Goodwill Ambassador Eliana Benador: Judaism

Showing posts with label Judaism. Show all posts

Sunday, May 20, 2012

BENADOR: Celebrating Jerusalem Day: King David's City, Capital of the Land of Israe

B"H

The Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were liberated during the 1967 Six-Day War.The day is marked by Jews worldwide as “Jerusalem Day.” Jerusalem belongs exclusively to the Jews.

I remember the first time I visited many years ago, I fell in love with Jerusalem, I enjoyed touching the Stones of Jerusalem, I knew I was touching the History of our people and, regardless of whimsical opinions, our History has made the History of the world...

"Jerusalem is for Israel the focal point of Jewish History: the symbol of ancient glory, of longing, of prayer, of modern renewal." -- Abba Eban

Jerusalem just as Israel were words pronounced by G-d himself for the first time ever. And, those who want to contend this, they can feel free to show us where are those two words, Jerusalem and Israel, mentioned before the Torah.

The Talmud says Jerusalem was named by G-d and the name is formed by two roots: Yira means “to see” or “vision” and and shalayim comes from the word-root shalom which means “peace.”

The Talmud also says that the creation began in Jerusalem and from there, the world radiated. As a matter of fact, medieval maps show Jerusalem at the epicenter of Asia, Europe and Africa. The world flows into this spot and life itself resonates from there.

As Abraham said, Jerusalem is the place where one can see G-d. It was also the place of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac.

In the year 1004, before the common era, the G-d loving, fierce Jewish warrior, King David establishes Jerusalem as the Capital of the United Kingdom of Israel.

His successor and son, King Solomon, in 960, builds the Temple on the site designated by his father. However, in 922, the Kingdom was divided between north (Israel) and south (Judah) with Jerusalem as capital of the southern kingdom. In 586, Nebuchednazzar, King of Babylon captured and destroyed Jerusalem including the First Temple, and exiles the Jews to Babylon. Entre 536-537, exile in Babylon ends and the Jews began their way back home led by Ezra and Nehemia. During the reign of Darius in Persia, Jerusalem is restored and they dedicated the Second Temple. Antiochus Epiphanes, King of Syria, plunders Jerusalem in 170, And during 167 to 164, the Maccabean revolts by Hasmoneans ended by the desecration of Temple by Antiochus.

And nowadays we are looking forward to rebuilding the Third Temple.

Let's celebrate Jerusalem Day, with joy in our hearts and prayers for her safety and the safety of the Land of Israel...

And, I have chosen King David, G-d's Fierce Warrior, the Founder of Jerusalem, to tell the world of the Jewish Sovereignty in Jerusalem, the Capital of the Land of Israel, Given by G-d to the Jews.

May G-d bless Jerusalem and the Land of Israel and His Faithful Jews worldwide -and our devoted friends...

Friday, April 20, 2012

RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Shemini - The Meaning of Life

Blessing before studying Torah:

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.

_______________________________________________________

Commentary by Rabbi Meir Kahane OBM:
Parashat Shemini - The Meaning of Life

The sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, they put fire in them and placed incense upon it; and they brought before Hashem an alien fire that He had not commanded them. A fire came forth from before Hashem and consumed them, and they died before Hashem. (Lev. 10:1-2)

Dear friend, open your mouth wide and I will fill it with a major, albeit harsh, principle from the Torah of life: Since life on this earth is only a vestibule for the banquet hall which is the World-to-Come, only an instrument of G-d whose purpose is to bring man and the world to holiness and the yoke of G-d's kingdom, and since true life occurs only in the World-to-Come, the world of truth, it follows that in order to attain this goal and teach people fundamental lessons, G-d sometimes shortens peoples' lives.

Sometimes, those who pass away are righteous, innocent persons, even children and infants,and the fools and the “dead” who move around among us see in it only cruelty, or even lack of logic, direction and Divine conduct in the world. Life was given to man as a loan, a loan that he must pay off when the time comes, and that he is not entitled to refuse. As our sages said (Avot, end of Ch. 4): Perforce you were formed and perforce you were born; perforce you live, perforce you shall die, and perforce you have to give a strict account before the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. The two sons of R. Meir and his wife Beruriah died. Our sages describe how Beruriah acted before revealing the tragedy to her husband (Yalkut Shimoni, Mishlei 964): Beruriah set food before R. Meir. After he had eaten she said, “Master, I have a question to ask. Someone previously gave me a deposit to take care of for him. Now he has come to reclaim it. Should I return it or not?” R. Meir replied, “Daughter, if someone has a deposit, is he not obligated to return it to its owner?” She then said, “I would not return it without your knowledge.” Taking his hand, she brought him up to the bedroom. She pulled back the bed sheets and he saw his two sons lying there deceased. He began to cry and said, “My sons, my sons! My teachers, my teachers! My sons in proper behavior. My teachers in that they would enlighten me with their Torah.” At that moment she said, “Master, did you not tell me that we must return a deposit to its owner? 'The L-rd gave and the L-rd has taken away. Blessed be the name of the L-rd' (Job 1:21).”

Life is nothing but a deposit from G-d. It is decreed that one should live a specific length of time, and during that time he should fulfill the mission incumbent on him. Like anyone guarding a deposit, a person must guard his life, neither damaging nor making improper use of it. When the time comes, he must return it to its owner. Man's life on earth is exceedingly short; it passes in the blink of an eye. On the one hand, it is qualitatively of enormous importance, for only through it can a person fulfill the duty for which he was created. On the other hand, however, how brief and transient life is! It is compared to “the potsherd that breaks, the grass that withers, the flower that fades, the shadow that passes, the cloud that vanishes, the breeze that blows, the dust that floats, the dream that flies away” (U'Netaneh Tokef). Our true, eternal existence is in the World-to-Come, not here on earth. As our sages said (Avot 4:16), “This world is like a vestibule before the World-to-Come. Prepare yourself in the vestibule so that you may enter the banquet hall.” This carries both encouragement and a warning, and we must assimilate the whole message with pure acceptance of the yoke of Heaven. A person must understand his mission on earth and the idea that life was given only to fulfill that mission. He must understand how brief and transient life is and how much emptiness pervades it. Once he understands these things, he will recognize that he need not fear either the day or moment of death as long as he pursues life by accepting the yoke of Heaven and being constantly ready to sanctify G-d's name through self-sacrifice. If someone has attained immortality by doing G-d's will, what does he lose if he suddenly leaves this world? One should not delude oneself into viewing longevity as an end in itself. The main thing is life's quality: how a person lives. Does he attain true life as defined by G-d? When a person exists on this earth without accepting the yoke of Heaven and without readiness to sacrifice his life to sanctify G-d's name, that is not “life” at all, but a bestial existence.

By contrast, if someone's life was cut off in its prime through his sacrificing himself, that person was alive before, he is still alive now, and he will remain alive forever in the World-to-Come. The wise person who understands G-d's ways and Torah will thus never fear. He will always be ready to sacrifice his life to sanctify G-d's name, and precisely in this way, to continue living. When G-d wishes to demonstrate how great, awesome and just He is, He shows no favoritism even to the righteous. He killed the two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, who were righteous (and not only did He kill them, but He took their souls on the most joyous and holy day, that of the Tabernacle's dedication). What great suffering was caused to Aaron, their father, and Elisheva, their mother! Dear reader, let us consider our grave duty to fear G-d. As explained above, G-d will sometimes take a person before his time to teach a profound idea that will sanctify His name. G-d's doing so involves no cruelty whatsoever. On the one hand, life on this earth is short and fleeting. It is not eternal. If someone dies young, as much as a tragedy it is for his relatives and friends, he is really only leaving this earth a few years before he would have anyway. On the other hand, someone whom G-d kills to teach that person's nation and contemporaries and the world a Divine lesson that will sanctify G-d's name, thereby ascends to greatness. Our sages said (Vayikra Rabbah 2:1), “Ten things are called precious... From whence do we know that the death of the saintly is among them? It says, 'Precious in the sight of the L-rd is the death of His saints'(Ps. 116:5).” Thus, those saints who die to sanctify G-d's name are precious, and their death is precious.

G-d suffered greatly for having killed Nadab and Abihu, who were righteous. As our sages said (Bamidbar Rabbah 2:23): “Nadab and Abihu died before the L-rd” (Num. 3:4): The Torah's mentioning their death in several places teaches that G-d was sorrowful because Aaron's sons were dear to Him. Likewise it says, “I will be sanctified through those close to Me (Lev. 10:3).Vayikra Rabbah (20:10) says, “The death of Nadab and Abihu was twice as hard on G-d as it was on their father.” R. Eliezer HaModai says (Sifri, Pinchas 137): Consider how dear the righteous are before G-d. Wherever it mentions their death it mentions the sin that led to it as well. Why does it go to such lengths? To avoid giving mankind the pretext to say that righteous men died because they had acted corruptly in secret. Thus, in four places it mentions the death of Aaron's sons, and in each it mentions their sin to make known that they had no sin but this. One should be aware that in all four places where G-d mentions Nadab and Abihu's sin, He points to the strange fire that they brought in the Holy of Holies. This was their sin, as noted in previous sources. When they saw the fire descend, they became excited and followed their own Halachah that it was a mitzvah to bring regular fire as well. They wished to stress the connection between G-d's holiness and that of man. At the root of all this was their desire to enter the Holy of Holies, to commune there with G-d, and to offer an incense that would be accepted. Although Nadab and Abihu were righteous and wished to come close to G-d, the outcome of their deed was the diminishing of G-d's glory and of Israel's reverence for Him. Hence G-d made Nadab and Abihu an eternal example, an everlasting reminder of the crucial principle that we must demonstrate fear of G-d through reverence for the Temple: This is what G-d meant when He said, 'I will be sanctified through those close to Me, and thus glorified before all the people.' Aaron remained silent (Lev. 10:3).

Besides the general reverence all are obligated to feel, there are concrete limitations on a persons' entering the Temple, depending on who he is. If he is and Israelite, his being pure or impure has a bearing, as does the type of impurity, itself. If he is and ordinary Kohen, his being physically blemished, not cutting his hair or wearing torn clothes has a bearing. If he is the Kohen Gadol, he faces other limitations when he enters the Holy of Holies once each year. Although the reason for these limitations is the levels of holiness within these boundaries,entering in opposition to that holiness indicates a lack of fear of G-d, the levels of holiness having been fixed chiefly so man would experience that fear. What emerges from all this is that G-d gave us life to perform a specific task, and created man to fulfill that task and bring the world holiness, purity, humility, fear of Heaven and acceptance of G-d's yoke. This being the case, when the times demand it, G-d might also remove someone from this earth to teach a specific idea. We need not mourn such a person. Rather we must stand silently as did Aaron and accept sentence. We must transcend our natural sorrow and be joyful about this exalted soul. G-d's holy ones are likewise adored and lauded through this, for by their early deaths theycomplete their role on this wretched earth in holiness and acceptance of the yoke of Heaven, and there is nothing greater than that. No exit from this earth could be more exalted.

Friday, April 6, 2012

RAV BINYAMIN ZE'EV KAHANE: Pesach – Seder night’s secret meaning

B"H
Blessing before studying Torah (one needs to say this blessing only *once* in the day:)

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

May it be Your Will, Hash-m our G-d, to 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, Hash-m, Who teaches Torah to Your people Israel.

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

_________________________________________________

It happened that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah, Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Tarfon were reclining at the [Seder] table in B'nei Brak, and they were recounting the story of the Exodus from Egypt all that night, until their students came in and told them: “Our Rabbis! The time has come for the recitation of the morning Shema!” (From the Pesach Haggada)
It happened. Rabbi Maimon suggested a nice idea regarding the historical background of this episode. Even though it is not clear whether it is historically accurate, it sheds essential light on understanding the milieu in which these five sages lived and were active. Rabbi Maimon asks: why did these four great Tannaim leave their homes on the Seder night to travel to B'nei Brak, the home of Rabbi Akiva. Indeed, according to the Talmud, each of the other four Tannaim had houses of study in other cities. More than this: given that they wanted to sit together – why at the house of Rabbi Akiva, who was considered the student in relation to the others? His explanation is that this episode occurred during the period of preparation for the revolt of Bar Kochba – whose arms-bearer and one of the leaders of the revolt, was Rabbi Akiva ( Mishne Torah, Hilchot Melachim/Laws of Kings 11:3). It should also be noted that the Rambam writes that the other sages of the generation also supported Bar Kochba. Accordingly, when these five sages sat in B'nei Brak, precisely at the place of Rabbi Akiva who was at the center of the revolt, they engaged not only in recounting the Exodus from Egypt in the past tense, but – and principally - the “Exodus from Egypt” of their own time. As is well known, the first redemption was a portent for the final Redemption. This means that in order to understand the fundaments of the final Redemption – which is predicated on faith, self-sacrifice and Kiddush Hashem – the fundaments of the first redemption must be learned thoroughly. Therefore, studying the first redemption, and studying the final Redemption, are one and the same thing! As is known, the Bar Kochba Revolt occurred about 60 years after the destruction of the Second Temple. Nevertheless, the belief and the understanding that it was possible to bring the Redemption today, if you would hearken to His voice still beat in the hearts of these leaders of Israel.

For regarding the last exile (as opposed to the Babylonian exile [of 70 years]), no fixed period was ever predetermined. And so, they sat throughout that night, discussing the present revolt, whose purpose was to usher in that day which would be greater than the Exodus from Egypt (See the Talmud, Berachot 13a). For if one sits and tells of the Exodus from Egypt as belonging only to the past, and does nothing for the current Redemption – then what value is there in all the stories he tells on the Seder night? For him, the recitation of the Haggadah really is, as Rabbi Yehuda ha-Levi described it, “like the twittering of a starling”! And in this context, it should be noted that Rabbi Menachem Kasher, in his book ha-Tekufah ha-Gedolah (“The Great Era”), writes that in this generation, the obligation of the Seder night is to relate not only the story of the Exodus from Egypt, but also the miracles of our generation – those miracles of the beginning of the Redemption, which were greater even than the miracles of the Hasmoneans. These miracles, and the events that the Jewish nation has undergone for a century past, can also bring the Jew to faith. As with the Exodus from Egypt, we again saw that out of total despair and terrible humiliation, we arose and revived our nation – after everyone had already eulogized us. And in the same vein, we can add that we should not only sit and recount the miracles, but rather – like Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues – we should sit and discuss the future continuation of the Redemption process. We must ponder how to advance the Redemption, how to smooth the road to Redemption, and how to continue in the path of Bar Kochba and Rabbi Akiva in order to bring the Redemption that is knocking at the gate – immediately, quickly, and without unnecessary suffering – for it is not enough to sit and wait for the Mashiach, we must actively bring him. According to this explanation, the sages did not notice that the time for the morning Shema had arrived, not just because they were engrossed in deep discussion, but also because, for reasons of secrecy, they were sitting in a place that sunlight would never reach.

Our Rabbis! The time has come for the recitation of the morning Shema! This call can also be explained as hinting at something deeper. The recitation of the Shema is the symbol par excellence of the acceptance of the yoke of Heaven, which brings one to self-sacrifice. Rabbi Akiva said, when he was executed by the Romans, that he had always been concerned that he might not have the opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah of sacrificing his very life for Kiddush Hashem: When will my chance come to fulfill it? And his soul departed with the word echad (“one”). Hence, these students were telling their rabbis: Our Rabbis! The time has come to accept unto ourselves the yoke of Heaven, and to go forth and to revolt against the Romans who oppress and humiliate the Jewish nation and desecrate the Name of Heaven. We can thereby bring the Redemption, even at the price of supreme self-sacrifice. For one of the conditions for redemption is self- sacrifice. Indeed two of the sages mentioned here, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon, are among the Ten Martyrs; and several of the Ten Martyrs were students of these sages. The Romans killed them for violating their decrees and, as already mentioned, for their active involvement in the Bar Kochba revolt. Significantly, one of the decrees of the Romans in that generation was the prohibition of reciting the Shema. Rabbi Meir said: Once we were sitting in front of Rabbi Akiva in the Beit ha-Midrash; we were reading the Shema, but we were not reciting it audibly, because of a Roman soldier who was standing by the door. (Tosefta Berachot 2:13) Apparently, this statement is a similar encoded hint of resistance to Roman occupation, along the lines of the commentary on the preceding section.

The time has come for the recitation of the morning Shema. These five Tannaim were sitting and discussing the “Exodus from Egypt” of their generation, i.e. planning how to bring about the final Redemption; and, as we just explained, this is of paramount importance. How, then, can the recital of the Shema take precedence over this? There are two answers: First, Judaism demands precision in the tiniest details of the mitzvot, and one who treats the small details (which might appear to be of secondary importance) lightly, will eventually treat the major principles lightly. Unfortunately, we have seen this in our generation: Some of the greatest thinkers in the nationalist movement abandoned the details of the mitzvot, according them secondary importance, preferring to deal with the “truly important” issues. But ultimately, since the absolute values of Torah did not define their framework, they began to compromise; and having begun to compromise on minor nationalist issues, their compromises became progressively greater, until they conceded those “truly important” issues as well – and, eventually, lost their entire ideology.

Second, the commandment of reciting the Shema is, as we have already said, a declaration of the acceptance of the yoke of Heaven, which is the foundation of all – and it is also the way to bring the Redemption. We must always remember this: when working to bring the Redemption, we must always remain within the framework that G-d has dictated. It is He who establishes the rules and conditions for the Redemption. And the truth is that some of the central conditions of the Redemption fundamentally oppose the ideals of Western culture, which – unfortunately – greatly influence even those who speak highly of the Redemption. We must remember that to bring the Redemption, the first basic condition is acceptance of the yoke of Heaven. And this demands that we accept G-d's dictates in the nationalist sphere, too, whether we understand His reasons, or not, whether they are “acceptable” to us or not; for we are not “nationalists” - we are servants of Hashem.

Self-sacrifice has always been the central condition for hastening the redemption; and so is it in our days. The primary repentance that G-d demands for hastening the Redemption and preventing the terrible sufferings of the birth-pangs of the Mashiach is a return to genuine trust in G-d, tried and proven by our willingness to endanger ourselves for the sake of those mitzvot which appear “dangerous”. These mitzvot include annexation, and open and unabashed settlement of all parts of the Land of Israel; driving the Gentiles out of the Land without fear of what the nations (including America) will say; removing the foreigners from the Temple Mount and implementing our sovereignty there.

May we merit to properly fulfill the mitzvah of telling the Passover story, and to act upon the practical conclusions derived from learning about the first Redemption. Have a happy and kosher Passover.

Excerpted by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from “The Haggada of the Jewish Idea” by Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane HY”D (English edition, translated by Daniel Pinner)

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

BENADOR: Morning Thoughts on Eve of Pesach

B"H

Tuesday and in barely three days more we, Jews, will celebrate our march towards freedom, from the total slavery that we were kept in under the Egyptian idolaters.

Did you know that only 20% of Jews decided to leave Egypt and followed Moshe towards freedom? 80% Jews, who were only "Jews" in name, decided to stay with their Egyptian masters.

Just as in America, 80% of Jews decided to vote for the candidate that would take them back to slavery.

What is Life?

Countless philosophers have made this the field of choice in their lives.

But, for Torah abiding Jews, life is not a question, it is a path... clearly delineated in G-d's book for us, the Torah, an instruction manual that is not put up for choice, but rather a very strict establishment of what G-d's World is expecting us to fulfill.

Just as the galaxies and the stars in the firmament are orderly placed, just as the neutrons, protons and electrons inside the atoms have a precise formation and just as the cells in our bodies have a perfect functioning system... so are we to obey G-d's Laws, without any questioning, simply because He Wants us to do so.

And, although egotistic mankind have eyes to see and ears to listen, it seems that there is hardly anyone seeing or listening, and even less of those actually following in the words and the Laws of G-d.

It's time to look around: the world outside planet Earth is well structured. The animal world is also following a pattern. And so is all else in between.

All else... except us...

To be clear it's not about being "good".

It is about doing what is "right".

It is about using what G-d has given us as His Gifts: our brains, our will, our heart...

We are supposed to let our hearts beat for what's right. Misplaced compassion is only that: misplaced. You cannot have compassion with an enemy who wants to slit your throats. You cannot have compassion with someone who wants to force you to believe something you don't want to believe in -for instance, as much as I do not agree with some beliefs, I would never interfere with their believers, because they have the right to choose. If and when they are ready to find further truths, that's up to them and not up to me. That's the difference between evil and goodness.

We have our brains to give us clarity in our thinking. Our brains are a magnificent muscle and yet we probably use only 10% of its functioning capability... that's too little, because comparatively dogs use more of their brains than us.

Why? In this 21st century, mankind must think of moving towards further progress, not allow themselves to be pulled into a fatal regression.

The 21st century should be marked by progress in science,

culture, inventions, technology, business... but above all, in progress making our lives worthier of the Teachings of G-d simply because He has said so in a very particular manner, and we are not to question it. Yet, mankind refuses to learn the lessons of History. Whenever mankind has strayed, we have been ruthlessly punished. G-d is patient. But He has a limit to His Patience, as we have seen it -for those who choose to see.

To be clear, "goodness" implies our ability to defend our lives from being attacked by any enemy who wants to annihilate us -by no means are we expected to be good to an enemy who wants to do us harm. We are actually to neutralize that enemy before it even gets close to us.

So, as I wake up, on a sunny day, I pray to G-d for strength and for wisdom, but most of all, I pray for this corrupted society to stop following their twisted newly-adopted and ever more degenerated values that are turning everyone blind and paralyzed in front of evil.

May G-d bless you with wisdom and strength to stand for what is Right and to fight for it.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

BENADOR: World Indifferent to Revisionists Barbarians' Global March to Jerusalem

“Help us, Oh God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; and save us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake. Why should the nations say, Where is their God? let the revenging of the blood of your servants which is shed be made manifest among the nations, and before our eyes.” Psalm 37

It’s three in the morning Eastern time, as of these

writings, on Erev Shabbat, Friday, March 30th, 2012, dawn is slowly approaching on the East Coast, and thoughts and hearts of millions of lovers of Sion around the world are beating and praying for our eternal City of Jerusalem, the Capital of the Land of Israel.

Once again the world is giving in to evil. Once again, as expected, the “tolerance” shown to evil has turned as a boomerang against the Jews.

Expanding in an infinitesimal part of what should really be the Land of Israel, we find this tiny land as the target destination today of evil at the nth exponent.

Ignorant, uneducated, miserable, illiterate Muslim masses that most are treated as sub-humans by their own leaders and most likely don’t even have a minimum decent standard of living, and a probable average IQ of a domestic chimpanzee... that scum is now walking or being walked in, or delivered at the borders that surround the Land that G-d Himself gave to His Chosen Children, the Jews...

In their own words: Today, March 30, 2012, in their self-appointed so-called “Palestinian” “Land” Day, they announce that the “world” will be supporting the Global March to Jerusalem, with actions taking place right across the world.

Iranian Supporters of Evil

The ad hoc website of Global March to Jerusalem lists a Who is Who in the corrupted world of Islamic, Muslim terrorism around planet Earth. And, foremost and above all of them, one finds Iran’s misfits, as well as the so-called “Palestinian” mécréants, and they are also counting on the support of self-hating-North American Jewish organizations and their sisters organizations throughout the continent.

Among the most “notable” participating, Iranian, anti-semitic, Judeophobic misfits, are:

Society for Defense of Palestinian Nation, International Union of Unified Ummah, Society of Iranian Jews, Union of Islamic World Students, Student’s Justice Seeking Movement, Independent Islamic Association of Student,
Union of Student’s Islamic Society, Quds News Agency,
Iran’s Technology Analysts Network, Campaign of One Month for Palestine, Movement of Islamic World Students, Islamic Dialogue Institute, Pure Islam Association, Home of Latin America in Iran, Arman Cultural center, Iran’s Bayan Association, Foundation of “Sobhe Qarib,” Varsin Cultural Center, Association of Muslim Bloggers, Institute of “Nedaye Zeyton,” Cultural Institute of “Khizesh-e-no,” Institute of “Mashar”, Commemoration Board of Islamic World’s Martyrdoms.

What has happened to the “world”?

One cannot but wonder where are we living now? Is this the same world than before? Be it as it may, this is a world where French media have just called the terrorist murderer and perpetrator of the Toulouse massacre “a gunman”, and French President Sarkozy ultimately decided that the man “is after all a French national, and therefore has the right to be buried in France...”

And, Monsieur Sarkozy made that decision after the Algerian government refused to bury the criminal in his country of birth due to “security concerns...”

Or was it only another “taqqiya” inspired move so as to actually leave his remains in France and allow for Muslims to have a lieu of pelerinage much handier and at a more useful place than in a Muslim country such as Algeria, as France is not yet completely Muslimized...

Where is the “Civilized” World Gone?

Leaders around the world are compromising and therefore, risking their lives, lifestyles, the lives of their compatriots as they give in to Muslims’ expectations and, what’s worse, by doing so, they are endangering the lives of many generations that will follow them.

Who and what are they compromising with and for...? Naturally, to Muslim world domination.

World political and business leaders are closely intertwined and, no matter in which country, the fact of the matter is that they are all “connected”. As a typical example, Rupert Murdoch and his partner, Prince Alwaleed of Saudi Arabia, have completely changed the pro-Israeli stance that Murdoch’s media companies had pre-Alwaleed. The difference is abysmal. And, that’s only one example.

Michael Bloomberg, another media mogul turned New York Mayor, also has major business interests in the Muslim world, and so it has not been any surprise to see him do the “salam alekhum” to prince Alwaleed and to the Muslim agenda.

Likewise, American think-tanks have been among the staunchest and most confusing elements that American politics could have. Their defense of so called “moderate Muslim” elements is beneficial for their cash registers, but counterproductive and self-defeating for American and Western interests. They are misleading the American public instead of putting pressure on those self-anointed Muslim “moderates” so that they can become the leaders of the Muslim “resistance” and be “inspired” to create, just as it has happened in the West throughout centuries, a revolutionary movement, that would put an end to barbarism exported from their midst to the rest of the world. Naturally, they should begin by stating they do not condone terrorism in any way, shape or form -nowhere in the world.

But, complacent American and Western political and business leaders only worry about adding more billions to their already largely amassed fortunes. Owning sixty (60) billion is not enough. Why not aim for 500 billion? After all, in a country such as America, former Israel’s staunchest ally, with an over ten trillion debt, why not get close to one trillion...?

Some weak points in the Muslim-European closeness are based on the secrecy involved in affiliations between muslim reflection groups and European politicians, and which is also their weak spot, as

it is in the case of a Dutch figure now announced to participate in the Netherlands version of Global March to Jerusalem. The “figure” is none other than Gretta Duisenberg (who appears together with Arafat on the picture) whose husband, Wim Duisenberg was the founding member of the biggest Dutch socialist party and who was associated with corruption in the mainstream media. Reportedly, in the aftermath of those publications, Wim Duisenberg was found dead in the swimming pool of his huge luxury villa in the South of France.

The Hussein Obama Destabilizing Anti-Israel Factor

Another key element in the world change of attitude, has been the rise to power of Barack Hussein Obama, the most anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, president America has ever had. Obama’s anti-American policies are all-encompassing and pernicious as can be and their direct and indirect impact on the privileged relationship America had so far with Israel are a defining factor and reason for concern, in the increasingly delicate situation of the Land of the Jews in the Muslim Middle East.

Obama’s ambush not only of America but also, with the same intensity, of Israel, has been promoted by his and his administration overt moves to establish close relationships with the likes of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Wahabi system of Saudi Arabia, but also with the Iranian regime -though the contacts with the latter are dissimulated and sneakier, as at times, it seems Obama is playing a double or triple card.

Obama’s recent microphone mishap while he was speaking to Russia’s Medvedev, showed the intensity in the complicity they and “Vladimir” have. As a result, Israel may be better off mistrusting one and all.

World Refuses to Condemn Attack on a Sovereign Country

What would have happened if the any other country would have called for a march of evil to target another, also legitimate, country just as the Land of Israel is, and given indication that they were planning on entering until their capital? What if France had wanted to send their ‘people’ to enter Belgium...? What if Australians would have planned on entering New Zealand and targeted Wellington...?

As this author said in an interview in the Gulf News of Dubai back in the summer of 2006, no one has the moral authority to call for other countries and peoples annihilation -as Ahmadinejad, vociferously, had done at that time, back in May 2006.

Muslim Supremacy and World Domination: Is it stoppable?

The “real” Palestinian problem is not such. It is being used as a Muslim pretext in order to abate and divert from a problem Muslims do not want to deal with, namely, the real crisis they have inside their own world in keeping with the supremacy of the ruling classes while maintaining their masses at a sub-human level, one that can allow the rulers and their elites to manipulate them at will and that can allow them to convert to terrorism and human bombs any and all of those in the under-classed Muslim population, because it’s not the sheiks or their children, not King Abdullah or King Mohammed and/or any of their children that are taught to wrap themselves as human bombs and cause mayhem among innocent civilians. No, the human bombs come from the most illiterate populations, those that can be and want to be indoctrinated.

Muslims’ Fallacies

While Muslims argue that they have legitimate claim to Jerusalem, there is absolutely no mention of Jerusalem in the Koran. As a matter of fact, they do not pray towards Jerusalem, ever. It is also never mentioned in any of their prayers. It has also never had any relation with the life of Mohammed -and for that matter, it has no political or scholarly connection with Islam and has never been capital to any Muslim country.

As a matter of reference, every time the Torah is to be removed from the Ark for reading during the synagogue service, it is read: "For out of Zion shall come forth the Torah, and the word of God from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:1 and Micah 4:2). These are just two of the 821 times that Jerusalem and Sion appear in the Tanach - Jerusalem 667 times and Sion, usually synonymous with Jerusalem though sometimes referring to Eretz [the Land of] Yisrael as a whole, 154 times.

Israel’s Legitimacy

Israel’s legitimacy is not even up for discussion. It is what in mathematics is called an “axiom”, a universally accepted principle, rule or proposition that refers to a self-evident truth that requires no proof -no proof other than the Torah, the book of God to the Jews. It is there that God promises the Land of Israel to the children of Abraham, Isaac and Yacov:

“And God said [to Abraham], Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son [at this set time in the next year] ... and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him... But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” Genesis 17:19-21

Conclusion

Whatever the result of today’s Global March to Jerusalem, the enemies of the Land of Israel and the Jews must be reminded that from all human groups, cultures and civilizations, there is only one that is surviving, despite all the attacks to annihilate it.

And as much as the so-called Civilized world will side with evil and accept immoral calls for the destruction of a country and their people, it is that precise people, the Jewish people and the Land of Israel, that have survived throughout History.

Slavery, famine, starvation, exile, betrayal from inside and outside... all that has made that tiny Land of Israel and the intrinsic Jewish soul that lives in true, real God-loving and Torah-abiding Jews that has always survived and will always survive.

God always brings dire consequences to evil doers against His Children, the Jewish people and the Land He gave to them: The Land of Israel.

Copyright©ElianaBenador Art©StephenEHughes

BENADOR: The Land of Israel: Time of Truth

✡ I will bless those who bless Israel and I will curse those who curse Israel ✡ בראשית ✡ Bereishit ✡ Genesis ✡

“... If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember you, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. Remember, O Lord... the day of Jerusalem...” Psalm 137

Today, is Thursday, March 29, 2012. Evil have been preparing themselves for many years. This is not anything new. When vociferous Ahmadinejad was given power by the people of Iran and they heard him calling for the annihilation of Israel, they did not raise a voice to say they disagreed. Neither did the world hear any strong Iranian voice disapproving and offering resistance when Ahmadinejad simply said that the Holocaust had never happened. Where were the Iranian friends of America and Israel gone? It is hard to understand and even less accept that throughout the whole Iranian territory not a single voice of sanity could be heard telling their compatriots and the world: “Ahmadinejad is not speaking for us. He is a nutcase. We, the people of Iran, do not condone and furthermore we condemn his behavior and the hate he is expressing on our behalf...” But Iranian people have remained silence. Just as the rest of the world.

And now, sabers have been rattling in the hateful Muslim Middle East and as of this writing, savages are heading to arrive tomorrow at one of the tiniest countries in the world, the Land of Israel. A country, that, regardless whatever anyone can tell, it has been conceived, delineated and actually “promised” and “given” to its rightful owners, the Jews.

“And God said [to Abraham], Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son [at this set time in the next year] ... and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him... But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” Genesis 17:19-21

Israel’s G-d Given Borders

“And the L-RD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land:

The East to West borders of the Land of Canaan were from the
the river of Egypt (the Nile) To the Great River, the Euphrates, Gen 15:18

The North to South borders of the Land of Canaan were from Hamat (which is 100 miles North of Damascus) towards the south to M'rivot-Kadesh 100 miles south of Jerusalemand to the Egyptian river, the Nile.

[This would include all of modern day Israel, the west bank (Judea and Samaria) of the Jordan, all of Lebanon,
and substantial parcels of Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.]

Thus saith the L-rd G-D; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.

And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.

And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;
Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran.

And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.

And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side.

And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.

The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.

So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the [twelve] tribes of Israel.” Ezekhiel 47:13-21

JERUSALEM

While Muslims argue that they have legitimate claim to Jerusalem, there is absolutely no mention of Jerusalem in the Koran. As a matter of fact, they do not pray towards Jerusalem, ever. It is also never mentioned in any of their prayers. It has also never had any relation with the life of Mohammed -and for that matter, it has no political or scholarly connection with Islam and has never been capital to any Muslim country.

As a matter of reference, every time the Torah is to be removed from the Ark for reading during the synagogue service, it is read: "For out of Zion shall come forth the Torah, and the word of God from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:1 and Micah 4:2). These are just two of the 821 times that Jerusalem and Zion appear in the Tanach - Jerusalem 667 times and Zion, usually synonymous with Jerusalem though sometimes referring to Eretz Yisrael as a whole, 154 times.

Comparatively, the Christian Bible mentions Jerusalem 154 times and Zion 7 times. However, writer Moshe Kohn specifies that Jerusalem and Zion do not appear even once in the Qur'an, just "as they do in the Hindu Bhagavad-Gita, the Taoist Tao-Te Ching, the Buddhist Dhamapada and the Zoroastrian Zend Avesta," that is, not one single time.

Origin of the word Palestine

When the Kingdom of Judah lost its independence to Rome in the year 70, it became once again a colony. Later on, in the year 135, the Romans gave the country the name "Palaestina". The name Palaestina, which became Palestine in English, is derived from Herodotus, who used the term Palaistine Syria to refer to the entire southern part of Syria, meaning "Philistine Syria." Such a move was intended to aggravate even more the Jewish people. However, the real intention was to remove all memory of a Jewish presence. The name was unchanged by the next conquerors in line: the Byzantine Empire, and then by the conquering Arabs and their successors, the conquering Turks. And, whether Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, or Turks, none of them identified themselves as “Palestinians”.

Students of History know that until 1948 there was no mention of any "Palestinians". It was the United Nations Resolution 181 which partitioned the territory from the British Mandate for Palestine into two states - one for Jews and one for Palestinian Arabs. United, Muslim Arab countries objected to the creation of the Jewish state and fought a war against its creation and which turned to be Israel's War of Independence in 1948. Regardless of their numeric superiority, Muslims lost the war and no Palestinian state ever materialized, despite vivid intentions to the contrary, from Muslim countries around the Land of Israel.

Global March to Jerusalem

These days, Muslims are having trouble choosing which of their evil actions to celebrate and highlight most to the eyes of what is left of the civilized world. So, yesterday, Hamas celebrated the 10th anniversary of another one of their ‘heroic’ feats, the Netanya Passover massacre, during which the Hamas' Palestine Times website gave an astounding tribute to the evil Hamas terrorist who detonated the suitcase bomb at the Park Hotel in Netanya ten years ago. Reports state that the suicide bomber detonated the explosive device he was carrying and that the force of the explosion instantly killed 28 civilians and injured about 140 people, of whom 20 were severely injured. Two of the injured later died from their wounds. Most of the victims were senior citizens (70 and over) including some Holocaust survivors.

As some liberal opinions write, for once on an accurate headline: The Global March to Jerusalem is not all about Palestinian rights, “The GMJ aims to eliminate "the Apartheid, ethnic cleansing and Judaisation policies affecting the people, land and sanctity of Jerusalem" and insists that that its solidarity mission will be conducted nonviolently. The GMJ does not advocate a military solution to achieve their goals like Hamas and Hezbollah; however their militant agenda may certainly be implied.”

The author purposefully forgets to mention the rights that Israel gives equally to Jewish Israeli citizens and to Arab or Muslim ones, or even that there is a Druze MK, Ayoob Kara.

Regardless of how can one look at it, Democracy in Israel is not a name. It’s a fact.

The author of that article has one thing straight: The march intended to go “peacefully” towards Jerusalem, passing through Israel’s borders, is not about any Palestinian plight. It is a heinous act, end result of the manipulation of a pro-Muslim American head of state and his Muslim cohorts that are shaking the ground in the region -with one of their goals to destabilize the Land of Israel and possibly to at least want to erase it as it has been appearing on the yellow maps the Palestinians are used to print already for decades without the International Community protesting at all.

What does differentiate the Muslim Palestinians and the Muslims at large with the Jews in Israel and throughout the world?

Their Koran and their prophet demand from the Muslims to dominate the world and impose sharia and ultimately to kill anyone who oppose Islam. Koran and Mohammed also demand from Muslims to perform stoning, beheading, mutilation, abuse women and children, perform pedophilia and do every imaginable horror in the world.

The Torah and G-d demand from the Jews to be the light to the world, to try to make this a better world... Jews are raised with the notions of Tikkun Olam, mitzvot, compassion.

Muslims live to die and are surrounded by horror and destruction.

Jews thrive in Torah and in a G-d that demands from them the best of the best.

There is no comparison possible.

Copyright©ElianaBenador Art©StephenEHughes

Thursday, March 29, 2012

RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Shabbat Hagadol - Before Redemption

Then you will return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves G-d and one who does not serve Him. (Malachi 3:18)

Before us, then, there is a fundamental principle regarding the future of the Jewish People: Redemption can come by one of two ways. If we merit it, through repentance and deeds worthy of it – especially faith and trust in G-d, without fear of the non-Jew – it can come through G-d hastening it, quickly, immediately, “today, if we hearken to His voice”. Not only will it come quickly, but with glory and majesty, without the suffering or Messianic birth pangs of which both Ula and Rabbah said (Sanhedrin 98b), “Let it come without my seeing it”. If we do not merit this, however, then the Messiah will certainly come and the Redemption with him, but only later on, “in its time”. This redemption will be accompanied, G-d forbid, by the terrible suffering of Chevlei Mashiach, Messianic birthpangs.

We seem to have two contradictory redemption processes before us; [...] but there is no contradiction. Rather, both are possibilities. That is, either can happen, but not both. As for which it will be, that depends on the Jewish People and their deeds. If they prove worthy, they will merit redemption “in haste”, glorious and majestic, without Messianic birth pangs. Otherwise, a different process will occur, a process that does not have to be – complete redemption through unparalleled suffering, and all because of our sins and our stubbornness. Only the blind and those who refuse to see will fail to understand that today we are right at the very heart of the Ikveta DeMeshicha, “the footsteps of the Messiah”, the beginning of the redemption. This State of Israel is the beginning of G-d's wrath against the nations who do not know Him and who have profaned His name with scorn and derision. Yet, it is clear that a redemption whose beginning is based exclusively on redemption “in its time”, on, “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel” (Ezek. 36:22), on, “Not for your sake do I do this, says the L-rd G-d. Be it known unto you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel (Ezek. 36:32) has concealed within it tragedies and Messianic suffering from the Supreme King of Kings; and whoever says that G-d concedes shall concede his life (Bava Kamma 50a).

There will be no “hasty” redemption (Isaiah 60:22), glorious and majestic, devoid of dreadful suffering, unless the Jewish people return to their Father in Heaven, accept His yoke, and chiefly, unless they trust in Him completely and are ready to sanctify His name through self-sacrifice. The redemption which began despite our sins in order to sanctify G-d's name before the nations in might and splendor, has, in the hands of an “ungrateful, unwise nation” (Deut. 32:6), turned into a profanation and a blasphemy carried out precisely by those whom G-d sought to redeem. If the beginning of the redemption and the state served to sanctify G-d's name, then the only way to move on to “hasty” redemption is to continue reinforcing the Kiddush Hashem which the state's very establishment constituted. The Divine imperative is continued Kiddush Hashem through trusting in G-d, and liquidating the Chilul Hashem without fear of the non-Jew, without fear of flesh and blood. Every retreat, every submission, every concession to the non-Jew, every hand raised against the Jew, every attack, let alone murder, of a Jew in the Land, every taunt and curse by a non-Jew in the Land is a Chilul Hashem. Now, instead of continuing to reinforce the Kiddush Hashem process, the Jewish people retreat and profane G-d's name.

Whoever does not allow Jews to live everywhere in the Land, whoever ties their hands and prevents their taking the revenge of G-d and Israel against the nations who curse and revile G-d, profanes G-d's name and profanes the great miracle and the powerful dream realized by G-d at the start of the redemption.

A time will come when G-d sees that to the nations and most of Israel, it seems that “His power is gone” - He is impotent. He will see that for many Jews and non-Jews, He is “nothing”, non-existent, Heaven forbid. For many others who pay lip service to His existence, He will appear “hindered”, powerless to act, a king “caught in tresses” (Song of Songs, 7:7), without connection or relevance to the world. He will see that there are masses of Jews who keep rituals, who keep the practical mitzvot by rote, yet who in times of danger, at the moment of truth, abandon their faith and trust in G-d. For them, G-d will become like one “abandoned”, and no Chilul Hashem could be greater. G-d will then wish to sanctify His great name, transformed by faithless heretics to “nothing, hindered, and abandoned.”

Listen well, my friend, to a great axiom of redemption. Ostensibly, those who ridiculed the mourners of Zion, who mocked those who believed in redemption, were the nations. Clearly this is so, yet also countless Jews do not believe, and they ridicule those who look forward to redemption, and, in general, the whole concept of redemption and the Messiah. Do not let your brother, friend or the rabbi to whom you feel closest lead you astray by saying that redemption will come without suffering or tragedy, for that is impossible without repentance and trust in G-d through bold deeds without fear of the nations.

Redak's quotation from Isaiah is part of the following (Isaiah 26:20-21): Come, My people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself for a brief moment until the wrath is past. For the L-rd shall leave His abode to punish the earth's inhabitants for their sin. With this, G-d informs Israel that before redemption comes, before G-d leaves His abode to punish the nations for their sin, there will be a moment of wrath; that is, a period of wrath and suffering. This clearly is referring to the war of Gog and Magog. Although it says, “Hide yourself for a brief moment”, and Redak commented that they would “suffer briefly”, woe to us for that brief moment, for it will include Jerusalem's conquest and accompanying atrocities, [...] and the nations' conquest of Eretz Israel for nine months, and in G-d's eyes, that, too will constitute just a “brief moment”. Who can measure the suffering and anguish which that moment will generate, if it comes through redemption “in its time”? All the same G-d, Who has control over time and place, has the power to transform that “moment” into a very short time, if redemption comes “in haste”. This is a major principle regarding the Messianic birthpangs, and we must not forget it.

If Israel heed G-d's voice and follow in His ways, He will subdue Gog and Israel's enemies “kim'at”, like the kim'at rega, the “brief moment” of Isaiah 26:20. Then, redemption will come quickly and “forever”.

Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, says Hashem, Master of Legions… (Malachi 3:7) And this is a repetition of the same promise that is given in Zechariah 1:3, in a tremendous oath! The redemption will come to the extent that we long for it and demand it.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Vayikra - Burn your pride

Chametz and other forms of leaven symbolize the evil impulse and arrogance, for yeast inflates dough and turns it into chametz. Se'or [a type of leaven or yeast] derives from sa'ar, storm, for it agitates dough and makes it rise. Just so, the evil impulse and arrogance inflate humble man to visions of grandeur, power and pride: “May the L-rd cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks proud things!... 'For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise,' says the L-rd; I will save them from him who inflates himself” (Psalms 12:4,6. The haughty person who talks grandly, “inflates himself”.

Theft and wickedness, conceived in arrogance, are called chometz, which means vinegar: “Seek justice, support the victim of theft [chamotz]” (Isaiah 1:17); and “Rescue me out of the hand of the wicked, out of the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless [chometz] man” (Psalms 71:4. Clearly, chomes/chamsan [robber, oppressor] derives from chometz, as well. This is because chometz connotes that which is spoiled, just as wine vinegar is made from spoiled wine. In the same way, our sages called the evildoer whose father was righteous, “vinegar [chometz], son of wine.”

It must be added that while chametz is a symbol of haughtiness, chametz's opposite, matza [unleavened bread], is called in Scripture “lechem oni” - bread of hardship (Deut. 16:3). On the one hand, Rashi explains “oni” as being related to aniyut (poverty) and inui (affliction): “Bread reminiscent of the poverty suffered in Egypt.” This jibes with the verses, “I have indeed seen the suffering of My people” (Ex. 3:7) and “You saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt” (Nehemia 9:9), and surely “oni” and “inui” derive from the same root. Together with this, however, there is another meaning. Matza comes in opposition to chametz. Chametz symbolizes the bread of the wealthy man with his haughty dream of attaining wealth and honor, whereas matza symbolizes the bread of the lowly, modest man. Thus “lechem oni”, rendered above as the “bread of hardship”, can mean “the bread of the humble man” (anav). Another mitzvah was given to Israel as an everlasting reminder against arrogance and conceit, namely, the prohibition against consuming non-kosher fat:

“All the fat is the L-rd's. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood.” (Parashat Vayikra, Lev. 3:16-17). The fact that “all the fat is the L-rd's” is a clear hint that wealth and honor are befitting only for G-d, fat symbolizing these. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I will give you the good of the land of Egypt and you shall eat the fat of the land.” (Gen. 45:18). Moreover, Ibn Ezra comments that in “all the chelev of the oil and all the chelev of the wine and the corn” (Num. 18:12), chelev connotes “the choicest and the best”. Fatness symbolizes health and strength, as in Pharaoh's dream [of the seven fat and seven gaunt cows].

Thus, the wealth, honor, beauty and splendor symbolized by chelev belong only to G-d. They are becoming only to Him, because all these traits are His. Even beyond this, however, chelev, fatness here on earth, is nothing but a symbol of conceit and the pursuit of pleasure, wealth and honor: “Their obese hearts have they shut tight, their mouths speak proudly” (Psalms 17:10); “Their eyes protrude from obesity , they are gone beyond the imaginations of their heart” (Ibid., 73:7); and “Their heart is gross like fat, but I delight in Your law” (Ibid., 119:70). [See also] Rambam (Issurei HaMizbeach 7:11): Whoever wishes merit should suppress his evil impulse and show generosity by bringing his offering from the choicest of the species in question. The Torah says, “And Abel also offered some of the firstborn of his flock, from the fattest ones [chelbehen]. And the L-rd paid heed to Abel and his offering”(Gen. 4:4). Chelev connotes the choicest, plumpest, richest animal specimen. It thus symbolizes the human pride which compels man toward wealth, honor and the cravings of this world. Hence, we are not only obligated to sacrifice the choicest animal specimen but to take its fat, the symbol of pride and what is best and most desirable, and give it to G-d. Through our readiness to donate to G-d the most important part, we rid ourselves of pride, proclaiming, “All the fat is the L-rd's!”

It follows that both chametz and chelev are symbols of pride. Still, there is a difference between them. Chametz symbolizes the egotism which entices a person toward the haughty pursuit of wealth and honor. Since it symbolizes the root and source of evil, it has no place on G-d's altar, the symbol of holiness, free of all arrogance. By contrast, chelev symbolizes wealth and honor that a person has already attained and through which he is liable to become haughty. Therefore, a man is obligated to demonstrate the suppression of his evil impulse through his willingness to donate this symbol of pride and burn it.

It is true that G-d does not reject wealth. Like everything else G-d made, man can use it for good or evil, and it is certainly possible to direct wealth toward good ends. Certainly wealth is not evil per se, despite those false religions that wax pious in their condemnation of it. Money is neither good nor bad. If we use it to build the Temple and to do mitzvot, it is good. If, however, it is put in service of arrogance and lust, nothing could be worse. Not only does man's egotism drive him to pursue wealth, but that wealth turns him into an even more conceited evildoer. It is a vicious cycle. One of our most important principles is: “To the L-rd belongs the earth and everything in it.” (Ps. 24:1). Everything belongs to G-d, and nothing that ostensibly belongs to man is really his. Rather, it is only given to him to use. The concept of holiness provides a concrete example to help us understand the essence of property here on earth – that it belongs exclusively to G-d, and not to man.

What does Scripture say of him who makes unwarranted use of Temple property? He shall bring as his guilt-offering to the L-rd, a [two-year-old] unblemished ram with a prescribed value of [at least] two silver shekels, according to the sanctuary standard. He must make restitution for taking something that was holy and shall add a fifth. (Parashat Vayikra, Lev. 5:15-16). The reason he must add precisely a fifth is that it fits the crime. This person was obligated to give up to a fifth of “his” property, as it were, to charity: “In giving charity, one should lavish no more than a fifth of his wealth” (Ketuvot 67b). In doing so, he would have demonstrated G-d's ownership over his property. Instead, he stole Temple property. Hence, he must pay a fifth as he should have done of his “own” property, so to speak. Among the nations and the alien culture, all sorts of outlooks have been formed regarding property, and despite the superficial differences between them, all are based on the perception that the world and property belong to man. In this regard, there is no difference between what the non-Jews call “Capitalism”, “Socialism” or “Communism”. Whether a non-Jew argues that property is a private possession or argues that it belongs to society, he means that it is the property of man. Not so G-d, Whose Torah states that everything belongs to Him, and that property and possessions were given to mankind only for use. Thus, when G-d decrees that we must give tzedakah, it is our duty to do so. Tzedakah does not at all come from the property of the wealthy man. He has no ownership whatsoever over what is given him by Heaven. Such is our sages' intent in Avot 3:7 : “Give to G-d of His own, for you and yours are His”.

Friday, March 16, 2012

RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei- Twilight

Friday, March 9, 2012

RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Ki Tisa – For My Name's sake

May it be Your Will, Hash-m our G-d, to 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, Hash-m, Who teaches Torah to Your people Israel.

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

RABBI MEIR KAHANE, OBM
Parashat Ki Tisa – For My Name's sake

Moses pleaded before Hashem, his G-d, and said, “Why, Hashem, should Your anger flare up against Your people, whom You have taken out of the land of Egypt, with great power and a strong hand? Why should Egypt say the following: 'With evil intent did He take them out, to kill them in the mountains and to annihilate them from the face of the earth' ? Relent from Your flaring anger and reconsider regarding the evil against Your people. (Ex. 32:11,12) Hashem reconsidered regarding the evil that He declared He would do to His people. (Ex. 32:14)
[similarly, we find in Ezekiel 20:5, 21-22]: But the children rebelled against Me. They walked not in My statutes nor kept My ordinances which if a man do, he shall live by them. [...] I said I would pour out My wrath on them, to spend My anger on them in the wilderness. Yet I withdrew My hand and acted for My Name's sake, lest it be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them forth.

This last quotation, regarding Israel's sins in the wilderness and G-d's decision not to destroy them lest His Name be profaned, relates to the sins of the golden calf and of the spies. The golden calf was an unbearably grave sin, and part of its punishment attaches itself to every single punishment brought upon the Jewish People, as our sages said (Sanhedrin 102a): There is no punishment that comes to the world which does not contain a minuscule portion of the [punishment for the] golden calf, as it says (Ex. 32:34), “On the day I visit, I will take this sin of theirs into account.”G-d was furious at a nation which, less than forty days after He revealed Himself at Sinai and they said they would first fulfill the Torah and only then seek explanations, exchanged their glory “for the likeness of an ox that eats grass” (Ps. 106:20). G-d decided to destroy this sinful nation, as it says (Ex. 32:10 ), “Now do not try to stop Me when I unleash My wrath against them to destroy them” and (Deut. 9:14), “Leave Me alone and I will destroy them, obliterating their name from under the heavens.” Moses, in his infinite love for the Jewish People, prostrated himself in prayer and entreaty for forty days and forty nights to tear up the evil decree, and none of his arguments had any effect – except for one!

It says (Deut. 9:25-29): Because the L-rd said He would destroy you, I threw myself down before Him for forty days and forty nights. My prayer to the L-rd was, “L-rd G-d! Do not destroy Your nation and heritage, which You liberated with Your greatness and which You brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Pay not attention to the stubbornness of this nation or to their wickedness and sin. Do not let the land from which You took them say, 'The L-rd brought them out to kill them in the desert, because He hated them and was powerless to bring them to the land He promised them.' After all, they are Your people and Your heritage. You brought them out with Your great power and Your outstretched arm.”

“Powerless!” Moses, the faithful shepherd who sacrificed himself for his love of Israel, entreated G-d on behalf of his people and cried out his last argument: “What will the nations say, in ridicule and mockery? Surely they will curse and blaspheme G-d , scornfully claiming that He is 'powerless'”. Israel were the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, chosen to be G-d's holy treasure, His special nation. Their destruction would have constituted G-d's reneging on His covenant due to inability to fulfill it. For this reason alone, “G-d refrained from doing the evil that He planned for His people” (Ex. 32:14).

[About 1400 years later,] R. Yishmael ben Elisha was the last Kohen Gadol before the destruction of the Second Temple. It was clear to R. Yishmael in his holiness and divine inspiration that G-d was about to pour out His wrath on His nation, His land and His Temple. [See] Berachot 7 a: One time I entered the Holy of Holies to bring the incense, and there I saw Akatriel Y-H, the L-rd of Hosts, sitting on a high and lofty throne. He said to me, “Yishmael, My son, bless me!” and I said to Him, “May it be Your will that Your mercy should conquer and override Your anger, and You should treat Your children with mercy, going beyond the letter of the law,” and He nodded His head to me. These words are hard to understand [...]. Does G-d need a blessing from mortal man on Yom Kippur, when He judges and rules over the whole world? Even stranger is R. Ishmael's blessing. How did he know that G-d would find it favorable? R. Yishmael knew that G-d was about to destroy His Temple and exile His children, which would lead to terrible Chilul Hashem. The nations' derisive question, “Where is their G-d?” would deprive G-d of His sovereignty, and He, too, would be in exile and servitude, so to speak. R. Yishmael understood that in this “zero hour”, G-d desired a solution that would spare His having to profane His name through the exile of His children and destruction of His Temple.

[We learn from this that for the sanctification of His Name G-d is even willing to forgo strict justice. But if so to speak, G-d can overcome himself and bridle His anger for His Name's sake, this must be reciprocated by us overcoming ourselves, even our love for others and our personal values, for His Name's sake and His eternal values]

When Moses saw the terrible Chilul Hashem of the golden calf episode, in which “they exchanged their glory for the likeness of an ox that consumes grass” (Ps. 106:20), he immediately understood that only self-sacrifice and Kiddush Hashem would save Israel from G-d's ire. It therefore says (Ex. 32:26-27, 29): [Moses] announced, “Whoever is for the L-rd, join me!” All the Leviim gathered around him. He said to them, “This is what the L-rd G-d of Israel says: Let each man put on his sword ... Let each one kill [all those involved in the idolatry], even his own brother, close friend or relative”... Moses said, “Today you shall be spiritually completed as a tribe dedicated to th L-rd, with a special blessing. Men have been willing to kill even their own sons and brothers [at G-d's command].”

Because of the self-sacrifice and Kiddush Hashem of the Leviim, which demonstrated their complete trust in G-d, G-d replaced the firstborn, chosen originally to be G-d's priests, with Leviim: “I have now taken the Leviim in place of all the firstborn Israelites” (Num. 8:18) G-d did this only because they had reached the pinnacle of self-sacrifice and Kiddush Hashem, when they were ready to kill their relatives and parents. This act demonstrated that their love of G-d superseded even their love for their most cherished relative. Following is Ramban (Ibid., v. 26): Seeing that the people were an object of ridicule in their neighbor's eyes, this being a Chilul Hashem, he stood at the gates of the camp and cried out, “Whoever is for the L-rd, join me!” (Ex. 332:26). He publicly killed all those who worshiped the calf, so that Israel's enemies should hear and the Name of Heaven should be sanctified through them, instead of the Chilul Hashem they had perpetrated.

Or HaChaim (Ex. 32:29) relates to the killing of Israelites: We might think that someone who did such a thing was spiritually flawed, possessing cruelty associated with wickedness. Moses therefore said, “Today you shall be spiritually completed” (Ex. 32:29). This is not a command, but an announcement that this day their spiritual powers would be made complete. Their deed was not a sign of any spiritual flaw. Quite the contrary, their “willingness to kill even their own sons” (Ibid) signified their approaching spiritual perfection.

The pinnacle of bitachon, sacrificing oneself for Kiddush Hashem, involves being ready to elevate one's love of G-d above one's love of people. [Similarly] G-d commanded us regarding the apostate city. If we hear of a city led astray by evildoers, such that its inhabitants went and worshiped idols, we must destroy that city and all its inhabitants with their property, until it remains an eternal ruin. Kill all the inhabitants of the city by the sword... Burn the city along with all its goods, entirely, to the L-rd your G-d... The L-rd will then have mercy on you, and in His mercy he will make you flourish... (Deut. 13, 16-18)

No mitzvah in the Torah is harder for the Jew than to destroy an entire Jewish city, and his whole nature rebels against this command. [If this goes even for a Jewish city, please understand its implications regarding non-Jewish entities in the Land of Israel!] If, all the same, he overcomes his selfishness and suppresses his evil impulse via this mitzvah, how great shall be his reward! How fully has he brought G-d, the Supreme King, to reign over him and accepted G-d's yoke. It is truly as if he has fulfilled all the mitzvot.

Imagine how hard it is, how cruel it is for a person to obey G-d with such self-sacrifice as this! Yet, only in this way will G-d sanctify His Name and bring the redemption. Our sages, likewise, said (Pesikta Rabbati, 31): “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand lose its cunning” (Ps. 137:5): R. Elazar HaKapar envisioned G-d saying: “My Torah is in your hands and the end of days is in My hands, and we both need each other. Just as you need Me to bring the end, I need you to keep My Torah, to hasten the rebuilding of My house and of Jerusalem. Just as I cannot possibly forget the end, as it says, 'Let My right hand lose its cunning,' so have you no right to forget the Torah, which stated, 'From His right hand went out a fiery law for them' (Deut. 33:2).”

Listen well, O Israel! G-d, Himself, decrees His dependency upon Israel, so to speak, our “both needing each other.” Had our sages not said this, who could have dared express it? Yet, once they did say it, how can we continue our rebellion against G-d, a rebellion rendered foolish and inane in light of these words? After all, G-d admits, so to speak, that in order to hasten the building of Jerusalem and the Temple, in order to return once more as King, thereby sanctifying His Name and eliminating the terrible Chilul Hashem, He needs Israel. That is, it is enough if Israel resume Torah observance, and then, for His own sake, to sanctify His Name, He will return to Eretz Israel and bring the redemption. Thus, G-d is “dependent” on us, and why should we not understand this? One might ask: Why does G-d enable flesh and blood to dictate decrees to Him?

The answer is simple: G-d fiercely longs to sanctify His Name, profaned daily by the nations, but He demands that Israel sanctify His Name first through complete and perfect faith and trust in G-d. They must take hold of the dangerous, frightening mitzvot which leave them isolated and alone with the nations opposing them, for only this can prove their real trust in Him.