Israel and The Sin of Expulsion

In writing on Parshiyot Chayei Sarah and Toldos, this author cited Rebbetzin Shira Smiles from her sefer “Torah Tapestries” in discussing the attributes of unconditional kindness and bringing unity possessed by Rivka Imeinu and how these attributes in her merited the resumption of the Lamp burning and the Blessed Dough from Shabbos to Shabbos in the tent of Sarah Imeinu, as well as the Cloud of Glory which resumed hovering over the tent continuously. Rebbetzin Smiles (”Torah Tapestries”, Parsha Toldos, pages 89-90) cites Rabbi Eliyahu Yedid’s explanation of Rivka Imeinu’s Test of overcoming her nature of kindness and fostering of unity, and the role it played in Yaakov Avinu’s receiving his father’s Brachot:

…For sixty years, Rivka Imeinu guarded an important secret, a prophecy she shared with no one.

When Yaakov and Eisev were in her womb and struggling within her, she had gone to the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever, to a Navi, for guidance and insight. There she received the prophecy: “…there are two nations in you… and two nations will come forth from within you… and the nations will struggle one with the other and the older one will serve the younger one.” (Sefer Breish’t Perek 25, posul 23)

Rivka Imeinu knew who deserved the blessing — the younger one, Yaakov. But since it was a prophecy and it was given to her and not to Yitzchak Avinu, she felt that she had to keep it to herself. She walked around for sixty years with this in her heart, wondering when she was going to see this prophecy played out. When she heard her husband tell Eisev that he was going to bless him, Rivka decided that… it was time to take action.

Rabbi Yedid’s key point is one to which many women can relate…. Rivka Imeinu ’s struggle was the struggle of a mother who had to choose between two children whom she loved. We see… that throughout the chapter, she is referred to as the mother of both Yaakov and Eisev. For example; “Rivka took the special clothing of Eisev, her older son, which were with her in the house, and she dressed Yaakov, her younger son.” (Breish’t Perek 27, posuk 15)

Additionally, this posuk shows that Eisev didn’t trust his wives with his special clothing; his mother kept it for him. There was a special relationship between Rivka and both sons.

But it seems clear to this author that the attributes which Rivka showed in passing her Divine Test, in facilitating Yaakov’s disguise, the meal presentation to Yitzchak Avinu and urging Yaakov Avinu to override his midda of truth in order to receive the Brachot were not totally foreign to her mind-frame.

Also, Parsha Toldos contrasts Eisev and Yaakov telling us (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 25, posuk 27):

“The lads grew up and Eisev became one who knows hunting, a man of the fields; but Yaakov was a wholesome man, abiding in tents.”

The loshen in Hebrew “Ish Tam” is used to describe Yaakov, the “wholesome man” or the plain man, in the above posuk.

We learn later, in Parsha Vayeitzei, that Yaakov told Rachel;

“‘…that he was her father’s kinsman’, according to the Sages, ‘If he has come to be sly, I am his kinsman in being sly.’” (Rashi on Breish’t Perek 29, posuk 12)

We learn in our Parsha that Yaakov was “totally honest, a man of great integrity” but was also master over the trait of being “tam”, a “‘plain man’, … without trickery. This means that Yaakov did not allow this “Ish Tam” character trait to dominate him. He knew when and where to act otherwise. We knew that from his demand for the birthright from Eisev in exchange for the lentil soup. These traits surely seemed inculcated to Yaakov as a result of Rivka Imeinu’s nurturing: the combining of the midda of unconditional kindness with an attribute of cunning, and with the wisdom and discipline to know when to use each.

The Hozeh of Lublin quotes the Sages saying;

“Whoever is compassionate where he should be cruel will eventually be cruel where should be compassionate…. A person needs to be master over all of his traits. If he fails to apply so-called negative traits in their proper times, he will end up applying them when it is wrong to do so. A person needs to know how to act in different circumstances, sometimes one way to further the will of Hashem and other times the exact opposite way for the same end.” (”Growth Through Torah” by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin on Parsha Toldos, pages 62-63, “Torah Gems” by Aharon Yaakov Greenberg, on Parsha Toldos, page 203)

And so throughout our history, and with special emphasis in contemporary times through the 20th century and into our century, again and again we see this Talmudic adage played out; “Whoever is compassionate where he should be cruel will eventually be cruel where should be compassionate.”

But Rav Pliskin in “Growth Through Torah” adds another ingredient to to The Hozeh of Lublin’s comments about copmpassion and cruelty. Rav Pliskin expresses the importance of judging people favorably. But he then goes on to quote Rabbi Yeruchem Levovitz who says that “if someone is an evil person we are obligated to judge him unfavorably. Some people may find this rather harsh, but that is the reality: with evil people assume the worst. (Rabbi Yeruchem Levovitz; Daas Torah: Breish’t, Pge. 192)”

Rav Pliskin continues that:

“We need to master the ability of seeing the good in the bad and the bad in the good. Then we need to know when to use each ability. Judging an evil person on the side of merit is not a virtue but a fault. Failure to be on guard to protect yourself from a deceitful person can cause you and others much damage and heartache. … The way of the Torah is to use wisdom to know when to assume negative motivations and when to judge others favorably.”

While Rav Pliskin says that it’s unfortunate:

“…That many people fail to judge others favorably when they really should”, he also says that the opposite, the tendency “…of believing everyoneis considered … to be the attribute of a fool.” (Growth Through Torah, Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, Parsha Vayeitzei, pages 75-76)

And so, it seems that there is this attribute judging and distinguishing the “good in the bad” favorably and the “bad in the good” negatively. This attribute would seem to go hand-in-hand with applying one’s own positive and negative attributes at the appropriate times, i.e., compassion to the compassionate and cruelty to the evil. The attribute of distinguishing good from evil, when to be compassionate and when cruelty is necessary, is to understand the impact of the message; compassion or cruelty.

Having just completed reading the book “Perfidy” by Ben Hecht, this author gains a further perspective on The Hozeh of Lublin’s ‘compassion to the cruel and eventual cruelty to the compassionate’, Rav Pliskin’s distinguishing between judging favorably vs assuming negative motivations, as well as Yaakov Avinu’s nurturing under the wing of Rivka Imeinu. In this regard, words uttered to this author once by a former work associate from back in “the old country” during a conversation centering around Israel’s 30th anniversary of statehood, ring true to this very day. Those words regarding the State of Israel which were uttered by this work associate at least 20 years my senior were, plain and simply, “They did what they had to do.”

According to Hecht’s “Perfidy,” in the end after an endlessly long proceeding, the elderly Greenwald was vindicated thanks to a brilliant defense attorney who picked apart all of the deceptions of the Jewish Agency functionary and due to a verdict handed down by a courageous Israeli District Court Judge, while the Jewish Agency functionary was then slated to stand trial for collaboration with Nazis — the only offense punishable by death in early Statehood Israel. This Jewish Agency functionary allegedly went so far as to have allegedly given testimony on behalf of one of the Nazi collaborators which resulted in the collaborator allegedly being found innocent of war crimes at various tribunals. But lo, it appears that “They (the Israeli government and Jewish Agency of the time) did what they had to do” — as Hecht records that the Jewish Agency functionary, Dr. Rudolf Kastner was gunned down as he arrived home from work in Tel Aviv. He died a week later of his wounds. Hecht notes in “Perfidy” (page 208):

The actual confessed killer…. until a few months before shooting down Kastner, …was a paid undercover agent of the Israeli government’s Intelligence service.

The Jewish Agency and the pre-State “zionist” main characters — Ben-Gurion, Weizman, Sharett all allegedly bowed to British edict and irrevocably sentenced Europe’s Jewry to their fate (”Perfidy”, page 20-21 ):

“….They will bear their fate… They were dust, economic and moral dust in a cruel world…. They had to accept it…. I pray that we may preserve our national unity, for it is all we have.” (citing Chaim Weizman in The New Judea: Official organ of the Zionist Organization of England, April, 1937)

“What will be the fate of all these people? ….For our people here, for millions of them, a horrible and monstrous fate is waiting…. At the end — and this is the blessing and most important thing — this war is bound to bring about a blessing to England.” (citing from an article by S.N. Behrman which appears in the book “Chaim Weizman — The Builder of Zion,” published by Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

But it seemed, in reading “Perfidy” that Kastner was but a small-fry in allegedly collaborating with the Nazis in order to rescue a few hundred friends and close associates in rural Hungary as the Auschwitz trains ground on, at 12,000 per day, to gas nearly a million Hungarian Jews. The Kastner story leads to a far larger one. The big enchillada who could make or break the Jewish Agency’s alleged contrivance with British edict was another functionary in Hungary– Joel Brand, a Jewish Agency associate of Kastner.

But this author backs up the calendar to just a couple of days after the start of the Yom Kippur war. It’s 5PM in the afternoon back in Philadelphia and a call is placed to the local JCRC (Jewish Community Relations Council). A querie is asked of the executive director, one Albert Chernin, who surprisingly is still answering phones late in the afternoon.

“Where do I give blood for Israeli soldiers?” Chernin’s response: “They don’t need your blood!”

Something is rotten in Denmark! Israel caught “unawares.” Sparse numbers of IDF soldiers overrun by Egyptian and Syrian armies in the early hours of the war and “They don’t need your blood?” From that 5 word response from Chernin, this author has been skeptical about the righteousness and sincerity of Federations, JCRCs, and establishment Jewish organizations and so-called “leadership” every since. For who among Am Yisrael ever mandated them as our “leaders” as our representatives who are therefore fit to speak on our behalf? And the reality is that this skepticizm, cynicism — the ability to see over and past endoctrination and brainwashing has been borne out and validated personally again and again.

Good Shabbos!

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.

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In considering Avraham Avinu’s passing and his son Yitzchak’s aveilut (mourning) of his Father’s passing, there seem to be a number of burning questions which beg to be asked concerning the relationship between Yitzchak and Eisev.

Rebbetzin Smiles writes (”Torah Tapestries”, page 92):

The story of the brachot is not about three deceitful people… It is an account of three individuals and their monumental life tests to assess their abilities to grow beyond their natures: Yitzchak Avinu had to go against his nature of gevurah [living according to strict justice] and instead perform an act of chesed; Rivka Imeinu had to go against her nature to unite people and divide them instead; Yaakov Avinu had to go against his nature of being honest at all times and instead act with cunning — just because Hashem said so.

Rebbetzin Smiles (”Torah Tapestries”, pages 85-88) cites an essay by R’ Eliyahu Dessler in the sefer, “Strive for Truth” where R’ Dessler explores the concept of a bracha in order to better understand Yitzchak Avinu’s intentions and his Test:

…A bracha can never change the essence of a person or his free will. What a bracha can do is improve the circumstances that surround a person, in order to maximize his ability to become a better person.

Yitzchak Avinu…. knew very well the character of both sons. To say that he was blind and thought that Eisev was a great tzaddik would be to misunderstand the greatness of Yitzchak Avinu. There was something else going through Yitzchak Avinu’s mind.

…Yaakov didn’t need to be blessed because he was able to make it on his own in a relationship with Hashem. ….He would have to struggle a bit more but that would not bother him, because with hs whole nature directed toward closeness with Hashem, he would not mind the struggle.

Yitzchak Avinu realized that Eisev was an outward-focused person, …very different from Yaakov. Yet he believed that Eisev… was engaged in a continual battle with the lower, external aspects of his character, that he truly wanted to get close to Hashem, but was too immersed in the ongoing uphill struggle.

Yitzchak Avinu therefore thought to himself: If I have a son whose whole life is full of struggle, al pi din he deserves the bracha.

When Yitzchak Avinu sensed the fragrance of Gan Eden, he was taken aback by his awareness of this level of dedication and inwardness in the individual standing before him…. Speaking to himself: I’m a little bit confused here. On the one hand, my blessing is intended for an external-type person. On the other hand, the person standing in front of me seems to be someone who is very connected with Gan Eden.

Our Sages say that Hashem wanted the blessing to be given according to Hashem’s perspective and not Yitzchak Avinu’s…. Hashem hinted to him that the blessing should be delievered in line with the perspective of chesed.

Rebbetzin Smiles (”Torah Tapestries”, pages 89-90) cites Rabbi Eliyahu Yedid’s explanation of Rivka Imeinu’s Test:

…For sixty years, Rivka Imeinu guarded an important secret, a prophecy she shared with no one.

When Yaakov and Eisev were in her womb and struggling within her, she had gone to the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever, to a Navi, for guidance and insight. There she received the prophecy: “…there are two nations in you… and two nations will come forth from within you… and the nations will struggle one with the other and the older one will serve the younger one.” (Sefer Breish’t Perek 25, posul 23)

Rivka Imeinu knew who deserved the blessing — the younger one, Yaakov. But since it was a prophecy and it was given to her and not to Yitzchak Avinu, she felt that she had to keep it to herself. She walked around for sixty years with this in her heart, wondering when she was going to see this prophecy played out. When she heard her husband tell Eisev that he was going to bless him, Rivka decided that… it was time to take action.

Rabbi Yedid’s key point is one to which many women can relate…. Rivka Imeinu ’s struggle was the struggle of a mother who had to choose between two children whom she loved. We see… that throughout the chapter, she is referred to as the mother of both Yaakov and Eisev. For example; “Rivka took the special clothing of Eisev, her older son, which were with her in the house, and she dressed Yaakov, her younger son.” (Breish’t Perek 27, posuk 15)

Additionally, this posuk shows that Eisev didn’t trust his wives with his special clothing; his mother kept it for him. There was a special relationship between Rivka and both sons.

And finally, Rebbetzin Smiles (”Torah Tapestries”, pages 91-92) cites R’ Yaakov Kaminetsky’s question and explanation regarding Yaakov’s Test:

R’ Yaakov Kaminetsky asks (in Sefer Emes L’Yaakov) why he [Yaakov] had to lie in order to attain the Brachot, as … Yaakov Avinu’s essential midda was that of truth.

R’ Kaminetsky explains that just like Avraham Avinu had to go through ten tests to prove his closeness to Hashem Yaakov Avinu, too, had to be tested to prove his dedication.

When a person rises above his nature, performing an action that goes entirely against his being, it becomes clear that this is not an act being performed out of habit or instinct, but rather an act being done purely out of a desire to fulfill Hashem’s will. This was Yaakov Avinu’s test… Yaakov Avinu represents truth; he could not endure sheker (falsehood), and that is precisely why Hashem tested him in this way.

If Yaakov Avinu wanted the blessings, he was going to have to prove that he was worthy of them. What was the process he had to go through…? An akeida, a sacrifice of his very self; he had to go against his nature because that was what Hashem wanted of him, to act in a particular manner because Hashem told him to and not because that was the way he felt like acting. He listened to his mother and deceived his father, going against the truth that he stood for, and did it because that was Hashem’s will.

One cannot help but ponder how easily Jews can be deceived over and over and yet, over again by a “herd of sheep” (being led to slaughter) mentality into voting a certain way in national elections, or local elections for that matter, by a blindness which obscures facts, past track-records and affiliations. And so we vote for mis-perceived “golden boys”, retrospectively at our own peril. Doesn’t it seem as if we keep failing because we can’t or don’t rise above our natures or perceive Hashem’s tests?

Good Shabbos!
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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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Our Parsha opens by giving Sarah Imeinu’s age upon her death:

“Sarah’s lifetime was one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years: the years of Sarah’s life.” (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 23, posuk 1)

Why was it necessary to break the 127 years into 3 sections rather than to merely say, as rendered in translation in The Living Torah Chumash by R’ Aryeh Kaplan z”l (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 23, posuk 1):

“Sarah had lived to be 127 years old. These were the years of Sarah’s life.”

Rabbi Artscroll, in the large blue Stone Edition Chumash, page 107, cites Rashi on this 1st posuk:

Rashi explains that the repetition of years divides Sarah’s life into three periods, each with its own uniqueness [and each period shared the particular characteristics of its neighbor]. At a hundred, she was as sinless as a twenty-year-old, for until the age of twenty, a person does not suffer Heavenly punishment. And at twenty, she still had the wholesome beauty of a seven year old, who does not use cosmetics and whose beauty is natural (Chizkuni).

Later, the Artscroll large blue Stone Edition Chumash provides a glimpse at just how great Sarah Imeinu was by virtue of Yitzchak’s marriage to Rivka (Perek 24, posuk 67, and commentary pages 120-121):

“And Yitzchak brought her into the tent of Sarah, his mother; he married Rivka, she became his wife, and he loved her; and thus Yitzchak was consoled after his mother.”

As long as Sarah was alive, a lamp burned in her tent from one erev Shabbos to the next, her dough was blessed and a cloud [signifying the Divine Presence; — Artscroll Chumash’s reference to Sh’mot 40:34] hung over her tent. When Sarah died, these blessings ceased, but when Rivka entered the tent, they resumed. Thus Midrash renders the verse: He brought her to the tent — she was Sarah, his mother (Rashi). This proved to Yitzchak that Rivka was the worthy successor of Sarah.

And so, the torch was passed. But there is another side to Rivka Imeinu — the attribute of unconditional kindness as in Avraham’s servant Eliezer and Rivka of our Parsha:

“Before Eliezer had finished praying, Rivka… already came out.” (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 24, posuk 15)

Rivka’s kindness in giving Avraham Avinu’s servant Eliezer his fill of water and in giving Eliezer’s camels water while Eliezer was in mid-tefillah (tefillah = prayer) that Yitzchak’s shidduch — the next Ima of B’nei Yisrael — possessed the attribute of unconditional kindness, as did Sarah Imeinu.

Rebbetzin Shira Smiles, in “Torah Tapestries” on Parsha Chayei Sarah (pages 71-78) brings points and sources which seem to connect Sarah Imeinu’s inspiration with the acquisition of the Ma’arot HaMachpela:

The Sages teach us that… stories follow one another to indicate that Sarah Imeinu died as a result of the Akeidah. Apparently, the Satan came to Sarah Imeinu to tell her that Avraham Avinu had almost slaughtered Yitzchak. This caused her soul to leave her and she died.

However, Rabbi Gedalyah Schorr (Sefer Ohr Gedalyahu, Breish’t, page 76) brings an insight that explains that this is not exactly what happened.

He says that Sarah Imeinu already knew before her visit from the Satan that Yitzchak was to be a korbon [sacrifice]; and she had supported her husband in fulfilling the will of Hashem. Therefore, her death was not brought on from shock; on the contrary, it was at her encounter with the Satan that she realized how close a connection with Hashem her husband and son must have achieved. It was her great desire to ascend to that level that led her to want to, so to speak, give up her soul to get there. HaKadosh Baruch Hu (the Holy One, Blessed Be He) simply agreed to abide by this holy request — and therefore took her soul.

Sarah Imeinu… the Netziv (Ha’amek Davar, Breish’t 23:1) describes as being even greater than Avraham Avinu — not in nevu’ah (prophecy), but in ruach hakodesh (spirit of holiness)…. had the ability to be connected to Hashem at all times, to be in a state of joy and able to feel His presence in every circumstance. Even at times when one would despair, she maintained her desire to connect with Hashem.

Rebbetzin Smiles then goes on to discuss Chevron’s Ma’arot HaMachpela citing Rabbi Moshe Wolfson (Wellsprings of Faith, page 51-52) who cites the Zohar:

The Zohar explains that… the Ma’arot HaMachpela is a copy of Yerushalayim. Both Yerushalayim and Chevron have the property of being an intermediary between the people and Hashem. Yerushalayim is a place that connects Heaven and earth; it connects this physical world with the spiritual world. Ma’arot HaMachpela in Chevron is also a point of connection. It is the entrance to Gan Eden and the point souls pass through on their way to the next world.

While Chevron and Yerushalayim are both pathways of connection, they manifest themselves in different ways.

In Yerushalayim there is an open and public revelation of Hashem. It is located on a mountain high up for all to see…. On the other hand, in Chevron Hashem is concealed. He is still very much in all His Glory but He is not standing atop a mountain. He is in a cave within a cave, and one must look very closely in order to see the connection.

So just as Avraham Avinu was high profile and “bigger than life” doing kiruv and chessed — the Gadol HaDor of his generations, Sarah was his support, behind the scenes — concealed, yet the inspiration and support behind his efforts. Thus it would seem that Sarah Imeinu’s attributes inspired the efforts and costs expended by Avraham Aveinu to acquire the Ma’arot HaMachpela — later the burial place of Avraham Avinu himself, as well as Yitzchak Aveinu and Rivka Imeinu and Yaakov and Leah.

Good Shabbos!

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of http://www.sefer-torah.com The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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Our Parsha opens with Hashem, as we understand, visiting Avraham Aveinu on the 3rd day after Bris Milah, when Avraham was at the height of his pain following the circumcision, as Rashi indicates, “to inquire about his welfare.” (Metsuda Linear Chumash rendering of Rashi on Perek 18, posuk 1)

We learn from the parsha the contrast between Avraham Aveinu’s chesed with the cruelty of the city of Sodom as well as about the two melachim who were assigned by Hashem to rescue Lot and his family and to destroy Sodom.

Rebbetzin Shira Smiles, in “Torah Tapestries” on Parsha Vayeira (pages 51-52) cites R’ Joseph B. Soloveichik’s sefer “The Lonely Man of Faith” which was quoted in the RCA Edition of Artscroll’s Siddur while explaining Avraham’s chesed in praying to find some redeeming kindness in the evil city of Sodom. Rebbetzin Smiles writes:

Prayer is called avodah shebalev — service of the heart…. One way of infusing our hearts with love for Hashem is through prayer. But simply saying the words in the siddur (prayer book) is not the essence of prayer, as explained in the introduction to the RCA Edition of the Artscroll Siddur. The words are but a vehicle to connecting to Hashem; it is the feeling that goes into those words that makes the prayer. Through heartfelt prayer we can develop a loving relationship with Hashem.

Of course, if this is so, where does this leave OUR collective relationship with Hashem after the break-neck race with the Shali’ach Tzibbor through Korbonot, P’sukei D’Zimra, Sh’ma, Shemona Esrei and Chazzarat HaShatz (repetition of Shemona Esrei), not to mention Aleinu?

Rebbetzin Smiles continues:

The essay [of R’ Joseph B. Soloveichik, z”l]… brings examples of… three ways to approach Hashem in prayer.

… Avraham Aveinu in this parsha, Vayeira…. prays on behalf of Sodom, the wicked city…. pleads for the survival of the people of Sodom. He asks Hashem to save the entire city on the merit of fifty, forty and finally, ten righteous people, should they exist.

Avraham Aveinu prays to Hashem here as a ben bris, a member of the covenant. We also see that he makes his petition not on his own behalf, nor on behalf of his family. Here is the first formal petition by the first circumcized Jew and it is on the behalf of strangers. …His plea to Hashem is not only to save the righteous, but also the wicked. Avraham Aveinu was asserting that the lives of human beings, no matter how debased, are ultimately of value.

According to Avraham Aveinu, prayer is about being a ben bris, a partner in the covenant with Hashem…. It is to Hashem’s quality of justice that we appeal.

We also learn about the midos, the mores the characteristics of the people of Sodom which led to their destruction, and gain perspective of Sodom in modern day.

Rabbi Yehudah Nachshoni, in his “Studies in the Weekly Parsha” begins a section on Sodom by stating that the Torah makes no specific comment as to the sin of the Sodomites:

“The Torah merely tells us that they were very wicked and sinned greatly, and that a cry had come up from Sodom to the Heavens until Hashem, as it were, came down by Himself to see if indeed they had done ‘as its cry.’ But what that cry was, is not specified in the Torah. Chazal explain it as the cry of certain young woman who had been sentenced by the city to either be exposed to bees or to be burned, because she had helped a poor man.” (Studies in the Weekly Parsha, Parsha Vayeira, page 85; Perek Cheilik 109b, Gemora Sanhedrin)

The sefer, “The Midrash Says” (Parsha Vayeira, pages 165-177) offers additional antidotes on the cruelty and depravation of the people of Sodom; that hospitality, that kindness was outlawed and justice was absurd and non-existent in Sodom.

“The Midrash Says” cites the Sodomite constitution which included the following laws;

• 1/ Any stranger found in the vicinity may be robbed of his money and mal-treated.
• 2/ It is the duty of a Sodomite judge to ensure that every wayfarer leaves the country penniless.
• 3/ Anyone found handing food to a pauper or stranger will be put to death.
• 4/ Anyone who invites strangers to a wedding will be punished by having all of his clothing removed from his body.
• 5/ The sefer informs that Avraham’s servant Eliezer would readily attest to the perversion of Sodom in a number of stories of his experiences when he once happened to pass through:

  Eliezer was once accosted in the street by Sodomites and beaten until bleeding. When Eliezer went before a Sodomite Judge demanding justice, the judge ruled that Eliezer owed the Sodomites for letting his blood. So Eliezer then beat the judge silly until the judge bled. Then he demanded remuneration for the beating which he told judge to pay those that he “owed.”

  Then, as evening came, Eliezer was invited to rest in one of Sodom’s guest beds. He ascertained that it was the Sodomite custom to fit the guest to the bed (by either cutting off limbs or stretching the limbs), rather than giving a guest an appropriate bed. Eliezer begged off of the offer claiming not to have slept in a bed since his mother died.

  Ascertaining Sodomite laws concerning strangers being invited to a Sodomite wedding [see above point 4], when asked who invited him, he [Eliezer] pointed to various men successively until he was seated by himself consuming his solitary meal.
  

There was also the episode at the entrance to Lot’s home on the night that “the men”, the melachim arrived which epitomizes and gives historical perspective to the ways of Sodom; Parsha Vayeira, Perek 19, posuk 5; “They called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them.’”

But we also learn about the Mitzvah of Pidyan Shevu’im (the redemption and freeing of Jewish capitives), both from Avraham and Eliezer’s participation in the battle of the Four Kings vs the Five Kings (as told in Parsha Lech Lecha) in order to free nephew Lot, as well as the later destruction of Sodom — again with the liberation of Lot and his family as a by-product.

As was outlined in the vort for Parsha Lech Lecha:

As with Avraham Avinu, Jonathan Pollard was not instructed or ordered by superiors or by a handler to provide Israel with the dire information she needed. Pollard could have been a free man today and over these past 26 years, successful in his employment within the American intelligence community, had he just looked the other way as America betrayed Israel via the abrogation of the intelligence-sharing treaty between the two nations. But what would be the fate of Israel, of the Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael and throughout the world had the knowledge about Iraqi weaponry and capacity for chemical, nerve warfare not been revealed to Israel?

Yehonaton ben Malka just couldn’t turn away and couldn’t ignore what he saw as the potential for Jewish blood-letting. He couldn’t ignore the fate of his people in order to maintain his own well-being.

Yet over the last 26 years, Israel’s secular political-governmental leaderships seem to have their own cheshbonot, their own selfish, self-protecting, dirty-little-secrets-to-hide reasons for not lifting a finger to save, to redeem a fellow Jew — Jonathan Pollard who languishes in prison to this day. Successive governments and prime ministers from Shamir and Peres to Arik Sharon and Ehud Olmert acted toward Pollard with callous benign neglect. It was only over the past year that current prime minister Netanyahu (who previously in his 1st term from 1996-1999 saw to recognizing Pollard with Israeli citizenship) saw fit, under much pressure, to address Knesset (and defacto — the US president) about Jonathan, and tender an official written request, which has not to this day been addressed by or answered, to Barrack Hussein Obama.

But, just as Avraham Aveinu prayed for strangers in the hope that there was justification for saving Sodom, Rebbetzin Smiles discusses Yehudah’s actions on behalf of his brother Binyamin as constituting prayer. She writes (”Torah Tapestries” on Parsha Vayeira, page 52):

Yehudah knows that there is a great disparity between Yosef’s status as Viceroy of Egypt and his own. He does not come to Yosef as an equal, or even as a ben bris. Instead, he comes as a servant begging his master for mercy. Yet despite his lowly position, Yehudah pursues his quest with passion.

Yehudah’s model of prayer is based on particularism — prayer as a way to fulfill an individual’s needs — in this case, Yehudah’s need to carry out his responsibility to his father and brother…. He appealed to Yosef’s mercy: do it for an elderly father, for this young man; but do it out of mercy, not out of justice.

It is Yehudah’s model of prayer that would seem to be the model for our pleas to Hashem on behalf of Yehonaton ben Malka, now in his 26th year of incarceration in an American prison because of his selfless acts on behalf of Israel and his Jewish brethren.

Good Shabbos!

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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This author was once on a roll in a friend’s Succah the night of the Yom Tov. During the seven days of Succot, we speak each day about one of the Seven Holy Men (Ushpizin) commemorated — Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Moshe, Aaron, Yosef and King David. In honor of Parshat Lech Lecha, an effort to recreate the off-the-cuff vort said on Avraham Avinu with a few embellishments, is made.

On the first night of Succot we commemorate, to parody Rowan and Martin’s ‘Laugh-In’ in the late 60s and early 70s, “The Man without whom the Jews wouldn’t be the Jews without the Jew — Avraham Avinu.”

Midrashim tell how Avraham Avinu deduced at an early age that Hashem was the Creater and Ruler of the world. He tried worshipping the earth, the rain, the sun, the moon, etc. but deduced that not one of these forces regulated the world and that:

There must be a higher intelligence directing them [the various forces].

“I have not seen Him,” said Avram, “but I can understand that only a mighty and merciful G-d could have created the… world around me, and only his superio intelligence is able to keep it going. To Him will I bow.” (The Midrash Says, by Rabbi Moshe Weissman, Sefer Breish’it, Parsha Noach, page 118.)

And in the past, this author wrote citing Midrashim (The Midrash Says, Sefer Breish’it, Parsha Noach) which tell how young Avram, while left in charge of the idol business in his Father Terach’s absence, did everything possible to discourage customers from purchasing avodah zora.

Avram’s brother Haran sat on the proverbial “fence”, awaiting resolution of Avram’s fate. Haran thought:

“If Avram is saved, I will say that I belong to Avram’s camp; if he dies, I shall say that I am on Nimrod’s side.” (The Midrash Says, Sefer Breish’it, Parsha Noach, page 119.)

When Avram emerged unscathed, Haran, who was a great magician, assumed that he would be saved in the same manner. But the miracle didn’t reoccur for Haran as his faith in Hashem was not real and complete, but only based on Avram’s life being spared. It was evident that magic had not saved Avram and that “Kiddush Hashem” (sanctification of Hashem’s name) had occured.

Rebbetzin Shira Smiles, in “Torah Tapestries” on Parsha No’ach writes about selfless chesed and cites Rabbi Shimon Schwab (page 28) who contrasts No’ach, in his generation, with Avraham Avinu in his time:

Rabbi Shimshon Schwab explains that No’ach lived for six hundred years and did not influence even a single person(!) He spent one hundred and twenty years building an ark and still did not influence anyone…. His generation was… involved in self — and that included No’ach as well. What was the difference between No’ach and the other people of his generation? The rest of the people were caught up in their selfish , physical desires. No’ach was involved in spiritual pursuits — but they were only for himself and his family.

This was his [No’ach’s] generation: a generation of ego, of self…. of corruption. If people focus only on themselves, robbery will ensue. Stealing will flood the world, hand-in-hand with the attitude of what-can-I-get-for-me. A society like that cannot endure. We need a world that engenders kindness at its root.

That is why, says Rabbi Schwab, had No’ach lived in the times of Avraham Avinu — a time of outreach, of being involved in hospitality, and of bringing the Name of Hashem to the rest of the world — Noach would have been a nothing, since he, too, was self-focused.

Perhaps Avraham Avinu heard a cerebral Divine message.

May we, the B’nai Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently settled and be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them at leftist-agendized, supreme court legalized gunpoint, that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard, and the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nai Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem V’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bim hay v’yameinu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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There is a Midrash Says at the end of Parsha Breish’t (pages 78-80) which is prelude to No’ach and the Mabul. It speaks about Hashem, as it were, Bemoaning His Making of man. The Melachim say to Hashem that they would do far better than man and would sanctify Hashem’s Name. So they came down and were more evil than man.

The Midrash Says notes that these Melachim were referred to in Torah as “the sons of judges”, “the lofty ones” for “they took for themselves wives from whomever they chose.” And so Gilui Aroyot (coveting illicit intimacies) became the “right of passage” expected by the “lofty ones” — the powers to be of the era such that this evil became institutionalized,what they wanted expecting and institutionalizing this usurpation. Therefore, common man, ever more victimized, sunk further and further into evil.

Rebbetzin Shira Smiles, in Torah Tapestries on Parsha No’ach (pages 11-13) notes 2 meanings of the word “chamas”: corruption and robbery while discussing an opening posuk of our Parsha (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 6, posuk 13) to explain how man can slide further and further into evil:

“Hashem said to No’ach, The end of all flesh is coming before Me, because the earth has become filled with corruption from before them, and behold I am destroying them with the earth.”

Hashem tells No’ach that because the world is filled with chamas (corruption), a flood will come to wipe out mankind. It is hard to fathom how an entire generation could have lived in Hashem’s pristine world and defiled it with such abandon.

Rebbetzin Smiles goes on to render Rashi’s understanding of “chamas”:

Gezel: robbery.

Robbery is an anti-social and dishonest act. No one can live for long in a society where one’s belongings are not safe, knowing that they can vanish if one turns his back. But does the sin of robbery warrant such a severe punishment…. the destruction of the world?

Rebbetzin Smiles also cites the Slonimer Rebbe who explains:

No’ach’s generation embraced corruption. Corrupt behavior cannot be contained or limited; it always spreads. The act of stealing personal property was only the beginning of the downfall for the people of No’ach’s time. Normally, stealing is accepted as a wrongful act. However, the more they stole, the more it became accepted. Eventually stealing became the norm and the intrinsic concepts of right and wrong were overturned. When civilization flirts with immorality, intolerable behavior is suddenly tolerated.

So it was in the time of No’ach. When stealing became acceptable, Hashem knew that the seams of the world were on their way to coming apart. He therefore had to destroy the world and start again.

So it seems to this author that Rebbeitzin Smiles’ rendering of “chamas” applies as well when man begins compromising his principles, even when having in mind a greater and more lofty cheshbon of self-perceived Kiddush Shem Shemayim, he proceeds down a sliding road of compromised principles in conforming to immoral societal “authority rules and requirements.” When he bows to peer group pressures so as to perceive one’s self as being highly regarded by others, he is inevitably dragged further and further down the road of compromised principles and morality — each time with the compromise becoming greater and the impact on his society becoming ever more crucial.

Good Shabbos! Chodesh Tov!

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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Somehow, not being rabbinic or a Talmud Chacham, it has always seemed difficult to put a true and deep meaning of Hashem’s creation to words to express the continuim of the end and the beginning of Torah.

Shem Mishmuel concludes a vort on V’zos HaBracha this way;

Let us propose that these brachot are eternal, that they were not just pronounced by Moshe to Klal Yisrael on his last day on earth, but like the rest of Torah, their influence is everlasting. Indeed, the beautiful blessings which Moshe bestowed upon us are still with us, as if he were standing and blessing every one of us today. Of course, as with their inception, the quality of the brachot will depend upon the ability of each of us to successfully receive them.

Perhaps this is why, throughout history, the Jewish people have ended the cycle of Torah-reading on Simchat Torah, rather than at any other time or on any other festival. Tishrei marks the most intense opportunity for spiritual development of the Jewish year. Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Succot, and Shemini Atzeret are all within a few days of each other. It is only after all of these observances and experiences that we are at our most receptive to the Divine blessing. At that zenith of spiritual success, we read the final verses of the Torah, including Moshe’s blessings to his nation, hoping and praying that we will merit to receive them for the year ahead. (Sefer Shem Mishmuel, V’zos HaBracha, page 459)

When we receive Divine Brachot for the year to come in V’zos HaBracha on Simchat Torah, we should/must recognize, that these final verses don’t mark a finish, a completion but rather just a beginning (like the end of one baseball season with the crowning of World Champions followed almost immediately by non-stop preparations for and the inception of the new season) for the eternal Torah renews itself eternally in applicability and pertinence with the end of the current cycle and beginning of each new cycle. The joy of completion must extend to the joy of continuance, the joy of new learning and new perspectives which build level upon level on that already learned.

And to those Israelis, who passionately crave the “Normal Life” — normal like any other nation — and who are, as Olmert put it on the heels of his and Sharon’s expulsion of their, our fellow Jews, “tired of fighting, tired of winning…” and who are thus confused as to who they are, why there is an Israel and why they are here, this quote of Rashi and his question on R. Yitzchak, as rendered in the Metsudah Chumash/Rashi linear Translation (Rashi on Sefer Breish’t, Perek 1, posuk 1) relating to “Breish’t, Bora, Kelokim” seems more than appropriate;

R. Yitzchak said: The Torah should have begun with [the verse] “This month shall be [your first month],” it being the first precept that the Israelites were commanded. Then why does it [the Torah] begin with “In the beginning”? This is because [of the concept contained in the verse,] “He declared the power of His works to His people in order to give them the inheritance of the nations.” Thus, should the nations of the world say to Israel, “You are robbers, for you have taken by force the lands of the Seven Nations,” they [Israel] will say to them: “All the earth belongs to G’d. He created it and gave it to whomever He saw fit. It was his will to give it [the land] to them and it was His will to take it [Eretz Yisrael] from them and give it to us.”

So we must take the craving for real improvement, the craving to make things right between our Jewish brethren and throughout Am Yehudi into the new year. And at this auspicious time, may all of us have our brother Jonathan Pollard — Yehonatan Ben Malka prominently in our hearts, thoughts, prayers and in mind in our actions — that Hashem see to his release and return to his brethren in THIS YEAR — sooner than later.

Good Shabbos! A sweet year to all subscribers reading this vort!

** On 18 October, 2011 captive Gilad Shalit was returned to Israel in exchange for some 1,027 Arab Islamic terrorist prisoners, including approximately 450 terrorists with blood on their hands, including the bloody hands of a terrorist from the lynching in 2000 of an Israeli policeman and the female get-away driver from the Sbarros bombing.
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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.

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Having emerged from Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and, hopefully we have all been inscribed and sealed for a happy, healthy, successful and meaningful year and years ahead, we find ourselves in the midst of Succot.

One may well wonder what is meant here. Bluntly, and to the point: Is an individual’s spiritual growth as well as his bonding and kesher with Hashem systemically stifled, stymied, blunted and nipped in the bud by collective peer-pressure to conform to Kehilla-imposed time-limits at each step or section of tefillah? This author views these questions and thoughts as critically important to air, even now, once we have passed Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, lest we begin to back-slide into the familiar patterns. And to date, there have been no answers received, no answers received from Rabbanim, from communal leaders. Why?? Are they all sooo handcuffed, for fear for their jobs, for their branding, for their overseas donations, that they fear to back up their words with concrete actions by systemically imposing these type of changes? Are they as hen-pecked, handcuffed and powerless as when dealing with kannoi’yim, domestic abuse or the issue of religious smoking??

Finally, and still the “piece d’resistance”, the less than 1 minute Aleinu. No kidding — I timed it myself. Rabbonim have spoken repeatedly, about the Aleinu prayer and its’ significance: the Oneness of Hashem’s Kingship, the reasons for our most-favored nation status, Hashem’s eventual eradication of idolatry from the earth, that eventually the entire world, all of the nations will recognize and submit themselves to Hashem’s Malchut (Kingship) — again very strong and powerful stuff. But are all of the spoken and written words empty and devoid of content vs the “system”, which the Shaliach Tzibbor is bound by conformance with, which mandates blowing through Aleinu as if shot from a rocket, and this author has written at length on this — as if the B’nai Yisrael:

“… fled from the mountain of G’d like a child running away from school.” (Rabbi Artscroll mentions a Ramban on Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 10, posukim 35-36)

If the individuals and the Kohanim of a typical Kehal are up against “the system” of time-restrictive tefillot in working to make their davening meaningful and in trying build their kesher with Hashem, imagine, just think — ALL of you FFB’s (Frum from Birth) — have you ever given even a moment’s thought to what these systemic time-limits do to the Ba’al Teshuvah’s psyche? For the Ba’al Teshuvah, more often than not, it is about kavanah in merely pronouncing the words of tefillot correctly, let alone having sufficient time to think about and understand the meanings of the tefillot. And don’t give that old, well-worn “tierka b’tzibbor” (burden for the Kehal) noise. It just doesn’t wash and seems coming from the same narrow, singular, me-first mindset which causes us to look after one’s own doorstep first and foremost, and to heck with the next guy — my Jewish brother. Ergo, we were/are collectively soo wrapped up in a me-first mindset that we let the evil regime evict 9,000 of our Jewish brethren. Chas V’Challila it could happen again unless the Kehal gives more thought to the needs of those who make up the Kehal, in short, starting with more realistic, all-inclusive time structures for the various tefillot.

One Shul in Israel attempted make a start toward a more Halachic and meaningful Tefillah on Erev Yom Kippur, the last Maariv of the year. But one cannot help but wonder whether making a separate, special Maariv minyan, shunting it off to the Vatikan room — rather than having it in the main Beit Medrash, and making a different time for it, separate from the Shul’s normal Maariv time, would be seen in Shemayim as a sincere effort at collective improvement in tefillah or whether it would constitute, as Rush Limbaugh would say, “symbolism over substance.”

And so we ponder the War of Gog and Magog:

“When Gog, all his army and all of the nations attack israel, even in a redemption ‘in haste,’ Israel will tremble with fear. Afterward, G’d will rise up and destroy the nations in the final redemption, as in the first one.” (”The Jewish Idea”, by Rabbi Meir Kahane, Z’l, Vol. 2, page 984)
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“Our sages said (Tanchuma, Re’eh, 9); “…In the future, Gog and Magog will attack Israel, and they too will be burnt up with one fire, as it says, ‘I will punish him with pestilence,blood and torrential rain […fire and brimstone]. At that moment, I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and make Myself known to many nations.’” (Yecheskel, 38.22-23 in part, as quoted from “The Jewish Idea”, by Rabbi Meir Kahane, Z’l, Vol. 2, page 984)

May it be that there be root changes made to davening systems in B’nai Yisrael such that this author would not again feel the need, the necessity of repeating such questions!

L’Shana Tova, Chag Same’ach and Good Shabbos! — may all who read this be inscribed and sealed for a healthy, happy, sweet and prosperous 5772 and every year thereafter to at least 120!
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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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With thoughts focused toward Yom Kippur, our tefillot and our process of teshuvah, there is d’var Torah by the Shem Mishmuel (Sefer Shem Mishmuel, Rabbi Shmuel Bornstein, translated to English by Rabbi Zvi Belovski, pages 440-441). The thoughts expressed by the Shem Mishmuel seem particularly pertinent this Yom Kippur, with emphasis locally, as well as throughout the Jewish world.

In this d’var, Shem Mishmuel cites Moshe Rabbeinu’s final address to the B’nei Yisrael (Devarim, Perek 29, posukim 9-10):

You are all standing here today, before the Lord, your G’d — your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, every Jewish man. Your children, your women, the outsider who is in your camp, from your woodcutter to your water-drawer.

Shem Mishmuel then explains that:

These divisions of people represent the whole gamut of the nation, from young to old, the powerful and the ordinary — in short, everyone of every type.

He explains that the ketores (incense) was a component of the daily korbonot (offerings), but that on Yom Kippur it would play a primary role.

He continues:

The Kohen Gadol took a shovel-full of incense into the Holy of Holies and waited there until the cloud of spices filled the room. This incense contained eleven spices, ten of which were pleasant-smelling, but one of which had a foul odor. We may suggest that the ten sweet-smelling spices corresponded to the ten groups within the Jewish people noted above.

…Ketores… is etymologically linked to kesher, which means “connection.” The spices were pounded together to make a single compound. This illustrates that each group within Israel must recognize that it has value only as part of a larger entity. When this occurs [the pounding and grinding together into a single compound - MB] , it is possible to add the eleventh, malodorous spice, which represents the bad elements within YIsrael. Only when these eleven spices are pounded into indistinguishable dust, that is completely mingled, can they be brought to the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. In the same way, only when everyone, good or bad, acts for a single purpose, nullifying his individuality to the benefit of the community, can the “compound” of the Jewish people be presented to G’d for His scrutiny… However, if dissonance exists within the various elements of the klal, then the weaker, eleventh group cannot join. Since there is already disharmony among the people, adding the sinful element will not produce a completely unified Yisrael and…. will cause additional strife, as the weaker group will join one side or the other of the rift, strengthening the divide.

…To achieve real unity in the community, a sort of “grinding” of the personality is needed. It is arrogance which leads to disunity, the feeling that one is special and in some way above everyone else. One must pound this arrogance out of one’s character to effect the realization that one’s whole existence depends on the community.

There is one more citing which amplifies the above. Gemara Mesechta Megillah, page 25a1 (Shottenstein edition) cites Mishnah Perek 4, posuk 9:

One who says [about Hashem - MB]: “Good men shall bless You” — this is the way of heresy.

The footnote in gemara on this Mishnah reads:

For he does not include the wicked among those who praise G’d, and the Sages teach us (Kereisos 6b) that any public fast that does not include the transgressors of Israel is not accepted, They derive this from the inclusion of galbunim, which emits a foul odor, among the ingredients of the incense offered in the Beit HaMikdash. Similarly, the wicked must be considered as part of the congregation of Israel. (Attributions to Rashi; cf. Ran, Meiri)

For those of you who have not until now read this author’s weekly vort on the Parsha, or who may not be a micro-follower of the news beyond the main headlines, i.e. Israel, the “P.A,” and the UN, or the Islamic Spring, there is at least one communiity afflicted with a disharmony, i.e. inflicted by a relative few — a criminal element of several hundred “Chareidi” imposters who besmirch and distort Chareidi religious tenants in the eyes of fellow observant Jews as well as the non-observant. This element stones and defames young girls as they (the girls) enter or leave their B’not Orot [which this author has been generically calling a Beis Yaakov} , claiming that this institution is on “their turf”. And because these young girls don’t look or dress EXACTLY like them, these kannoi’yim scream out “shiksas” and other worse insults at them as well as stoning and physically accosting and attacking them. Meanwhile, the actions of these criminals are silently acquiesced to by leadership who could, bravely and with moral backbone, push the right buttons via their kehillot, as well as with other measures within the community, to squelch the violence and act against the perpetrators.

There is a lot of atonement to do — toward these young anguished girls who have a sacred and unalienable right to attend their school, built in a place which is not even Chareidi in constituency, as well as a long-overdue covenant of mechila for the business-as-usual silent acquiescence toward the expulsion 6 years ago of the former Gush Katif residents.

But as we daven, we need all keep in mind the the words of this golden oldie:

Private Eyes are watchin’ you… watchin’ you, watchin’ you, watchin’ you! Private Eyes!

As Yom Kippur approaches, may we, the B’nai Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently settled and be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them at leftist-agendized, supreme court legalized gunpoint, that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard, captive Gilad Shalit and the other MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nai Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem V’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bim hay v’yameinu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!

Good Shabbos! L’Shana Tova!

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Moshe Burt is an Oleh, writer and commentator on news and events in Eretz Yisrael. He is the founder and director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network and lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.

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Saw this headline in today’s Jerusalem Post:

Netanyahu: It’s important that we tell ‘our truth’ at UN

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke at a pre-holiday gathering for Likud members on Tuesday evening, before his scheduled trip to New York to speak at the United Nations General Assembly.

“I am going tonight to New York to speak at the UN and meet with [US President Barack] Obama,” he said.

“It’s important to go there and tell our truth as a people who want peace and have been attacked so many times,” Netanyahu continued.

“I’ve told the PA chair many times, including yesterday, that the path to peace comes through negotiations and not through unilateral acts. The way to get to the end of negotiations is to start them and stick with them. That’s what Israel wanted to do, but the Palestinians refused. There is a growing understanding in the world about what has to be done before a state is created. That’s what I will speak about in the UN.”

The prime minister insisted that Israel doesn’t “want peace just on paper but a lasting peace.”

“For that we need to stand up for our interests. It’s easier to give in and not stand up and get applauded by the world that doesn’t understand what we have been through…. We are determined to stand for our interests and our truth.”

These thoughts came to mind when this author first heard that Bibi was to meet president Obama and address the UN before the PA (read PLO) presents it’s “statehood” for General Assembly or Security Council votes. When this piece appeared in JPost today, this author fired off the following talkback:

Which truth Bibi? The Torah-Jewish truth — Kol Ha’Aretz Shelanu or the secular “truth” which only bolsters THEIR falsehoods? Will you even include that 3 letter word G’d in your “truth?? Will you even speak of 2,000 years of Jewish truth and connection to the Land of Israel — all of it? Will you tell them how we have sat in mourning on Tisha B’av for almost 2 thousand years since the 2nd Beit HaMikdash was destroyed and was later covered over by some 4th rate Arab mosques? Probably not! Why, because which truth connects to Eretz Yisrael: Torah-Jewish truth or Israeli secular “truth”? And the Arabs, Obama, the world know this deep down. By the way, Bibi — where’s your kippa??

It would be very surprising if JPost had even the guts and backbone to print it.

P.S. JPost actually posted the talkback, view it by clicking here.

One does not give away an inch of one’s land if they truly possess it. And what credibility does our inalienable claim to all and any of the Land have before the Nations if we relinquish any part of it?

When’s the last time we saw Bibi in a kippa? When’s the last time that we heard of Israeli leaders eating only kosher food overseas? When meeting with foreign leaders, i.e. president Barack Hussein Obama??

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