitz-Birkenau, not long before his Bar Mitzvah.

The Jews starved and exhausted were made to stand in their first selection, and none other than the angel of death himself, Josef Mengele, awaited them at the front of the long line. Although the Nazis tried to camouflage what they were really doing, it didn’t take a genius to figure it out. All the young and strong and healthy looking men and women were going one way, and all the old and sick and small children were going the other way. You knew which line you had to get on.

A few people ahead of Eli Weisel, was a woman with two small boys, and as she reached the head of the line, Mengele stared at her with his evil sneer. He said nothing, merely grinning and pointing with one finger in each direction. But she didn’t understand, so he screamed at her “Ein!” (One). And she still didn’t get it, so he screamed again, all the while with that horrible smile, “you choose!”

The woman, finally understanding what he was asking her to do, began screaming, and went mad on the spot. And so they carted all three of them off to their deaths.

“And you will become mad from the sights which your eyes shall see.” (28:34)

And on and on, and on….

“Sons and daughters will you bear, but they will not be for you for they shall be enslaved. (28:41)

And the stranger in your midst shall rise up higher and higher above you and you shall be forced lower and lower…” (28:43)

In the camps, the non-Jewish criminals became the kapos and guards and thus the masters over the Jews who were at the lowest strata of life.

“And you shall serve your enemies… in hunger and thirst, naked, and with nothing left.” (28:45)

“And G-d shall lift over you a nation from afar… as the eagle flies, a nation whose tongue you cannot hear (and understand” (28: 49)

As the German troops, emblazoned with the golden eagle, the symbol of Nazi Germany, swept through Europe and deep into Russia, Jews who never imagined the Holocaust ever reaching them were caught completely by surprise….

A brazen nation who will show no favor to the aged, nor grace to the young…”(28: 50)

“And he will lay siege to your gates until the mightiest and highest of your walls and fortresses come crashing down……” (28: 52)

All of the faith that was placed in the Maginot line of France disappeared in a single afternoon in early 1940….

“And G-d will scatter you amongst all the nations, until the ends of the earth.” (28:64)

After the war, Jews spent years traveling the world to countries as far off as Cuba and Venezuela, the Siberian North, all over Europe and Africa and of course America and Canada, in search of family members scattered throughout the world….

“And you will fear night and day and will not believe in your life itself.” (28: 66)

“In the morning you will say’ when will the night come’, and in the night you will say ‘when will the morning come, from the fear in your heart and the things that your eyes will see.” (28:67)

“And you will be sold into slavery, but there will be no buyers.” (28: 69)

To me, this chapter, in all of its pain and horror, speaks of the Holocaust. It is all of the questions we can never fathom, let alone answer, and all of the pain and horror, which can become part of life and which we are perhaps not meant to understand.

There will be times and things that will challenge the very essence of who we are, perhaps for reasons beyond us. This is not to say the Torah does not offer explanation. But neither does it mean we are meant to interpret those words into answers. Perhaps we are, each of us, meant to decide for ourselves what place to give these events in our lives.

If this was the end of the story, it would be tremendously disheartening, leaving us empty and barren, with no direction, much as the Jewish people were, for the most part, in the shadows of the gas chambers in 1945.

But there is a conclusion; a partner to this terrible chapter in the Torah, and for that matter in Jewish history, and that is chapter 30 of Devarim, in this week’s portion, Nitzavim. (Chapter 29 is an interruption, whose explanation and place here is for another time.)

“And it shall come to pass, when all of these things shall come upon you… and you shall return to your hearts amongst all the nations of the world wherein G-d has scattered you.

“And you shall return to Hashem your G-d…

“And G-d will return your remnant and gather you in from amongst all the nations where you have been scattered.

“If your remnant shall at the ends of the heavens, even from there will G-d gather you in; even from there will He take you in.

“And G-d will bring you back to the land that your ancestors inherited, and will do good and make you greater even than your ancestors…” (30: 1-6)

If chapter 28 of the book of Devarim seems to speak of the Holocaust, then chapter 30 is all about the birth of the State of Israel.

There will come a time, says the Torah, when we will finally come home. After two thousand years of dreaming, the time will finally come to rebuild.

For two thousand years, ever since the Romans put torch to the Temple, we have dreamed of coming back.

At every Jewish wedding, and at every Jewish funeral, after every meal, and three times a day in our prayers, at the height of our greatest joy, and in the depths of our greatest tragedies, we have never stopped dreaming of Jerusalem and the land of Israel.

Seventy-five years ago, in one of the greatest experiments in the history of the world, a people that had never given up, began their incredible return. From South America and Eastern Europe, form darkest Africa, and the land down under, Jews speaking just about every language on the face of the earth began making their way back.

In the early nineteen fifties, literally from between the jaws of oppression, over eight hundred and fifty thousand Jews from the Arab nations and North Africa, were brought home in operation magic carpet. The country more than doubled its population in less than three years, and all this just two years after declaring itself a State and only months after the ceasefire of the costliest war in her history.

For the first time in history a nation transformed an ancient, Biblical language, back into a modern spoken vernacular. Anywhere you walk today in the land of Israel, and all over the world, Jews are speaking in the ancient tongue of their ancestors, something our great grandparents could only imagine.

Today, the State of Israel is going through a difficult time. And make no mistake about it, for those of us who think it is easier and safer to stay in Woodmere and Scarsdale, Miami and Los Angeles, what happens to the State of Israel, is really happening to the Jewish people everywhere.

And so people are struggling with it all: is this the dream? Will there ever be peace? Why does it have to be so hard?

The first line of this week’s portion suggests both the challenge, and the solution:

“Atem Nitzavim HaYom Kulchem…” “You are, all of you, standing here today.” (29:9)

There is a difference between being be’amidah and being ‘nitzav’, though both are words which refer to standing up.

La’amod, means to stand, and refers to being upright as opposed to sitting or being downtrodden.

But to be nitzav, relates to the root of yatziv, to be stable. It is not just about your body being upright; it is about what you are standing on. To be yatziv, is to be stable. It is to recognize that we are standing here, in the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, on four thousand years of Jewish history. And it is the type of standing which can only come as a result of being Kulchem…” “All of you”. All of us; together.

The single greatest response we can give to those who once again rise up to destroy us, is to be ‘gathered in’ to be together, firm in who we are, and in what we have to share with the world.

And to remember and rejoice in the fact that however challenging the events around us may be, and as far as we may have yet to go, we have come a long way since the time of our grandparents, and still have much to be thankful for.

This week’s portion is always read the week before Rosh Hashanah, because it is the foundation of beginnings. This year, as we face the challenges that lie ahead, may Hashem bless us with the strength and the wisdom to become re-connected once again with the dream of who we are and who we can be, all of us, together, at long last, in the land of Israel.

Bets wishes for a sweet, happy, and healthy year.

Rabbi Ari Kahn on Parshiot Netzavim Vayelech - The Honey and the Sting (video)

Elon Musk Blames Jews for a Boycott Funded by a Non-Jewish Tech Billionaire

(Editor's note: "The ADL is dishonest and toxic. So is Elon Musk".  Nailed it)

by Daniel Greenfield

The ADL is a garbage leftist organization. It was never good for anything but under its current head, Jonathan Greenblatt, it's become a generic woke group dedicated to intersectionality. I have spent over a decade exposing the ADL for what it is including, last week, for its decision to spend the anniversary of the Crown Heights Pogrom together with Al Sharpton in Washington D.C.

The ADL, like the NAACP, GLAAD and numerous others is just the mask worn by major leftist foundations and donors. These groups and many others were part of a coalition that organized an ad boycott of Facebook and Twitter in a push to censor the platforms.

Musk knows this because last year he met with coalition members, Color of Change (formerly founded by Van Jones) , the NAACP and the ADL and a number of others that were organizing boycotts of Twitter over 'hate speech'.

A total of 40 organizations including the ADL, GLAAD, the NAACP, Muslim Advocates, National Hispanic Media Coalition, United Church of Christ and many others urged advertisers to boycott Twitter.

Musk blamed these groups for "a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists."

Recently Musk rebooted these claims, but instead of addressing all of these groups which are still pressuring Twitter advertisers to drop their ads, he decided to blame only the ADL.

Why is Musk afraid to call out the NAACP or GLAAD? He doesn't want to risk being called a racist or a homophobe, but antisemitism is much safer.

While the ADL is a disgusting leftist group, there are currently 60 organizations in the #StopToxicTwitter coalition representing a range of leftist groups.

Musk apparently decided it was easier to play the antisemitism card instead because he didn't just target the ADL, he began promoting a campaign by Keith Woods: an antisemitic Irish vlogger with a long ugly history of attacking Jews. Not the ADL, Jews.

"The barrage began Saturday, when Musk liked a post by YouTube influencer Keith O'Brien, who goes by Keith Woods online and once called himself a "raging antisemite," over the trending "#BanTheADL," which he started. O'Brien's quest began the day after the Yaccarino-Greenblatt meeting."

That above is from Newsmax.

Instead of amplifying the concerns of non-woke Jews about the ADL, Musk chose to turn to a self-described "raging antisemite" who says things like this.

And this, "All PragerU content reads like it was written for 12-year-olds. Socialism bad, Jews good, eat your blue pills you stupid fucking goyim."

Who's actually funding the campaign to censor Twitter?

That's a question Elon Musk seems oddly incurious about it considering that it's an old and very non-Jewish pal from the dot com scene.

The ADL received a $250,000 seed grant from the Omidyar Network to "build a state-of-the-art command center in Silicon Valley to combat the growing threat posed by hate online".

That was a small piece of $100 million promised by Pierre Omidyar, a Franco-Iranian billionaire who made his money founding eBay, to fight 'online hate'.

"The billionaire founder of eBay is to donate $100 million to support investigative journalism and counter the rise of “fake news”. In his latest philanthropic venture, Pierre Omidyar has set his sights on fighting misinformation and hate speech which he says have led to a “global trust deficit” and increased division between governments and society."

Musk ought to know who Omidyar is because he became quite rich in part because of him, eBay bought PayPal, and then was behind the boycott against him.

"Omidyar, the eBay founder and financial backer of the Intercept and ProPublica, donated $509,500 to Accountable Tech in 2021 and 2022, according to a recently updated list of grants disclosed by Omidyar's foundation. Omidyar also gave $2 million to at least six other organizations that targeted Musk, criticizing him in letters and op-eds as "uniquely ill-suited for the job of running a social media platform" and warning that he would turn Twitter into a "free-for-all of hate and harassment.""

Is Musk aware of this? Yes, he is.

"The news reveals one of the primary forces behind the anti-Musk campaign. Accountable Tech has been dodging questions about its donors for months. Over the past year, Accountable Tech and other groups bankrolled by Omidyar organized campaigns to pressure corporations to boycott Twitter and issued statements and op-eds denouncing Musk and calling for government investigations into the billionaire. "I wonder who funds them," wrote Musk in May, in response to a Washington Free Beacon report about the organization's secretiveness."

And his response was a pathetic lone tweet, "Any truth to this @OmidyarNetwork?" It doesn't appear that Omidyar even bothered answering him.

But rather than calling out Omidyar, which might have actual risk to it, or challenging the 60 groups, some of which were funded by Omidyar, Musk decided to take on only one of them, while allying with an antisemite to conduct a smear campaign blaming Jews for a boycott backed by money from an Iranian billionaire.

The ADL is dishonest and toxic. So is Elon Musk.

After promising a new age of free speech, Twitter (or as he now likes to call it, X) has become a playground for anyone Musk favors. There was a brief moment when the algorithmic iron curtain fell only to be raised again. Twitter is not fundamentally any different than Facebook when it comes to censorship and rigging except that Zuckerberg spends less time posturing and pretending to be a friend of free speech.

Elon Musk likes to posture because it serves as a convenient distraction. Instead of taking on the big boys, like Omidyar and Soros, he decides to team up with some gutter Jew-haters to put on a show. And then move on to some other distraction. The Musk reality distortion field is, like that of most celebrities, powerful, but only when you refuse to look past it and see the truth.

These are the facts.

The ADL is bad. So is Musk.

No one should support the ADL. Neither should they support Musk who is too cowardly to take on big leftist funders but has decided to compensate for that by blaming the Jews.

The ADL is one of numerous leftist front groups that exist to make it look like leftist agendas are actually backed by different minority groups. Rather than deal with the major leftist groups, foundations and donors behind the scenes, Musk decided to single out Jews.

If Musk really wants to fight back against the boycott, he can take on Omidyar. And that is the question that should be asked of him over and over again as he seeks a distraction by blaming the Jews for his problem with a fellow non-Jewish tech industry titan. Whether he challenges Omidyar to a cage match or sues him is up to him.

But he should actually put up or shut up.

The 1993 Oslo Accord dismissed the writing on the wall

by Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger

Oslo Accord’s writing on the wall
In January 1979, President Carter facilitated the Ayatollahs’ rise to power in Iran, assuming that they would be “preoccupied with tractors, not with tanks.”

In September 1993, Prime Minister Rabin embraced the Oslo Accord, assuming that Arafat would be “preoccupied with domestic issues of the newly-established Palestinian Authority, not with terrorism.”

The architects of the 1993 Oslo Accord subordinated the 1,400-year-old violent and shifty Middle East reality to their eagerness to achieve “peace now.” They refused to read the following 72-size-font writing on the wall:

*The September 1993 Oslo Accord salvaged the PLO from the abyss – at a time when it was abandoned by the Arabs – paving the road to an unprecedent wave of terrorism.

*The Accord transferred PLO terrorist headquarters from Tunisia, Yemen and Sudan to Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza, which are contiguous to the key target of Palestinian terrorism: Israeli population centers.

*The relocation of the PLO headquarters (currently, the Palestinian Authority) was openly defined by PLO leadership as a “Trojan Horse.” It expanded the potential of PLO terrorism, by facilitating direct control over the Arab population of Gaza, Judea and Samaria, significantly radicalizing the neighboring Israeli Arabs.

*The Oslo Accord provided a tailwind to the 1974 PLO’s “Phased Plan,” which determined that – irrespective of diplomatic agreements - every land ceded by the “Zionist entity” would become a springboard for ending the “1948 occupation” (pre-1967 Israel). This view of the Oslo Accord was articulated by Arafat in a September 13, 1993 statement made on Jordanian television, while the Accord was signed on the White House lawn…

*As expected, the Oslo Accord yielded a corrupt, ruthless, terrorist Palestinian Authority, and a wave of unprecedent terrorism – including thousands of missiles launched at Israeli civilians - fueled by hate education, mosque incitement, idolization of arch terrorists and generous monthly allowances to families of terrorists. The stated goal has been to traumatize Israel’s Jewish population into emigration.

Tom Friedman ignored the writing on the wall
In September 1993, Tom Friedman described the Oslo Accord as “a triumph of hope over history,” describing Arafat as a reformed-terrorist transformed into a peace-pursuing statesman. This was consistent with his reference to Arafat as a “teflon guerrilla”, “gipper” and a rock star, while serving in Lebanon as the New York Times Bureau Chief (1984-1988).
In July 2000, he posed the question: “Who is Arafat? Is he Nelson Mandela or Willie Nelson?” In fact, based on Arafat’s track record, T.F. should have asked: Who is Arafat? Is he Jack the Ripper or the Boston Strangler?

Contrary to T.F. and the architects of the Oslo Accord, Arab leaders are aware of the Palestinian inter-Arab track record of subversion, terrorism, ingratitude and treachery. Therefore, they limit their support of the proposed Palestinian state to talk, not walk.

Shimon Peres dismissed the writing on the wall
The late Shimon Peres, the chief architect of the Oslo Accord, published a book - The New Middle East – which highlights the underlying assumptions of the Oslo Accord. It is a blueprint for ignoring the crystal-clear writing on the wall. It underscores the triumph of a virtual and convenient Middle East over the frustrating and inconvenient Middle East reality, which has not experienced inter-Muslim peaceful coexistence since the 7th century.

For example:

“The international political setting is no longer conducive to war (p. 80) …

“We must focus on this new Middle East reality, with its new dimensions and different nature of security, and not wander among memories of victories in long-gone wars – wars that will never be fought again (p. 85) …

“The Trojan horse of war is obsolete (p. 51) … All things considered, any war entered into now will be an unnecessary one (p. 52) … We continue to learn war, but we no longer do so in order to declare war. We do so to keep the peace and thwart aggression (p. 69) …

“After hundreds of years of brutal hostilities, the Middle East must be fully aware of the significance of peace… We must awaken to this revolutionary significance of peace (p. 77)…

“Strategic depth may no longer have the same meaning when peaceful relations and reciprocal control systems are in effect… We must revise our general concept of war as a tool of international relations (78) …

“At the threshold of the twenty-first century… soft borders means that armies do not have to be stationed right next to the border (174) …

“We must strive for fewer weapons and more faith. Soft, open political boundaries will make it easier to reach an agreement, and will help it withstand stormy times (173) …

The Oslo Accord acumen
*The Oslo Accord assessed the Palestinian issue via Western lenses, sacrificing Middle East reality on the altar of wishful thinking, which dooms the pursuit of peace and fuels terrorism.

*The assumption that Israel’s control of the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) would doom Israel demographically, ignores demographic reality, which features a dramatic Westernization of Arab demography and the unprecedented Jewish (especially secular) demographic momentum.

*The Oslo state of mind is doomed by its obsession with a theoretical encouraging future Palestinian track record, taking lightly the well-documented rogue Palestinian inter-Arab track record. It ignores the fact that rogue entities bite the hand that feeds them.

*The Oslo state of mind underestimates deeply rooted Palestinian aspiration and vision to uproot the “infidel” Jewish sovereignty from “the abode of Islam,” deluding itself that dramatic gestures would induce the Palestinians into peaceful coexistence with Israel. Palestinian ideology – as documented in Palestinian hate education, the PLO and Fatah charters and the “Phased Plan” – has transcended generous financial and diplomatic benefits.

*In 2023, notwithstanding the glaring writing on the wall, the State Department still embraces the Oslo Accord, ignoring the impact of the proposed Palestinian state on US interests: toppling the pro-US Hashemite regime; transforming Jordan into a platform of Islamic terrorism; violent ripple effects into the pro-US oil-producing Arab states; rewarding Sunni terrorists, Iran, China and Russia with a strategic bonanza, while dealing a blow to the US economy, homeland and national security.

*The late Senator Daniel Inouye, who was the Chairman of the full Appropriations Committee and the Intelligence Committee, and the most supportive legislator (by far!) of enhanced US-Israel relations, read the writing on the wall. He was concerned that the Oslo Process could evolve into a funeral procession of the Jewish State.

*Senator Inouye knew that a precondition to the realization of the Palestinian aspiration is the annihilation of the Jewish State, unlike all Arab states which can realize their aspirations simultaneously with the existence of Israel.

Pekidah versus a Zechirah

by Rabbi Pinchas Winston

Friday Night
THIS LAST WEEK I lost a good friend and mentor, Rabbi Yehudah Landy, zt”l, to a brain tumor at a young age. He was the one who first approached me in 1993 to write a parsha sheet which shortly after became “Perceptions.” I have admired him ever since.

From the family line of the Vilna Gaon, he learned and knew huge amounts of Torah, and yet found time to teach, and be a Tanachi tour guide par excellence. But his natural humility meant that he never took himself too seriously, and it was never intimidating to be in his presence. May this be an illuy Neshamah for him, and may Rav Yehudah be a meilitz yoshar for all of Klal Yisroel, and may his family be comforted among the mourners of Tzion and Yerushalayim.

The Gemora talks about how Rav Zeira “slipped by” Rav Yehudah on his way to Eretz Yisroel from Bavel. The former held that it was a positive mitzvah to remain in Bavel until God came for us. Rav Zeira didn’t want to wait, and didn’t (Kesuvos 110b).

What was the basis of Rav Yehudah’s opinion? The verse from Yirmiyahu that says, “They shall be brought to Bavel, and there they shall be until the day I remember them” (Yirmiyahu 27:22). In other words, Rav Yehudah held that there was a positive mitzvah to remain in Bavel until God came for them and brought them back to Eretz Yisroel.

Rav Zeira obviously held differently. For one, he and Rav Yehudah did not live during the exile to which the verse applies, the first one to Bavel. Quite the contrary, three more exiles had since occurred: Median, Greek, and Roman. And besides, God had already “remembered” the Jewish people with the victory over Haman and the return to Eretz Yisroel from Bavel of many Jews during Ezra’s time.

Tosfos also asks the question but only answers, “Some say that the verse was also particular about the second [exile].” But why, and what about the third and fourth exiles?

The sefer Acharis K’Reishis gives a more explanatory answer. He says that Rav Yehudah wasn’t focusing on the leaving of Bavel per se, but on how they were meant to leave Bavel, only after God “remembered” them. He held that this detail of the verse was not unique to leaving Bavel, but that it applied to the leaving of any exile, and hence Rav Yehudah’s disapproval of Rav Zeira’s desire to make aliyah.

But, says Acharis K’Reishis, we have learned from the GR”A that every redemption has two phases, what he called Pekidah and Zechirah. Both mean “remembering,” except that, the GR”A explains, a pekidah is a short and small remembering that signals the beginning of a redemption. A zechirah is the obvious and usually spectacular completion of the redemption.

The historic example of a pekidah is when Koresh, king of Persia, miraculously permitted the Jews to return to Eretz Yisroel to rebuild their temple in 3390, only 52 years into a 70 year exile. Only 42,000 Jews answered the call, and they got as far as building the foundation of the Temple when, after two years, Koresh rescinded his offer. Apparently, that is all God was prepared to allow at the time.

It wasn’t until 18 years later that Haman rose to power, threatened to wipe out the Jews, and was toppled by Divine Providence. That led to zechirah and the Purim miracle, finally ending the Babylonian-Median exile. Fully remembered by God, many of the Jews of that time returned to Eretz Yisroel.

Shabbos Day
THAT’S THE POINT. The verse from Yirmiyahu uses the Hebrew word pokdei for remembering. The implication of this, according to the GR”A, is that we don’t need a full remembering to leave exile for Eretz Yisroel, just a partial one. In fact, he explains, it just has to be something geulah-like and it doesn’t even have to stay around. It just has to have occurred to be a sign that, no matter how much it looks like the opposite is true, redemption is underway.

For the GR”A in his time, one such pekidah was history itself. According to the Zohar, 5500 (1740 CE) from Creation during the sixth millennium was equivalent to the beginning of the day part (day follows night in a Jewish day) of the sixth day of the week, or Erev Shabbos. Thus, the last 500 years of the millennium are considered to the Erev Shabbos of history, and therefore it is the time to get into redemption mode.

For this reason, at the age of 20 the Gaon from Vilna began to focus his efforts on returning to the land and rebuilding the yishuv, as prophesied in this week’s parsha:

And it will be, when all these things come upon you the blessing and the curse which I have set before you that you will consider in your heart, among all the nations where God your God has banished you, and you will return to God, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and you will listen to His voice according to all that I am commanding you this day to you and your children, then, God, your God, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations, where God, your God, had dispersed you. Even if your exiles are at the end of the heavens, God, your God, will gather you from there, and He will take you from there. And God, your God, will bring you to the land which your forefathers possessed, and you [too] will take possession of it, and He will do good to you, and He will make you more numerous than your forefathers. (Devarim 30:1-5)

Eventually the GR”A prepared and sent his trusted students and their families to confront all the elements and begin the long, dangerous, and arduous task of rebuilding the Jewish presence on the land. This began back in the early 1800s and their efforts have evolved over centuries into a highly developed state with half of the world’s Jewish population living in it.

Pekidah? There have been plenty, including the official formation of a Jewish state with the world’s approval. Many might say, “Who cares if gentile governments sanction the formation of a secular state? What does a Torah Jew care about any of that?”

Well, according to the GR”A, just as the Jewish people could only return to Eretz Yisroel with Koresh’s permission during Golus Bavel, likewise did we have to get the permission of the nations of the world to reclaim our Jewish homeland and re-settle it in our time. It’s part of the redemption process when we don’t deserve redemption outright.

That’s the “problem” with a pekidah versus a zechirah. If you don’t realize what it is, you’ll miss it. If you don’t understand how it works, you’ll overlook it. Then you’ll have to wait until the full zechirah to understand and appreciate what by-passed you along the way to redemption.

Shalosh Seudot
LIFE IS SO intellectually challenging. If we didn’t know better, and some seem not to, we’d think that God is a major trickster Who enjoys throwing mankind off His trail. There is just so much confusion and misguided thinking that could all be straightened out in a moment if God would only be heard saying something to set us right. His silence is deafening and extremely misleading.

But the real problem is not God, but all the noise that man makes. The prophet Eliyahu told us something very important when it comes to hearing God:

He said: “Go out and stand in the mountain before God, behold! God passes, and a great and strong wind splitting mountains and shattering boulders before God, but God was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake—God was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake fire, God was not in the fire, and after the fire a still small sound. (I Melachim 19:11-12)

The Torah calls Moshe Rabbeinu the humblest man to have walked the face of the earth. Was it just paying a compliment to the greatest prophet to have ever lived, or explaining to us why he became such a great prophet? Was it telling us why Moshe’s prophecy was greater than Miriam’s and Aharon’s, whose criticism was based upon their thinking that they were equals in this regard?

A still small sound can refer to more than just an actual sound. We say “I hear that” but we do not necessarily refer to sound per se, but to the understanding of an idea. Remember that bush that Moshe noticed wasn’t burning and then he approached, only to find God through it? That too was a pekidah that might have gone unnoticed by anyone else who was not as spiritually sensitive as Moshe was.

Hearing God in history is a merit that one achieves by developing their level of spiritual sensitivity. This is what gives a person, like Mordechai in his time, the ability to look at history and see God communicating through it, to see and recognize a pekidah when it happens. It’s the difference between being ready for redemption and being caught by surprise when it happens.

Ain Od Milvado, Part 65
I AM TO my beloved and my beloved is to me. That’s what Elul alludes to (in Hebrew) with its letters. It is talking about the relationship between God and the Jewish people, which given all the curses in last week’s parsha, is hard to understand. Last week sounded more like hateful spouses on their way to divorce court.

The answer is right in the verse itself. It says that God is only our beloved when we are His. And when we’re not, then we suffer the scorn of a “spouse” that has been rejected. Then it is amazing how quickly a great love can turn to a great hatred, and the consequences that can result.

Cheating on a spouse does not always mean with another person. It can also mean with another thing. Divorces have occurred in recent times just because a spouse has spent too much time on the Internet. Sometimes business can interfere with shalom bayis, and even Torah learning.

Ain od Milvado means that God is our only partner in life. There should be none other than Him, meaning that even when we have to pair up with other people or things, it is always with the perspective that it is God working with us through them, just as He does through angels.

If we go into Rosh Hashanah and the Aseres Yemai Teshuvah with God as our only beloved, we will come out of them as His beloved as well.

Thanks for reading another year and I wish you a Shannah Tovah.

Rav Kook's Ein Ayah: Different Paths to Appreciation of Service of Hashem

(based on Berachot 2:42)

Gemara: May it be Your will … to place us in a corner of light and not place us in a dark corner and that our heart will not know pain and our eyes will not be darkened.

Ein Ayah: The significance of this prayer is based on the fact that one can be inspired to serve Hashem by either the Torah or by intellect.

It is greatest for one to have his intellect enlighten him to serve Hashem by recognizing the greatness of the Master and serving Him out of love. Whoever does not recognize the goal of his service of Hashem is one who walks in the dark. One who is enlightened by his intellect is one who stands in a corner of light.

It seems that while it is praiseworthy for one to be inspired by his intellect, the drawback is that it is not as all encompassing as what he can attain through Hashem’s perfect Torah. Therefore, the former is referred to as a corner of light, as it gives light only to the degree that his intellect and his situation allow it to extend. The Torah, though, is the light of the world and not just a corner of light. It is still a worthy attribute to think about the value of his service. However, when one analyzes things himself, he must beware of two things.

First, he should not allow himself to be overtaken by too many questions that pain the heart when he lacks a solution for them, a phenomenon that does not affect those who live with blind faith. That is why the prayer requests “that our heart will not know pain,” which can happen even to those in the light. 

The second thing happens when one gets involved in problems that are beyond his mental capacity. The Rambam and Chovot Halevavot compare this to one who damages his eyes by looking straight at the sun. This can affect someone who investigates things that he cannot appreciate, which makes him unable to grasp that which he was originally capable of grasping. That is the request that “our eyes not be darkened.”

One request relates to the intellectual sphere and the other to the emotional. He should have a straight path that enables him to experience greater joy as he understands more and continue to strive to increase his understanding without reaching the point of distorted views of the Divine.

You are Standing Today, All of You

by HaRav Mordechai Greenberg
Nasi HaYeshiva, Kerem B'Yavneh

"You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem, your G-d." (Devarim 29:9) The primary purpose of the Jewish nation is to stand before G-d. On the pasuk, "You are my witnesses – the word of Hashem – and I am G-d" (Yeshaya 43:12), Chazal comment: "If you are My witnesses – then I am G-d; if you are not My witnesses – it is as if I am not G-d." (Yalkut Shimoni vol. II, 455) We are the only ones in the world who represent G-d. Through us, G-d reveals Himself in the world, as Rav Kook zt"l writes: "Knesset Yisrael clothes the G‑dliness that is revealed in the world." (Orot) Every Jewish person has to dedicate himself to this goal, since there is no other nation in the world that will do it.

This needs to be our intention in the Yamim Hanoraim prayers. They should not be for our personal issues, but rather for the terrible desecration of G-d's Name. So long as the world has not reached its purpose, there is wickedness and folly, and the nations of the world can ask Israel, "Where is your G-d?" – this important role is still placed upon us. Therefore, we pray, "Reign over the entire world with Your glory," "They will all accept the yoke of Your reign," "All creatures shall fear You," etc.

R. Chaim of Volozhin explains in this vein the Mishna's comment regarding the war against Amalek: "When Israel would look upwards they would be victorious," i.e., when they would look upwards, towards the suffering of the Divine Presence.

Chazal comment on the pasuk: "All the siach (shrubs) of the field were not yet on the earth" – all the siach (talk) of people is only about the earth, [whether] it produced fruit or not. However, the prayer of Israel is entirely about the Temple. Master, when will the Temple be built?"

Siach hasadeh has two meanings: 1. Talk about matter of the field, the produce of the field, the economic profit from the field. 2. Prayer about the Temple, as it says about Yitzchak: "Yitzchak went out lasuach basadeh (to talk/pray in the field)." Chazal interpret the field as an allusion to the Temple, which Avraham called a mountain, and Yitzchak called a field. Am Yisrael and the other nations are differentiated through this. The nations talk and are interested only about earthly matters, whereas Israel's centrality of life is the Temple; the whole goal of their prayers is only for the honor of the Shechina and its revelation in the Temple.

This also explains Chazal's statement: "Whoever establishes a place (makom) for his prayer, the G-d of Avraham is his help." If a person's primary goal in prayer is for the purpose of Makom – G-d, who is the place of the world – then the G-d of Avraham is his help, since it says about Avraham, "to the place where he stood there before Hashem." This was Avraham's primary intention – for Hashem's honor.

It further says in Pirkei Avot: "Do not make your prayer set, but rather pleadings before Makom, and do not be wicked before yourself." Your primary intention in prayer should be for the purpose of G-d, not about you alone.

We say in Shemoneh Esrei: "Remember us for life, O King who desires life, and inscribe us for life on your behalf, Living G-d." We are saying: All our prayers are on Your behalf, O G-d.

The Zohar writes sharply about this:

"It was one day: The angels came to stand before Hashem." (Iyov 1:6) "It was one day" – this is Rosh Hashana. "To stand before Hashem" – to claim His insult. All scream like a dog, "hav, hav" (Give! Give!). Give us life! Give us children! Give us food! Give us forgiveness and atonement! No one pays attention to claim the insult of his Master, and His name [that] is desecrated among the nations, as it says: "For the Hand is on kes Y-ah (the Throne of G-d)" – the Name is not complete and the Throne is not complete.

"To stand before Hashem," the Zohar explains, means to stand in order to serve Him; to complain about the desecration of Hashem's Name, and not to ask like a dog, hav hav – "Give! Give!" for personal needs.

It is true that throughout the year the prayers contain requests for material needs, but these requests are formulated in plural, about Klal Yisrael. Requests about Klal Yisrael are requests for Divine honor, since Israel and G-d are one, and Israel's honor is the Divine honor.

King Yoshiyahu said about this: "Now, serve Hashem, your G-d, and His people Israel." (Divrei Hayamim II 35:3) Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook zt"l asks: This seems to contradict Chazal's statement that anyone who combines G-d's Name with something else is uprooted from the world!" (Succah 45). How is it possible to serve Hashem, and together with Him, Israel? This is joint worship, which is prohibited?! He explains: "The service of His nation Israel is identified and unified with the service of Hashem." "His nation Israel" and G-d are not different things, but rather one revelation and one awesome expression. (Sichot of Rav Zvi Yehuda #71)

Rav Kook zt"l similarly writes (Ikvei Hatzon, p. 155): "Then the essence of G-d's worship is decorated and girded with the strength of the service of the nation – 'Serve Hashem, your G-d, and His nation Israel.'" He would commonly sign his writings, "A servant to the holy nation on the holy land."

We can also explain: "You are standing today, all of your, before Hashem, your G-d," in this same way. On this day, on Rosh Hashana, we should stand before Hashem, ready to serve Him, on his behalf, to fulfill the Divine goal of creation. Even a person's personal requests should only be for help in achieving this goal – "on your behalf, Living G-d."

The Mussar Masters advise that the way to this is: "I am sitting amongst my people." (Melachim II 4:13) Some explain that a person should hide on the Day of Judgment and not stick out. Others explain that the intention is to be included in Klal Yisrael, to seek its welfare, and not to focus on personal individuality. The Sfat Emet writes (5635): "'You are standing today, all of you' – The entirety of Israel is forever standing before G-d, and the service of each individual is to submit himself to the whole."

Rav Kook on Elul: Teshuvah for the Generation of Rebirth

"For some time I have been struggling with an inner conflict, and a mighty force impels me to speak about teshuvah (penitence). All my thoughts are focused on this topic. Teshuvah holds a primary place in Torah and in life. All the hopes of the individual and of society depend on it.”

So begins Rav Kook’s introduction to Orot HaTeshuvah (Lights of Penitence), perhaps his most popular work, first published in 1925. The compact book was beloved by its author, and Rav Kook himself would study its teachings during the month of Elul after morning prayers.

One student reported hearing Rav Kook say, “I worked extensively on Orot HaTeshuvah. Whoever studies it properly will find light in every word.” He also declared: “Orot HaTeshuvah should be be studied endlessly.”

What is so special about the book’s outlook on teshuvah?

Teshuvah — a Return to Life
Orot HaTeshuvah illuminates the concepts of sin, punishment, and penitence. It explains that sin primarily harms the one who sinned, as it cuts him off from the roots of his very being, from the light of his soul. This estrangement is sin’s worst punishment. Teshuvah, on the other hand, redeems the sinner from this darkness. It rejuvenates him, restoring his previous state of life and joy.

The word teshuvah literally means “return.” It is not an escape from the world. On the contrary, it is “precisely through genuine, pure teshuvah that we return to the world and to life” (Orot HaTeshuvah 14:30).

Already in his introduction, Rav Kook described teshuvah as an underlying force that influences all aspects of life, not only the realm of the sacred: “Teshuvah holds a primary place in Torah and in life.” Thus one who frees himself from unhealthy habits – this is also a type of teshuvah.

Additionally, Rav Kook posited that this powerful force is not limited to the failings and triumphs of the individual. It also applies to failures and successes of the nation and the entire universe: “All hopes of the individual and society as a whole depend on it.”

National and Spiritual Revival
Rav Kook firmly believed that a secular national revival, the entire program of rebuilding the Land and the nation, could not succeed without a parallel revival in holiness, with lofty manifestations of this holiness expressed in both personal and public spheres.

But what path would lead the generation of rebirth to the gates of teshuvah? The routine approach is doomed to failure. One cannot reach out to the idealistic youth of such a generation, brimming with life, vigor, and creativity, with a severe demeanor and punctilious demands of small, everyday deeds — demands that they consider to be a sign of weakness and a feeble spirit.

No, the generation must be awakened via an optimistic spirit of greatness and courage. “Teshuvah comes not to embitter life,” Rav Kook taught, “but to make it pleasant” (15:6). “Teshuvah is essentially a return to our origins, to the source of supernal life and existence in their wholeness” (12:8).

In an article printed in HaYesod in 1934, he explained:

“Teshuvah is the great key to redemption. Many things inhibit teshuvah, but the major obstacle, particularly to collective teshuvah, is the misconception of Teshuvah as atrophy of the soul, as the enfeebling and debilitation of life. This false image also impairs the teshuvah of the individual. But more than anything, it hinders collective teshuvah, the teshuvah of the nation.

"We must disclose the secret that the genuine teshuvah of the entire nation of Israel is a mighty, powerful vision that provides reserves of might and strength, imbuing all of our spiritual and pragmatic values with a lofty spirit of vigorous, surging creative energy from the power of the Rock of Israel. This living teshuvah flows not from isolated, fragmented souls, but from the treasury of the nation’s collective soul, Knesset Yisrael .... In this way, the united soul of Israel is prepared to return to its former strength, as in days of old.”

(Sapphire from the Land of Israel. Adapted from Mo'adei HaRe’iyah, pp. 52,55; Celebration of the Soul, pp. 26, 28-29 by Rav Chanan Morrison.)

Shedding Light on "Teshuva"

by HaRav Zalman Baruch Melamed
Rosh HaYeshiva, Beit El

This Torah study is dedicated in the memory of R. Avraham Ben David

Repentance - Fact or Obligation?
With regard to the section of the Torah dealing with Teshuva , or repentance, we ask ourselves, "Is the Torah describing for us a fact - that eventually we will return to God; or are we dealing here with a positive commandment, an obligation to return to Him through Teshuva.

On the verse, "This mandate that I am prescribing to you today is not too concealed or remote from you," Ramban, in his classic Torah commentary, explains that we are dealing here with both a commandment and a promise. The Torah promises that the People of Israel will repent, in addition the Torah commands us to return to God through Teshuva.

Something Very Close to You
Regarding the commandment to return to God though Teshuva the Torah declares that it, "is not too concealed or remote from you... It is not in heaven... it is not over the sea." The Sefer HaIkkarim explains that this can be compared to a man who had a son who was severely sick. The father thought that for such a serious illness his son would certainly need special treatments and expensive medicines costing him, no doubt, a fortune. He took his son to a specialist who said that for this sickness there is no need for any expensive or hard-to-find medicine - "It is not remote from you." "Everybody," says the doctor, "can find it in his own back yard. You simply take certain herbs which grow in your yard, cook them up, and allow the sick boy to drink the broth. It won't cost you a thing - you can make it on your own." So, too, says the Torah with regard to Teshuva: It's simple to do, just: "Take with you words, and return, and return to God." (Hoshea 14:3)

In fact, Teshuva is so simple that it appears implausible. Everybody knows how serious sins are and how much damage they do. Everybody knows that when there a lot of sins they accumulate and become, "Like," in the words of Isaiah, "the ropes of a wagon." How is it possible that with such ease one can erase all that has been done. Do not the Scriptures themselves teach, "That which is crooked cannot be made straight"?! Why, every transgression which a person performs leaves a blemish on his soul and taints his moral capacities. How is it conceivable that through a person's doing Teshuva he instantly repairs all the damage which has been done? Yet this is God's will, that man be allowed to return to Him through Teshuva. God forgives anybody who wholeheartedly repents.

Levels of Teshuva
True, there are different levels of Teshuva and of the spiritual elevation which Teshuva brings about, yet as far as casting off the sin is concerned it's enough that man regrets his actions and does not wish to repeat them. This, in itself, is Teshuva.

The Sages teach that even in a case where a man sinned his entire life and then, in his old age, sensing his day of judgement approaching, decided to do Teshuva, his repentance is accepted. The fact that there is no great difficulty in repenting at an old age, when the urge to sin has waned and there is no longer any attraction to the pleasures of the world, does not detract from a persons Teshuva - his sins are nonetheless forgiven.

There are, as we have said, levels in depth and in greatness of Teshuva. The supreme Teshuva is epitomized by the verse in Kohelet, "Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the onset of old age." When man is still at the height of his potency, his Teshuva is of a more complete nature. The famed Mishnaic Sage Rabbi Yehudah taught that perfect Teshuva is demonstrated in a case where a man finds himself in the same situation, in the same city, same place, and same woman, possessing the same desires and the same urges, yet does not repeat his sin. His standing the test proves that he is a true Ba'al Teshuva.

Who exactly is a Ba'al Teshuva? The Rambam writes that the one who repents has "the 'Knower-of-Secrets' (i.e. God) testify to the fact that he will never return to his sin." Yet is not man's Teshuva dependent upon the one repenting and his personal decision, not upon the testimony or witness of God, the "Knower-of-Secrets". The commentators answer that man takes for himself God as witness to the fact that he will not repeat his sin. Rav Aaron Soloveitchik explains that there are people who return to God through Teshuva saying, "I hope, from now on, never to repeat my transgression," "I'll try," or "I'll do my best." But that is not complete Teshuva, and the one repenting cannot be termed a Ba'al Teshuva. True Teshuva calls for a promise to the Almighty, that the 'Knower-of-Secrts' testify to the repenter's sincerity: "Now, God, you are my witness - that I won't repeat this transgression." A firm decision. Absolute. Final. "That's it, I've detached myself from that transgression."

Intellectual Teshuva and Emotional Teshuva
Teshuva is composed of two elements: rational intellectual understanding, and healthy instinct. Man may come to Teshuva as a result of the realization that what he did was wrong, while harboring a desire to do it again. From an intellectual-rational point of view he understands that it is wrong and therefore wishes to separate himself from the weakness, from the transgression he performed. Yet his desire has not yet abated and his craving is still strong. On the other hand, there is a sort of Teshuva where the sin simply disgusts the sinner. He is repulsed by the rut of desire in which he had once been stuck, by the environment of lust, competition, esteem-seeking, and impression-making. He simply can no longer stand it.

You might say that there is Teshuva which is characterized by a desire to flee from evil. " Sur MeRah ," in Hebrew. The repenter, in this case, doesn't even know where he wants to go - yet he knows where he doesn't want to go. Then, there is a Teshuva in which man is drawn to the good. "Aseh Tov." Complete and perfect Teshuva is composed, of course, of both of them together.

With the approaching New Year, let us merit a good "inscribing and sealing," all of us and all of the People of Israel, Amen.