Personal stories of writing while sitting on bombs, donning tefillin in the frigid snow…
A lesson (one of many) that I learned at my parent’s Shabbat table.
My Abba z”l told the following story:
The sun and the wind were discussing who is more effective in controlling human actions? They noticed a passerby who was wearing a coat and decided to experiment – who can bring the man to take off his coat. The wind tried first.
It began with a short gust, to which the man buttoned down his coat. And with every increasing gust he tightened the coat around himself, until the wind ran out of air.
Now began the sun’s turn.
The sun began with a gentle smile and small rise in temperature; to which the man unbuttoned the coat.
And with every increase in sun’s smile, the man opened the coat more until finally removing it entirely.
The sun’s smile proved more effective than the furious velocity of the wind.
OPINION – NOT A PSAK DIN
The Medina is at an impasse regarding the mitzva military service for Chareidim. History records that impasses eventually increase the degree of animosity until all “gehennom” breaks out. So, I humbly submit my opinion to unravel this halachic-national deadlock.
The present decision of Chareidi rabbis is a psak din (halachic judgment binding on those who accept that rabbi as his halachic authority), that no one serves in Tzahal – not the learners and not the earners. No one – because they think the army will chip away at one’s faith in HaShem and His Torah.
There are two suggestions that come to my mind:
1 – That the leading Chareidi rabbi (rabbis) declare that on this issue his position not to serve in Tzahal is his personal opinion, not a halachically binding psak din. Therefore, each young man is free to choose the direction that he wants and yet remain within the Chareidi camp.
2- Since the above suggestion will in all probability be rejected out of hand, I have another one whose chances are not any better. The old adage “if you can’t beat them join them”.
Instead of distancing tens of thousands of young Chareidi non-learners from serving and saving our country, do the opposite: send them en masse to the induction centers; and fill the major military units with god-fearing young men, combat soldiers and officers. The sheer numbers of religious soldiers will guarantee that they will retain their religious beliefs and even influence the army to be a Jewish army rather than an army of Jews.
I am quite certain that these suggestions will be rejected; but it is important for the protocol of history to record their contents.
A personal story regarding learning Torah while serving in Tzahal
In 1967, several months after the Six Day war, I was drafted. After a challenging period of tiranut (basic training) I was assigned to the air force as a combat soldier in the then anti-aircraft division (today’s Air Defense division), for what was to turn out to be 22 years of reserve duty; 30 plus-minus days a year.
The first time I put on a uniform of the Jewish nation’s defense forces (the future “clenched fist” of the Mashiach) was a moment which will never pass from my memory, deserving of the Shehechiyanu blessing.
It was as if I was entering the exclusive, aristocratic circle of history. It includes the soldiers of Yehoshua, the liberator of a large part of Eretz Yisrael over 3000 years ago; the warriors of King David who extended our sovereignty over the land to its biblical borders and beyond; my fore bearers, the Maccabean Kohanim, who led the war against the Greeks; the soldiers of Rabbi Akiva and Bar Kochba – all of Jewish history wrapped up in a single shirt of olive green, with the embossed initials of Tzahal in Hebrew.
Whenever it was feasible, my Gemara was with me. I took advantage of the learning minutes when the learning hours were not accessible.
In stark contrast to the usual 30 days in the hot-cold Sinai desert, I was called for a tour of duty in December in the very cold northern Galil. We had to guard a huge and ominous looking bomb depot. There were several factors which, together, ensured that we would never forget this experience.
The site was a mountaintop whose “head” was leveled off to provide room for thousands of bombs of varying degrees of tonnage and types. Upon seeing this, my first thought was, “Hashem, what sin did I commit to deserve this?”. Later, however, we learned that bombs without detonators are docile creatures unless one fell directly on you. At first, we were hesitant to even approach them. After a few days, we came to touch them. After about a week, we would lay all over them trying to get in a little bit of sun the winter would miserly hand out.
That December was a particularly mean month. It rained almost daily, and there were snowstorms which competed with the rain in making our existence a “winter wonderland”. The most difficult moment of each day was when I had to roll up my sleeve to expose my arm to the elements in order to put on freezing cold tefillin.
It was the time when I was deeply involved in the 40 years of writing my explanations of the Tosafot commentaries to Shas, called Mei Menuchot; eventually taking the form of 15 large volumes covering 130 chapters of Talmud. Its purpose is to make the complex commentaries of Tosafot accessible to scholars and students.
Our living quarters were four tents stationed around the bombs. Each tent had room for 8 beds with no place for clothing except on the beds which were always damp. There was no room to sit and no light to read or to write by.
The only place where one could sit and concentrate was on one of the bomb clusters. They were stacked like a pyramid: ten on the ground, then descending numbers as you went up – nine, eight… ending with one on the top.
I would write, weather permitting, while sitting on the line of 8 bombs while placing the Gemara and notebooks on the line above of 7 bombs.
Although I can’t be certain; I don’t know anyone who wrote Torah while sitting on tons of dynamite.
What happened to the bombs? You might ask. They were all dropped in the Yom Kippur war probably on Damascus, Syria.
The simple lesson from the above: if you serious about Torah study, you can do it even in difficult situations, and certainly as a soldier in HaShem’s holy army.
In addition to other important elements, the festival of Shavuot is synonymous with the mitzva of Bikurim (first fruits). According to the Torah verses (Devarim 26:1-11) and the Oral Law (Mishna Bikkurim, Chapter 1), the obligation to bring Bikurim is conditioned on ownership of the land.
A landowner who grew any one of the seven species of flora which are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael (Devarim 8,7-8): wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranate, olive or date, must bring a sample of the first growth to the Bet HaMikdash, starting after the holiday of Shavuot. After presenting his gifts to the kohen who places them near the altar, the landowner declares his recognition of HaShem’s bountiful blessings, then voices a short historical overview of Jewish history:
(א) והיה כי תבוא אל הארץ אשר ה’ א-להיך נתן לך נחלה וירשתה וישבת בה:
(ב) ולקחת מראשית כל פרי האדמה אשר תביא מארצך אשר ה’ א=להיך נתן לך ושמת בטנא והלכת אל המקום אשר יבחר ה’ א-להיך לשכן שמו שם:
(ג) ובאת אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם ואמרת אליו הגדתי היום ל-ה’ א-להיך כי באתי אל הארץ אשר נשבע ה’ לאבתינו לתת לנו:
(ד) ולקח הכהן הטנא מידך והניחו לפני מזבח ה’ א-להיך:
(ה) וענית ואמרת לפני ה’ א-להיך ארמי אבד אבי וירד מצרימה ויגר שם במתי מעט ויהי שם לגוי גדול עצום ורב:
(ו) וירעו אתנו המצרים ויענונו ויתנו עלינו עבדה קשה:
(ז) ונצעק אל ה’ א-להי אבתינו וישמע ה’ את קלנו וירא את ענינו ואת עמלנו ואת לחצנו:
(ח) ויוצאנו ה’ ממצרים ביד חזקה ובזרע נטויה ובמרא גדל ובאתות ובמפתים:
(ט) ויבאנו אל המקום הזה ויתן לנו את הארץ הזאת ארץ זבת חלב ודבש:
1 When you have entered the land HaShem is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it,
2 Take of the first fruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name
3 Go to the officiating kohen and say: I hereby declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.
4 The kohen shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.
5 Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: My father went down into Egypt with a small family and lived there and became a numerous and powerful nation.
6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor.
7 Then we cried out to HaShem, the God of our ancestors, and HaShem heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.
8 So HaShem brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders.
9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;
Interesting to note that the Bikurim declaration deals with agricultural produce, while ignoring the bigger implications of the Jewish nation and our great spiritual mission as HaShem‘s chosen people in Eretz Yisrael. Perhaps it was because at the time of HaShem‘s revelation at Sinai, world history was not yet sufficiently developed for the Jewish nation to make an impact. The great empires of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome were not yet developed, nor had the major religions, which grew out of Judaism appeared on the world stage.
Bikkurim in the Future
With the blessings of HaShem and the sacrifices of dedicated, loyal Jews in Eretz Yisrael, the Bet Hamikdash will soon ascend above the mountains of Judea and our landholders will bring to it their first fruits Their declaration will begin with the text that appears in the Torah; but I assume that it will be followed with an additional one to include the great miracles that HaShem is now performing for Am Yisrael.
One part of the declaration will be to point out and offer thanks to HaShem for the great material wealth that this land has given forth to us who dwell in it, as stated in the Torah. Riches that will reach the quality and quantity of King Solomon’s legendary monarchy, in which the Talmud states that gold was valued at less than stones.
Then the declaration will deal with the miraculous survival of a handful of Jews in a world that has tried in every way to eradicate our existence.
The declaration’s crescendo will focus on the unbelievable, miraculous, unprecedented establishment of Medinat Yisrael and the return of the Jewish nation from the far-flung corners of the galut.
It will deal with the Medina’s success in destructing, demolishing and devastating the false gods of Islam and Christianity, each one claiming that it replaced the Jewish nation as their God’s chosen people, with the proof being the never-ending exile of the Jews from the holy land.
Our very return to Eretz Yisrael, regardless of the spiritual level of many here, is a devastating rejection, rebuttal, denial, contradiction, repudiation and disavowal of all their false claims. As the prophet Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) states in chapter 16:19 that mankind will admit the false traditions taught by their predecessors. The thundering words of the prophet Yeshayahu (Isaiah) (chapter2):
1 The word that Yeshayahu son of Amotz prophesied concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
3 Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in His paths. The law will go out from Zion; the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples; they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation; nor will they train for war anymore.
5 Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
May We All Merit The Blessings
However, not every Jew will merit to share in the exhilaration of grandeur that will be part of our nation’s future.
If one does not toil to bring forth the spiritual and material richness of HaShem’s blessed land, preferring to dedicate his or her energies to foreign lands and cultures, how can one expect to share in the rewards awaiting those Jews who sacrifice so much to sanctify HaShem’s name?
We should all remember that no action or thought is forgotten before the Almighty. And that, although, He is our merciful Father Aveinu, He is also Malkeinu – our King who metes out justice based on “measure for measure”. What you invest, is what you receive in return and more; but no investment reaps no benefits, only liabilities.
Shabbat Shalom and have a meaningful Chag Shavuot,
The book of Bamidbar (Numbers) begins with HaShem’s command to Moshe to commence a nationwide census of men of military age beginning at age twenty.
מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה כל יצא צבא בישראל תפקדו אתם לצבאתם אתה ואהרן
Those who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army count them according to their divisions – You and Aharon
This week’s message deals with military conscription – in the United States of America.
Until now, the legal responsibility was on the individual, that within 30 days of turning 18, all males were required to proactively register themselves with the SSS – Selective Service System (military). Under the new rule, as of April 9, 2026, the U.S. will transition to automatic registration for all eligible men aged 18 to 25.
The shift is expected to be fully operational by December 2026.
Men will receive a written notice once they have been automatically registered.
While the Pentagon maintains this is a bureaucratic modernization, the timing has drawn public attention due to ongoing international tensions, leading some to worry it’s a precursor to an active draft. It cannot be disengaged from the renaming of the Department of Defense (DOD) to the Department of War – both are part of a broader shift in U.S. national security policy initiated by the current administration.
With the slogan “Peace Through Strength”, the administration has explicitly linked the name change to a shift in military philosophy. War Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the “Defense” moniker was too passive. The transition to “War” is intended to signal a “warrior ethos” and readiness for offensive operations if necessary.
For the meantime, the U.S. remains an all-volunteer force, and reinstating conscription would still require a separate act of Congress and the President’s signature.
Who is included? The rule still applies only to men, despite previous legislative attempts to include women in Selective Service registration.
Failure to be registered remains a felony and can result in the loss of federal student loans, government jobs, and for immigrants the ability to naturalize as a citizen.
This week’s message is directed to the Jews in the US, essentially to parents of teenagers.
The following story could easily become reality for many families.
The phone rang in the nearly empty, topsy-turvy home of the Levines as they prepared for their aliya to Eretz Yisrael.
Mrs. Beth Levine nervously let the wrapping cord fall from her hand as she ran to answer the phone. Too late. The light on the phone’s base signaled that there was a recorded message.
She pushed the “play” button and a familiar voice spoke: “Hello, this is Miri from Nefesh b’Nefesh. I have two messages for you: a happy one and another, a bit disappointing. The movers will be coming to your home tomorrow morning, Monday, at exactly 7:00 AM, so please be ready.
And the not so happy news: I know how much you wanted the three ABC seats by the window, because of your names Al, Beth and Carol, plus the adjoining D seat of the middle section for David, on this Thursday’s flight. But because you are a family of four you were assigned the four DEFG seats in the middle section. In any event, the thrill of going on aliya will certainly overshadow such minor irritations. Aliya tova!”
Miri was so right, Mrs. Levine thought to herself. The thrill of a dream-come-true leaves no room for such mundane issues as seating on a plane; although it would have been nice to see the coastline of Israel drawing closer as the “wings of eagles” brings them home.
Al and Beth Levine had decided to come on aliya five years ago, when Carol was ten and David had his bar-mitzva. However, it took five years for Al to find a suitable replacement in his law firm; in addition, selling the house for the right price was a protracted process. But thank God, the local shul bought it to serve as the community home for whichever rabbi would be serving at the time.
In the interim, the Levines kept up with current events in Israel, as well as developments in the Middle East, and kept their dream alive.
Tensions were high. Iran, patron of the murderous Hezbollah and Hamas gangs, continued to develop a nuclear capacity. The United Nations Security Council passed a limited economic boycott resolution against Iran, and in an angry knee-jerk response, the Iranians decreased their sale of oil, causing the world price to jump to $100 a barrel! As if this was not bad enough, Venezuela’s leftist president signed a ten-year agreement to sell its oil exclusively to China, which brought the price of gas at the pump to $7 a gallon, with no sign that this would be the final price.
But none of this could detract from their decision to come on aliya.
David is to begin Bar Ilan University right after the holidays and Carol is registered in the Ulpan in Kiryat Arba. David was the crisis person in the decision. Youngsters of his age in Israel are drafted into the IDF, but David was promised that he would be permitted to finish his BA uninterrupted by army service. With this issue behind them, there was really nothing to prevent the Levines from taking the step of a lifetime.
The one annoying factor in their aliya was the attitude of some relatives and friends, who, perhaps for reasons of jealousy or personal weakness, were very critical of their plans. “What’s the rush? Wait until the children finish school. You’re now at your peak earning power. Is this the time to leave?”
On the other hand, the Rabbi was wonderful. On Shabbat, he spoke from the pulpit on the mitzva of living in Eretz Yisrael. He praised the Levines, saying how they would be missed in the many areas of their community involvement. Al for giving up his Sundays in order to coach the shul’s little league team; Beth for being the Shabbat kiddish coordinator; Carol for helping her mother with the kiddishes, and David for managing the shul’s teen activities.
But, of course, the Rabbi was careful to point out that the mitzva of living in Eretz Yisrael was in the category of a four-cornered garment, which although not mandatory to wear, if one should do so he would be required to attach to it tzitzit and merit a mitzva. So too, one is not required to “go up to the land” until the Mashiach comes, but if one should do so he merits a great mitzva.
To their skeptical friends and relatives, Al would respond that there have been so many warnings of late that the time has come to go home. So, if not now, — when?
The following day, on Monday, true to Miri’s message, the movers arrived at 7:00 AM sharp to take all the worldly possessions of the Levine family to the packing company, and from there to Israel.
Packing was an unforgettable experience.
Beth Levine stood wondering how they “succeeded” in 20 years of marriage to accumulate so much “stuff”. They began in the attic, which served as a nostalgic trip into the past. Many memories were evoked as they rummaged through their possessions. The less-than-modest wedding gown which Mrs. Levine did not want her Carol to see. A 78 RPM record player, Al’s catcher’s mitt, which he could not part with. Old photographs from the Pineview and Pioneer Hotels and summer camps. How these experiences have sweetened with time.
But life goes on. And with mental scissors, they will be severed in the light of the new life in the Promised Land.
Eventually, much was given away, more was thrown out, and the necessary articles were now packed in cartons to be shipped off.
In the packing process, the Levines concluded that Moshe Rabbeinu was so right in ordering the Jews to leave with only a few matzot, because if they would have been permitted to bring their possessions we would still be in Mitzrayim.
Ten in the morning and the movers had finished about half the work. A Western Union messenger suddenly arrived with a telegram for Mr. David Levine.
Al signed for it, opened the envelope and read aloud.
“Greetings. You are hereby informed that The President of the United States of America and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, and Congress in emergency session, have passed the Selective Service Act of —-, to be enforced immediately. You are hereby ordered to report to the Induction Center at 1948 Independence Ave. for induction into the armed services for a period of not less than three years. You will be sent to Paris Island, Georgia, to commence basic training as a proud United States Marine. Your passport will be on hold until the completion of your military service. Good luck and Godspeed to you in the service of your country.”
Al handed the telegram to Beth as the phone suddenly rang. He got there too late to answer, but the light on the phone’s base signaled that there was a recorded message.
Al pushed the “play” button and a familiar voice sounded.
“Hello, this is Miri again from Nefesh b’Nefesh. Good news. Due to several unexpected last-minute cancellations, we have been able to get for you the three ABC seats near the window and the D in the middle. Derech Tze’lei’cha.”
Unfortunately for the Jews of America, if this occurs, I can now hear many of their rabbinic authorities claiming that as citizens of the United States, which has given so much to its Jewish citizens, it is a Torah obligation to answer the call of the flag.
Good Luck!
Making America Great Again
President Trump has two interesting qualities which are not necessarily good nor bad; depending on how he balances them. The President is ambitious and impatient; and has only 3 more years to make America great again.
As it has been since time immemorial, “great” in terms of a nation is primarily the number of soldiers, planes, tanks, missiles and atomic warheads.
For now, the US military is superior to China, which is rapidly advancing and will by sheer numbers achieve superiority in most areas. What is more: 1.6 billion Chinese or 330 million Americans?
It could happen overnight, as Al and Beth Levine in our story found out after years of planning and postponing, which was dissipated in one moment by a short and unexpected telegram.
When the draft is in effect, aliya for that family will be close to impossible.
There will be no exemptions for divinity students, and no more one-or two-year learning stints in a yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael. When the law is re-enacted, young men and women in the age group will be prohibited from leaving the country. Once the axe falls there will be no turning back.
As I have repeatedly urged over the years, send your teenagers here. But one can rightly say that Israel also has an army (probably man for man the best in the world) so what will my child gain? To state it simply:
Part I: TWO UNIQUE SHABBATOT
Part II: MY FOREVER RELEVANT PESSACH TALE OF ONE FAMILY – TWO WORLDS
Part I: Two Unique Shabbatot
A: Tractate Shabbat 118b:
“אמר רבי יוחנן משום רבי שמעון בן יוחי: אלמלא משמרים ישראל שתי שבתות כהלכתן מיד נגאלים.”
“Rabbi Yochanan related in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai: If the people of Israel would observe two Shabbatot, they would be immediately redeemed.”
QUESTION: Was Rabbi Shimon referring to two random Shabbatot – perhaps weeks or years apart or to sequential Shabbatot? Furthermore, it seems like a deceptively simple solution to a decree of thousands of years of exile (Galut) involving millions of Jews dispersed across the globe.
B: PROPOSAL: The number of yearly Shabbatot ranges between 50 and 55, depending on the length of the lunar year. While several have distinctive names, two stand out boldly: Shabbat HaGadol (the “Great Shabbat”) before Pesach, and Shabbat Shuva (the Shabbat of Repentance) between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
C: COMMON ESSENCE: When asked what defines the common essence of all Jews? Some would answer that we are an extended family, descended from the same grandparents. Others suggest that we maintain a spiritually centered culture: living by 613 commandments, keeping dietary laws, marrying only within the nation and speaking a unique language with a unique alphabet.
While these are correct, there is a deeper quality.
SHORT INCIDENT: Several weeks after my holy brother, Rav Meir, was murdered in New York, in 1990, a stranger came to my home in the Old City. He introduced himself as a Baptist minister and claimed my brother was his rabbi; he requested that I continue the relationship.
I replied that I am a rabbi for the Jewish people, not for those who seek to divert our people from the truth to falsehood.
As we sat and spoke amicably over coffee, I waited for the inevitable antisemitic remark to appear. Eventually, it came: “Why do the Jews believe they were chosen by God over all other nations?”
I answered with a question: “Do you believe your status in the World to Come is a function of your behavior in this world?” He replied, “yes.” I then said that the status of those born into this world is a function of how they behaved in the world from which they came. Those who were spiritually inclined were born with Jewish souls, the rest with gentile souls. He was visibly disturbed; he had never heard such a concept.
THE TWO TRACKS: Every Jew carries a holy, unique Jewish soul (Neshama). To be a Ben or Bat Yisrael (Son and daughter of Israel) is to live on two parallel tracks:
THE NATION: We are a people with a specific culture, land, language, goal orientated future, and yes even a holy army, and bound by deep devotion to one another.
THE CONNECTION: We are linked to the Creator through the Mitzvot that HaShem commands and we obey.
These two tracks coalesce in the Holy Land of Eretz Yisrael.
Shabbat HaGadol, prior to the holiday of our freedom, reaffirms our identity as the Jewish nation. Shabbat Shuva reaffirms our identity as a God-centered people.
When Rabbi Shimon spoke of two Shabbatot, I suggest that he was referring specifically to these two Shabbatot. And that If we internalize the messages they proclaim, we will be immediately redeemed.
Part II: A Tale of One Family, Two Worlds
The West: A Seder in the Galut. An observant family in a great Torah center of the Diaspora – Flatbush, Lakewood, or South Florida. The home of Reb Sender and Mrs. Rayza is impeccable – the product of immense time, energy, and a significant outlay of money, all directed by the skillful and expeditious ba’alat habayit (woman of the house).
In the sitting room, the sofas and armchairs look inviting, though they remain shielded by thick plastic covers to ensure the upholstery retains its “brand new” luster. The centerpiece of the dining room is a five-meter-long Brazilian mahogany table, draped in the finest Irish linen. At its center stand imposing sterling silver candlesticks, heirlooms passed down through generations from mother to daughter. For this sacred night, the everyday china has been replaced by the finest Rosenthal china – each plate delicately rimmed with a band of gold; and the silverware has been put away in favor of gold-ware.
Resting on the table beneath a hand-embroidered silk cloth are the matzot. At the insistence of the two sons who are studying at the recently opened Yeshiva Taharas Ha’Torah in Las Vegas to bring the voice of Torah to the very gates of Gehennom. These matzot are from the first 18-minute batch. This guarantees that no stray bit of dough could have hidden in the rollers. These hand-made matzot were personally selected by the Rebbe of the shtiebel where the family now prays because the cost of membership in the local shul was getting out of control. He assured the boys that each piece was perfectly flat, bubble-free, and without any folded edges.
The wall-to-wall carpet is as lush as the grass in the garden outside. Above the table hangs the family’s pride and joy: a multi-faceted crystal chandelier, hand-picked by Rayza during their last visit to Prague.
Reb Sender is resplendent in his new bekesha – silk robe with swirls of blue cinched by a gold-buckled gartel. Rayza has just recited the Shehecheyanu blessing, dressed in a five-thousand-dollar gown imported from Paris. Their sons look handsome in their wide-brimmed black hats, and their two daughters, dressed in equally exquisite Parisian imports, look like brides-in-waiting.
The Seder is lively. They discuss the “Four Sons” over turkey and cranberry sauce. The Afikomen is “stolen” by the youngest daughter, who ransoms it for a vacation in Aruba. Finally, they reach the climax. They dance in a frenzy, singing: “L’shana Ha’ba’a Bi’Yerushalayim” – Next year in Jerusalem!
Suddenly, Mama collapses into a chair, crying. The singing stops. Father asks, “Why are you crying at the apex of this sacred night?”
Between sobs, she answers: “What do you mean ‘Next year in Jerusalem’? The table, the chandelier, the carpet, the garden… how can we leave all this?”
Father takes her hand and dabs her tears. In a voice full of compassion, he says, “Darling, don’t cry it’s only a song!”
THE EAST: A Seder in Eretz Yisrael: Ten thousand kilometers to the east, in Eretz Yisrael, lives Reb Sender’s brother, Kalman, and his wife Sarah. They had come on aliyah years ago with their five children, changing the family name to Yerushalmi. They were blessed with a beautiful family, an adequate apartment, and much nachat. However, their son Yossi would not be home for the Seder night; he was serving in the army within the Hesder yeshiva system.
The parents were not overly worried; Yossi had assured them he was in a safe place in the north and that they would all be together for the Seder next year.
At noon on the 14th of Nisan, Erev Pesach, Yossi and three fellow soldiers from his yeshiva were informed of their assignment for that evening. They were to cross into hostile territory in Southern Lebanon to man a “bunker” on Hill 432. Yossi knew the hill well. It was called a bunker only sarcastically; in reality, it was a foxhole just large enough for four soldiers. Their mission was to track terrorist movements and neutralize them on contact. The position was tolerable, except when it rained and the floor became a soggy, muddy mess. Yet today, the four hoped for rain. On the 14th of the Hebrew month, the full moon makes crossing into enemy territory a greater danger; rain and fog would be a protective blessing.
At 5:00 PM, they were issued their arms and ammunition. The Army Rabbinate also provided four plastic containers, each holding three matzot and the necessary ingredients for a Seder, along with four plastic bottles of wine and four Haggadot.
At 6:00 PM, they waited at the fence for the electricity to be cut so they could cross. Yossi held the map of the minefield. “How strange,” he thought. “This is the ancestral land assigned to the tribe of Naftali, and we must enter it crawling on our stomachs.”
At 6:15 PM, the small aperture in the gate opened. As they had hoped, it began to rain, and a thick fog rolled in to shroud their movements. At that exact moment, ten thousand kilometers to the west, Yossi’s two cousins in New York were entering the mikvah to prepare for the sacred night.
The four soldiers reached Hill 432 after a two-kilometer trek at double-time. They removed the camouflage, settled into the hole, and pulled the grassy cover back over them. Each was assigned a direction to watch. Silence was absolute; if an enemy were sighted, a light tap on the shoulder would alert the others. After settling in, they prayed Ma’ariv and began their Seder. It was completed within half an hour; they were relieved that the four cups of wine had no negative effect on their alertness.
At 6:00 PM in New York, Reb Senderעs family returned from shul to begin their opulent Seder. By 11:00 PM, they were dancing around their mahogany table, singing of their hope to be in Jerusalem.
In Eretz Yisrael, it was then 1:00 AM. The four soldiers were waging a heroic battle against boredom and sleep. The minutes crawled. Just before the first light of dawn, they exited the outpost and navigated back through the minefield and the electric fence. After reporting to their officer, the four collapsed onto their cots in their tent, not even pausing to remove their boots. In an hour, they would have to rise again for the Shacharit service.
That night, the guardian angels of Yossi and his friends were draped in flowing golden robes, sharing the Heavenly Seder with the righteous of all generations.
May we all realize that we are living in monumental times that will decide the fate of nations and continents. But for Yossi, his fellow soldiers and for the entire Jewish nation, we are now living in Biblical times. These days are ushering in the Messianic era and all that it promises for us and for all of humanity.
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Is it not the One God!?”
Around this verse, the Midrash (Bamidbar Raba 19,1) lists several “impossible” transitions that only HaShem could have orchestrated:
אברהם מתרח: צדיק שיצא מרשע.
חזקיה מאחז: מלך צדיק שיצא ממלך רשע.
ישראל מעובדי כוכבים: עם נבחר שיצא מתוך תרבויות פגאניות.
העולם הבא מהעולם הזה: נצחיות שנוצרת מתוך עולם חולף.
Avraham from his father Terah (a righteous man from an idolater).
Hezekiah from Ahaz (a saintly king from a wicked father).
Israel from the Nations (a holy people emerging from pagan origins).
The World to Come from This World (eternal life from a physical, decaying existence).
Ending with the foregone conclusion:
Who did this? Who commanded this? Who decreed this? Is it not the Unique One of the world!”
Present-day meeting of Ya’akov, Eisav, and Yishmael
China, India and the continent of Africa make up more than half the world’s population of 8.3 billon. But at this point in time, the eyes of the world are glued to three very different, unique individuals, who are meeting to shape the destiny of the Middle East and possibly the world.
The three figures are descendants of personalities who we meet in the Book of Bereishiet and were indeed destined from birth to shape humanity’s future: Ya’akov – the Jew. His brother, the evil Aisav – father of Christian Europe (“wild man” פרא אדם), and Yishmael – the Moslem.
Leading the talks are Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the Jew, Khamenei, the Shiite Moslem, and President Donald Trump, the Christian.
A bad move by any one of these individuals could produce a violent reaction, possibly a world war.
Each in his own way represents a long tradition based on a religion that dreams of world conquest. The Christians through international economic and financial control, the Moslems through Jihad at the point of the sword, and the Jews through encouraging universal recognition of the eternal Creator of all that exists, with His point of connection to the material world, the Bet Hamikdash in Yerushalayim.
These three societies based on religious differences cannot live together under the same roof. Oceans of blood, both Jewish blood and gentile, have been spilled by the descendants of Eisav and Yishmael, and according to our reliable sources they will eventually mutually destruct, leaving the Jewish nation to lead the survivors of these wars to a better world, as taught by our prophets.
We are now in the eye of the destructive hurricane sweeping through the world, but we the Jewish nation are protected by Hashem’s promise to guard His nation from the bolts of lightning and roaring thunder.
HaShem in his wisdom has brought together at the fulcrum of current events the descendants of the biblical ancients – two who are outside of God’s intimate covenant but believe they are in it, and the third who is deeply in it, but at times acts as if he is not so sure.
Who did this? Who commanded this? Who decreed this? Is it not the Unique One of the world!”
Is it wise to wait for the enemy to act?
“Reliable” news reporters are competing in guessing why our Prime Minister has hurriedly gone to meet eye to eye with President Trump. No one knows, and possibly the truth will never leak out.
Permit me to submit my theory.
In 1945, President Harry Truman made a decision. If the US would have to invade the Japanese homeland, the cost in American casualties could amount to a million (some military experts predicted a smaller number). He gave the order to drop two nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki which ended the bloodshed.
The Iranians are suffering from obsessive, compulsive hatred of the Jews and of Israel and do not hide their intention of using any and every means to eradicate the lives of 8 million Jews in Israel.
A good friend, who is also a kohen, took it upon himself to not shave until the last hostage would be returned. The last one was returned from Gaza and his beard got a big cut.
I suggested to him “not so fast” because there are still millions of Jews being held hostage in the galut; one is hostage to his beautiful house, another to his work, another who has to wait for the twins to finish high school, and many who follow rabbis who don’t believe in the legitimacy of the Medina.
The prophet Yirmiyahu, chapter 31, describes how our Mother Rachel refuses to be comforted because not all of her children have returned home.
The Mitzva of Our Era
Jewish life has evolved into a kaleidoscope of concepts, values, commentaries, hopes, halachic decisions, conflicts, etc., where everyone is so sure of himself, but no one really has it right.
We were taught in yeshiva that the full gamut of the 613 Torah laws, and the many additions legislated by authentic Sanhedrins from the time of Moshe continuing their work in its chamber in the Holy Temple, passing to Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai in Yavne and disbanded by the Romans in its final site Teveria (Tiberias), in 425 C.E.
Rabbinic amendments instituted by the Sanhedrin are incumbent on every Jew. So much so, that if a potential convert declares that he accepts Judaism totally except for one thing, be it even a rabbinic amendment, he is rejected. But in addition, every Jew has his custom-made, particular mission or mitzva that is cardinal to him or her. Just as a sixth-year medical student feels the call to his specialty. So too, does every generation, or era, have its particular role to fulfill in HaShem’s universal master plan.
The individual is a small piece of HaShem’s “Lego”, while the era fills a much larger vacuum in the ultimate puzzle. So, what is the mission expected from our people, let’s say beginning with the Jewish calendar year ה’ת”ר paralleling the C.E. year 1840 (the letter ה stands for 5000, and ת”ר for 600) and extending to this day?
I submit that it is to achieve a self-awakening that the time has arrived to initiate our efforts towards self-emancipation from the shackles put upon us by the goyim since our exile from Eretz Yisrael 2000 years ago.
Indeed, there is a counter movement in some sectors of Chareidi society that prohibits taking any steps toward our redemption before the arrival of the Mashiach, including even the establishment of a total Torah Medina in Eretz Yisrael. For just as it was in Egypt, where the Jews were passive and HaShem sent His messengers – Moshe and Aharon – to activate their redemption, they believe that we too must continue to live under the goyim until HaShem sends His messenger. The bearers and disseminators of this idea are the Chassidim of Satmar.
Now, where does the truth lie? How can we know what HaShem wants? The answer lies in the results.
The establishment of a Jewish Medina in Eretz Yisrael after 2000 years of exile is a miraculous unprecedented event. Eight million Jews now live in the holy land and overcoming our enemies is the proof. Because we could not have accomplished it without the long-unbroken chain of miraculous events from the tragic Shoah to what the Medina is today, without the wonders of HaShem.
And of course, the fact, that if HaShem would deem our return as being premature, as stated by those who believe so, HaShem certainly knows how to negate an undesirable initiative. Just ask the Babylonian architects of the Tower.
I recall discussing this with an intelligent (I thought) Chassid in the states. The tragedy of the Shoah came up. He said that there is nothing to discuss because the Shoah was the secret hand of HaShem.
Then I brought up the return of millions of Jews to the holy land. To this he replied that the Medina is the hand of the Sitra Achra (Aramaic for “the Other Side”) a term used when speaking of evil forces that exist in the world or the Satan.
I replied that his life was an optical illusion, because the Shoah was the work of the Satan and our return home is the blessed desire of our Father and King in heaven. We parted with a handshake, not with a slap.
The all-encompassing mitzva of our era is to actualize HaShem’s master plan of revoking the decree of exile and the return of His children to our status of chosen nation; in order to continue the eternal dialogue between Creator and His chosen nation in His chosen land where HaShem is forever present, as the pasuk says in Devarim 11:12):
ארץ אשר ה’ אלקיך דורש אותה, תמיד עיני ה’ אלהיך בה מרשית השנה ועד אחרית שנה.
A land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually upon it from the beginning of the year to its end.
In contrast to those who fulfill the holy will of HaShem by continuing to cling to the blood filled lands of Europe and the ‘holy” soil of Monticello and New York’s diamond center, we perceive HaShem as being the ultimate Religious Zionist by declaring that living in Eretz Yisrael is equal qualitatively to the sum total of all the mitzvot, as recorded in many of our sources.
Looking Ahead via the Prophets
What lies in store for the wise Jews who will be here at the appointed time, is brought at the end of the book of Yoel 4:16-21:
16 The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem, the earth and the heavens will tremble; but the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
17 Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, my holy mountain: then Jerusalem will be holy, and never again will foreigners invade her.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains will drip down sweet new wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters; and a fountain will flow out of the house of the Lord, and will water the valley of Shittim.
19 But Egypt will be desolate, and Edom a desert waste, because of violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged? No, I will not. And the Lord dwells in Zion.
Last week’s parasha, Vayechi, the final portion in the Book of Bereisheit records Ya’akov’s fatherly request, or rather his demand, to be buried in Eretz Yisrael and not in Egypt, even temporarily.
The Torah does not record the internal deliberations that took place in Ya’akov’s mind regarding his burial place; the impression given is that he was entirely certain of his choice. I submit that because we know that Ya’akov was a deeply spiritual and emotional man as seen in his “love at first sight” encounter with Rachel and his prolonged inability to be comforted following the disappearance of Yosef.
Ya’akov was aware that with his passing, the centuries-long period of Galut (exile), including years of cruel servitude at the hands of the Egyptians, would commence, as revealed to Avraham Avinu during the Brit Bein HaBetarim (the Covenant Between the Parts).
With this knowledge, Ya’akov surely understood the significance of his departure just when his descendants would need him most and even his burial site could offer them a glimmer of hope during their enslavement. There were many other significant reasons to consider remaining with them in Egypt at that time.
I am certain that all these alternatives crossed his mind, but after weighing them all his final conclusion confirmed the values he received from his grandparents, Avraham and Sarah, and his parents, Yitzchak and Rivka. When placed on the “Halachic scale,” where economic, emotional, and practical values are on one side, and the opportunity to live and even to be buried in Eretz Yisrael is on the other, the sanctity of being close to HaShem in His chosen land outweighs all other considerations.
A Moral-Halachic Dilemma
A Rav or Dayan (judge), when making a Halachic judgment, may not rule based solely on the texts of the Tanach, the Mishnah, or even the Gemara. His legal framework is the Shulchan Aruch and the precedents established in Responsa literature throughout the generations.
Nevertheless, the moral lessons we glean from the Torah serve as vital landmarks in our Jewish value system.
Many years ago, I experienced a moral-Halachic dilemma with no one to consult with. It was thirty or forty years ago during a visit to New York. I was scheduled to board my flight home on Sunday at 9:00 PM. Several hours before departure, I received a phone call from the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s secretary (Rabbi Groner) that the Rebbe requests to speak with me privately at 4:00 PM.
I do not know how the Rebbe knew I was in New York. Although I consider myself a Chassid of all holy Rabbis and do not have a particular affiliation with Chabad (perhaps because the Kahana family from Tzfat were Tzanzer Chassidim), I felt the weight of the invitation. To meet the Rebbe and still catch my flight, my schedule had to be dictated by minutes, not hours.
About thirty minutes before the scheduled meeting, I was driving on Canal Street in Manhattan toward the Manhattan Bridge to reach Eastern Parkway. In the years before my Aliyah, I knew New York without a map; however, the city had changed. I recalled that the off-ramp from the bridge led to a left turn toward Eastern Parkway. To my dismay, I encountered three lanes and didn’t know which to choose.
I chose the wrong one and found myself in a neighborhood where I was the only white person. Every street corner had a long traffic light and time ticked away; It became clear that I could not meet with the Rebbe and still make my flight. I had to decide which priority took precedence.
I made my choice, though I believe some might disagree.
At that moment, I recalled Ya’akov’s decision to be buried in Eretz Yisrael despite the justifications to remain in Egypt. Later, as I ascended the stairs to the plane that would return me to the Holy Land, it became clear that I had made the right decision, following in the footsteps of our father Ya’akov that one should never turn down the opportunity to return to the Promised Land, because a missed chance to return to Eretz Yisrael may not come again.
To this day, I do not know what the Rebbe wished to discuss. He passed away in 1994 at the age of 92; I had hoped to meet the holy Rebbe here in Eretz Yisrael, but it was not meant to be.
Miracles Today
In Tractate Yoma 29a, the Gemara states that the Book of Esther, with its miracles, is the final volume of the twenty-four books of Tanach, so there was no possibility to include the miracles that occurred in the time of Chanuka. The implication is that many more miracles will occur in the future but will not be recorded in Tanach.
Are we today on the verge of another major “Purim miracle” occurring in Persia?
Not long ago, they were firing missiles at the heart of the Medina, but now the Ayatollah is crouching like a trapped rat in a cellar in Tehran, waiting to escape to Russia. Were it Halachically permissible, we would have to recite Hallel every day here in HaShem’s Holy Land.
How blessed we are to be here at this time. We call out to our brothers and sisters in the Galut: come home and be part of the exponential miracles occurring in this generation.
Parashat Vayigash is the highlight in the amazing saga of Yosef and his brothers; a saga that covers 4 parshiot beginning with Vayaishev and continuing to the last parasha in the Book of Bereishiet .
As we enter parashat Vayigash the brothers have no option except for a desperate plea to the unmerciful, inconsistent, radical Grand Vizier of Egypt, who is called Tzafnat Panei’ach.
Binyamin has been accused of stealing the Egyptian’s charmed goblet and sentenced to life punishment of slavery; and the brothers were freed to return home and receive their punishment from their father Ya’akov.
The parasha begins:
ויגש אליו יהודה ויאמר בי אדוני ידבר נא עבדך דבר באזני אדוני ואל יחר אפך בעבדך כי כמוך כפרעה.
Then Yehuda approached him and said: Pardon, my lord, let your servant speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
At that moment, the brothers estimated their chances of freeing Binyamin to be close to nil; but Yehuda, who was the family spokesman by virtue of his receiving the status of future monarchy, stepped forward uninvited to attempt to repeal Binyamin’s sentence.
In short: Yehuda makes a frantic effort on behalf of Binyamin.
At the time this message is being written, our Prime Minister is on his way to meet with a man who has the ability to exert great influence on the actions that our Medina will have to take in the near future.
We are called Yehudim because we are descendants of the southern area of Eretz Yisrael which was named YEHUDA, after the ten northern tribes (named Yisrael) were exiled by the Assyrians in 722 BCE.
Now HaShem is sending a coded message of encouragement for the Jewish nation.
The Prime Minister’s name is Binyamin (Netanyahu), and he is going as the head of state of the Jewish nation whose people are YEHUDIM to discuss what actions we have to take in the near future.
Remarkable, just the reverse of what we read in the parasha where Yehuda comes forth to help Binyamin, our Binyamin is coming to help Yehuda.
But more interesting is the message behind the code.
The situation in Vayigash appeared to the brothers to be one of desperation – to prevent the dismantling of the Jewish family. But Yehuda and the brothers were not aware that standing in front of them is their brother Yosef, who would never harm his brothers beyond arousing their consciences over what they had done to him.
So too, the situation today appears to be fraught with danger. Iran is restoring their missile stockpile with the intent of overwhelming our defenses. Egypt and Turkey could ally with Iran, with Turkey’s 87 million people, Iran’s 92 million and Egypt’s 110 million. But we know that HaShem will save His chosen people in Eretz Yisrael.
In addition, the Arabs in Yehuda and Shomron are sitting on a keg of dynamite, and our Arab citizens cannot be trusted.
However, in reality, we know that HaShem will intervene in obstructing the evil plans of His enemies. With that said, the Jewish way is to believe in miracles, but in parallel we must do what human logic dictates.
We must have a large and powerful military, including the tens of thousands of Chareidi young men who so far refuse to serve.
I await with great curiosity how HaShem will pull us through this time.
There must have been huge cultural, religious and emotional differences between Ya’akov and Rachel when they first met. He, the ultimate ben Torah, having dedicated his life to the bet midrash, including 14 years in the yeshiva of the two righteous men – Shem and Ever; while Rachel was brought up in an environment led by her less then scrupulous father Lavan. But love conquers all.
They were married for approximately 14 years, when on the way to Eretz Yisrael Rachel died in childbirth. During those years, Ya’akov had a great moral and religious influence on his beloved Rachel that drew their outlooks on life and emotional responses closer. Indeed, Tanach records their similar reactions to devastating emotional situations.
When Ya’akov understood that he would never again see his beloved son, Yosef, he descended into a state of profound mourning from which he could not escape; even after the time when reality usually overtakes the bitterness of the loss, as the pasuk relates (Bereishiet chapter 37) when Yosef’s bloodstained garment was brought to him:
ויקרע יעקב שמלתיו וישם שק במתניו ויתאבל על בנו ימים רבים
ויקמו כל בניו וכל בנתיו לנחמו וימאן להתנחם ויאמר כי ארד אל בני אבל שאלה ויבך אתו אביו
34 Then Ya’akov tore his clothes, donned a sackcloth and mourned for his son many days.
35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted.
Rachel shared a similar emotional response as related by the prophet Yirmiyahu (chapter 31) over a thousand years later:
יד) כה אמר ה’ קול ברמה נשמע נהי בכי תמרורים רחל מבכה על בניה מאנה להנחם על בניה כי איננו
טו) כה אמר ה’ מנעי קולך מבכי ועיניך מדמעה כי יש שכר לפעלתך נאם ה’ ושבו מארץ אויב
טז) ויש תקוה לאחריתך נאם ה’ ושבו בנים לגבולם
Thus said HaShem:
15 A voice is heard in Ramah (Bet Lechem), mourning and great weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children refusing to be comforted, because he (they) are not here (in Eretz Yisrael but dispersed in galut).
16 This is what HaShem says: Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your efforts will be rewarded, declares HaShem. They will return from the land of the enemy.
17 So there is hope for your future descendants, declares HaShem, your children will return to their own land.
This prophecy was presented by HaShem to Yirmiyahu around the time of the Babylonian Exile and the destruction of the First Temple (late 7th to early 6th Century BCE). The prophet was delivering consolation to the Jewish people who were grieving when being led into captivity to Babylonia. Rachel was buried on the route the exiles took (Bet Lechem), and is depicted as weeping over their tragedy, refusing to be comforted even by HaShem’s promise of the return of her children as reward for her actions and tears.
We find here the same emotional reaction and wording “refusal to be comforted” in Ya’akov’s mourning over the death of Yosef and Rachel’s reaction to the extended period of exile (galut) of Am Yisrael.
But here is the problem. Ya’akov’s inability to be comforted over the loss of Yosef is understandable, because of the finality of death. But the Jews’ exile has an end when we will all return, as promised by HaShem. Is there no room here for some emotional comfort?
For Rachel the answer is NO! There is no comfort for her. Because, like Ya’akov, she too is facing the finality of death which the galut would inflict on her children. While her husband was facing the death of one son, she saw what galut would do to Am Yisrael. She saw millions of Jews over two millennia being torn away from Judaism by homicidal Christians and Moslems and even more through forced and voluntary assimilation.
How can she find comfort when the promise of redemption is far into the future?
World Jewish Population
At the outbreak of World War Two, on September 1, 1939, there were between 17 and 18 million Jews worldwide. Six years later one third of our nation was murdered; bringing our nation down to approximately 12 million people.
Today, 80 years later, we are still very far away from replacing the number of Jews of 1939. The high estimate is 14-15 million, but realistically the number is much less when taking into account that half of those in the United States claiming to be Jews are halachically gentiles.
Although the Jewish population in Eretz Yisrael is growing through birth and aliya, the number of Jews in galut is steadily declining.
The current wave of international anti-Semitism might drive some Jews to strengthen their Jewish roots; however, historic precedent teaches that the big numbers take the escape route away from Judaism.
Mama Rochl (in Yiddish) still has much to cry for.
Conclusion
In conclusion, an interesting observation.
Verses 16-17 in Yirmiyahu’s above prophesy are repetitious: that in its time all the galut Jews will return home:
16 This is what HaShem says: Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your efforts will be rewarded, declares HaShem, They will return from the land of the enemy.
17 So there is hope for your future descendants, declares HaShem, your children will return to their own land.
Verse 16 that speaks of the Jews’ escaping to Eretz Yisrael from enemy lands lacks two words that appear in verse 17 that deals with Jews who consciously return home. The words are “your children”. Those who longingly return to the holy land are considered as the children of Rachel; whereas those who come in order to escape the “whip lash” of Judenhass are welcome, but the verse omits the words “your children (of Rachel)”.
The moment HaShem established Medinat Yisrael, the curtain of extinction began coming down on all the Jewish communities in the galut. They are becoming increasingly irrelevant to the ongoing and future history of the Jewish people. It is only a question of time, and not too long, when they will disappear.
Let me explain on the background of the last two Torah parshiot of Toldot and Va’yai’tzai.
The Gemara (Yuma 83b) relates that the illustrious Tana, Rabbi Meir, was able to discern the basic character of a person from his name. And it is cited in various rabbinic works that when parents name a newborn child it is considered a ne’vu’a ketana; a minor prophecy, because it descends into the root of the infant’s neshama.
The world’s most illustrious twins were named by their parents, Ya’akov (Jacob) and Aisav (Esau).
Aisav means wild growing grass, weeds or herbs. Aisav is described as a man of the field – eesh ha’sadeh. Ya’akov, taken from the Hebrew aikev (heel) implies consistency, as when walking, one foot follows the other with cadence and precision. And Ya’akov is described as a “dweller of the tent” – yoshev o’halim.
These descriptions are embedded in the names and characters of the two brothers.
A field is an open area, permitting unhindered free access to wherever one wishes to go. Devoid of obligation or responsibility to any particular point in the field; so, when it becomes uncomfortable one can just move on. A field contains any assortment of weeds, grass and herbs intertwined or growing alone depending on where the wind has scattered the seeds.
Open fields have no order. No law except the law of the jungle. Just pick and choose whatever appeals to you at that given moment and discard what is disturbing or irritating.
This was Aisav: the man of the field. He discarded the responsibilities that come with being a firstborn, selling it for a pittance. He returns from the field so fatigued that he implores his brother Ya’akov to feed him lentils. The details are a drag on him; just give him the pleasures without the effort.
Aisav sees no importance in living a disciplined life, because as he said to Ya’akov (Bereishiet 25:32):
ויאמר עשו הנה אנכי הולך למות ולמה זה לי בכרה
I will soon die, so why do I need the birthright?
Aisav’s value system serves as the ideological basis of today’s Reform movement and its inevitable result – assimilation. Discarding what is inconvenient; Shabbat, kashrut, family purity, marrying within the Jewish nation, and certainly the embarrassment of the Jewish State, Eretz Yisrael, where Hebrew is spoken and the chosen people take the Bible seriously.
With so much Judaism in the way, it becomes uncomfortable to be “one” with gentile neighbors and more difficult to become assimilated into their ways. So, for them, Judaism must be discarded.
If lentils were good enough for Aisav, son of Yitzchak and Rivka, then bacon and lobster are good enough for those who wish to escape the “unfortunate” fact of being born a Jew.
Wild weeds grow in their Reform temples in the form of same-sex marriages, and the “spiritual leader” who performs Joey and Jane’s wedding together with the local priest. The reform leader who services the whims of his or her congregants and counts them as Jews even when only the father is Jewish. Wherever the money and conveniences are, there you will find the many Aisavs of Reform Judaism.
Ya’akov is different. He lived a structured life where consistency was the rule of the day. He is the tent dweller which demands conduct suitable for living a demarcated lifestyle. Structured davening (prayers) three times a day; laws pertaining to what and when one eats. Moral and ethical conduct between people in accordance with the value system revealed by HaShem. The acceptance of responsibility without escaping through rationalizations based on weakness and fear.
Aisav cannot be Ya’akov any more than Ya’akov can be Aisav. Their dispositions, characters and ambitions are reflections of their souls. Rivka felt this when each child was aroused in her womb; Ya’akov upon passing a place of Torah study and Aisav when passing a place of avoda zara (idolatry).
The dichotomy of Ya’akov and Aisav is clear cut. Ya’akov clings to HaShem through Torah and mitzvot (commandments) from which he derives the lifeblood of his existence, whereas Aisav sees his survival through the ability to stalk his prey in the field with his bow and arrows. He has no need for HaShem, for he is the master of his own life and future.
Now with the distinction between the God-fearing, responsibility-taking Ya’akov and the anarchistic, hedonistic Aisav so clear, it would be correct to conclude that the two cannot thrive together. One is either with the mainstream of God-driven history, where the galut has finished serving its historical purpose of “hosting” the exiled Jewish nation, or with the peripheral segments of Judaism heading towards oblivion.
At this time in our history, HaShem has placed before His children in Israel the huge historic challenge of restoring our national independence within the borders of Eretz Yisrael, in preparation for the next stage of world history. This stage will witness the execution of Godly justice upon those nations which dealt so cruelly with Am Yisrael, while the Jewish people will be under HaShem’s protective wing in Eretz Yisrael.
But confusion reigns. Not much different from the time of Chanuka. Then, as now, Am Yisrael was faced with an existential threat. A large percentage of our people were drawn to Hellenism and discarded the Torah. Each Jew was faced with the personal challenge to the depths of his soul: join with the Maccabim at the risk of your life or be a bystander in the life-and-death struggle for the soul of Am Yisrael.
Through the sacrifices of the strong and courageous, HaShem awarded us independence from foreign rule for a good part of the following 200 years. And it is in the merit of the mesirut nefesh (self-sacrifice) of those holy people that we celebrate the holiday of Chanuka today.
At this juncture in our history, each Jew is again faced with the choice of being Ya’akov or Aisav: of picking up the gauntlet of the strong and courageous or of backing off from the responsibility of a firstborn. Either choosing to join in the struggle to rebuild our nation in Eretz Yisrael or cringing in the corner behind the apron strings of your fears.
It is not easy to be “Ya’akov” in a world surrounded by Aisavs, but it is the Ya’akovs who will survive and guarantee the eternal existence of Am Yisrael.
So be on the winning side of history!
New Sheriff in Town
The surname of the newly elected mayor of NYC is maMDani.
Reverse the two middle letters M and D what do you get? Instead of maMDaNi it becomes
MaD Man.
Initially, he looks and acts normal, as diagnosed by President Trump after their meeting in the White House. But he belongs to a select group of deranged historical figures diagnosed with the Don Quixote syndrome – an insane inner compulsion to overcome forces over and beyond any human force; be it a four-armed windmill or in our case the Judenhass people who sought to defeat the Almighty by destroying His chosen people – Medinat Yisrael and Am Yisrael; from Paro, Haman, Torquemada, Hitler, Stalin and now a new member in the hall of shame.
But the new sheriff in town, as disturbed as he might be, is clever. He loves Jews. Some of his best friends have shtreimels and live in Williamsburg. Nevertheless, he dreams of the day when the Jewish State will be no more, even if it entails throwing its 8 million Jewish citizens into the sea.
The prophet Yeshayahu (57,20-21):
והרשעים כים נגרש כי השקט לא יוכל ויגרשו מימיו רפש וטיט
אין שלום אמר א-להי לרשעים
But the wicked (who do not repent) are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked (who like the sea waves see the destruction of the previous wave as it falls before the sand but continues in its suicidal assault to the beach).
When one Jew-hater hits the ground, another follows like the breaking waves on the sands of history. However, one cannot deny Mamdani’s contribution to the efforts of encouraging Jews to return home.
For this he does not deserve a full tree in Yad Vashem’s modest forest of righteous gentiles, but a small shrub would be in order.
I have a long-standing question that “longs” for an answer.
The bet din has at its disposal several means of punishment towards a transgressor, ranging from the most severe death penalty down to social ostracization. The punishment second to the death penalty in severity is Karet comprising three levels: premature demise of the unrepentant sinner, the sinner and his children die, and the severing of his soul in the next world from the mainstream of Jewish souls.
The first Mishna in Tractate Karet enumerates 36 transgressions punishable by Karet out of the 365 “lavim” (a don’t commandment), i.e., specific sexual relationships, violating Shabbat, etc. Including only two “do” mitzvot (affirmative mitzvot) out of 248 which a sinner intentionally refrained from performing – brit milah (circumcision) and refrained from participating in the offering of a korban Pesach (Pascal Lamb) when the Bet Hamikdash was standing.
Question: What is so significant about these two affirmative mitzvot of brit milah and the Pesach sacrifice that places them in the Karet category?
I submit: The Midrash records that when HaShem rejected Moshe’s request (presented 515 times) to enter Eretz Yisrael even after his death, Moshe asked, “why are Yosef’s remains being brought into the holy land (Moshe himself brought the remains to the edge of the land), whereas mine are prohibited from entering?”
HaShem replied, “He who acknowledges his Jewish nationality may enter” (Joseph declared to the chief cupbearer in prison, “For I was indeed kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews”), but one who denies his Jewish nationality may not enter. Meaning, after Moshe fled Egypt and aided the daughters of Yitro at the well in Midian, they returned to their father and said, “An Egyptian man rescued us from the shepherds, and he also drew water for us and watered the flock.”
Question: Both Moshe and Yosef told the simple truth – Yosef lived many years in Eretz Yisrael while Moshe lived his life in Egypt?
It seems that the Midrash is teaching us that no matter where a Jew is born or lives, his Mother Land is Eretz Yisrael, and he must identify as such. Because a Jew no matter what he thinks or declares is a lifelong part of Am Yisrael – the Jewish nation, and the native land of every Jew is Eretz Yisrael.
Inseparable Units of Body & Soul
HaShem’s chosen people compromise two nonidentical twins (comparable to one’s body and inherent neshama) but nevertheless twins.
Avraham and King David represent these inseparable units of body and soul as set down by Chazal when determining the final text of our thrice said daily prayer of Amida (Shmoneh Esrei).
Avraham in the closing of the first blessing in Shmoneh Esrei:
ברוך אתה ה’ מגן אברהם
Blessed are you, O Lord, the protector of Abraham.
And King David, who appears twice in the 13th and 14th blessings: the rebuilding of Yerushalayim and the restoration of the Davidic dynasty.
Avraham set the stage for the formulation of the eternal bond between the souls of Am Yisrael and HaShem. King David established the nationhood of Am Yisrael by uniting the separate tribes under one monarch with its capital in Yerushalayim, and a victorious army that brought the borders of Eretz Yisrael to the whole extant of the Euphrates River from today’s Turkey through Syria and Iraq down to the Arabian Gulf to the east, and to the Nile river to the south-west; an area that can contain hundreds of million Jews, when the time arrives.
Now if anyone should doubt that the land is the twin essential ingredient of Judaism together with the Torah, I refer him to the Gemara (Ketubot 112b):
ת”ר: לעולם ידור אדם בארץ ישראל אפילו בעיר שרובה עובדי כוכבים, ואל ידור בחוץ לארץ ואפילו בעיר שרובה ישראל, שכל הדר בארץ ישראל דומה כמי שיש לו אלוה, וכל הדר בחוצה לארץ דומה כמי שאין לו אלוה, שנא’: לתת לכם
The Rabbis taught: One should always reside in Eretz Yisrael even in a city where the majority of the inhabitants are idolaters (gentiles) and not reside outside the Land of Israel even in a city where the majority of the inhabitants are Jews.
For one who resides in the Land of Israel is regarded as having HaShem by him, and anyone who resides outside the Land is regarded as not having HaShem by him, as it is stated (Leviticus 25:38):
To give you the Land of Canaan, to be your God.
And Eretz Yisrael is, according to Kabbala, positioned directly under the “kiesei hakavod” – the throne of glory in the Shamayim.
Two Positive Mitzvot
Now returning to the issue of the two affirmative mitzvot – brit milah and the Pesach sacrifice. Desecrating the Shabbat or eating non-kosher food does not necessarily imply that the sinner has severed his bond with the Jewish nation; he maintains his status of son of this nation, albeit a wayward one.
In contrast, the violation of each of these two mitzvot – brit milah and the Pesach sacrifice – is a stark declaration that the perpetrator has concluded that the Torah of Israel and the land of Israel are devoid of any spiritual meaning for him and holds no particular interest in remaining part of this holy nation.
Pesach commemorates the metamorphosis of the family of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov into the nation of Yisrael with a land structured base, a culture and way of life uniquely different than any other in the world. It was the time when we became free of the Egyptian whip lash and prepared to face the future under the protective clouds of HaShem in our G-d given land. And the act of brit milah engraves into our bodies a living testimony that we are forever a part of this holy union. To negate any of these mitzvot is tantamount to declaring separation from the mainstream of the Jewish people in this world and in the next.
Conclusion
Now where is all this going?
Of late, we have heard several leading Chareidi gedolim say, that if the choice is to serve in the Jewish army of the State of Israel, then it is preferable to leave the holy land for greener pastures in the galut.
Our rabbi, teach us — ילמדנו רבינו
Where did I go wrong? – Teach me!
Is it indeed da’at Torah to leave the holy land sanctified by HaShem for keeping the Torah, and at a time when the nation is at war with those who would not hesitate a moment to murder every Jew in the world?
If one is on his way to being an advanced Torah scholar there is logic and reason that his learning should not be disturbed by military service; but for each man like this there are tens and more who are not. Should they leave the holy land rather than contribute to the security of 8 million Jews here? Is this da’at Torah?
To leave the holy land, the twin partner with Torah in formulating Judaism, is a sin; to serve and protect the Jews in Eretz Yisrael is a mitzvah!
By ten divine utterances [ma’amarot] was the world created.
The expression “utterances/ma’amarot” implies that HaShem made His voice heard. How does HaShem’s voice sound?
The Prophet Eliyahu heard a “still, small voice” (I Melachim 19:11-12):
(יא) ויאמר צא ועמדת בהר לפני ה’ והנה ה’ עבר ורוח גדולה וחזק מפרק הרים ומשבר סלעים לפני ה’ לא ברוח ה’ ואחר הרוח רעש לא ברעש ה’:
(יב) ואחר הרעש אש לא באש ה’ ואחר האש קול דממה דקה:
Come out,” HaShem called, “and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And lo, the Lord passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still, small voice.
Likewise, Rabbi Amnon wrote in his Unetane Tokef prayer:
…Then there is a blast on the great Shofar and a still, small voice is heard. The angels hasten to and fro and are seized with trembling and dread so that they say: “Behold! It is the day of judgment and the Host on high is to be considered in judgment,” for they have no merit in Your eyes in judgment.
By contrast, Moshe in the Mishkan (Tabernacle tent) and King David in Yerushalayim heard HaShem’s voice with an enormous intensity that sent shock waves through the seven heavens, as King David wrote:
קול ה’ בכח קול ה’ בהדר:
“The voice of HaShem is power! The voice of HaShem is majesty!” (Tehillim 29:4).
I submit: The magnitude of HaShem’s voice is perceived in accordance with the spiritual intensity of the respective place and situation.
Moshe and David heard HaShem’s voice with enormous intensity due to the holy surroundings of the Mishkan and Yerushalayim. Eliyahu heard it as a still, small voice because such was the level of holiness of Mount Sinai after the Revelation. Rabbi Amnon, living outside the Land of Israel, likewise heard HaShem’s voice as small and still.
Each year, in the month of Tishrei, the Jewish People complete a prolonged period of prayers, requests and entreaties, starting with the “Selichot” of Elul, continuing with the Days of Awe and the seven days of Succot and the eighth day of Shemini Atzeret. Countless words uttered! Countless voices heard!
The prayers of the nation dwelling in Zion soar up to the Throne of Glory, in accordance with where we are.
By contrast, for the Jewish communities in the exile, the total of all their prayers amounts to a small still voice, because the source of the calls is the galut lands. There is no prophecy outside the Land of Yisrael, only in the Holy Land can the Word of the Living God find expression.
An allegory for Succot
Reb Yisrael and his sons erected their sukkah adjacent to the kitchen door of their palatial home in one of the Five Towns, as they had done for many years in the past.
But this year was different. Reb Yisrael had just learned from his rabbi that one of the reasons for residing temporarily in a sukkah is in case one’s destiny was decided on Rosh HaShana to be expulsion into galut, the departure from the comforts of home into the sukkah could be considered to be that galut.
Reb Yisrael, his wife and children left the warm comforts of their beautiful home and entered the sukkah with the knowledge that by taking up temporary residence therein, they would be absolved of any galut-related sins.
As the family continued to reside in the sukkah, they got so used to the pleasant smell of the schach (branches used to roof the sukkah) and the pretty pictures on the walls and the overhanging decorations, that they decided to remain there even after the chag! Even though they were able to peer into their permanent home with its luxurious amenities, electrical gadgets, and state-of-the-art under-floor heating units, thick hanging drapes, lush carpets and much more, they showed no interest in returning there.
As odd as it may seem, the family became accustomed to the crowded, cold interior of the sukkah. Their relatives and neighbors tried to point out the irrationality of what they were doing, but the very idea that this was galut did little to encourage the family to return home.
When their rabbi came to visit, it was surprising that he encouraged them to remain in the sukkah rather than to return home; because it was in the sukkah that the family felt comfortable and closely knit.
In the meantime, several strangers noticed that the previously brightly lit home was vacant, and they decided to move in as if it was indeed their own!
Reb Yisrael and his wife and children saw the strangers living in the house; but in veneration for the sukkah, they stubbornly bonded with the thin walls and dried-out schach and refused to leave.
The whole thing was so absurd. To leave such a beautiful home for the feeble, fallible construction of the sukkah, despite the fact that their beautiful home was beckoning them to return, was beyond the understanding of any rational person.
Then came the stones thrown by the local anti-Semites who wanted to rid the neighborhood of this sukkah eyesore. Reb Yisrael and his family dodged them one by one and steadfastly remained in their fragile dwelling, rationalizing these acts as irrelevant nuisances.
Then came the terrible night when one-third of the sukkah was torched by the local bullies. Reb Yisrael and his family were aware of what was happening, but their minds had become so warped that no amount of reasoning could move them.
To them the sukkah was home and their home was galut.
Eventually the sukkah came crashing down, killing Reb Yisrael and his entire family – in their beloved galut!
בפרוח רשעים כמו עשב ויציצו כל פועלי און להשמדם עדי עד
Though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.
There is a popular slogan in Israel ביחד ננצח (b’yachad ney-nitzayach) that translates as:
TOGETHER WE SHALL BE VICTORIOUS.
Implying that the unity of our people here and in galut is our strength with which we shall defeat our enemies.
If only it were true that the Jewish nation is so united. Among other nation-fracturing actions, there are many young Israelis who are escaping military service through a variety of excuses – so much so that the word “united” is somewhat ludicrous, if not downright sad.
I prefer to understand the slogan as follows:
The Zohar, part 3, parshat Acharei Mot (in the book of Vayikra), page 73, states:
קודשא בריך הוא ואורייתא וישראל מתקשרין דא בדא
THE HOLY ONE BLESSED IS HE, THE TORAH AND AM YISRAEL ARE BOUND TOGETHER.
The obvious difficulty in this determination is the concept that something connects to the omnipotent Creator. Hence, my understanding is that, although the three are very different entities, they share a similar basic nature – they and only they are infinite beyond time and space. HaShem is innately infinite, and He granted the wisdom and sanctity of the Torah to be infinite, and so too for the authentic Jewish soul.
From here we can foresee how things might unfold in the foreseeable future. The anti-Semite can cause pain to the Jewish nation but cannot eradicate us. Therefore, even if the entire world will band together under the flag of the UN, or under any other nefarious affiliation, to isolate the Jewish state and even militarily come against us, we will be victorious under the protective wing of HaShem.
Victorious we shall be! However, the essential condition that determines the degree of our victory is the spiritual level of the Jewish nation.
As we approach the “Days of Awe,” when all humanity – those who are alive and those in a higher dimension – and every existing entity are judged by the Creator, I raise my hands to bless my brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael and those yet in the galut – including those gentiles who accept what is stated in the Bible that the Jewish nation was chosen by the Creator – with the Kohanic blessing:
יְבָרֶכְךָ השם וְיִשְמְרֶךָ
יָאֵר השם פָנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶךָּ
יִשָא השם פָנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשֵם לְךָ שָלוֹם
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace”.
This “peace” refers to the genuine peace that will emerge from Yerushalayim and spread out to the four corners of HaShem’s world.
כתיבה וחתימה טובה לכל עם ישראל
שבת שלום
May Am Yisrael be inscribed and sealed for a good life.
Am Yisrael, and specifically we who are granted the privilege to live in Eretz Yisrael, are in the midst of a kaleidoscope of events. Before we can decipher the implications of yesterday’s event, the next one comes to expropriate our attention.
Just this week, six holy Jews were murdered in Yerushalayim, four holy soldiers were killed in a tank in Gaza, and one holy police officer was killed in the line of duty. Then there was the assassination of the unholy Hamas leaders who, from their safe five-star hotel haven in Qatar, were pulling the strings of the demented marionettes living and dying in Gaza. Adding to the list of current events, France’s political leadership – who are the leading proponents calling for a Palestinian state and condemning Israel for genocide – collapsed by an overwhelming majority no-confidence vote in their National Assembly. And then there is the gnawing issue of a segment of observant Jews who refuse to be recruited as soldiers during this dangerous time in our history.
There are so many issues that can be discussed, especially before the Days of Awe, that I am hard pressed to decide where to begin. So, I will choose the current event that is, in my opinion, most relevant to many Jews. I would describe it in one word – War.
A seemingly irrelevant US presidential act changing the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War is not simply an administrative correction to Washingtonian stationery. This change will impact the lives of millions of Americans and create worldwide aftershocks.
What led President Trump to make this change?
Notwithstanding the fact that the US military is currently stronger and better equipped than the Chinese, China’s military potential far surpasses that of the US.
While the US population numbers more than 341 million, China has 1.5 billion.
So, theoretically, if the US and China would lose the same number of people in a war, the Chinese would still have over one billion people.
Active personnel in the US military number 1.3 million, while China has approximately 2 million. Even more astounding – the number of young people in the US reaching military age is 4.5 million versus 20 million in China.
Last week, China staged a military parade to celebrate 80 years since the end of World War Two. The impressive parade included tens if not hundreds of thousands of soldiers marching as one man.
We saw it on TV, and so did President Trump and the Pentagon generals.
In addition, Russia remains a real and growing threat to the Nato members – including the US.
In order for the US to effectively double its active forces, it will be forced to reinstitute the military draft in place of the very expensive volunteer system.
I foresee a surprise announcement: “Last night at 12 midnight, the President signed into law the restoration of the military draft”. From that moment on, all eligible manpower from ages 14 to 28 will be prohibited from leaving the country or from being issued a passport.
Your holy sons and daughters will serve in the military for not less than 3 years, as expected from a faithful citizen. And by the time of their release, most of them will not care about learning Torah in Eretz Yisrael or about keeping Shabbat.
The choice is yours. I don’t have to spell it out.
PART TWO
The story of Binyamin Apikoris
It is to my religious brothers and sisters who are still stuck in the galut that I dedicate the following story:
It came to pass that the shamas in a little shtetl fell ill and the shamas’te (his wife) fulfilled his communal obligations to the best of her ability. Among them was that, on the week preceding Rosh Hashana, she would awaken the good people of the shtetl in the wee hours of the morning to gather together at the shul to recite selichot (prayers for forgiveness).
At 4 AM on day one, the shamas’te took the little metal gavel used for the task and set off to awaken the God-fearing, dedicated and idealistic men of the community.
In the first house adjacent to the shamas lived a man whose given name was Binyamin. However, he was known as “Binyamin Apikoris” (Binyamin the Apostate) because, due to the circumstances of his childhood and youth, he was not able to learn Torah. Despite this fact, Binyamin was very proud of his Judaism and was making strides in learning the Torah.
At the knock of the gavel, Binyamin Apikoris called out to ask who was at the door. The shamas’te identified herself and called “shtay uf far slichas” – get up for selichot”. Despite all his shortcomings, he was a compassionate man. He opened the door, letting in the freezing cold wind and snow and said to the shamas’te, “It is 4 o’clock in the morning, the snow is piled up and you are not in the best of health. Give me the gavel and go home. I will wake up the people for selichos”.
The shamas’te went home, and Binyamin Apikoris proceeded to the next house.
At the sound of the gavel, the next baal habayit asked who was there. Binyamin Apikoris identified himself and said that he had come to waken all the ba’alei batim to selichot.
At that moment, there came a loud angry cry from within the house, “You have the audacity, Binyamin Apikoris, to waken me for your selichot. You are nothing but an apikoris while I am a God-fearing man. I will not lower myself to answer the call to your selichot.”
The scene repeated itself in every house in the shtetl to such an extent that, at the beginning of the davening, only two people showed up – the rav who came early to shul every day of the year and Binyamin Apikoris.
“So, what is the connection?” you ask.
About 130 years ago, a man detached from Torah observance by the name of Binyamin Ze’ev Herzl picked up a big gavel and organized the Zionist Movement to arouse the Jewish people to the need for a Jewish national state and to facilitate its establishment in Eretz Yisrael.
He was rejected by the main body of religious leadership who said, “Who are you, Apikoris, to tell us about Eretz Yisrael? We will not come to your Eretz Yisrael.”
So, at the end of the day, who came? Socialist and Communist apikorsim and a thin sliver of God-fearing Jews. It was they who forged a Medina out of a malarial swampland and barren wilderness.
How awesome it is that the first official law passed by the new Medina in 1948 was the Law of Return, allowing for the absorption of the surviving descendants of those who had refused to come to the land of Binyamin Apikoris.
Medinat Yisrael, with all its amazing achievements and failings, neither belongs to Binyamin Apikoris nor to the greatest tzaddik of the generation. The Medina belongs to all of Am Yisrael who live here and love her.
Binyamin (Theodore) Herzl was one of the great Jewish engineers who, like his peers, turned architectural plans into a workable blueprint. He transformed the millions of heartfelt prayers of over 2000 years into a workable goal of Jewish nationhood in our ancient homeland.
All who are hungry come and eat. All who are needy come and partake in the Korban Pesach.
And I say: All who are hungry for geula (redemption) come home to Eretz Yisrael. All who feel the need to be close to HaShem come and dwell in the holy land.
When one does not come, it means that he doesn’t feel the need. And that is very tragic!
Bearing Shame
There is a saying that the first time Johnny calls you “dirty Jew”, shame on Johnny. The second time, shame on you!
Human beings without Torah are summarized in Bereisheit, Chapter 8:
כִּי יֵצֶר לֵב הָאָדָם רַע מִנְּעֻרָיו
The inclination of the human heart is evil from birth.
In the 1930’s, who could have fathomed the extent of evil in the hearts of European Christians: gas chambers, crematoria, mass murder, engineered killings?
Now we know that Christianity did not have the moral fortitude to prevent the Shoah. On the contrary, the Shoah became a reality only on the platform of Christianity.
The first time the descendants of Esav (populating all of Europe from the west to the Soviet Union in the east) released their evil inclinations on Ya’akov, shame on them. However, if the Jews in the galut again fall prey to the savagery of anti-Semitism, shame on the Jews.
As Rosh Hashana approaches, let me state that if you have grievances or bear resentment because the situation in Eretz Yisrael is not the way you would have it, the address is not the secular members of the government. It is with the hundreds of thousands of our religious leaders and religious brothers and sisters who do not come on Aliya. By their sheer numbers, they could bring about the necessary changes.
Despite our differences here in the medina, there is at least one common issue that draws us together.
I can best explain this by an incident that occurred years ago, when my wife and I were (spectators) on the ski slope on Mount Hermon in the upper Golan 2000 meters above sea level (Yerushalayim is 800 meters above sea level). Suddenly a cloud descended over the entire area and visibility was only about one meter.
The locals informed us that the condition could continue for several hours, while we had to return to Tzfat shortly. The drive down the mountain at near zero visibility was challenging, where one mistake could be the last. Toda laShem we made it, obviously!
The connection: All of us in Eretz Yisrael, from newly arrived to Israeli old timers are surrounded by a clueless cloud as to what tomorrow could bring. The possibilities are endless, and it makes sense only to us who realize that the situation was brought about by HaShem in order that we become aware that our destiny is in His hands, exclusively.
But there are spiritual lighthouses to strengthen us along the way, and I submit one of them.
Shlomo HaMelech states in Mishlay (13,20):
הולך את חכמים יחכם, ורעה כסילים ירוע
“He who walks with the wise will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm”.
The message is clear – choose only good and clever people as friends.
Cicero the Roman is credited with a similar thought: “Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are”. And its corollary “Tell me who your enemies are, and I will tell you who you are”, which is the subject of this week’s message.
The Gemara (Gitin 56b) recounts Rabban (a title reserved for the head of the Sanhedrin) Yochanan ben Zakkai’s secretive exit from the besieged Yerushalayim in order to meet with the Roman general Vespasian.
When Rabban greeted him with the title “king”, Vespasian showed his annoyance at this false title. Rabban explained that he was a king or will soon be one, and as they were speaking a messenger arrived from Rome informing Vespasian that Ceasar had died and the Senate had appointed him as emperor. Vespasian was taken aback and asked Rabban how he knew of this development?
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai responded that it is obvious that you will conquer Yerushalayim; and our tradition, based on verses, teaches that only a great monarch (king) could have control over the holy city when the Jews are in galut.
This is a powerful statement about the unique status of Yerushalayim and Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael. It declares that even when we are punished for our sins, HaShem chooses only the elite of enemies (major leagues) to implement the divine decree.
Our Enemies Throughout History
Throughout the centuries of our galut, Yerushalayim was ruled over by powerful, influential kings.
After the fall of Rome came the Byzantine emperors: Constantine, Julian, Theodosius the second, Justinian and Heraclius.
Followed by Early Muslim Caliphates. In 637 CE, Jerusalem was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate under Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab.
Followed by a succession of Islamic dynasties, including the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, and the Fatimid dynasty.
Then came the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1187 CE). Its first ruler was Godfrey of Bouillon, followed by His brother, Baldwin I.
Crusader rule lasted for nearly a century until the city was recaptured by Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty and the first Sultan of both Egypt and Syria. He unified the Muslim territories of Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, and parts of Arabia, which had been fragmented under different rulers.
Then the city was captured by the Ottoman Turks during the Ottoman-Mamluk War of 1516-1517. The Ottomans, led by Sultan Selim I, defeated the Mamluk Sultanate in a series of battles. After the decisive Ottoman victory at the Battle of Marj Dabiq in August 1516, the Ottoman forces advanced and conquered much of the Levant, including Jerusalem.
This marked the beginning of a 400 year long period of Ottoman rule over Jerusalem, until the British captured the city in 1917 during World War I, and were given the status of mandate government under King George V (reigned 1910), followed by Edward VIII (reigned 1936, but abdicated after less than a year) and the last mandate King George VI.
Conclusion:
It is beneath HaShem’s and Am Yisrael’s “dignity” to permit His chosen people to deal with the minor leagues of history. Remember: “Tell me who your enemies are, and I will tell you who you are”,
Our first nemesis was the super-power — Egypt, which fell to the bottom of the sea while we were singing with Moshe in praise of HaShem.
We fought and destroyed the two kings Og and Sichon, who protected the eastern approaches to Eretz Yisrael and then we destroyed the 31 city-states in the land.
We fought Bavel, and we were conquered by them and by the Persians. We fought Greece and then Rome and one can now see them in our Yerushalayim museums.
We were degraded by the Byzantines and the Christian popes and European kings.
We suffered under the Turkish caliphate and after that we succeeded in expelling the brutish-British from our land.
We met them all and we wrote the history books.
Our Enemies Today
In our time the “influential” kings are: Salman of Saudi Arabia, Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar, Charles III of the United Kingdom, Emperor Naruhito of Japan, Abdullah II of Jordan and Mohammed VI of Morocco, so, I don’t see any reason to worry.
In reality, we are forever governed by the King of Kings, before whom the mightiest emperors crawl on their knees.
PART TWO – THE MITZVA TO ERADICATE ALL SEMBLANCE OF AMALEK IN THE PARASHA
Halacha recognizes two types of war – milchemet mitzva (obligatory war) and milchemet reshut (optional war).
Milchemet mitzva is defined by Rambam as the war against the seven Canaanite nations led by Yehoshua bin Nun in Eretz Yisrael; war against any enemy which is threatening Jews, and war against Amalek.
Since milchemet mitzva does not need the consent of the Sanhedrin, the king or government may declare war and draft soldiers. Two options are offered to the enemy: either to leave the area completely or remain as our slaves; or to wage war, in which case we would destroy every man, woman and child of that nation.
Milchemet reshut is a war of expansion for territorial or economic interests and conditional on the consent of the Sanhedrin. If the enemy rejects our conditions for peace, we are required to destroy all the men, but not the women and children.
Our parasha begins with milchemet reshut and ends with milchemet mitzva against our sworn enemy Amalek.
51 “Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: ‘You will cross the Jordan into Canaan, 52 And you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you and possess it. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols and demolish all their high places. 53 Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 54 Distribute the land by lot, according to your families. To the larger give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those who will remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you anguish, you in the land where you live. 56 And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.’
We were commanded to liquidate the enemy as a preemptive act, for in accordance to their religious faith and culture they are devoid of any and all feelings of human compassion and will have no mercy on our women and children.
The great Yehoshua, who followed Moshe Rabbeinu as the religious and military head of the Jewish nation, gathered together the nation’s rabbis and tribal heads to instruct them how to lead the nation after his demise. The Jewish people had liberated five tribal areas, leaving seven more which were to be conquered and settled after the demise of Yeshua bin Nun.
Yehoshua said:
After a time and the Lord had given Israel respite from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, 2 summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials and said to them: “I am very old. 3 You have seen what the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you. 4 Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 The Lord your God himself will push them out for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.
6 “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.
9 “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the Lord your God.
12 “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, 13 then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.
14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15 But just as all the good things the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16 If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land He has given you.”
HaShem, through both Moshe and Yehoshua, directed the Jewish people how to deal with the enemies in Eretz Yisrael. It is a question of “either them or us”. There is no third alternative. We cannot live with the enemy nor share the land with him, in any generation. To do so would be an ungrateful act of disloyalty to HaShem and a disruption of the heavenly plans which HaShem has set into motion for His people Yisrael.
In the War of Independence, we had the opportunity to execute a population exchange, when we gathered in hundreds of thousands of Jews who were thrown out from Moslem lands. in exchange for the Arabs who were here. Had the government abided by the letter and spirit of the Torah, we would not be in the position we are in today.
The opportunity presented itself again during the Yom Kippur War, when we could have rid ourselves of the hostile Arab population; but again, the leaders did not have the courage to walk in the ways of the Torah.
What would Moshe and Yehoshua say to the idea of freeing hundreds of murderers, as our leaders are willing to do today?
It would not be wrong to say that Moshe and Yehoshua would claim that the rightful place for these murderers is neither to be free nor to be in prison. Their place is to be in Gehennom now.
We are not permitted to test HaShem. However, the longer we live, the more the truth of His commandments become revealed in our day-to-day life. It is not only the rasha (evil person) who denies the words of Hashem, but also the well-meaning righteous fool.
Observe them (the mitzvot) carefully, for this will reveal your wisdom and understanding in the estimation of the nations when you perform all these decrees and they will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people”.
Question: A chok (חוקים) by definition is a heavenly decree beyond Man’s ability to comprehend (kosher vs unkosher animals, the red heifer, tuma and tahara, etc.). The pasuk says that erudite, learned goyim will praise our wisdom when we abide by the chukim. But this negates the fundamental basis of the scientific method that places logic and empirical proof as the guiding tools which open the secrets of nature. So why would the goyim reap praise upon us for acting in accordance with chukim?
I submit: the acceptance of chukim implies that we are aware that there is a world beyond human logic (Quantum Mechanics), and it is that leap of faith and intellectual acceptance which demonstrates our wisdom and understanding.
And its inverse, when the Jews distance themselves from the Torah, they make foolish mistakes and appear to be unwise in the eyes of the gentile peoples.
How to win a war
I recall that on the first Shabbat of basic training (tiranut) in boot-camp a few kilometers from the evil city of Shechem, I was asked to speak at the Shabbat meal. I spoke about our ancestors who entered Eretz Yisrael under the leadership of Yehoshua bin Nun with the order to “eliminate” all men, women and children of the seven Canaanite nations who controlled the land. I asked the soldiers that if we would get orders to enter Shechem and destroy the city and all its inhabitants, who among us would be able to carry out the order. Very few hands went up. And then I said that is the reason that the Medina will continue to suffer many more years of bloodshed.
There are no innocent citizens when at war with another country or religious faith, because whoever identifies with the aims of their leaders is as guilty as the soldier in uniform who shoots an RPG (anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade).
In 1933, approximately 3.6% of the German population were official members of the Nazi Party. In 1939, however, it was estimated that the vast majority of Germans identified with the goals of Judenrein (a land and world free of Jews). This was justification enough for the United States and the United Kingdom to kill hundreds of thousands (not enough) of non-combatants through bombing raids of the major cities.
The Germans were hungry, and the allies provided them with humanitarian aid in the form of half-ton bombs. The Germans were sick, and the allies sent them antibiotics in the form of TNT. That’s the way to win a war.
Viewing the enemy as human
Perhaps, the opening word of the Torah begins with the letter BET in order to inform us that this world is plan B and not what HaShem originally planned. Adam was the perfect male and Chava the perfect female, and Gan Eden the perfect location. Yet, they both managed to sin on the very first day they were created; and from that sin, death appeared and all the evils that Man has perpetrated to this day.
The lesson to be learned is that the mother of all further sins is the first sin. It has been proven empirically by leading physicists that when one closes the first button on a sweater improperly, chances are that all the rest will be out of place.
In the wake of the Shemini Atzeret atrocities, the original sin of our government was to negotiate with Hamas. This sin erroneously acknowledged their status as human beings; when, in fact and in Halacha, they became the living dead.
It is not recommended to approach an angry cobra and attempt to negotiate with it. If the “peace now” humanitarian does not immediately kill the cobra, then he will become its next meal.
Insanity is the de facto state of affairs in Gaza today. Hamas toys with Israel every day. The majority of international humanitarian aid continues to be violently hijacked by Hamas thugs and then sold to their Arab brothers at usurious prices. At the same time, the Hamas leadership offers unacceptable and constantly changing terms for releasing our live and dead hostages and ceasing the war.
The twins, Yaakov and Esau, were endowed with opposing genes – Yaakov with kindness and his brother Esau with the killer instinct. That is why there are only 13 million Jews in the world but billions of descendants of Esau.
Our mantra should be JLMM (Jewish Lives Matter More), because the life of one Jew is more precious than all the people of Gaza and their allies.
Following is a case in point…
Sparing enemy lives
The book of Melachim (chap. 20) relates the incidents pertaining to the battles between Achav, King of the northern tribes, and Ben-Hadad, King of Aram (today’s Syria).
Ben-Hadad mustered a huge army led by 32 kings with their horses and chariots, and besieged Samaria, the capital of the northern tribes.
After Ben-Hadad made impossible demands of the Jewish people, Achav and his generals understood that war was imminent.
A prophet appeared before Achav and announced, “This is what the Lord says: Do you see this vast army? I will give it into your hand today, and then you will know that I am the Lord.”
The army of Israel defeated the Arameans. Ben-Hadad escaped on horseback with some of his soldiers, while Achav’s army inflicted heavy losses on the Arameans.
The prophet returned to Achav with the warning that Ben-Hadad would renew the war in the coming year, and Achav would again be victorious.
The following Spring, Ben-Hadad did indeed declare war. This time, the Jews killed 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers in one day, and a wall collapsed on another 27,000 as they attempted to enter the city of Aphek.
Ben-Hadad hid in an underground room, knowing that his chances for survival were nil; but his officers said to him, “Look, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. Let us go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”
They sent a message to Achav to the effect that Ben-Hadad was still alive and was begging for mercy.
Achav received the message and replied, “Is he still alive? My brother?” And Achav permitted Ben-Hadad safe passage back to Aram. When Ben-Hadad came out of his hiding place, Achav had him climb into his own royal chariot.
The prophet reappeared to Achav and said, “You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore, it is your life for his life, your people for his people”. The following year, Ben Hadad attacked again and Achav was killed.
Lesson #1: When HaShem delivers an archenemy into our hands, we do not have the right to spare him, notwithstanding any political and other calculations.
In the latest round between Israel and Hamas, their military leadership is deep underground trying to escape our bombs. Although our leaders have not described Hamas as “our brothers”, we continue to allow them in Gaza and in Qatar to plan and try to carry out their clear and unwavering goal of destroying Medinat Yisrael and murdering every Jew here.
The Hamas leaders and followers are no better than Ben-Hadad of Aram. They have forfeited any privilege to live. Were it not for the perverse and misguided democratic morality of our State, the war would have been over a year ago.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana in conversation with OU Israel’s Executive Director Rabbi Avi Berman to explore how Israel has advanced since the establishment of the State, reflecting on its miraculous growth, spiritual achievements, and national resilience. They also share inspiration and vision for Israel’s future, offering words of hope and motivation for the next generation as we continue to build and strengthen our homeland.
Transcript
Rabbi Avi Berman:
Sitting here in Yerushalayim. Two Brooklynites born in Maimonides Hospital. But you made aliyah 66 years ago and I made aliyah 40 years ago.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana:
We didn’t make aliyah Avi, we didn’t make aliyah, aliyah made us.
Rabbi Avi Berman:
That’s your favorite line. I quoted you in Torah Tidbits, and the amount of feedback that I got from people coming and saying, “You know something? Aliyah really did make me. It really did make me.”
We’re sitting in a week and a time where we’re seeing a turmoil of history for the Jewish people happening. You’ve had the zehut (merit) of living here in Israel for 66 years. Arriving here with your rebbetzin, she should be well and live long to 120, and the Rav for 66 years. You came to a country that looked very, very different than it does today. We’re living in a generation where we expect everything to move very fast. You wake up today and say, “Oh, it’s the same as it was yesterday.” Like, what’s happening? Why isn’t anything moving? But the reality is, when you’re able to stand at any viewpoint of Yerushalayim and see the amount of cranes that are building buildings and building everything, it’s incredible.
You have 66 years—is there any one story that sticks out? That says, you know something that this is the essence, this is so much of the meaning of me being in the land of Israel for 66 years.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana:
There are so many stories and so many instances. I’ve met so many people in these years. I don’t know where to start. So, I’ll start at the beginning.
We were born in Brooklyn. My father was a rabbi in Flatbush. We lived on Quentin Road and West Second Street. It was a very nice shul, upstairs was the real shul, and downstairs was a beit midrash where people would daven on weekdays. And there was the Aron Kodesh, my father sat to the right under a picture of Rav Kook, and on the left side was a fresco of the Old City. An artist had painted it on the wall—not a picture in a frame, on the wall.
When I was about nine or ten, I started coming to shul regularly. My father said, “Now you’re coming regularly, you have to have a place.” He put a chair right in front of the picture of the Old City, Jewish Quarter actually. He said, “This is your place.” I went there whenever I davened, I was there. And at some point I said to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, I said to God, “I’m going to live there one day.”
Rabbi Avi Berman:
Wow.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana:
When I was 10 years old, the Medina was established. My father called me over and he said, “The Jordanians destroyed everything in that picture. The Hurva Shul, the Tiferet Israel Shul, nothing remains”.
I said, “but Abba, I prayed to Hashem that I’d live there one day.”
Anyway, the years passed. I met my wife Feiga, came to Israel in 1962 actually, and in 1967, b’ezrat Hashem, came the big neis (miracle), we became sovereign over Yerushalayim for the first time in over 2,000 years. And I was in a fever to live in the Old City. I did all kind of things. I had tremendous 100% of desire and zero money.
About 15 years ago, they started rebuilding the Hurva shul which was destroyed on the same day by the Jordanians in 1948. And about 10 years ago or so, was the consecration of the shul. It was Rosh Chodesh Nissan. And everybody in Jewish religious life was there.
And then we davened, took out the Sefer Torah, opened it, put it down on the table and the Gabai called out come up have an aliyah, Rav Nachman ben HaRav Yechezkel Shraga, he called me. I’m walking up, said to myself “a 10-year-old boy dreaming about living in the Old City, and I got the first aliyah in the rebuilt Hurva. Dreams come true.” And that’s a story from destruction to rebuilding on my personal level. But everybody has their story in this country.
I once met a man who was in Bergen Belson. He said to me, “What was Bergen Belson, 15 minutes as aliyah every single day in Eretz Yisrael”. You can say now, jumping a little bit that what happened two years ago on Shmini Atzeret, this was really a time to say Hallel. We’re in existential danger, people don’t realize Hamas from the south, Hezbollah from the north they all come together they would meet in Tel Aviv. We don’t realize the extent of the neis (miracle), it’s another Chanukah.
But the problem is that we’re so used to miracles in this country, one more miracle doesn’t make an impression. Between this story and now a lot of things happened. It’s not the same country. Everything changed. The people changed. The makeup of society changed.
Just to give you a little example, I used to go to a makolet (supermarket) and used to buy half a loaf of bread with no money. We lived in a wooden hut. Now there are different kind of wooden huts. I picture Lincoln lived in a log cabin. That’s a big house. We lived in a broken down hut. I was the rav of a yeshiva high school called Nechalim, between the airport and Petach Tivka.
Rabbi Avi Berman: It still exists today, a beautiful Yeshiva Nechalim. They don’t have any rundown huts anymore. Now it’s beautiful homes.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana:
And I was a rav there, 24 years old, and the other rabbanim were old, they could have been my father, and to this day I don’t know why he hired me. Anyway, we became very good friends to this day Rabbi Yosef Ba-Gad.
I recall another little personal thing, when I got married I went to Yeshiva Flatbush High School where I studied in elementary school and asked for work. I was one of the few shomer Shabbos kids in the class. I said, “Well, certainly they will take me”. And the principal, who I really respected, said to to go Israel and study do university for 2 years, come back and we’ll talk about it. Now I was a little bit hurt, but I understood. Anyway, time passed, two years later we came on aliyah and I was teaching in Nechalim and got a telegram from Mr. Braverman, tzl, to meet him in a hotel in Tel Aviv.
I already understood what was happening. I went to meet him and he said to me, gave me a complement for the work that I did at Nechalim and he offered me to come back to America and teach Gemara in his high school for the highest salary.
I said, “revenge is very sweet”. No, I didn’t say that really. I said Mr. Braverman, Flatbush does not have enough money for me to leave Israel. And this, he was a tough man, took me around (in a hug) and he said to me, “your no is more important to me than your yes”. And then he died a few months later.
Rabbi Avi Berman:
It’s unbelievable. But what gave you at that point already, the self-confidence, the understanding that you should be staying in the land of Israel? He’s offering you a position to go similar to what your father did, had an impact in Jewry in North America. So, the rabbi is giving you an opportunity to go back to America to have an influence on an important school.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana:
I was once criticized by somebody in America for leaving America and not going into chinuch (teaching) in the United States. But my coming to Eretz Yisrael was not an intellectual decision. It was a compulsion. I knew I had to be here. In certain times of my life, very special, I would make a point I’ve got to remember, relive this moment, this second. And when the plane landed to beautiful Israeli music, and when the door opened up, I took my first breath of the air of Israel. We went down the stairs, my wife and I bent down and kissed the ground. I remember that moment, I can relive it again. For me it was not a question of why to come. I just had to be here.
I always say, you know, that when you come to Israel, it’s called you to make aliyah, right? Aliyah, of course, you’re coming up. The word aliyah has another inference. When you’re called to the Torah,
Rabbi Avi Berman: You get an aliya.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: When you’re called to the Torah, the Gabai does not say, “whoever wants, come up”. No. “What’s your name? What’s your father’s name?” It’s by name. When you come to Eretz Yisrael, it’s by invitation. Min HaShamayim (from heaven), you’re called up. You don’t come here to the palace of the King uninvited, and don’t leave unless you’re thrown out.
This week, some big chacham said, “if we’re drafted, we’re going to leave the country”. He doesn’t know he’s being thrown out from the country. You don’t leave this country. Various people here are very special one by one. But anyway, it was a different country than what it is today.
Rabbi Avi Berman: I remember we were sitting about 15 years ago. And you told me a line that stuck with me. I remember it was right before the Yom Yerushalayim dinner that we had in the Ramada here in Yerushalayim. And you told me, “Avi, if you think back to the Jew that’s standing in Auschwitz and he’s inside the gas chambers and he has to at that moment think how far am I from the redemption of the Jewish people? We’re at such a low point. Avi, if you take that from there until the complete redemption and put it into percentages and look at where we are today, what percentage of what we had to accomplish have we accomplished already?”
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: It’s off the page. No percentages over here. Everything is different. Everything now, spiritually we have we created here an empire of Torah. Never was. You take all the biggest yeshiva in Europe whatever, 50 talmidim, 100 talmidim maybe and the yeshiva. In Yeshivas Mir here there are 5,000 other 1000. It’s a different thing, a sort of quality.
Everybody thought that this generation is going to be a failure. This war proved that this generation is one of the greatest generations. We have a potential in this generation to be the greatest one that ever lived. I’ll give you an example.
Israel today, we are now in Aza. Aza is two tribes. Aza is Yehuda and Shimon. We’re now in Lebanon.
Rabbi Avi Berman: By the way, the land is divided up to the 12 tribes.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: More or less. We’re now in Lebanon. Lebanon is two tribes are Asha and Naftali.
We’re now in Syria. Syria is half of the tribe of Manasheh.
We’re now in the geographical area of 10 tribes of Am Israel. Two are missing. They’re on Trans Jordan. That’s Ruben and Gad.
Rabbi Avi Berman: Like we just read this past week in the Parsha.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: And by the way, why did they really want to go there? They say because we need grazing lands. That’s not the real reason. But it’s not. It really isn’t. If Moshe Rabbeinu cannot come to Eretz Yisrael, we’re going to bring Eretz Yisrael to Moshe Rabbeinu. Because he was all alone there.
There’s a French king, I think Louis the 16th, asked one of his philosopher friends, give me proof there’s God in the world. He said two words, “the Jews”. The Jews are still alive. After what we wanted to do to them, there’s God in the world.
Take a look at Medinat Yisrael. We never had as many people, seven we have almost 8 million Jews in this country. Probably even double of what you have in the world because they say that half the number of Jews in the United States, whatever the number – five, six (million) – they’re not halachic Jews. So any number you have there’s only half are halachic Jews.
You mentioned the cranes there’s such building going on all over the country. And there’s another thing, it’s a stock market it’s a very pressed way of measuring. Just take my car. My car is the oldest car on the road and my car is two years old. Baruch HaShem. Not that everybody here is now living in luxury.
My father was born here in 1904 and explained to me what Eretz Yisrael was. He came to a Yerushalayim when he was 12 years old, once, they traveled at night because you couldn’t go during the day because of bandits and other things. It took him a whole week to get from Tzfat to Yerushalayim. Today you get in your car, three hours if you’re a bad driver. That’s only examples.
There was a study made, that I read, of happiness or satisfaction of people in the country. So Israel is very high on the list, that’s with antisemitism. Without it we’d be number one on the list.
Rabbi Avi Berman: You know, you and your wife brought up a a beautiful family. You have sons that went to the army, became high ranked officers. You have a son that is building up the country, including buildings like the Waldorf Astoria and others. You have daughters that are, Baruch HaShem, bringing life into this world as as midwives. And thank God, you have tremendous nachas from your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Baruch Hashem.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: I have a great granddaughter who’s 20 years old.
Rabbi Avi Berman: Okay. Maybe one of our viewers are going to call you for a shidduch.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: My sons, they’re all born, all brought up in the old city. That’s a special kind of, you know, a special kind of an atmosphere over there. The oldest son is a project manager of big projects of building. You mentioned the Waldorf Astoria. My second son, Chanoch, is a Ram Yeshiva in Chevron, and the youngest son he’s a general in the army ,brigadier general. They’re all now in the army. The oldest son is 62 years old and the baby, the general, is 56.
Rabbi Avi Berman: Some baby.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Some baby. We have two daughters who are midwives. Another daughter who is an expert in trees. A tree. She works for the Iriah, for the city, when they have to take down the tree, put up a tree. How did that happen? Anyway, she’s expert in the trees. And Baruch HaShem, many grandchildren, not enough. Many great-grandchildren also not enough. Baruch HaShem.
Rabbi Avi Berman: You didn’t say not enough about children.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Enough children.
Rabbi Avi Berman: When you walk around this country, whether it’s Yerushalayim or anywhere else, are there any specific places that you come to that you remember walking there or going on hikes there and now you see it into?
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: I’ll tell you, the family for the most part, were in the underground before the medina was created. The family from Tzfat, that was the orientation. And I had one of my cousins he was an officer in the Etzel, the underground, the commander was (Menachem) Begin and there was a period of time we would meet once a month in Yerushalayim and he would show me places what he did, what the Etzel did, and all these place don’t exist anymore because they’re built up. And whenever I go to these places, I remember what he told me. And then I recalled when I came here, I said, “What am I coming to? There’s no more underground. There’s no more what do you call the British mandate. There’s no everything’s done already.”
Rabbi Avi Berman: It’s boring.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Boring. 1962.
We had an aunt, in 1938 she was going with the family, an aunt by marriage, with children from a wedding from Haifa to Tzfat and the taxi was attacked by Arabs and they killed everyone in the taxi. When my aunt and some cousins, one cousin a little girl her mother fell on her, and that made the family to go leave the cheder, old Tzfat Chassidim, leave the cheder and join the Etzel. The family is for the most part Dati Leumi (national religious), we feel Yad HaShem in everything here.
Then of course comes the embarrassing, I don’t know what to call, the embarrassing subject of Chareidim not going to the army, but obviously I have to respect their point of view because they’re Rabbanim, by their point of view. But my opinion is that they’re wrong and I say actually one of the greatest moments of my life I could say, was when I was drafted putting on the uniform in basic training. I was in the army for 22 years in the air force. I’m not a pilot exactly but as anti-aircraft I was in the desert in the Sinai.
I can only say that not everyone has the sachel (natural common sense) to come here. It’s the greatest thing in the world. The greatest experience for a person is to be born a Jew. We say Mishnechnas when Adar comes in, we we expand some happiness. When Av comes in we detract, but it’s always a happiness. The question is to what degree more or less?
But nothing has no happiness. That’s the standard. What can I say?
Rabbi Avi Berman: You know, I ask myself, what is the difference between a Tisha b’Av that the Jews were sitting on the floor a hundred years after the Churban Beit HaMikdash, after the destruction of the second temple, no matter where they are in the world, they’re sitting on the floor on Tisha B’Av and crying. And then take fast forward 500 years. What progress did the Jewish people make in those 500 years?
The gullis probably got deeper. More killed. The amount of pograms increased. Take a thousand years. Take 1500 years.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Same story.
Rabbi Avi Berman: Same story. And the Jews had such emunah. Such emunah and they continue sitting on the floor every single year in Tisha B’Av. But then you take Tisha B’Av literally a hundred years ago. 100 years ago in 1925, Jews are sitting on the floor after a first world war.
I’m not sure maybe Talmidim ha-Gra (disciples of the Vilna Gaon) came to Israel. A few people started coming already starting to build the country, but for the most part British mandate. And they’re sitting on the floor. And take that hundred years and look at the progress that we’ve made in the last hundred years. It’s absolutely remarkable.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Remarkable is not the word. It’s unnatural such a progress in every field and endeavor today Israel is one of the leaders, and all this is done always under the shadow of a war – either a war happening or going to be a war something. Imagine if we didn’t have to give out all that money for security what this country would be. Billions, billions and billions to build up the country and raise the standard of living, but that’s what it is. It’s what Hashem made.
Rabbi Avi Berman: But the flip side is the fact that the Arabs constantly try to attack us or the Muslims, our terrorists, whether it’s Hamas or Hezbollah or Iran, has brought Israel to a stage where we’re developing technologies and intelligence mechanisms that we’re able to sell today around the world for billions and billions and billions.
Today, Europe are looking to buy up Israeli systems, whether it’s Spider or Arrow or you name it, to defend themselves from their enemies. So, we’re protecting not only the Jewish people, but we’re protecting, you know, good countries around the world. They’re trying to just defend their their their citizens and we’re making billions of dollars on the way.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Now I always wonder where people who have sechel history has shown time again and again those are people those people that came against Am Yisrael they went to the garbage bin of history. Those that supported Am Yisrael and they don’t learn – the goyim just don’t learn they don’t understand it – that the Torah mentioned the Arabs you mentioned.
Rabbi Avi Berman: It’s written the Torah. It’s not hard to understand – if you support the Jewish people, you’ll be blessed. If, God forbid, the opposite, you’ll be cursed.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Let’s talk in the human terms. You have in the Middle East, you have the money, Arab money, Arab workforce and Jewish intelligence that can be gotten, anything on this planet.
But the hate is so great and the irrational hate and they just want to destroy the Jewish people and the more they want to destroy us the more they destroy themselves. We go up and up all the time. But the question is, but take a look the country, there are people who are mechallel Shabbat (desecrating Shabbat), there are aveiros (sins), it’s not exactly what the satan would like it to be yet we progress all the time.
HaKodesh Baruch Hu, what about onesh – you do good you get a reward. If you do averiot, sin,s and you get punished, we do sins and we’re getting a reward. He said that’s the time, that’s a sign of the Moshiach. Where HaShem doesn’t look at the bad things, only look at the good things. And there’s so much good here in the people. Israeli people a little tough on the outside, but they’re sweet on the inside.
Rabbi Avi Berman: That’s why they call them sabras.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Sabras. Yeah.
But one thing I see, I can measure the difference between me and my children and grandchildren. They’re sabras, but I still have a little bit of goyishkeit a little bit to me. I would see a baseball game. I would stop and watch it. But on the inside, they are Israelis, sabras and I’m so happy for that.
Rabbi Avi Berman: So you gotta understand that that a neshamah that comes down to this world in Israel, must be a totally different neshamah than HaKodesh Baruch Hu brings down anywhere else in the world.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Nahon (correct). The Zohar says that someone that comes from to chutz laaretz (outside the land of Israel) to live here on the first night he’s gets a “הינה אדוני שמע” whatever that means.
Rabbi Avi Berman: And the zechut that a person has for deciding to leave their life outside of Israel and bring it into Israel, and sell their house and move to Israel, and go through – it’s not easy right. We know that the land of Israel is not acquired without triumphs, but thank God we see the thousands and thousands that are coming every year from North America and the thousands of thousands that are coming from countries all over all over the world.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: In more time, even more in time.
Rabbi Avi Berman: Thank God seeing success.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Life is divided between two things decisions and implementation. That’s what everything is all about all day long making decisions. Implications are much easier than decision making to decide, like you said, to pick yourself up and change your life and everything is different than to move to Asia. What am I doing in Asia? I born I born in Poughkeepsie, but do that. Hashem helps you once you make that decision things start happening.
There was a period in my life for two years when I took a vacation from Yeshiva and the Kollel. I was the head of the Chief Rabbi’s Kollel for three years and I was assistant to the Minister of Religious Affairs.
Rabbi Avi Berman: Warhaftig.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: That Dr. Warhaftig, tzadik, he is a man.
Rabbi Avi Berman: He signed on the Megillat HaAtzmaut. The Declaration of independence.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Nahon. He saved thousands of people in the Shoah. He was a lawyer and he wrote a book about how we did this kind of things. But I saw the inner workings of the Medinat Israel.
Rabbi Avi Berman: And that’s why you think it’s such a big miracle.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: You said it. But I saw on the political level, or the level, there is something lacking in Yiddishkeit but the people are much more advanced spiritually than the leaders are. The people even people who are not so Dati, but they are dati. I’m always happy to see when I see for example someone who is obviously not religious but going into a store and kissing the mezuzah. Everyone has it here. Politically that’s a different look.
Rabbi Avi Berman: Look at the mesirat nefesh that we’re seeing from the secular world. In fighting for the Jewish people and defending the Jewish people and developing the land of Israel. It’s remarkable.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: I asked a question in the Shamayim which we don’t know the calculation in the Shamayim. Someone who is secular, not someone who’s an apikoros or who’s an atheist, a Jew, lights candle on Friday night, puts on the television – that’s like the majority here, versus someone who’s very very very religious or observant in chutz laaretz. Who is bigger, who is more important in the spiritual world. A man lives and breathes 24 hours a day in Eretz Yisrael vs. someone…
I remember saying, the Gemara says they said to Rabbi Yochanan there are old age people living in Babylon. How can that be? Because the pasuk says in Kriyat Shema, I will increase the life of of you in Eretz Israel.
How could we have older the people living in chutz laaretz, that’s a gift given to Eretz Yisrael. They said to him because over there they go to shul in the morning and the evening. So that’s what the Gemara says, but what does it mean? It means that a shul is like part of Eretz Yisrael, it has kedusha. They go to daven in the morning and evening they’re not they’re not disconnecting.
Then some man said in that case I don’t have to come here I can live in chutz laaretz, I’ll go to shul in the morning, and in the afternoon. I said yeah that you also have the aveira that you’re leaving Eretz Yisrael twice a day – and the aveira is bigger than the mitzah that you get.
The question is but people here, remember no one has to come here, no one is forced to come here. Everybody living here is because he wants to live here.
They tell and that’s once in the Haifa harbor there were two ships. One with coming up, the other going down. And both ships met each other and the passengers run towards each other. They both scream one word, “meshuga!” Where are you going? Where are you going?
Rabbi Avi Berman: Listen, the reality is we have more and more Jews coming every day and especially in times like this. It’s comforting to see how many Jews are feeling more and more connected to the father in heaven.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: B’ezrat HaShem, we’re now in the nine days. Days of semi-mourning. But the Navi Zecharia promises us that all these fasts that have to do with the destruction are going to become holidays. B’ezrat HaShem. And Tisha B’Av will be a big holiday. We should all eat and drink and feast on Tisha B’Av. B’ezrat HaShem.
Israel says “b’yachad natzneah”, together we shall be victorious.
What does together mean? The Tzohar says “God, the Torah, and Israel are one”. That’s the together. Together we will be.
Rabbi Avi Berman: We stand every Tisha B’Av and we say tefilla that we add to Shmoneh Esrei, the silent amida, and it talks about nachem, right, where we’re talking about Yerushalayim is deserted, that it doesn’t have its children and I stand every single Tisha B’Av and I say this tefilla and have a rough time. Like how could I possibly be unthankful to God and continue saying that his children are not home after our father in heaven has done so many miracles to bring back his children? How do we say these words today? There’s so much more to do. But how do we not have the hakarat hatov for all that has been?
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: We don’t change. We don’t change because we’re we are stuck. We don’t have the institutions to be able to change halachot. But you can add a word here and there in davening, add the word “was”, add one word that’s all then everything fits into place.
Rabbi Avi Berman: What I’ve been trying to do is think of areas that still need to de be developed. And I say Tisha B’Av is the one day a year I’m going to focus on the areas that still need to be developed and less on the areas that have already been developed.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Leave something for the Mashiach. Don’t take it all for yourself. Let him, let him do something to finish the land. What am I doing? Remember, an extra thing, I’m a Kohen. I’ve been unemployed for 2,000 years. I want to work a little bit.
Rabbi Avi Berman: It’s about time.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: I say basement should be built. What job do I want? Give me a broom. That’s enough for me, as a sweeper.
Just let me see it.
Rabbi Avi Berman: Thank you very much. It’s a real honor.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana: Thank you. Thank you for listening.
BS”D Parashiot Matot-Masei 5785
An Irresistible Force Meets an Immovable Object
PART ONE
As on a sheet of music where every note has its innate sound, each pasuk in the Torah has its music. Some are joyful like Bereishiet 24,67:
ויבאה יצחק האהלה שרה אמו ויקח את רבקה ותהי לו לאשה ויאהבה וינחם יצחק אחרי אמו:
Yitzchak brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rivka. So, she became his wife, and he loved her; and Yitzchak was comforted after his mother’s demise
And some are dramatic (Shemot 5,1):
ואחר באו משה ואהרן ויאמרו אל פרעה כה אמר יקוק אלהי ישראל שלח את עמי
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go!”
And there are those that roar with anger like in our parshat Masay (32,6):
ויאמר משה לבני גד ולבני ראובן האחיכם יבאו למלחמה ואתם תשבו פה:
Moses said to the tribes of Gad and Reuven: “Should your fellow Israelites go to war while you sit here?”
In our time, the dedicated religious population is divided more than ever because of the issue of military service, especially now at a time of existential danger to the Medina and its millions of Jews.
Before us is an empirical case of the theoretical “irresistible force meeting an immovable object”. With the irresistible force being Religious Zionism (RZ) pointing to the disproportional number of RZ husbands, fathers, brothers, sons and daughters in our military cemeteries challenging the immovable Chareidi position.
Two principles stand behind the RZ demand that all capable young Jewish men, especially sincere learners of Torah, must serve in Tzahal at this precarious period in our history:
1- The pasuk (Vayikra 19,16):
… לא תעמד על דם רעך אני השם
Do not stand aloof when your Jewish brother’s life is in danger
2- The privilege of defending HaShem’s chosen people against a merciless, sadistic ideology rampant among tens of millions of Arab Moslems. Contrasting the Chareidi position that one who is entirely engrossed in Torah learning defends the country no less than a war toughened paratrooper.
In the absence of a prophet or Sanhedrin, we cannot determine which position is the Halachic one of choice, leaving each side to be led by the discretion of their rabbanim and each individual’s orientation.
However, I have a suggestion which could mitigate the animosity that is created when an “irresistible RZ force crashes into a Chareidi immovable object”.
First, let’s project what, at the end of the day, the final goals of each position would look like:
The RZ camp would find its yeshiva students being shot at and vehicles passing over land mines. The student-soldiers would not eat while sitting at a cloth covered table with a napkin under the chin, lest a bit of food stain their uniform. The combat soldier showers once a week if “lucky”, and changes his shoes and clothing (like my grandchildren) few and far apart. His cell phone is not with him, and he has no way to connect to family, and anyway he is too busy standing between the satanic Moslem Nazis and HaShem’s chosen people.
On the Chareidi side we see the final goal of their position where the learners are present in the comfort of an air-conditioned bet midrash, after arriving from a good night’s rest at home or in the yeshiva dorm and a nutritious breakfast and shower.
When comparing the two lifestyles one could question the position that one who is engrossed in Torah learning defends the country no less than a war toughened paratrooper. Because the differences shout out loud:
ויאמר משה לבני גד ולבני ראובן האחיכם יבאו למלחמה ואתם תשבו פה:
Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, “Should your fellow Israelites go to war while you sit here”?
Both camps can truthfully claim that their positions have halachic roots, but one cannot deny that the practical outcome of their positions are so disproportionate and resonate with the call of Moshe to Reuven and Gad “… while you sit here”!
The answer lies in closing the gap between the two camps.
We cannot change the surroundings of the combat soldier, but we can increase the demands put on the “ben Torah” that demonstrate a greater degree of “mesirat nefesh” and empathy with his RZ brother.
I suggest conditions that winnow down the presence of non-serious students:
1- The two month long yearly recess period called bain hazemanim to be abolished.
2- Unmarried students live in dorms for extended periods, not at home, and the married ones go home only for Shabbat.
3- The scholastic demands must be upgraded. Testing with a passing grade of 90% in order to continue to the next year in the yeshiva. A minimum quantity of material must be completed every year, starting with completion of the Shas in four years.
4- Attendance at tefilla is required.
And more conditions to reject the less gifted and the uncommitted students.
But, at the end of the day, even if these and other measures are introduced, we all know that no one will be shot at while delving over a complicated issue in the Gemara.
PART TWO
I cannot determine if it is old age or the penetrating introspection that comes in the nine days that direct me to think out of the box; but here I am pondering three issues.
1- In the 30 days between the 9th of Av and the 8th of Elul in the year 70 C.E. (3830 years after Adam and Chava) there was hand-to-hand fighting between the emaciated Jewish fighters and the powerful Romans. Nevertheless, it took the Romans 30 days to advance the 100-150 meters from the Temple Mount to the upper city, which illustrates the ferocity and determination of the Jewish defenders against the overwhelming Roman forces.
I can picture in my mind’s eye the slaughter of the Jewish civilian population; the stench of death from every corner and uncontrollable cruelty of the descendants of Aisav.
Not a stone upon a stone remained intact. The remaining live Jews were shackled and sent to the slave markets of the Middle East and Europe. Among them were my (and your) grandparents, looking back at what had been the beautiful Yerushalayim, now under pools of blood. Savta says to Saba, “it’s all gone. Our sins have brought this about. All hope is gone!” And Saba replies: “We have before us a long period of suffering in exile; hundreds or even thousands of years of wandering across the planet. But one day our descendants will return and rebuild what we have lost.”
And today I call out to them: “Saba and Savta it’s me – Nachman, son of Yechezkel Sharaga HaKohen and Sarah Chana, daughter of the illustrious Gaon Harav Baruch Shalom Trainin. I’m your 100th generation grandson. I and my wife Feiga returned in the year 5722 – the 2000th year after you witnessed the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash; and our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren all born and living here.
The family members are conscious kohanim like you. I don tefillin every day like you and learn the oral Torah that you knew by heart, but which was written down centuries later. The last Roman walked the planet about 1800 years ago. There is no Roman to rejoice in their cruelty; they are a relic, while we and our family live again to walk the streets that you walked and breathe the holy air of Yerushalayim, as you did. Our generation is restoring the beauty and sanctity that your generation lost. Yes, Saba and Savta! – It is happening. And your descendants are a part of the dream come true”.
HaShem, through His prophets promised and is now fulfilling His holy words that the Jewish nation will return.
2- Initially it appears as though this world is a disaster. A logical, compassionate person who reads a chapter or two of world history could be forgiven for raising the question, that when the Creator brought forth chimpanzees, why did He not stop there? Why take the extra step in the Darwinian ladder?
For even the Torah says in Bereishiet (8,21):
.כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו….
The innate nature of Man is evil.
So why did HaShem make Man? The well-known political scientist R. J. Rummel estimated that in the 20th century alone, over 230 million persons were systematically and cruelly killed by the actions of governments!
It took time; but I finally caught on. Humanity, except for the Jewish nation and some individual gentile stars who probably had Jewish blood, is evil. But it has produced many cultures and civilizations that are the background on which Am Yisrael is commanded to fulfill HaShem’s mitzvot.
To keep the Torah in a world filled with yetzer tov (innate instinct of good) is no challenge, but to do so when the world is a very narrow bridge and with one false step you can find yourself on a slippery slope to oblivion, is another matter. To keep the Torah in Gan Eden was not a challenge, so Adam and Chava were sent away. To observe the Torah among evil doers is a kiddush HaShem, when the good and the holy triumph over evil.
The classic paradox of what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object becomes real in Jewish history. When the irresistible force of Judenhass (anti-Semitism) meets the immovable emunah (belief and trust) of the Jewish nation in HaShem, the result is a buildup of emotional and religious friction that explodes with expulsions, pogroms and peaks with extermination camps.
But dear Saba and Savta, the Jewish nation is now beyond that bitter history with the miraculous establishment of the Jewish Medina. HaShem has changed the gears of history, and we have turned the corner, from victim to master, of our holy destiny.
Today, if one stretches a little to see a bit beyond the horizon, he will see the third Bet Hamikdash and all Am YIsrael filling every corner of Eretz Yisrael as described by the prophet Yechezkel.
3- What is happening now in the Medina between those who want a Jewish Medina and those who want a Medina of Jews, is a result of a natural law that states: Every material object or secular concept or value becomes, at some point, obsolete and is discarded.
The “mob” that we see here running wild has no concept of kedusha. They are culturally closer to western non-values than to the nation into which they were born. About 25 years ago a religious Aluf (general in Tzahal) who was scheduled to be appointed head of military intelligence, said in a TV interview that the secular here are “like goyim who speak Ivrit (Hebrew”. He immediately lost his appointment for telling the truth.
Secular Zionism had a major share in establishing the Medina at a time when the religious and rabbinic world did not, could not, and even opposed political Zionism and the creation of a secular Jewish state. But secular Zionism has run its course, as in the words of a former secular minister of education: “we dreamt to create a society of apikorsim (erudite atheists) but succeeded in only producing a generation of ignoramuses”.
The screamers in the streets are varied but are united on one point. They truly fear pending religious legislation in the Knesset. They are aware that the numbers have changed in the Medina and there is no way that they can return to governmental power.
Medinat Yisrael will be a Torah religious state.
Those who will push forward on the right side of history will endure, but those who seek to derail the train of history will be rejected, just as tiny bits of diamond dust fall away at the hands of the expert cutter.
Conclusion: After rereading the above, it is clear to me that these are not the thoughts of old age, neither are they the emotions of a mourner for Zion; but rather those of a Jew tied to history who hears the words of the prophet Zecharia (8,18-19):
19 This is what Hashem declared: The fasts of the fourth (month) and fifth (month of Av) and seventh (month) and the tenth (month), will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah, where truth and peace shall be loved (by man).
A meaningful fast to all. May we merit to celebrate all the dates of mourning as holidays as the prophet has stated.
TOGETHER WE SHALL WIN
And if one should ask who is this “together”?
Answer: See the Zohar part 3, page 1, in parashat Emor (and is widely quoted) that states:
“קודשא בריך הוא ואורייתא וישראל חד הוא”
The Holy One blessed He and the Torah and Yisrael are one (together – inseparable)