RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Shelach - Fatal Error

All the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the entire assembly said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this Wilderness! Why is Hashem bringing us to this Land to die by the sword? Our wives and young children will be taken captive! Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?” (Num. 14:2-3)

It is a mitzvah, a Divine decree, that we must live in Eretz Yisrael under G-d's dominion, sanctifying His name, in order to create a holy state and society which clings to mitzvot completely and properly, uninfluenced by the alien, false culture of the nations. At the same time, it is an unforgivable, loathsome sin to refuse to live in Eretz Yisrael, and to prefer the depravity of the exile and foreign rule. It is a chilul Hashem, and Israel are, thus, exposed to the influence of the nations and their abominations.

G-d, therefore, was angry at our ancestors in the desert when they refused to go up to Eretz Yisrael and called out, “Let us appoint a new leader and go back to Egypt” (Num. 14:4). Surely the spies Moses sent out were prominent and righteous, as our sages said (Tanchuma, Shelach, 4): “Send out men” (Num. 13:2): This is in line with, “He that sends a message by the hand of a fool, severs his own feet and imbibes damage” (Prov. 26:6). Were the spies fools? Surely the Torah said, “Send out men (“anashim”),” and “anashim” always refers to righteous persons... Rather, they were called fools only because they slandered the Land... All the same, they were great men who made themselves into fools.

[As Rabbi Meir Kahane puts it in Peirush HaMaccabee – Shemot, Ch. 3]: Incidentally, this also teaches the bitter lesson that even the greatest of men can become a “fool” in the Torah sense of the word, if he lacks faith. As the Talmud says: What can cause the tzaddikim to have less than their full share in the World to Come? –Their lack of faith (Sotah 48b). Here, their lack of faith caused the spies to put out an evil report of the Land of Israel, and G-d therefore said: For how long will this nation fight against Me and for how long will they refuse to believe in Me? (Numbers 14:11). The leader of the generation has to be perpetually on guard, to ensure that his fear of heaven is greater than his wisdom, because without fear of heaven, his wisdom will not endure. He has to work to ensure that his faith is securely anchored in his fear of heaven. And we all have to be aware that even a leader of the generation can err – especially in matters of faith. Likewise, Num. 13:3, “All the men were leaders of the children of Israel,” was rendered by Targum Yonatan as, “All were wise men who had been appointed heads of the children of Israel.” Thus, they were great and righteous men, yet they sinned in turning their backs on Eretz Yisrael and wishing to settle down in the exile, in Egypt. As King David said, “They scorned the Desirable Land, they believed not His word” (Ps. 106:24).

Ostensibly, they had a good argument, pikuach nefesh, i.e., they wished to prevent loss of life. The spies said of the Canaanites, “We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so were we in their sight” (Num. 13:33). They were certain that the war against the Canaanites would be severe, and it would be hard to defeat the giants. Moreover, even if they defeated them, a few Israelites would fall. After all, we do not rely on miracles. For that reason, these great and righteous men rendered a halachic ruling that pikuach nefesh overrides all areas of Eretz Yisrael; it overrides Eretz Yisrael in its entirety. They certainly did not intend to abandon G-d's Torah, but rather to return to Egypt and keep it there. This, however, was their sin, because G-d had decreed that it was forbidden for them to dwell outside the Land, and that only in Eretz Yisrael could they sanctify His name and live in the isolation of Torah. For that reason, no danger to the nation overrode Eretz Yisrael, the only place the Jewish People could keep the Torah completely and properly. A war over the mitzvah of living in and conquering Eretz Yisrael is a milchemet mitzvah,which no danger to life overrides. Quite the contrary, this mitzvah overrides such danger, as Ramban wrote in Sefer HaMitzvot, Ibid., Mitzvah 4): This is what our sages call milchemet mitzvah. In the Talmud (Sotah 44b) Rava said, “ Joshua's war of conquest was an obligatory duty according to all opinions.” One should not make the mistake of saying that this mitzvah only applies to the seven nations we were commanded to destroy... That is not so. We were commanded to destroy those nations when they fought against us, and had they wished to make peace we could have done so under specific conditions. Yet, we cannot leave the Land in their control or in the control of any other nations in any generation. Fear of the nations is just one dismal reason the Jewish People treat the Desirable Land with contempt (longing for the good life is another). Precisely because of this delusion that the exile is safe but Eretz Yisrael is dangerous, G-d became angry and decreed death in the desert for the generation that left Egypt, adding, “You said your children will be taken captive, but they will be the ones I will bring there, so that they will know the land that you rejected” (Num. 14:31). Those who feared that they and their children would die in Eretz Yisrael died precisely in the desert, whereas their children entered the Land and lived. This teaches that the only security for the Jewish People is in Eretz Yisrael, whereas the exile is their burial place.

Our sages said (Torat Kohanim, Bechukotai, Ch. 1): “'You will live securely in your land' (Lev. 26:5): In your land you will live securely, but not outside it.” Likewise, Obadiah said (v. 17), “Upon Mount Zion there shall be deliverance.” In other words, in Zion but not in the exile. G-d, Who knows His people's mind, knew, as well, that Israel would always prefer the non-Jewish life of the exile, whose abominable depravity is so sweet to the sinner among us. As King Solomon said, “Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant” (Prov. 9:17). G-d, therefore, decreed that Israel would never find safety and security in the exile. Bereshit Rabbah 33:6 teaches: “He sent out the dove... I t could find no place to rest its feet” (Gen. 8:8-9): “Had it found a place to rest, it would not have returned. Just so, it says, 'She dwells among the nations; she finds no rest' (Lam. 1:3); and; 'Among the nations you shall have no repose; there shall be no rest for the soles of your foot' (Deut. 28:65). If Israel found rest in the exile, they would not return.”

Thus, G-d decreed that Israel would never find permanent rest (“manoach”) in the exile, and whoever says that they really can find it is an “ignoramus” [in Berachot 61a, R. Nachman calls Samson's father Manoach an “ignoramus”]. Not in vain did our sages (Mechilta, Bo, 1) compare the exile to a cemetery, for if Israel refuse to dwell in Eretz Yisrael, if they spurn it for the depravity of the exile, they have no future, but suffering, tragedy and annihilation.

Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from “The Jewish Idea" and "Peirush HaMaccabee- Shemot" of Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY”D

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BENADOR: Thinking of the sick, Misheberach

B"H

Shabbat approaches, so first and above all, I want us to think of those whose health is fragile and those who are or may be sick.

Let's not take our friendship for granted and neither should we our health and the health of our friends.

So, for all of you who are in any way sick, our hearts go out to you, and a big, sweet and loving Refuah Shelema...

May G-d watch over you. May He favor your healing. May He provide you with the right doctors, hospitals and nurses to be the agents of His Miracles for you.

Misheberach

Mi-sheberakh avoteinu v'imoteinu, Avraham v Yitzhak v'Ya'akov, hu y'varekh et (recite the English and Hebrew name) v'yavi aleihem refuat hanefesh u'refuat haguf yachad im kol cholei amo Yisrael. Barukh atah Adonai, rofeh ha'cholim.

May the One who was a source of blessing for our forefathers, bring blessings of healing upon (recite the English and Hebrew name), a healing of body and a healing of spirit. May those in whose care they are entrusted, be gifted with wisdom and skill, and those who surround them, be gifted with love and trust, openness and support in their care. And may they be healed along with all those who are in need. Blessed are You, Source of healing. Amen.

BENADOR: Devastating News for The American Family

Devastating news that 40% of mothers are the breadwinners in households with children, announce social disaster looming in America.

Mothers who are absent from home and working, will change the social fabric in the direction of the leftist leadership worldwide who knows perfectly well that the bond mother-son is at the root existence of a way of life, where values of G-d, country and family nurture the feeling of belonging to one's own, to one's community and to one's country.

In all, the mother-child bond is the indestructible link that helps keep societies cohesive, that together with the fathers keep the solid family nucleus alive.  One that will produce the good men and women who will secure the future of a country.

This is in total opposition to the view of globalists whose goal is to bring down all barriers for the purpose of their vision of a global world, without borders in every possible sector of life, that begins with the destruction of the family and most specifically, with the bond mother-child, as you can understand from the video "Children of the State." 

This Administration has promoted and facilitated abortion, the pill at work, homosexual marriage, and they are not about to stop in front of anything along their path of destruction.  As such, immigration policies are being enhanced so people from other countries come to live and work.

It is all part of the globalist agenda to disfigure each country, remove its traditions and its uniqueness, all for the purpose of globalization whose only goal is to create one only country on the globe.  Do not believe for a second that globalists will not be able to handle it.  Theirs is a long term project that began last century and may well take them up to two centuries to complete, but they are up to the task and are keen in succeeding.  They have the necessary patience and perseverance to achieve their goals because after almost one hundred years, their progress is obvious.

What would be the antidote?  For one, to make as many children as possible, in America, but in every other country in the world.  But, then the problem would be what education would all those children receive from a malignant cancer such as globalism?  Homeschooling might be the only solution to save the American children from the liberal cancer.

Motherhood is a full-time job in itself, and as such, governments should pay mothers a salary.   Case in point, in America, the Obama Administration via Kerry are giving 4 billion dollars to the Palestinians, naturally to promote terrorism.  Those 4 billion of American dollars, should be best spent paying a salary to American mothers for their work at home.  That would be forward-thinking and true social progress within the realm of capitalism. 

Those who dismiss this problem, will do it at their own peril because, as mother-child bond is broken, so will be broken the bond from Americans to America.  It is already happening, just look at those liberal anti-Americans.   Just what Mr. Obama wants.

©ElianaBenador

RAV BINYAMIN ZE'EV KAHANE: Parashat Beha'alotcha – Jews refusing orders

In Parashat Beha'alotcha, we are witness to a unique event: the choosing of leaders. The Torah even “lets us in” on which factors played part in how these Jewish leaders were chosen. In chapter 11 of our Parasha, Moshe Rabbeinu reaches his breaking point - “I can't carry the burden of this people alone, for it is too heavy for me”, and asks G-d to find people who can share the burden of leadership with him. How does G-d pick these leaders? After all, there was no shortage of righteous and talented Jews around. G-d immediately singles out a specific group from which the next Jewish leadership will be chosen:

“Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and officers over them.” Rashi explains: “Those whom you recognize, who were appointed over them as officers in Egypt during the rigorous labor, and they (the officers) had pity on them (the Israelites) and were smitten because of them.” Though this may appear a rather surprising choice, a deeper probe into the matter will reveal to us a tremendous lesson, so pertinent for today. Who in the world were these Jewish police officers? In Shemot Chapter 5, Pharaoh lays down a rather heavy if not impossible edict on his Jewish slaves. They must produce a specific quota of bricks without even being given straw. The Jewish officers were ordered by the Egyptian taskmasters to oversee that this quota was met. If not, the officers would be blamed for it and beaten. Thus, they were in a dilemma. Either they can turn over their brothers and by doing so save their own skin, or they can refuse orders and be severely punished for it. In short, these “officers” were supposed to be Jewish “kapos”. But these policemen, unlike others who have been placed in similar situations in our sad history, refused to bear down on their already suffering brethren, and did not hand over the names of Jews who could not meet the quota. The result? The Egyptian taskmasters thrashed the “refusenik” policemen instead of the Jewish slaves: “And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten...” (Shemot 5:14)

If we think of this seriously, and not relate to it like to some “fairy tale” we heard in kindergarten, we would get goose bumps all over contemplating such heroism. What can be a more inspiring description of Ahavat Yisrael and caring for a fellow Jew by someone in a position of authority. Not only didn't they exploit their power, but these officers understood that sometimes they must bear the suffering of their brothers. This is what G-d saw. And He did not forget. The minute there was a need for leadership, He knew whom to turn to. G-d did not seek out people with charisma, nor did he pick talented organizers or even Torah scholars. One thing: Ahavat Yisrael.

The centrality of this attribute cannot be disputed. The two greatest leaders in Jewish history, Moshe Rabbeinu and King David, were former shepherds. The sages teach us that G-d tested them via their ability to care for their flock and show mercy on those they are responsible over. Here we must stress a key point. Today, everyone speaks of “Ahavat” Yisrael. But too often it is merely a slogan. When selecting the leaders, G-d did not choose those who make nice speeches about “Ahavat Yisrael”. G-d wanted people with a “previous record”: a record of suffering for one's brothers; a record of placing one's personal welfare secondary to that of one's people.

How sweet it is to read again and again this Midrash about the Jewish policemen. After all, we are so familiar with the claims of the soldiers and policemen in Israel today: “I'm just a small cog in a big machine. I'm just following orders.” But that is not what the Jewish policemen did to their brothers in Egypt. The policemen saw the illegality and immorality in the cruel Egyptian decree, and refused the order! It is important to note that mesirut nefesh (self-sacrifice) for the Jewish People is not necessarily the readiness to die for them. Sometimes it may mean the readiness to be hated for your actions; the willingness to sit in jail for your people; or to be ostracized by the establishment. Such leadership stands in stark contrast to the self-indulgent politicians of today. But know that only when such alternative leadership sprouts, Am Yisrael will be redeemed.

From ' The Writings of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, HY”D ', commentary on Parashat Beha'alotcha

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BENADOR: Why do Liberals Attack the Family?

Liberals worldwide are on a crusade against Judeo-Christian values.  Whether it is against G-d, against country or against family, their goal is to enslave this part of the world.  In order to do so, they will not stop in front of any tradition.

Atheists, liberals have no G-d and want to stop the world from having One.  They have ordered removal of crosses from schools, no prayers in solemn occasions,   no religious burials for the military, even no mention of G-d as 9/11 is commemorated every year, and there is more. 

As we are seeing, individual countries under their sight, must disappear, leaving room to their twisted global agenda of the world, to the greatest detriment of each country's existence. They are so concentrated in their vested interests, that they are not even aware of the newest discoveries regarding the universe.  


In order to achieve turning the world upside down, liberals needed to attack the innermost fundamental pillar that keeps intact the identity of Western Civilization: The Family.  And they have been methodic and systematic in the realization of this goal, they have thought of everything: From impeding the birth of more national babies, imposing the distribution of the pill in work places using for that their own medical care; facilitating abortion at all possible stages, 

In fact: "Every single day, a silent horror kills more Americans than were killed on 9/11.  Every single year, this silent horror kills about as many Americans as have been killed on all the battlefields in all of the wars in U.S. history combined.  This silent horror is called abortion, and it is a national disgrace.  Overall, more than 50 million babies have been slaughtered since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973."

If instead of killing those babies, they would have been respected and allowed to live, it goes without saying that America now would have been in another place altogether.  And, for one, there would have been no need for immigration in this -or in any country in the world that is going through the same ordeal.  

The next step in their crusade against the family nucleus has been the promotion of homosexuality to their top priority. Homosexual marriage has been introduced and is being adopted, shaking the mere ground of the family.  They began removing from passports and other official documents, the mention of father and mother, replacing them for partner one and partner two.  Then we knew what the road ahead would look like. 

In their new rotten world, children are now with two fathers and no mother or two mothers and no father.  

Sure, the rights of homosexuals count.  But, in the weight of a principled life, a balanced home with a father and a mother is irreplaceable.  

In Chicago, they have already approved a course to teach kindergartners, 5-year olds, that one can get married with anyone.  

Such a move should open the eyes of Americans, because in doing so, liberals are admitting that homosexuality is NOT natural but it has to be taught.

Liberals have had a very specific agenda to demoralize the West, and by destroying the traditional family, they succeeded in killing individualism thus making it easier for the government to take over the education of children.  It will be in the end a sort of quid pro quo: Homosexuals gave them the power, the government gave them a legal status, so in exchange, the new "parents" will have to "give something back," their children, to the state.

Consolidating their victories, the Department of Justice policy of promiscuity has set a special outreach promoting their favorable policy encouraging their LGBT employees to come forward and present themselves to the light.  

 The puzzling situation of liberals homosexual agenda runns parallel to and facilitates the one of  world domination by the Muslim world.   While liberals promote homosexuality and promiscuity, the Muslim family is so intrinsic to their existence, that one can but wonder what role will homosexuals play in that equation?  After all, sentencing homosexuals to death and beheading, is common in the Muslim world.   

A day ago, a shocked London witnessed a brutal, in daylight, beheading by hatchet of the innocent father of a 2-year old. As time passes, and the Muslim agenda solidifies in the West, this will have been a first in the long string of such terrifying events to happen.  It is sure that homosexuals will be a target group for the Islamists' religious violence. 

And, as our societies will be attacked from all fronts, the enemies know that we will no longer be able to count on strong men to defend us.  

This asymmetrical war has planted the enemies trojan horses inside our midst, and our loss of values and principles, has undermined our resilience and our resolve.   

©ElianaBenador

BENADOR: Obama Administration: the Benghazi Cover-Up

With the calculated cruelty shown in the Benghazi tragedy and now clear to the American people, seems that the American Administration has been put on check.  

It is no surprise, therefore, that the AP and IRS affairs have known the light.  And, that as of yesterday, Obama's Attorney General, Eric Holder, announced that the Administration has killed four American nationals, within their counterterrorist activities. 

Each step of this disclosure has a note, a hidden message to the psyche of the American public. 

At the very beginning of his letter, Holder affirms that "the Administration has provided an unprecedented level of transparency..."  This is intended as a code for the American people, 'your Administration tells you the truth in everything... including in Benghazi...'

Holder, and Obama behind him, shoot another hint directed to you: "The Administration is determined to continue these extensive outreach efforts to communicate with the American people."  With that, they are targeting each of you, they want to make believe the American people are not only observers but somehow also participants in the process.  Another mode in the strategy which is obvious now that they have set themselves, to undermine your resolve and your beliefs in the real defining case in their fates: Benghazi. 

As the Washington Post reports: 

'"The Obama administration acknowledged Wednesday that it has killed four Americans in overseas counterterrorism operations since 2009, the first time it has publicly taken responsibility for the deaths.

Although the acknowledgment, contained in a letter from Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to Congress, does not say how the four were killed, three are known to have died in CIA drone strikes in Yemen in 2011: Anwar al-Awlaki, his 16-year-old son and Samir Khan.

The fourth — Jude Kennan Mohammad, a Florida native indicted in North Carolina in 2009 — was killed in Pakistan, where the CIA has operated a drone campaign against terrorism suspects for nearly a decade. His death was previously unreported.'"

So, Anwar al-Awlaki and his son were killed by American drones.  These are Muslim terrorists, how come they are listed as Americans?  And, then we learn that al-Awlaki was born in a place I have never heard of, and probably neither have you, Las Cruces, New Mexico, the United States of America.  In Las Cruces, there are two active and flourishing mosques,  Islamic Center of Las Cruces and Las Cruces, Islamic Center -different addresses. Naturally, one of them even has its Facebook page. 


They are so militant that their desire to integrate will only stop when they have conquered America, with the unconditional help of the democrats. 

Jude Kenan Mohammad, another Muslim terrorist, has no birth certificate available, but appears as American Citizen. 

In all, while Americans, the four killed have been of the Islamic faith.  As a margin note, this is a blow for those who want to stubbornly separate Islam from its 10 to 15% population practicing terrorism and all those who silently approve of that.

A chilling uneasiness runs through our veins that "those" could also be called citizens of America.

But, that has been the purpose of the liberal democratic leadership, to impose on decent Americans that there are, and from now  there will continue to be, in our midst, this kind of elements and that we are no longer better than others, because savagery has been accepted without any opposition by the so-called 'decent' -but painfully, indifferent- Americans. 

American Exceptionalism is something the rotten leftists abhor.  They wanted to destroy it and no one has opposed that.

It is sad to think that the intensity of their will to destroy America's Exceptionalism could find no crushing match in the love of true Americans for their Exceptionalism. 

So, yes, the American Administration has killed four Americans.  

And, we are starting to forget the other, true, decent Americans that were slaughtered in Benghazi. 

Courtesy of the American-elected Obama Administration. 

RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Nasso - Naked Betrayal

Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: Any man whose wife shall go astray and commit treachery against him [“u-ma'alah bo ma'al”], and a man could have lain with her carnally, but it was hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she became secluded and could have been defiled ...The man shall bring his wife to the Kohen and he shall bring her offering for her... (Num. 5: 11-13,15)

In Me'ilah 18a we find: "Ma'al" can only mean “change” [i.e., acting differently from what G-d commanded us to do]. Thus it says, “If a woman deviates and commits a “ma'al” against her husband” (Num. 5:12) [i.e., switching mates for a strange man]. It also says (I Chron. 5:25), “They committed a “ma'al” against the G-d of their ancestors and strayed after the gods of the nations of the land” [i.e., they they switched from worshiping G-d to worshiping idols.] A woman who profanes her holiness by turning to harlotry is called a “zonah”, and a married woman who commits adultery is called a “sotah”. Both words convey deviation, altering the role one was commanded to follow (see Torat Kohanim, Vayikra, Parsheta 11).

In actual fact, change and deceit are one. Whoever veers from his role is untrue to it. Change, deceit and “me'ilah” are all one, as well, because “me'ilah” means casting off one's yoke, which is what one does when he wishes to alter his role and lie about his mission in the world. “Me'ilah” means betraying [begidah] one's duty, and “me'ilah” [deceit] and “begidah” [treason] resemble “me'il” and “beged”, two words for clothing. Our clothing symbolizes the Divine yoke and holiness G-d placed on Adam, naked of mitzvot and holiness, as a covering. “Me'ilah” and “Begidah” indicate the removal of this spiritual garb. As Ibn Ezra (Lev. 5:15) writes, “If anyone commit a trespass [“ma'al”]: I.e., he removes his “ma'al”, his covering, from the same root as “me'il”, cloak.” If someone casts off G-d's yoke, he is a “ben beliya'al”, a person without a yoke [“beli ol”]. This expression connotes and evildoer, as we find regarding the apostate city: “Base people [bnei beliya'al] are gone out from the midst of you” (Deut. 13:14). Sifri comments (Re'eh 93), “Persons who broke off G-d's yoke.” Similarly, Sanhedrin 111b teaches, “Bnei beliya'al”: Persons who broke off the yoke of Heaven from their necks.” Yet they are not just “beli ol”, without a yoke, but “beli ya'al”, the serve no benefit [“to'elet] to anyone. Man was created only to accept the yoke of G-d's kingdom, and if he shirks this, then he serves no purpose and is better off dead.

The sin of such a person is “me'ilah”, which connotes “change”. As our sages said (Me'ilah 18a): If anyone commits a trespass [“ma'al”] (Lev. 5 :15): “Ma'al” always refers to some change, as in, If any man's wife go astray and act unfaithfully [“ma'al”] against him” (Num. 5:12), or “They broke faith with the G-d of their fathers and went astray after the gods of the peoples of the land” (I Chronicles 5:25). “Me'ilah" refers to change involving straying from the path, changing one's role, pursuing something foreign. The “mo'el” betrays his duty, the command given him. It is as though the “mo'el” has removed the cloak [“me'il”] that covers him, like the adulterer [“boged”] removing his clothing [“beged”]. Both are naked because they cast off their “me'il”, their “beged” and their “ol”[yoke]. In the Temple, the Torah established a “me'ilah” offering to atone for the person who betrayed the holy objects of G-d, deriving benefit from them as if they were non-holy, and transferring the holy to a non-holy domain. When G-d created the world, He defined and separated His beings and gave them borders and places of their own, domains to which they belong. The word domain [“reshut”] also means “place”, and can also connote a license to be somewhere or do something. A woman is set aside specifically for her husband. When she fornicates, she betrays him and her own domain, because her domain was sanctified and set apart. She received permission to be in her husband's place, and he becomes her domain. She has no license to be with another man who is not her domain. Similarly, the Jewish People were set apart fro G-d. He is their portion and inheritance. When they substitute idolatry or a foreign culture in His place, this constitutes change, straying, betrayal. The general rule is this: man was created to accept unto himself the yoke of Heaven and thereby to transcend his own egotism and fulfill his purpose in the world and the purpose of the world itself. Whoever breaks off his yoke betrays his task and forfeits his domain on this earth, because his presence here, in fact, his very creation, is no longer of benefit. How few, indeed, are the elite! Even so, we were commanded to study and to teach, to preserve and to practice G-d's idea of Jewishness as it was given to us, as we were truly and straightforwardly commanded. We must reject every trace of foreign culture, of falsification and distortion, and accept the yoke of Heaven.

Woman is the symbol of man's love and desire, for there is no love in man's nature greater than his love for woman. Precisely for this reason G-d created man and woman, so they would be bound together with fierce love and desire, ready to sacrifice for each other and to give of themselves to an extent unheard of in any other relationship. They would be willing even to sacrifice their lives for each other, so strong is that love. Being so fiercely bound to another human being is the apex of man's breaking down his selfishness, arrogance and evil impulse. G-d created this bond so that man would understand from it – at least in part – how powerful must be his love for G-d. Thus, if a husband is ever unfaithful to his wife, it constitutes betrayal of the true concept of love and a dreadful lie looming over the marital relationship. G-d decreed that this must be an exclusive relationship founded on mutual trust, a symbol of the prohibition against the dreadful sin of polytheism, worshiping idols as well as G-d (Ex.20:3). At the same time, an evil woman is a symbol of the opposite – idolatry. Whoever falls deeply in love with a woman who incites him to sin, even to heresy and idolatry, brings death unto himself. In his fierce love, he will be ready to do all she asks, even commit terrible sins. Thus, a woman can either symbolize love of G-d, or, Heaven forbid, love of heresy. After all, even heresy involves emotional attraction. As Berachot 12 b teaches: Why was the third paragraph of the Shema (Num. 15:37-41) established to be recited daily? R. Yehuda bar Chaviva said, “Because it contains six elements: 1) the mitzvah of Tzitzit; 2) the Exodus from Egypt; 3) the yoke of mitzvot; and admonitions against 4) heretical belief; 5) immoral sexual thought; and 6) idolatrous thoughts...” Indeed it was learned: “After your heart” (Num 15:39) refers to heresy, and it says (Ps. 14:1), “The fool says in his heart:'There is no G-d'”. Here we have proof that heresy depends on the heart and involves desire and attraction. Hence the woman, symbol of male desire, can either symbolize devotion to G-d or pursuit of heresy. Rashi interprets the verse, “I find more bitter than death the woman” (Eccles. 7:26): “Death is the harshest of ten harsh things created (Bava Batra 10a), and I find 'woman' – i.e. heresy – harsher still.”

Listen then to the truth. Let us savor the bitter fruits of our love affair with the world of gentilized civilization. It is a war for the hearts and souls and minds of the Jews. It is a war between those who wish to be amongst and like the nations, the gentiles, to embrace their culture and ideas and values and abominations; and between those who recognize their uniqueness and chosenness and who embrace the holiness of a separate, distinct, isolated, different people, living apart from all the others, unsullied by the abominations of cultures conceived in impurity and born in profane vanity. The values of Judaism are, in so many areas, and so overwhelmingly, different from those of western-gentilized Hellenism. What is ethical and what is moral and what is merciful and what is just? The answers of Judaism and of Hellenism are far apart. Political equality? Democracy? Tolerance of abomination? Freedom in social, personal affairs? The role of authority? Poles apart are the views of the Jews and the Hebrew-speaking gentiles. Sinai is cast away for Times Square and the purity of the Chosen people is exchanged for the material vomit of Los Angeles. The modesty of holiness is contemptuously abandoned and the nation wallows in the nakedness of gentile culture. “Thou hast built thy lofty place at every head of the way and hast made thy beauty an abomination and hast opened thy feet to everyone that passed by and multiplied thy harlotries.” (Ezekiel 16:24-25) Let us rise and garb ourselves with the cloak of sanctity; wrap ourselves in the regal robes of holiness. Every Jew a sacred child of G-d, the State of Israel the hallowed palace of the King of Kings. Let the Sabbath sing forth in joy from every home and the food that enters the mouth be as pure as the words that leave it. Let values be clean as the fresh mountain air of Zion and let degeneracy and vanity vanish as the morning mist before the warm sun of Jerusalem. Let hatred and violence and evil against brothers be buried beneath the centuries-old memories of common suffering. “I will betroth you unto Me via faith, and you shall know the L-rd” (Hosea 2:22).The “faith” referred to is the knowledge that there truly exists a Creator of the world, and that He is L-rd of hosts, the G-d of history and of truth. Such knowledge, and man's submission to G-d's ways and commandments, is man's purpose, and “this is the doctrine Moses placed before the People of Israel” (Deut. 4:44).

Compiled from “The Jewish Idea" and from "Forty Years" of Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY”D