RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Ki Tetzei – Holiness in Times of War

The Torah commands that before each Jew who is going to study, read or take part in discussions and studies related to the Torah, one must recite (once in the day,) the following blessing:

Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has made us holy through His commandments, and commanded us to actively study Torah.

Please Hashem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel.

Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Hashem, Giver of the Torah.
Amen    

Below,  is the commentary of the Torah portion by our beloved Rabbi Meir Kahane OBM:  Parashat Ki Tetzei:  Holiness in Times of War     

When a camp goes out to war against your enemies, you shall guard against anything evil. If there will be among you a man who will not be clean because of a nocturnal occurrence, he shall go outside the camp ... For Hashem, your G-d, walks in the midst of your camp so as to save you and grant you victory over your enemy. Your camp must, therefore, be holy, so that He will not see a shameful thing among you and turn away from behind you. (Deut. 23: 10, 11, 15)

The milchemet mitzvah of the Jewish People is not like the wars of the gentiles. Rather, its conception and birth are in holiness. Following is Rambam (Hilchot Melachim 7:1): In both compulsory and noncompulsory war, a Kohen is appointed to address the nation during the war and he is anointed with the anointing oil. He is the one called the mashuach milchamah, the “anointed for war”. Israel goes into battle behind the anointed of war. He defines and determines the nature of the war, sanctifies it through his words to the people and makes certain that Israel go to war in holiness and with trust in G-d. Such is Jewish warfare! It is based on holiness, on faith and trust in G-d that if someone fights the wars of G-d, evil will not befall him since he is fighting for the sanctification of G-d's name.

The phrase “to save you and grant you victory over your enemies” means as follows: First G-d will save you from yourselves, by warning you about everything evil so that you will be holy. Only then will He grant you victory, saving you from them. Sifri (258) comments, “If you do everything stated regarding this matter, G-d will ultimately save you and grant you victory over your enemies.” The Jewish war camp must be holy, as is fitting for a war over the sanctification of G-d's name. Nothing inflames the passions more than war, when acts generally forbidden become permissible. Given such license, the evil impulse attempts to take control of a person, and no temptation is more powerful than the sexual impulse. If women were allowed to be part of a military camp during wartime, the sins incurred would outweigh the merit earned for a milchemet mitzvah.There would be no avoiding licentiousness and promiscuity (as in the modern Israeli army camp, Heaven help us, when the Jewish state has not adopted Jewish laws of warfare). The army camp would, thus, be transformed from a holy camp, free of impurity and abomination (see Sforno, Ibid.) to a licentious camp. If it became so, a war meant to sanctify G-d's name would become a stage for sexual sin, the height of profanation of G-d's name.  Therefore, a woman should not go to war with men. Ramban explains: Scripture warns against sin where sin is most prevalent. It is known that soldiers going to war customarily consume every abomination, rob and steal, and are unashamed to commit adultery and every other outrage. The most upright person, by nature, becomes cruel and vicious when the camp goes forth against the enemy. Scripture therefore warned, “You must avoid everything evil” (Deut. 23:10). Sifri (Ibid.) comments, “This teaches that sexual sin causes the Divine Presence to withdraw.” Thus, sexual sin endangers the troops, for without the Divine Presence there will be no victory. The Torah, therefore, forbade women going to war with men, even in a milchemet mitzvah, so as not to turn the mitzvah into a sin.

A Talmid Chacham does not go off to war either, even for a milchemet mitzvah. R. Elazar said (Nedarim 32a): Why was Abraham punished such that his descendants were enslaved to the Egyptians for 210 years? It is because he conscripted Talmidei Chachamim; “Abraham called his students [to battle].” (Gen. 14:14). We must be aware that “Talmid Chacham” refers only to someone whose Torah study is his sole occupation, someone totally absorbed in Torah study day and night, who never leaves it for anything in the world, a person who together with his study is crucial to his generation.

There are two types of Talmidei Chachamim. The first is the one whose Torah study is his sole occupation.This individual is totally immersed in constant Torah study. Such a Talmid Chacham does not cease Torah study even to fulfill time-bound positive precepts incumbent on him personally,, if they are of Rabbinic origin, for example, the Shemoneh Esreh according to most opinions. He ceases only for precepts of Torah origin, such as the Shema. The other Talmid Chacham, the one whose Torah study is not his sole occupation, must cease study for every time-bound positive precept incumbent on him personally, even those Rabbinic in origin. Likewise, he must cease study even to do a mitzvah not specifically incumbent on him personally, i.e., a mitzvah of the community. Milchemet mitzvah is a communal mitzvah upon which the future of the Jewish People depends. It follows that any Talmid Chacham whose Torah study is not his sole occupation, who does not sit day and night studying Torah without earning any living or taking any vacation, will be obligated to stop studying so as to involve himself in milchemet mitzvah. Obviously, he should do this specifically in the “holy camp” framework, lest he fall prey to sin and abomination. Only the true Talmid Chacham, whose Torah study is his sole occupation, will be exempt from taking part in this mitzvah, because it can be performed by others. Yet listen to this, dear friends, and remember it: Not everyone who wishes to claim such a title may do so. If someone cloaks himself in the mantle of a Talmid Chacham whose Torah study is his sole occupation when he is unworthy of this, only to shirk the mitzvah of going to war, sanctifying G-d's name, taking G-d's revenge and assisting Israel against the attacking foe, he is a shedder of blood and his sin is unbearable. As Rambam said regarding the person commanded to fight (Hilchot Melachim 7:15); “If he does not strive to be victorious and does not fight with all his heart and soul, it is as though he has shed everyone's blood.” What shall we say about him who was obligated to fight and did not fight at all?

When it comes to the enemies of Israel who attack and beleaguer us and desire to destroy us, we are certainly required to smite them until they are consumed. It is a mitzvah – a milchemet mitzvah. The law states clearly that “assisting Israel against the attacking foe”, which constitutes a milchemet mitzvah, refers not just to an enemy who attacks with intent to annihilate Jews, but to every attempt to hurt or plunder as well, even just theft. Obviously, it includes a situation where non-Jews demand a portion of the Land of Israel, for there is an outright prohibition against giving part of the Land to a non-Jew, as we shall see. Eruvin 45 teaches: “In a border town, even where the non-Jews are not attacking to kill Jews but just demanding hay and straw, we go forth armed to attack them, even violating the Sabbath to do so”. Rashi comments: “Lest they capture it, making the rest of the Land easier for them to capture.” Rashi's point is that for this reason we go forth even on the Sabbath. Yet, regarding the actual law of assisting against an attacking foe, surely,the very fact that non-Jews are demanding even just hay and straw or money and taxes is enough reason to attack them, and that is a milchemet mitzvah. Likewise, it is clearly forbidden by a grave Torah prohibition to let a non-Jew steal even the smallest part of the Land of Israel. After all, there is a prohibition forbidding us even to diminish the spiritually pure area of the Land of Israel (Moed Kattan 5b): “We do not put a marker marking a spiritually impure area far from that area, so as not to lose part of the Land of Israel.” Due to our sins, the reason we were exiled from our land, the laws of war have been so corrupted and confused by so many fine students that ignorance on this matter has surpassed all limits. Some have no understanding whatsoever of what a milchemet mitzvah is, and in their blindness ask whether the war between us and the Arabs today is such a war. Woe to the ears that hear this! It is a great mitzvah to hate evil and evildoers, and even to wage war against them, it is an even greater mitzvah to love goodness and the righteous, i.e., those whom G-d has defined as good and righteous. The mitzvah to love one's fellow Jew, one of the Torah's foundations, dictates that a Jew must save the life of every other Jew who is in danger. This is a mitzvah incumbent on an individual, and how much more so regarding the community. It is part of “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18), yet it also stands independently (Ibid., v. 16): “Do not stand still when your neighbor's life is in danger.”

RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Shoftim: The Jewish State

The Torah commands that before each Jew who is going to study, read or take part in discussions and studies related to the Torah, one must recite (once in the day,) the following blessing:

Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has made us holy through His commandments, and commanded us to actively study Torah.

Please Hashem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel.

Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Hashem, Giver of the Torah.
Amen                                              

Below, the Torah commentary for Parashat Shoftim, by our beloved Rabbi Meir Kahane, OBM  

Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities – which Hashem your G-d gives you – for your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. (Deut. 16:18)

When you come to the Land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you, and possess it, and settle in it, and you will say, “I will set a king over myself, like all the nations that are around me.” You shall surely set over yourself a king whom Hashem, your G-d, shall choose... (Deut. 17:14-15)

It shall be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah in a book, from before the Kohanim, the Levites. (Deut. 17:18)

The Jewish government, the king and the police apparatus were mainly intended to run the Jewish State as a theocracy in accordance with G-d's mitzvot. Regarding the verse, “Appoint yourselves judges and police [officers] (Deut. 16:18), R. Eliezer ben Shamua says (Sifri, Shoftim, 144), “If there are police, there are judges. If there are no police, there are no judges.” The intent is clear: If there are police to enforce the judge's Torah rulings, then the judges' word will endure. Otherwise, it is as though there are no judges. Their rulings are then nothing but a farce. In essence, G-d commanded that there be governmental coercion so as to ensure that the people follow G-d's path. G-d scornfully cast off of Himself and of us the alien non-Jewish opposition to “religious coercion”, opposition that is nothing but rebellion against G-d and His decrees. Sefer haChinuch wrote (Mitzvah 491): To appoint judges and policemen who will coerce mitzvah observance and restore to it by force those who have strayed from the truth. They will command regarding what is appropriate to do and will prevent unsavory acts from occurring, and they will uphold punishments against violators until people cease to relate to the mitzvot and prohibitions according to how they personally interpret them. This concept stands in absolute opposition to the alien culture and to the licentiousness and abominations at its core.

The non-Jews worship many idols and follow many alien cultures, all of them false; and even looking from their point of view, we cannot tell who and which of them they consider “truth”. Therefore, with them there is certainly a need to follow the majority, since they lack any clear truth. This is why the system of majority rule was created. For Jacob, however, there is only one truth, and it does not matter whether the whole world differs with it, because it is impossible to decide against the truth. Even if, to our great chagrin, most of Israel choose falsehood over Torah, that does not matter, since Jacob already has the truth. Thus, it is explicit thatamong Israel there is just one viewpoint, that of Torah; and even if a majority of the Jewish People differ with it, their view is considered deviant and is discounted. A great rabbi once gave a reason for this: The law is that we do not follow the majority when there is testimony for the opposing view; and since Israel saw the Sinai Revelation with their own eyes, confirming G-d's existence, no majority in the world could decide anything against this testimony (SeeTorah Shlemah, Shemot, 23, se'if katan 38). R. Chama's comment[...] - “If one of them sins, it is attributed to them all” (Midrash HaGadol, Shemot, 1:5) - ...] serves to establish the other side of the rule that there is one truth, and not two. Not only must the righteous minority not surrender to or tolerate the erring majority, but they have a duty to protest against them. Not only must they not accept their viewpoint, but they must also demand that they correct their error and accept G-d's viewpoint. The mutual responsibility which exists among the Jewish People requires every Jew to share in the fate of his fellow; and if he does not protest the sins of the individual, let alone those of the community, he, too, will be punished.

[Regarding “You shall surely set over yourself a king whom Hashem, your G-d, shall choose...” (Deut. 17:15)] Rambam wrote (Hilchot Malachim 1:3), “Initially, a king is appointed by the Sanhedrin of seventy-one following a prophetic decree.” Initially, such is the law, but if in certain circumstances it proves impossible, then we satisfy our requirement of a regime to ward off licentiousness and enemy attack via a president rather than a king – without a Sanhedrin or prophet. Rambam taught (Ibid. 1:8): If a prophet appointed a king from another tribe [rather than Yehudah], and that king followed the path of Torah and mitzvot and fought G-d's battles, he is a king, and all the mitzvot of the monarchy apply to him, even though the main monarchy is through David. Thus, even when there is no Davidic dynasty for whatever reason, we still continue with a monarchic regime, rule by one man. [And further,] even when there is no prophet or Sanhedrin, there clearly remains a need for a one-man regime, a single leader, a president, and not the utter chaos of dozens or hundreds of representatives and parties, every one of which tries to extort money and power, leaving the county paralyzed while they try to reach agreement on matters of paramount importance. Presumably, the appointment must approximate the ideal format, in that it should be implemented by a court of the great rabbis of the generation. This is clearly the type of regime that G-d desired; and when there is a prophet and Sanhedrin, then together with the king who stands at their head, they comprise a Torah regime of “one leader to the generation, not two.”

The king or ruler is obligated to view himself as G-d's representative to herd His holy flock, Israel, and to conduct himself with them in ways that will be beneficial to them, and all in accordance with the ways of the Torah, as I have written. He must listen seriously to their complaints. The ruler must conduct himself with humility, as a servant of the people, yet he must know that he is king or president, G-d's representative not only to defend the Jewish people, but also lead and direct them on the path they must follow. He must fear no man and be deterred by no one, and he must not try to curry favor with the people or flatter them. Of this it says, “Do not flatter the land in which you live” (Num. 35:33). Rather, where necessary, he must take a staff and smite their skulls. Then G-d will be at his side.

Clearly, the government's whole worth is solely as a means towards the proper running of G-d's state. It is inconceivable that there could be any valid authority to a government that does not conduct itself this way. The monarchy, or whatever government there may be, was intended only to fulfill the Divine mission assigned it by Divine decree. Thus, all the rights and authority of Jewish governments stem solely from the Torah. A Jewish government must not resemble any regime of the nations, because the government, state and people, themselves, were created only to obey G-d. Rashi explains (Sanhedrin 49a, s.v. Achin veRakin): “If the king sets out to nullify Torah pronouncements, we do not heed him.”

[As Rabbi Kahane explains in Peirush HaMaccabee – Devarim, Parashat Shoftim:] Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities... and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. (Deut. 16:18) The Sforno writes: “After the mitzvot which apply to the masses [the three pilgrimage festivals, at the end of the previous Parasha] the Torah gives the commandments which apply to their leaders, who are the kings and the judges and the Kohanim and the prophets. As long as they act properly, the masses, too, will behave properly; but if they are corrupt-then they will corrupt the masses.” We learn from this that the way to a just and proper society does not depend upon the method of government – that is, a specific political or economic idea – but rather the essence and nature and quality of the people who are the society's leaders. If the judges are just, then a fair and just society will be created; and if they are corrupt, then society as a whole will be corrupted; whatever its form of government or its ideology.

[Rabbi Kahane also refers to this in “Why be Jewish”: ] It is illusion to believe that one can make a people better by [just] changing the form of government. No change in the system of society will make that society better, for there is no such thing as “government” or “society”. There are only the individuals who comprise the government or the society and the whole is nothing more than the sum of its parts. If the parts are rotten and corrupt, the whole must emerge the same. If the people are selfish and egotistical, society will emerge the same, regardless of the form of government that it uses. An ugly world will never be made beautiful by attacking the symptoms. It is man himself who must be changed and made better. Then and only then can the world which he makes up become better, too. The holiness of the human being guarantees the holiness and beauty of his world. Even if this is a long and difficult process, it is the only way. Of such things did the rabbis say: “There is a long way that is short and a seemingly short way that is in reality long.” And how does one change man's natural inclination to be selfish? “The commandments were given to Israel to purify people”. Here is the way the Almighty, creator of man who knows all of his workings and ways, knew that man could be brought to holiness and purity. The mitzvot, the commandments – they are the way, the only way. “And you shall fulfill all my commandments, and then shall you be holy unto your G-d."

PSALM 27: The Lord is my Light and My Salvation

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked, my enemies and my adversaries, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident.
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; under the cover of his tent shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies around me; therefore I will offer in his tent sacrifices of joy; I will sing, I will make music to the Lord.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice; be gracious to me, and answer me.
Of you my heart said, Seek my face; Your face, O Lord, will I seek!
Hide not your face from me; put not your servant away in anger; you have been my help; do not abandon me, nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.
For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me up.
Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path, because of my enemies.
Do not give me up to the will of my enemies; for false witnesses have risen up against me, and they breathe out violence.
Were it not that I believe I should see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart; and wait on the Lord.

BENADOR: Answer to Ahmadinejad about the Land of Israel

B"H

It seems someone has been doing evil during our 25-hour Shabbat absence.

Iran's Ahmadinejad has, again, continued his ranting against our beloved Land of Israel.

While I will not dignify dwelling on this vermin's venom, I do have something very specific to say to the cowardly world leaders: Take a look at that picture: It's the Land G-d gave to His Chosen Children, the Jews, and this map show

s the borders of the Land of Israel as they are mentioned in the Torah.

May the Land of Israel be blessed with leaders who will be righteous men, who will read the Torah and who will believe blindly in G-d and therefore will do as G-d Commands us to do.

Meanwhile, there are righteous Jews throughout he world, who pray and believe in G-d... and G-d is listening...

Once again, to the enemies of the Land of Israel, he who fears G-d cannot fear anyone else..

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Picture: The Land of Israel's Borders, as appears in our Holy Torah, given by G-d Himself...

 

RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Re'eh – War of Values: Halacha vs. Democracy

The Torah commands that before each Jew who is going to study, read or take part in discussions and studies related to the Torah, one must recite (once in the day,) the following blessing:

Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has made us holy through His commandments, and commanded us to actively study Torah.

Please Hashem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel.

Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Hashem, Giver of the Torah.

Amen    

The following is the Torah Commentary by our beloved Rabbi Meir Kahane, OBM...   Parashat Re'eh

You shall break apart their altars, you shall smash their pillars; and their sacred trees shall you burn in the fire; their carved images shall you cut down; and you shall obliterate their names from that place. (Deut. 12:3)

If there should stand up in your midst a prophet or a dreamer of a dream (...) saying, “Let us follow gods of others that you did not know and we shall worship them!” - do not hearken to the words of that prophet , for Hashem, your G-d is testing you (...) And that prophet and that dreamer of a dream shall be put to death for he had spoken perversion against Hashem your G-d (...) and you shall destroy the evil from your midst. (Deut. 13:4-6)


Today's alien culture has replaced idolatry, one more reason G-d promised not to let Israel dwell among the nations. In the battle of foreign culture against G-d's concepts of morality and faith, with the constant struggle to distort the Divine truth, no distortion is more widespread or dangerous than that which stems from “moral” opposition to G-d's concepts by the many evildoers who consider themselves far more righteous than their Creator. In our day, such persons have proliferated due to the foreign culture which has penetrated G-d's sanctuary. Ramban warned about them in his commentary: “'You shall consume all the peoples that the L-rd your G-d shall deliver unto you. Your eye shall not pity them' (Deut. 7:16): It says, 'Your eye shall not pity them.' This conforms with, 'Taking pity on the wicked is cruel' (Prov. 12:10). Such behavior is not good but evil.” Our sages' words provide us with true guidance. I have previously mentioned the false prophet, of whom it says (Deut. 13:6), “That prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he spoke perversion against the L-rd your G-d.” Here Or HaChaim comments, “Sifri explains that 'speaking perversion' refers to falsifying G-d's words.” Or HaCHaim continues, “And for his falsification he dies.” This teaches that whoever falsifies, perverts of distorts G-d's word has done an unbearable sin.

In the war declared against G-d by those who rebel against His word, on the one hand they brazenly question G-d's nature and infinite greatness. As King David said, “The fool says in his heart, 'There is no G-d'. They have dared to fashion their own culture, their own way of thinking, their own approach to morality, while scornfully ridiculing G-d: “They say, 'How does G-d know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?'” (Ps. 73:11). On the other hand, these rebels, and all others for whom the laws and moral code of G-d are so unacceptable as to be tortuous, falsify the truth, and the result is distortion. The impure have entered the sanctuary of G-d's moral code and made their own rules, with light being turned into darkness, darkness into light, and falsehood overriding truth. Of all their distortions, none is more dangerous than that applied to the terms “good” and “evil”.

The liberal west categorically negates certain concepts – i.e., vengeance, hate and violence – almost a priori, while Judaism speaks of “a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace,” with the need and commandment to love the good and hate evil, to seek peace but to go to war against the wicked, with vengeance, at the proper time, an obligation, in order to show that there is a Judge and there is justice in the world. The liberal west speaks of the most important thing being life itself and thus moves easily into a concept of better anything than dead, while Judaism speaks of the quality of life, with the yardstick being the doing of G-d's will in life and the commandment being to give up one's life if necessary in order to obey certain of G-d's laws. But above all, Judaism differs from liberal and non-liberal western values in that the foundation upon which it rests is that of “the yoke of Heaven”, the acceptance of G-d's law and values and concepts as truth, without testing them in the fires of one's own knowledge, choice, desires, and acceptance. One does not weigh and mull over Jewish values as presented in Torah authority. One does not test them to see if they are acceptable to the taste, sweet to the palate. One does not test them by his own standards to see if he believes them to be just or decent or merciful or good. It is the Almighty Who created the world and the word, Who created finite and stumbling man, Who created justice and decency and mercy and good. That which He created is just and decent and merciful and good, and we accept it because of that.It is this yoke of Heaven, the setting aside of our will before His because He is truth and His Torah is truth, that is the fundamental of Judaism.

The values of Judaism struggle to the death with the secular, gentilized, foreign, corrupt ones of the Hellenists. This is the real struggle – the war of ideas, of values, of civilization. Will it be the victory of Judaism with its specific, separate, distinct views of holiness and purity, or the triumph of the Hebrew-speaking gentiles whose self-hate, a twisted product of cancerous ego, leads them to reject and stomp upon Judaism of discipline and embrace instead the malignancy of gentilization with its license, total self-indulgence, and self-destruction? The war is being fought over the soul and destiny of the people and state. A people rejects its chosenness and specialness, its sanctity and elevation, its separation from the impurities of the nations, their profanations and abominations. It pants after the gentile, it seeks to be as all the nations.The Jews against the Hellenists. The real struggle.

[As Rav Meir Kahane's son Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane wrote in the Darka shel Torah Parasha series]: The Jewish Supreme Court that has arisen and begun to enact legislation against Torah in a frantic effort to forcefully transform the Jewish People to Hebrew-speaking gentiles. They attempt to accomplish this by laying down the following ground rules: The chosenness of the Jewish People and all other halacha that discriminates between Jew and gentile is “racism”, for it opposes the basic democratic principle of equality for all men, regardless of race, creed, color or religion. (Even the abolition of the Law of Return is in their sights.) In addition, any religious legislation can be rejected because it negates the basic democratic principle of the “individuals right to freedom”. But most importantly, the Hellenists of today are demanding that democracy take precedence over everything, including the Halacha. By use of these seemingly harmless axioms, the State of Israel is eradicating from itself all Jewish content. In these “progressive” times, there are not even “Jews”, only “Israelis”. The implications are quite serious. No longer can we say: “Well, they are tinokot shenishbu (like children who are totally unaware or ignorant of their Jewish heritage). In the meantime, we'll sit and learn Torah and gather strength and numbers until the day comes when we can change the situation and make Torah the law of the land.” Those days are over, because the Hellenists are not waiting. They are very actively exerting all their influence to establish democracy as the law of the land and ultimate value of society, banning anyone who does not succumb to them 100%.

[Dear reader, please note how this, written more than 10 years ago, fits our very situation today:] Already they forcibly prohibit us from learning “forbidden” sections of Torah. Fact: A rabbi sits in jail today on the charge of racism for a Halachic essay he wrote. Rabbis are being investigated daily and soon will be jailed under suspicion that they had the “audacity” to tell their students not to follow orders which negate Torah law (and let us not even mention what will be the fate of those who actually carry out the rabbis' words). Yes, we are at the climax of a cultural war. It is “us” or “them”. This is the first time in history that the Jewsthemselves have laid down decrees against halacha! And it is not relevant if it is against the entire Torah, ten halachot, or even one halacha! What are the rabbis doing? The buzz word these days is “unity”. Fortunately for us, the Hellenists aren't interested. They fully understand that before there is any reconciliation, there must be a framework of common ground from which to work. And if that basis is not the unequivocal commitment to democracy – (i.e. that it supersedes the halacha) then there will be no reconciliation. And so they continue to lead the rabbis into tiny investigation rooms, hoping to squeeze out of them some quote from the Talmud by Rav Ashi, in order to strong-arm them: Unity? Solidarity? No problem! As long as we dictate the rules. Take the pig and say it: Democracy over halacha!

Obviously, no rabbi will accept this. We must realize that the game is over. We can no longer evade the contradiction of Jewishness and Democracy that the State of Israel was schizophrenically based upon. There is an unbridgeable gap, for it is a conflict whereby the entire premise of each philosophy totally contradicts the other. The rabbis have a mighty mission ahead. It is incumbent upon each and every one of them to get up and declare: In the same way that Jews rebuffed the harsh edicts of the Greeks and Romans, and Rabbi Akiva was even skinned alive for this principle, so too must we stand in defiance when Israeli democracy decides that certain parts of Torah cannot be learned. These are days of religious persecution, and we must cling to the path of Rabbi Akiva – to openly learn and teach all the forbidden laws and to proclaim unequivocally that we will disobey any law that forces us to transgress the Torah. Because Torah supersedes democracy.

A person's whole life is a test to see whether he will accept the yoke of Heaven and of mitzvot. There is nothing precious that does not exact a heavy price of him who wishes to acquire it.

Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D, with excerpts from "Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews" and from "Darka shel Torah" of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, HY"D

This compilation is especially dedicated to Rabbis Yitzchak Shapira and Yitzchak Ginsburg of Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai and Rabbi Dov Lior and Rabbi Ya'akov Yosef who were harassed, arrested and questioned for their unwavering commitment to teaching true and uncompromising Torah.

BENADOR: America's Right Choice

I have prepared something for you...


We live in critical times, and the responsibility of this era befalls upon our shoulders...


We can try to say, it's not my 
responsibility, it is beyond my power...


But it is not beyond your power.


And it is your responsibility, simply because History has been made of the added sum of every single person who cared... 

May G-d bless you with His Infinite Wisdom and Strength to make the right choice... 

BENADOR: Triumph of the Indomitable Jewish Soul

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am 'I'? And if not now, when?  Hillel,
Ethics of the Fathers


By Eliana Benador


As the totalitarian fascist liberal conspiracy worldwide moves forward to detriment of individual liberties, they are simultaneously advancing the comeback of Communism while facilitating the cause of Muslim world domination.  It is becoming a symptomatic reality nowadays that actions of violence against Jews worldwide are overwhelmingly on the rise.

The disgraceful denial to honor the memory of eleven Jewish athletes massacred by Muslim Palestinian terrorists during the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, has been the nec plus ultra of psycho-terrorism perpetrated against Jews worldwide, in this beginning of the 21st century, by the so-called civilized world ganging up with the savages practitioners of terrorism, who in their quest for civilian victims, count with influence and power to protect the imprimatur of Islam and Muslim degenerated standards.

The International Olympic Committee’s refusal to mark the 40th anniversary of the massacre of 11 Jewish athletes, showed the moral decadence of the Olympic leadership.  Simple human decency should have made the commemoration a natural part of the program.  

Given that there was no indication that their husbands’ memories would be honored, two of the Olympian widows, raised their voices and appealed to public opinion with a widespread distributed petition.  Later on, they approached the President of the OIC, Jacques Rogge, with their petition backed by 150,000 signatures, but to no avail.  Even that failed to impress the Frenchman.  

However, the deteriorating situation is resulting in a dramatic return to anti-Semitic ranting taken more seriously by none other than Iran’s current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran’s Ahmadinejad

It was back in August 2005, that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president of Iran. Ahmadinejad’s list of transgressions against the human condition is huge, from his violations of human rights, to his virulent and poisonous anti-Semitism, all of which is complicated by his nasty support of Iran’s nuclear program that he shamelessly and  blatantly pretends is for peaceful purposes while threatening not only the region but just as much, world peace.

Recently, he addressed a group of ambassadors from Islamic countries ahead of what they call the “al-Quds” (or “Jerusalem”) Day.  In what is considered his most anti-Semitic speech so far, he specifically mentioned that the “annihilation of the Zionist regime” is not just a Palestinian issue, but is rather the “key for solving the world problems.”

That said, Ahmadinejad is but one noisy pawn on the board of this ever growing anti-Semitic checkerboard.  To finish the job, he counts on the help of former murderous anti-Semitic countries, such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland.  Their current betrayal of the Jewish cause only shows their lack of sensitivity despite lessons of their painful past. .

Circumcision Ban

Not having learned from their mistakes, cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, have recently proceeded to ban religious circumcision.

Circumcision for us, Jews, is essential and is treated as a Divine Commandment, one that is not up for discussion.  It is the covenant we have with God, our religious connection to the Divine Power that lies behind creation.

Civilization has until now managed to implement our freedom of  religion without interfering.  But now, things are slowly beginning to change and not for the better.

in Germany, at the end of June, “the Cologne state court banned the circumcision of boys for religious reasons, ruling that it was an unlawful act of bodily harm.”  

Then, in July 2012, it was Austria’s turn.  Hitler’s birth land, rallied with the anti-Semites, once again.   As in Germany, it also began in one city in Austria.  “Inspired” by the German court ruling that considered circumcision a “criminal bodily harm,” the governor of the Austrian province of Vorarlberg, ordered hospitals under his jurisdiction, to stop performing non-medical circumcisions -in the meantime that he waited to clear the situation “legally”.

Joining the chorus of cowardly European anti-Semites, Switzerland did not lose any time joining in.  After all, the Swiss have a track record: they pushed away to their death, Jews who were trying to find refuge to escape their Nazi executioners.  

Thus, the administrators at the Children's Hospital in Zurich and the Hospital of St. Gallen in northeast Switzerland followed the German example and explained that the decision was taken in order to "review the ethical and legal implications of non-medical circumcisions."

In essence, in denying circumcision, Switzerland seems to forget the large Muslim community in their midst -and those also practice the forbidden ritual.

Did they erase Holocaust from their conscience?

It’s not too long ago that an Austrian leader of Nazi Germany engineered the slaughter of 6 million Jews in concentration camps, in burning ovens, in laboratories as cobayes...  Germans, Austrians and Swiss were all accomplices of the most terrible horror man committed against man.  

Germany does not have the right to forget.  Neither do Austria and Switzerland.  
Their descent to the living hell must not and cannot be repeated, lest they suffer the direst consequences, because God is patient, but as History shows, His Patience does not last forever...

Sure enough, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, lashed at the district court ruling saying:  “I do not want Germany to be the only country in the world where Jews cannot practice their rituals,” Merkel was quoted by Bild as saying. “Otherwise we will become a laughing stock.”

But Merkel’s condemnation is loaded with a responsibility she has for 5% of Germany’s population, of whom Jews are a mere 120,000, while Muslims number over 4 million -a force to be reckoned with.

While that was happening in Europe, we can wonder what was going on within the International Olympic Committee that so adamantly denied those 60 seconds of silence.

Muslim terrorists massacred Jewish Olympians in 1972

Muslim Palestinian terrorists had meticulously prepared to take hostage the Jewish Olympians.  They ruthlessly executed them.  Despite all efforts, History will not forget.   

The whole world is now entering an unseen crippling darkness that is being brought about by the rise of Muslim civilization and which will take us to their kind of civilization, one that is filled with hate, destruction, opprobrium and disgrace, one which will be directly influencing our lives through sharia law imposing honor killing, stoning, beheading, female mutilation, preparing little children to become suicide-bombers, marriage to little girls, in all, teaching of hate, and everything that goes against human dignity and human rights.  

And it’s all of these that’s influencing mankind nowadays, and which has not allowed to honor the memory of slain Jewish sportsmen in the prime of their lives at the hands of terrorists coming from the darkness of the dark.

IOC vs Massacred Olympian Jews

In the story of the infamous One-Minute that never happened, the behavior of the International Olympic Committee descended to the level of uneducated radical savages leaving for History the judgement of human betrayal.

Denying time and again the One-Minute Silence, Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC, secured his place right among rabid Holocaust naysayers.  

Rogge had explained that “if” they would have honored the memory of the Jewish Olympians, they would have had to also honor the memory of the terrorists who slaughtered them -a lowlife moral equivalence that History one day will judge in the harshest terms possible.  

Monsieur Rogge miscalculated if he hoped to erase the facts with his actions -alas, they will be impregnated in the memory of History forever.  Muslim Palestinian terrorism can run but will never be able to escape their responsibility in the acts they have perpetrated time and again.  And, no help in the world will be able to remove from the anals of History what they have done.

In came Aly Raisman, Jewish, American Gold Olympian 

And, when the world had already given up on any One-Minute of Silence from the official tribune at the Olympics, in came a mirage:  Our very own 18-year old Jewish athlete, American Gold Olympian, Aly Raisman.     

For her group and her solo performances, Aly had chosen the Jewish melody, Hava Nagila...  It was magnificent to watch the Jewish gazelle turn and swing, jump and graciously make her way to the Olympic Gold Medal in two categories, warmly accompanied by the clapping of an adoring crowd.

Aly was a godsend at the right time, at the right place.  She honored the memory of those massacred Jews, with her choice of music, with the unbelievable passion of a great gymnast as she made her way for the gold medal which is the first one ever won by an American woman in the floor exercise.

Regardless of the lack of an official ceremony in honor of the memory of her long time murdered colleagues, Aly Raisman raised herself to the greatest heights -and with her triumphed the indomitable Jewish spirit that has survived through millennia only to make a stronger comeback at every turn.   With God’s Help.

Copyright©ElianaBenador

Visit Eliana's blog at www.elianaschoice.blogspot.com

Follow her on twitter www.twitter.com/ElianaBenador

RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Eikev - Fear and Love of G-d

BENADOR: BLESSING BEFORE THE STUDY OF THE TORAH

The Torah commands that before each Jew who is going to study, read or take part in discussions and studies related to the Torah, one must recite (once in the day,) the following blessing:

Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has made us holy through His commandments, and commanded us to actively study Torah.

Please Hashem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel.

Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Hashem, Giver of the Torah.

Amen

Now, O Israel, what does Hashem your G-d, ask of you? Only to fear Hashem, your G-d, to go in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve Hashem, your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul... (Deut. 10:12)

The fear of G-d! The thoughtful, contemplative person who sees G-d's wonders is astonished by the greatness of Him Whose word brought the world into being and embarrassed by his own insignificance. Fear takes hold of him – the fear of G-d. [King] Solomon said, “The fear of the L-rd is the beginning of knowledge”(Prov. 1:7).The beginning, the first essential element in a person's wisdom and knowledge, if he is to understand what his task is and where he is going, is the fear of G-d, vanquishing his ego and accepting G-d's yoke. If one merits this, the whole world is his. Otherwise, better he was never born. Without fear of G-d, wisdom is nothing but conceit and a tool to self-advancement. Even one's Torah lacks holiness, modesty and purity, and without these it is not Torah. Does G-d desire mere wisdom and brilliance in Torah? Does He need vain argumentation and polished, sophisticated explanations? Is not all wisdom His? Just as He has no need of candle light, so has He no need of the Torah scholar's wisdom. As our sages said (Shemot Rabbah 36:2), “It is not that I need you. Rather, shower light upon Me the way I showered light upon you.” In just the same way, G-d does not need the Torah, yet He gave it to mortal men for their own good so they would subdue their egos and cling to Him. Hence, if there is no fear of G-d, the Torah becomes mere wisdom, and better that man should not study it.

It is impossible to lead a sinless life without the fear of G-d. It therefore says (Lev. 19:14), “Fear your G-d. I am the L-rd.” Fear is the purest element there is and it naturally guarantees the absence of sin. Such is the intent of Psalms 19:10: “The fear of the L-rd is pure; it stands firm forever.” Fear, dread and reverence bind a person so he does not sin. How difficult it is to acquire the fear of G-d! Man's arrogance and evil impulse incite him to distance himself from that trait. For this reason, before R. Yochanan ben Zackai passed away, he blessed his students as follows (Berachot 28b), “May it be G-d's will that as much fear of Heaven be upon you as fear of mortal man.” His students then asked, “Is that all?” and he responded, “You should be so fortunate as to achieve just this! Consider that when people sin they say, 'I hope no one sees me' [i.e., they do not fear G-d, Who sees all.]” Our sages had the same intent when they said (Sotah 3a), “No person sins without suffering first a flash of insanity.” After all, any sane person will recoil from committing any sin, for G-d can see him!Would anyone sane steal, smite or murder while a policeman is standing by? Thus, if someone who believes in G-d still sins, it can only be that at that moment his thinking processes were so clouded and his selfishness and lust so overwhelmed him that he dared to sin under G-d's gaze. It is, thus, quite important that a person always set G-d or one of the commandments before him. This is fundamental to fearing G-d. If someone envisions a commandment before him, it is as though he sees the One Who commanded it. How can he not tremble with fear?

“I set the L-rd ever before me” (Ps. 16:8): This verse [...] Rama saw as appropriate to insert at the very beginning of Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 1:1): “Setting G-d ever before you” is an exceedingly important principle of the Torah and of those saintly individuals who walk before G-d. The way a person sits and moves and behaves at home alone is not the way he sits and moves and behaves before a great king... And when he notices that G-d, the Supreme King, Whose glory fills the earth, stands over him and sees his deeds... how much more so will he be filled with reverence and humility out of his fear and constant shame before G-d.Envisioning G-d constantly in one's presence serves to magnify one's fear of Him. Without such fear, man has no hope, and that is why G-d requires it. (Berachot 33b): “Everything is in G-d's hands but the fear of G-d: 'And now, Israel, what does the L-rd your G-d require of you but to fear Him' (Deut. 10:12).” Whoever examines the entire verse will see that it continues, “To walk in all His ways, to love Him, and to serve the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and all your soul.” In other words, these last achievements are fulfilled through the fear of G-d. Without such fear, one cannot possibly achieve holiness, for one's ego will always take control.

That same faith in G-d which leads us to fear Him, and subsequently to modesty, lowliness and self-effacement, ultimately leads man to recognize G-d's greatness, omnipotence and omniscience. It creates in us the desire and longing to serve G-d wholeheartedly, to emulate Him and to be with Him always. Such longing is called Ahavat Hashem, the love of G-d. Fearing G-d, without which man cannot merit holiness of purity, is itself a prerequisite to loving Him, the second stage of man's spiritual growth as he proceeds to accept upon himself the yoke of Heaven. Loving G-d is a more exalted stage, as our sages said (Sotah 31a), “One motivated by love for G-d is greater than one motivated by fear.” Fear ensures man's separating himself from evil, making it infinitely easier for him later on to attain reward. As King David said, “Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 34:15). Fear of G-d distances man from evil, whereas love of G-d ensures that he will do good, out of desire and craving for G-d and His commandments. The more a person ponders G-d's wonders and examines the truth of His attributes and moral code, the more he will understand how much wisdom and truth are contained in them and the more there will grow within him a love for the Master, Who is all goodness, kindness and mercy. This is Israel's task, in love and joy, longing and desire, to bring the world to recognize G-d's majesty and sovereignty, the Divine greatness of His attributes and moral code, His laws and statutes.

Even so, just as the Torah spoke in human terms, so did G-d create human love. While such love cannot be compared to love for G-d, still, as far as man is concerned, such love is so fierce that it contains within it a slight hint of what we are commanded to feel toward G-d. As the Rambam said (Hilchot Teshuvah 10:3): What is befitting love for G-d? It must be so enormous and fierce that it bends man's soul to G-d. A man can be so lovesick for a woman that he is never free of his infatuation for her, whether he is at home, going out, getting up in the morning or eating. Our love for G-d must be greater even than that. We must be ravished with this love constantly, as G-d commanded us, with all our heart and soul. As King Solomon said (Song of Songs 2:5), “I am lovesick.” All of Song of Songs was a metaphor for man's love of G-d. Rabbi Akiva likewise said, “The whole universe never had as much justification to exist as the day Song of Songs was given to Israel. While all the Writings are holy, Song of Songs is holy of holies” (Yadayim 3:5). The reason for this is both profound and clear: The greatest love that man can fathom is that between man and woman, in which the man is ravished and lovesick on her account.

Ultimately, that love will be so fierce and profound that it will capture his spirit and soul. It will be a love of true devotion, as it says, “To love the L-rd your G-d, to hearken to His voice and to cling to Him” (Deut. 30:20).[As Rabbi Kahane put it in “Why be Jewish?” p. 179]: This is how a Jew who knows G-d prays: “Thou art the Flame and I the straw – and who should have mercy upon the straw if not the Flame? Thou art Pure, and I am sinful – and who should have mercy upon the sinful if not the Pure? Thou art the Supporter and I the falling one – and who should have mercy upon the falling one if not the Supporter? Thou art the Shepherd and I the flock...” The words of the Jew who looks to the real G-d and who daily whispers: I believe, I believe, I believe ... I know!”

We certainly cannot achieve the infiniteness of the love with which we were commanded, over and over, to love G-d: “Love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart, all your soul and all your might” (Deut. 6:5). We must actually love Him “with all our soul.” As our sages said (Sifri, Va'etchanan 32), “Even if He takes your soul.”[How far this ultimate love goes we can learn from] Berachot 61b: When Rabbi Akiva was taken out to be executed [for teaching Torah in public, against a Roman decree], it was time to recite the Shema, and as they raked his flesh with iron rakes, he recited it. His students asked him, “Master! Does one's duty extend that far?” and he responded, “All my life I agonized over the verse, 'Love the L-rd your G-d... with all your soul'(Deut. 6:5), which means we must love G-d even if He takes our soul. I said, 'When will I have the opportunity to fulfill this?' Now that the opportunity has arisen, shall I not fulfill it?”

To bend the knee and bow the head and accept the Divine yoke, as one does “good” unto humanity in the way that the Almighty commanded – and then appreciate and hold Him in awe and love Him in a totality of body and soul. That is the purpose of man. [Rabbi Kahane in “Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews”].

Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY"D, with brief excerpts from "Why be Jewish" and "Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews".