See – I have placed before you today the life and the good, and the death and the evil, that which I command you today. To love Hashem, your G-d, to walk in His ways, to observe His commandments, His decrees, and His ordinances; then you will live and you will multiply, and Hashem, your G-d, will
bless you in the Land to which you come to possess it... I call heaven and earth as witnesses! Before you I have placed life and death, the blessing and the curse. You must choose life, so that you and your descendants will live. (Deut. 30:15,16).
This warning was issued when the Jewish People were about to enter their land, to live there isolated from the nations' detestable practices. Unfortunately, even in Eretz Yisrael, we sinned greatly and exile was decreed, such that instead of being a “nation that dwells alone” (Num. 23:9), we ended up among the nations, and most of the Jewish People became like them. As a result, large parts of our people, in effect, lost the ability to choose. The free choice that was their lot in Eretz Yisrael, their land and birthplace, became a farce among the nations where they were conquered by foreign culture; and countless Jews became spiritual captives.
How can we expect Israel to repent as a people when they do not even have any questions? Why should G-d continue punishing His people for so long when not only is the punishment not beneficial, but, as we saw following the dreadful Holocaust, tens of thousands of believing Jews even became heretics? How can G-d draw near to Him a people that has lost its understanding to choose between good and evil, between life and death? Regarding the verse, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, that are accustomed to doing evil” (Jer. 13:23), Redak comments, “You have so accustomed yourselves to evil that it cannot leave you, as though it were a second nature to you.”
In this age of great scientific and technological advancement, when materialistic, cosmopolitan “realism” makes assimilation seem acceptable, it is clear that the Jewish captive to foreign culture will not improve his ways. Quite the contrary, he marches along proudly, far from the camp, far from the idea of repenting, almost cut off from every link to his origins. He has lost, so to speak, the power of free choice. He who was earmarked to be like the stars of the heavens, wallows in the mire.
The Torah's very defining good and evil in real, absolute terms constitutes a declaration of war against the culture of the nations and the Hellenists [westernized, secular Jews] who adopted it. That culture preaches that no one absolute good or evil can be determined, since all ideas and concepts, including those defining good and evil, are the product of human thought. Both those who deny the existence of a Supreme, Omniscient, Omnipotent G-d Who is the source of wisdom and truth, and those who admit the existence of a Supreme Being yet deny Torah from Sinai, i.e., that G-d set forth a blueprint in the Torah, hold that we cannot attach special status to one “good” over another. Tolerance and pluralism are the ultimate principles of that alien culture. Since followers of that culture cannot determine with certainty what evil is, they cannot eradicate it from the world. Clearly, tolerance and psychological flexibility regarding (almost) all views and lifestyles are their philosophical darling. For them, almost absolute liberty and freedom transcend all else. Included in this is a person's freedom and right to do whatever he pleases with his life so long as it does not “harm his fellow man”.
Clearly, this approach is a disgusting philosophical abomination to G-d and Israel. G-d, the Creator, fashioned a world that rests on truth, an exact, defined truth, determined by Him. The world was created to put G-d's clear, precise ideas and attributes into practice, and whoever seeks to differ with them imperils his soul. It is not man who determines his path on this earth. He is not free to choose whatever lifestyle he pleases without facing the consequences – bitter punishment from His father in Heaven.
The Torah treats with contempt the idea of man having freedom over his body and his life. Our sages comment on the verse, “The tablets were the tablets of G-d, and the writing was the writing of G-d, graven [charut] on the tablets.” (Ex. 32:16): “Read not charut, 'graven', but cherut, 'freedom'. The only free man is the one who studies Torah” (Avot 6:2).
A person is not free, he is not at liberty to act however he pleases. He is bound by the yoke of Heaven, the fetters of our holy Torah. Only by agreeing to serve G-d and accept His yoke does he become free. This alone liberates him from the empty bestiality which enslaves him to his own needs, to his own selfish ego, to abominable lust.
G-d does not recognize man's right to do as he pleases as long as he does not harm his fellow man. G-d established that man's life does not belong to him. Man was commanded to live and given a path to follow. Not only is he forbidden to harm his fellow man. But he is forbidden to harm himself. As long as a person opposes his Maker, he harms himself. He takes his own soul, committing spiritual suicide, and he is not free to act this way.
Life itself is not man's personal property. G-d blew into man the breath of life only so he would lead a well-defined life of goodness. As our sages said (Avot 4:29), “Perforce you were born and perforce you live.” If a person says, “Since I was created against my will, if I do not wish to live I have a right to commit suicide,” G-d declares that man is not free either to live as he wishes or to die however he likes. Regarding one who commits suicide, our sages said (Semachot – Avel Rabbati 2:1):
We do not eulogize him, but we stand in line for him and say the blessing for mourners, to show respect for the living. As a rule, whatever shows respect for the living we do, but nothing beyond that.
Rambam (Hilchot Avel 1:11) and Tur (Yoreh Deah 345) ruled the same way. Thus we learn that even a man's life is not in his own hands, let alone his lifestyle.
A person is granted free will, and he has the right and duty to choose goodness and life and to loath evil, defilement and death. If, of his own free will, he chooses evil and defiles himself, G-d will not help him to avoid evil by closing the door to evil. Rather, G-d opens the way for him to do what he wants.
It says in Yoma 39a:
If a person defiles himself a little bit, Heaven will defile him a lot. If he does so on earth, he will be defiled from Heaven. If he does so in this world, he will be defiled in the World-to-Come. The Rabbis learned, “Make yourselves holy and remain sanctified” (Lev. 11:44): If a person sanctifies himself a little bit, Heaven will sanctify him a lot. If he does so on earth...
That is what is meant by “Heaven gives him an opening”. The more he defiles himself and sins, the more his defilement and sin become habit, and ultimately second nature. All this applies to the Jew, and all the more so to the non-Jew. Moreover, if a non-Jew profanes G-d's name by reviling and humiliating a Jew, and he refuses to desist, then when the time of redemption and revenge arrives, G-d will not only open the way for him to continue, but will even entice him to do so, for his fate has already been sealed.
Certainly, if Gog announces that he is accepting the yoke of Heaven and submitting to G-d, and he subjugates himself to G-d and Israel, thereby bringing the world the great and final Kiddush Hashem, G-d will certainly let him repent in this way. Yet, as long as he does not do this, as long as he and the world continue in arrogant chilul Hashem, G-d will set the time for His revenge and, then, will entice him into receiving his punishment.
Rambam explains in Hilchot Teshuva 6:3: [...] Why then did G-d address him [Pharaoh] through Moses, saying “Send out Israel and repent,” when He had already made it clear that He knew Pharaoh would not send them out, as it says, “I realize that you and your subjects still do not fear G-d” (Ex. 9:30); and, “The only reason I let you survive was to show you My strength” (Ex. 9:16)? It was to inform mankind that when G-d prevents the sinner from repenting, the sinner cannot repent, but must die for the wicked deeds he performed previously of his own free will. It was so with Sichon. In accordance with his sins, he was denied repentance: “The L-rd your G-d hardened his spirit and made his heart firm (Deut. 2:30). The same applies to the Canaanites. In accordance with their abominations, G-d denied them repentance until they waged war against Israel: “It was the L-rd's doing to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might destroy them utterly” (Joshua 11:20).
Here we learn a major principle of free choice regarding a wicked non-Jew who profanes G-d's name. An evildoer can submit to G-d in one of two ways.
First, he can repent and crown G-d King, accept G-d's sovereignty and subjugate himself to G-d and mitzvot. Clearly, such repentance is appropriate and desirable, and G-d will not prevent his submitting in this way.
The second way is for him to submit, not out of repentance and acceptance of G-d's yoke, but only out of fear and weakness. Certainly, this does not constitute sufficient repentance from his wickedness and Chilul Hashem, for until he rises and proclaims openly that Hashem is G-d and King, bending his knee before Him, G-d's name is not sanctified in the world. Therefore, if his whole submission is out of weakness and fear, he will still deserve punishment and revenge.
G-d will, therefore, harden his heart so that he does not submit out of fear.
Thus, G-d hardened Pharaoh's heart, because Pharaoh never accepted the yoke of G-d's kingdom. By the same token, G-d did not let him escape his sin and punishment through mere fear, but hardened his heart, so that G-d's name would be sanctified. It will be similar with Gog, who will stand firm in his chilul Hashem, and the time of Kiddush Hashem will arrive. It thus says, “I will bring you against My land, O Gog, before their eyes” (Ezek. 38:16).
[The ensuing punishment and revenge we find described in this week's Haftarah]: “I alone have trodden a wine press, not a man from the nations was with Me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in My wrath, and their lifeblood spurted out on My garments, so I soiled all my garments. For a day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redemption has come...” (Isaiah 63:3,4)
This is the greatest, most terrifying Kiddush Hashem there can be, and it is this which will make all the nations accept G-d's sovereignty.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Parashat Ki Tavo – Rebuke, With All My Love – Rav Meir Kahane
And Hashem has distinguished you today to be for Him a treasured people, as He spoke to you, and to observe all of His commandments, and to make you supreme over all the nations that He made, for praise, for renown and for splendor, and so that you will be a holy people to Hashem, your G-d, as He spoke. (Deut. 26:18-19)
But it will be that if you do not hearken to the voice of Hashem, your G-d, to observe, to perform all His commandments and all His decrees that I command you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overtake you... (Deut. 28:15)
There is only one logical, rational reason for a person to be proud of his being a Jew: the Torah. As our sages said (Torat Kohanim, Bechukotai, 8:11): “What remains to them that has not become vile and loathsome? Were not all the fine gifts that were given to them taken away? If not for the Torah that remained with them, they would be no different from the nations at all.” This is the secret of Israel's uniqueness and exclusiveness. Only this Torah hallows, exalts and sets Israel apart from all the nations. All the rest, nationalism and national pride, are nothing but a meaningless farce. Yet, since G-d chose Israel to be His holy people and to fulfill His Torah, they were granted extraordinary love and a special status, and they became the mate and partner, so to speak, of Him Whose word brought the world into being.
The partnership between G-d and Israel is an unparalleled partnership of love. Since the greatest, most exalted partnership that we know is that of lovers, man and woman, King Solomon compared the partnership of G-d and Israel to that of a man and woman. This is the meaning of the words, “My beloved is mine and I am his” (Song of Songs 2:16): two lovers, one in partnership with the other. I am his and he is mine – this is the most lofty partnership there can be, for each gives to the other rather than each taking from the other.
Our sages said (Shir HaShirim Rabbah, Ibid.): “My beloved is mine and I am his”: He is for me a G-d, and I am for Him a nation. He is for me a G-d, as it says, “I am the L-rd your G-d” (Ex. 20:2), and I am for Him a nation, as it says, “Listen to Me, O My people,; give ear unto Me, O My nation” (Isaiah 51:4). He is for me a Father and I am for Him a son. He is for me a Father, as it says, “For You are our Father” (Ibid. 63:16); and, “For I became a Father of Israel” (Jer. 31:8), and I am for Him a son, as it says, “Israel is My son, My firstborn” (Ex. 4:22); and, “You are children of the L-rd your G-d” (Deut. 14:1).
Israel are called G-d's children; the rest of the nations are not. The Jew is an actual son of G-d, his Father in Heaven, whereas all the rest are not G-d's children, but only His handiwork. As R. Akiva said (Avot 3:18), “ Beloved are Israel, for they were called G-d's children. Special Divine love was earmarked for them as a result.” Israel are the children of Him Whose word brought the world into existence, whereas all the rest are just G-d's handiwork. Special Divine love beyond that reserved for all the nations is earmarked for Israel.
Love, respect and reverence for our fellow Jew, created in G-d's image and sanctified at Sinai as G-d's elect, is the duty of every single Jew, because he is a part of that chosen people. Every Jew must grow spiritually by showing love and respect for his fellow Jew. In that way, he expresses his esteem for someone holy and select, created in G-d's image and chosen at Sinai to be G-d's special treasure. In effect, he gains self- esteem as well.
Every Jew is a guarantor for the rest of the Jewish People, for all are bound together in one nation, holy and virtuous. Sotah 37b teaches, “For every single mitzvah in the Torah, forty-eight covenants were forged with each of the 603,550 [Jews in the desert]. Rashi comments, “Everyone of them became a guarantor for all his brethren.” Our sages also said (Shavuot 39a), “ All of Israel are guarantors for one another.” Later, G-d willing, we will view the other side of love and mutual responsibility, namely the mitzvah of rebuking our fellow Jew to restore him to the proper path. By such rebuke, we perform a great mitzvah and do our fellow Jew a great turn. Moreover, the mitzvah of arevut (mutual responsibility) which makes rebuke an obligation, is also the basis for G-d's collectively rewarding and punishing the Jewish People, since they are all one nation. Rebuke is a mitzvah of central importance for every Jew.
Ezekiel said (33:2-3,6): “When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man from among them and set him for their watchman; if when he sees the sword come upon the land and he blows the horn and warns the people... But if he sees the sword come and blows not the horn and the people be not warned, and the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand."
This is the mitzvah of tochachah, rebuke, standing before the nation and blowing the horn of truth. The mitzvah of imploring and rebuking the people is one aspect of accepting the yoke of Heaven.
A person unwilling to rebuke others and speak the truth, whether out of fear, desire to flatter, genuine love or an inability to oppose the mainstream, and certainly out of refusal to accept the “harsh” truth of Halachah, as we shall see, rebels against G-d and rejects His yoke.
Over and over, people try to justify their refusal with the argument that they “love their fellow Jew”, but such love is perverse. No love is more genuine than rebuke. It says, “Do not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin because of him.” (Lev. 19:17). Whoever does not rebuke, bears a grudge of hatred for the sinner, even if subconscious. This hatred grows, precisely because deep in his heart he recognizes his duty to rebuke the sinner and recognizes, as well, his own weakness, reflected in his refusal to do it.
Whoever refuses to rebuke the sinner, leaves him vulnerable to the worst punishments of the afterlife [and may bring about collective punishment of Israel in this world, as well] Precisely he who rebukes the sinner and tries to bring him back on course, loves him and loves himself, as well.
In our own times, the alien culture has managed to make G-d into something inconsequential. Thus, on the one hand, heresy has proliferated, and on the other hand, many wicked people have devised a hypocritical approach whereby although they pay lip service to the existence of a higher power, they create it in their own image, as they wish to imagine it. The G-d of their making is indulgent. He neither demands exclusive allegiance nor takes revenge. He is tolerant and equates great and small, good and evil, light and darkness, bitter and sweet. Concepts of sin and punishment almost do not exist. After all, the idea of “sin” is exceedingly controversial, since such persons fly the flag of freedom of expression and deed – almost any deed. “Divine punishment”, in the eyes of worshipers of this culture, is a fanatical, extremist, even an eccentric and cruel concept. Therefore, whenever tragedy strikes such persons, they have not the least inclination to meditate, to examine and search their deeds.
For this heresy, the Divine punishment, which advocates of this approach deny, comes closer and closer. G-d's thoughts are not their own. The flood of fire will come, the anger and revenge of G-d.
Moreover, when an entire generation casts off its yoke, and chaos and anarchy come to the world, and the kingdom of G-d is the object of contempt, the destroying angel is given free reign... then the saintly are taken from the world, both as an atonement for the world and because they did not protest enough, and also – if the world's decree has already been sealed – so that they will not see the punishment.
[The very last sentence of this week's Haftarah links this to our time, which is the beginning of the redemption:] I am Hashem, in its time I will hasten it. (Is. 60:22)
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 birthpangs 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.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
But it will be that if you do not hearken to the voice of Hashem, your G-d, to observe, to perform all His commandments and all His decrees that I command you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overtake you... (Deut. 28:15)
There is only one logical, rational reason for a person to be proud of his being a Jew: the Torah. As our sages said (Torat Kohanim, Bechukotai, 8:11): “What remains to them that has not become vile and loathsome? Were not all the fine gifts that were given to them taken away? If not for the Torah that remained with them, they would be no different from the nations at all.” This is the secret of Israel's uniqueness and exclusiveness. Only this Torah hallows, exalts and sets Israel apart from all the nations. All the rest, nationalism and national pride, are nothing but a meaningless farce. Yet, since G-d chose Israel to be His holy people and to fulfill His Torah, they were granted extraordinary love and a special status, and they became the mate and partner, so to speak, of Him Whose word brought the world into being.
The partnership between G-d and Israel is an unparalleled partnership of love. Since the greatest, most exalted partnership that we know is that of lovers, man and woman, King Solomon compared the partnership of G-d and Israel to that of a man and woman. This is the meaning of the words, “My beloved is mine and I am his” (Song of Songs 2:16): two lovers, one in partnership with the other. I am his and he is mine – this is the most lofty partnership there can be, for each gives to the other rather than each taking from the other.
Our sages said (Shir HaShirim Rabbah, Ibid.): “My beloved is mine and I am his”: He is for me a G-d, and I am for Him a nation. He is for me a G-d, as it says, “I am the L-rd your G-d” (Ex. 20:2), and I am for Him a nation, as it says, “Listen to Me, O My people,; give ear unto Me, O My nation” (Isaiah 51:4). He is for me a Father and I am for Him a son. He is for me a Father, as it says, “For You are our Father” (Ibid. 63:16); and, “For I became a Father of Israel” (Jer. 31:8), and I am for Him a son, as it says, “Israel is My son, My firstborn” (Ex. 4:22); and, “You are children of the L-rd your G-d” (Deut. 14:1).
Israel are called G-d's children; the rest of the nations are not. The Jew is an actual son of G-d, his Father in Heaven, whereas all the rest are not G-d's children, but only His handiwork. As R. Akiva said (Avot 3:18), “ Beloved are Israel, for they were called G-d's children. Special Divine love was earmarked for them as a result.” Israel are the children of Him Whose word brought the world into existence, whereas all the rest are just G-d's handiwork. Special Divine love beyond that reserved for all the nations is earmarked for Israel.
Love, respect and reverence for our fellow Jew, created in G-d's image and sanctified at Sinai as G-d's elect, is the duty of every single Jew, because he is a part of that chosen people. Every Jew must grow spiritually by showing love and respect for his fellow Jew. In that way, he expresses his esteem for someone holy and select, created in G-d's image and chosen at Sinai to be G-d's special treasure. In effect, he gains self- esteem as well.
Every Jew is a guarantor for the rest of the Jewish People, for all are bound together in one nation, holy and virtuous. Sotah 37b teaches, “For every single mitzvah in the Torah, forty-eight covenants were forged with each of the 603,550 [Jews in the desert]. Rashi comments, “Everyone of them became a guarantor for all his brethren.” Our sages also said (Shavuot 39a), “ All of Israel are guarantors for one another.” Later, G-d willing, we will view the other side of love and mutual responsibility, namely the mitzvah of rebuking our fellow Jew to restore him to the proper path. By such rebuke, we perform a great mitzvah and do our fellow Jew a great turn. Moreover, the mitzvah of arevut (mutual responsibility) which makes rebuke an obligation, is also the basis for G-d's collectively rewarding and punishing the Jewish People, since they are all one nation. Rebuke is a mitzvah of central importance for every Jew.
Ezekiel said (33:2-3,6): “When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man from among them and set him for their watchman; if when he sees the sword come upon the land and he blows the horn and warns the people... But if he sees the sword come and blows not the horn and the people be not warned, and the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand."
This is the mitzvah of tochachah, rebuke, standing before the nation and blowing the horn of truth. The mitzvah of imploring and rebuking the people is one aspect of accepting the yoke of Heaven.
A person unwilling to rebuke others and speak the truth, whether out of fear, desire to flatter, genuine love or an inability to oppose the mainstream, and certainly out of refusal to accept the “harsh” truth of Halachah, as we shall see, rebels against G-d and rejects His yoke.
Over and over, people try to justify their refusal with the argument that they “love their fellow Jew”, but such love is perverse. No love is more genuine than rebuke. It says, “Do not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin because of him.” (Lev. 19:17). Whoever does not rebuke, bears a grudge of hatred for the sinner, even if subconscious. This hatred grows, precisely because deep in his heart he recognizes his duty to rebuke the sinner and recognizes, as well, his own weakness, reflected in his refusal to do it.
Whoever refuses to rebuke the sinner, leaves him vulnerable to the worst punishments of the afterlife [and may bring about collective punishment of Israel in this world, as well] Precisely he who rebukes the sinner and tries to bring him back on course, loves him and loves himself, as well.
In our own times, the alien culture has managed to make G-d into something inconsequential. Thus, on the one hand, heresy has proliferated, and on the other hand, many wicked people have devised a hypocritical approach whereby although they pay lip service to the existence of a higher power, they create it in their own image, as they wish to imagine it. The G-d of their making is indulgent. He neither demands exclusive allegiance nor takes revenge. He is tolerant and equates great and small, good and evil, light and darkness, bitter and sweet. Concepts of sin and punishment almost do not exist. After all, the idea of “sin” is exceedingly controversial, since such persons fly the flag of freedom of expression and deed – almost any deed. “Divine punishment”, in the eyes of worshipers of this culture, is a fanatical, extremist, even an eccentric and cruel concept. Therefore, whenever tragedy strikes such persons, they have not the least inclination to meditate, to examine and search their deeds.
For this heresy, the Divine punishment, which advocates of this approach deny, comes closer and closer. G-d's thoughts are not their own. The flood of fire will come, the anger and revenge of G-d.
Moreover, when an entire generation casts off its yoke, and chaos and anarchy come to the world, and the kingdom of G-d is the object of contempt, the destroying angel is given free reign... then the saintly are taken from the world, both as an atonement for the world and because they did not protest enough, and also – if the world's decree has already been sealed – so that they will not see the punishment.
[The very last sentence of this week's Haftarah links this to our time, which is the beginning of the redemption:] I am Hashem, in its time I will hasten it. (Is. 60:22)
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 birthpangs 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.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Parashat Ki Tetzei – Holiness in Times of War - Rav Meir Kahane
When a camp goes out to war against your enemies, you shall guard against anything evil.
If there will be among you a man who will not be clean because of a nocturnal occurrence, he shall go outside the camp ... For Hashem, your G-d, walks in the midst of your camp so as to save you and grant you victory over your enemy. Your camp must, therefore, be holy, so that He will not see a shameful thing among you and turn away from behind you. (Deut. 23: 10, 11, 15)
The milchemet mitzvah of the Jewish People is not like the wars of the gentiles. Rather, its conception and birth are in holiness. Following is Rambam (Hilchot Melachim 7:1):
In both compulsory and noncompulsory war, a Kohen is appointed to address the nation during the war and he is anointed with the anointing oil. He is the one called the mashuach milchamah, the “anointed for war”.
Israel goes into battle behind the anointed of war. He defines and determines the nature of the war, sanctifies it through his words to the people and makes certain that Israel go to war in holiness and with trust in G-d.
Such is Jewish warfare! It is based on holiness, on faith and trust in G-d that if someone fights the wars of G-d, evil will not befall him since he is fighting for the sanctification of G-d's name.
The phrase “to save you and grant you victory over your enemies” means as follows:
First G-d will save you from yourselves, by warning you about everything evil so that you will be holy. Only then will He grant you victory, saving you from them. Sifri (258) comments, “If you do everything stated regarding this matter, G-d will ultimately save you and grant you victory over your enemies.”
The Jewish war camp must be holy, as is fitting for a war over the sanctification of G-d's name. Nothing inflames the passions more than war, when acts generally forbidden become permissible. Given such license, the evil impulse attempts to take control of a person, and no temptation is more powerful than the sexual impulse. If women were allowed to be part of a military camp during wartime, the sins incurred would outweigh the merit earned for a milchemet mitzvah.
There would be no avoiding licentiousness and promiscuity (as in the modern Israeli army camp, Heaven help us, when the Jewish state has not adopted Jewish laws of warfare).
The army camp would, thus, be transformed from a holy camp, free of impurity and abomination (see Sforno, Ibid.) to a licentious camp. If it became so, a war meant to sanctify G-d's name would become a stage for sexual sin, the height of profanation of G-d's name.
Therefore, a woman should not go to war with men.
Ramban explains:
Scripture warns against sin where sin is most prevalent. It is known that soldiers going to war customarily consume every abomination, rob and steal, and are unashamed to commit adultery and every other outrage. The most upright person, by nature, becomes cruel and vicious when the camp goes forth against the enemy. Scripture therefore warned, “You must avoid everything evil” (Deut. 23:10).
Sifri (Ibid.) comments, “This teaches that sexual sin causes the Divine Presence to withdraw.”
Thus, sexual sin endangers the troops, for without the Divine Presence there will be no victory. The Torah, therefore, forbade women going to war with men, even in a milchemet mitzvah, so as not to turn the mitzvah into a sin.
A Talmid Chacham does not go off to war either, even for a milchemet mitzvah. R. Elazar said (Nedarim 32a): Why was Abraham punished such that his descendants were enslaved to the Egyptians for 210 years? It is because he conscripted Talmidei Chachamim; “Abraham called his students [to battle].” (Gen. 14:14).
We must be aware that “Talmid Chacham” refers only to someone whose Torah study is his sole occupation, someone totally absorbed in Torah study day and night, who never leaves it for anything in the world, a person who together with his study is crucial to his generation.
There are two types of Talmidei Chachamim.
The first is the one whose Torah study is his sole occupation. This individual is totally immersed in constant Torah study. Such a Talmid Chacham does not cease Torah study even to fulfill time-bound positive precepts incumbent on him personally,, if they are of Rabbinic origin, for example, the Shemoneh Esreh according to most opinions. He ceases only for precepts of Torah origin, such as the Shema.
The other Talmid Chacham, the one whose Torah study is not his sole occupation, must cease study for every time-bound positive precept incumbent on him personally, even those Rabbinic in origin. Likewise, he must cease study even to do a mitzvah not specifically incumbent on him personally, i.e., a mitzvah of the community.
Milchemet mitzvah is a communal mitzvah upon which the future of the Jewish People depends. It follows that any Talmid Chacham whose Torah study is not his sole occupation, who does not sit day and night studying Torah without earning any living or taking any vacation, will be obligated to stop studying so as to involve himself in milchemet mitzvah. Obviously, he should do this specifically in the “holy camp” framework, lest he fall prey to sin and abomination. Only the true Talmid Chacham, whose Torah study is his sole occupation, will be exempt from taking part in this mitzvah, because it can be performed by others. Yet listen to this, dear friends, and remember it: Not everyone who wishes to claim such a title may do so. If someone cloaks himself in the mantle of a Talmid Chacham whose Torah study is his sole occupation when he is unworthy of this, only to shirk the mitzvah of going to war, sanctifying G-d's name, taking G-d's revenge and assisting Israel against the attacking foe, he is a shedder of blood and his sin is unbearable. As Rambam said regarding the person commanded to fight (Hilchot Melachim 7:15); “If he does not strive to be victorious and does not fight with all his heart and soul, it is as though he has shed everyone's blood.” What shall we say about him who was obligated to fight and did not fight at all?
When it comes to the enemies of Israel who attack and beleaguer us and desire to destroy us, we are certainly required to smite them until they are consumed. It is a mitzvah – a milchemet mitzvah.
The law states clearly that “assisting Israel against the attacking foe”, which constitutes a milchemet mitzvah, refers not just to an enemy who attacks with intent to annihilate Jews, but to every attempt to hurt or plunder as well, even just theft. Obviously, it includes a situation where non-Jews demand a portion of the Land of Israel, for there is an outright prohibition against giving part of the Land to a non-Jew, as we shall see.
Eruvin 45 teaches: “In a border town, even where the non-Jews are not attacking to kill Jews but just demanding hay and straw, we go forth armed to attack them, even violating the Sabbath to do so”. Rashi comments: “Lest they capture it, making the rest of the Land easier for them to capture.” Rashi's point is that for this reason we go forth even on the Sabbath. Yet, regarding the actual law of assisting against an attacking foe, surely, the very fact that non-Jews are demanding even just hay and straw or money and taxes is enough reason to attack them, and that is a milchemet mitzvah.
Likewise, it is clearly forbidden by a grave Torah prohibition to let a non-Jew steal even the smallest part of the Land of Israel. After all, there is a prohibition forbidding us even to diminish the spiritually pure area of the Land of Israel (Moed Kattan 5b): “We do not put a marker marking a spiritually impure area far from that area, so as not to lose part of the Land of Israel.”
Due to our sins, the reason we were exiled from our land, the laws of war have been so corrupted and confused by so many fine students that ignorance on this matter has surpassed all limits. Some have no understanding whatsoever of what a milchemet mitzvah is, and in their blindness ask whether the war between us and the Arabs today is such a war. Woe to the ears that hear this!
It is a great mitzvah to hate evil and evildoers, and even to wage war against them, it is an even greater mitzvah to love goodness and the righteous, i.e., those whom G-d has defined as good and righteous. The mitzvah to love one's fellow Jew, one of the Torah's foundations, dictates that a Jew must save the life of every other Jew who is in danger. This is a mitzvah incumbent on an individual, and how much more so regarding the community. It is part of “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18), yet it also stands independently (Ibid., v. 16): “Do not stand still when your neighbor's life is in danger.”
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
If there will be among you a man who will not be clean because of a nocturnal occurrence, he shall go outside the camp ... For Hashem, your G-d, walks in the midst of your camp so as to save you and grant you victory over your enemy. Your camp must, therefore, be holy, so that He will not see a shameful thing among you and turn away from behind you. (Deut. 23: 10, 11, 15)
The milchemet mitzvah of the Jewish People is not like the wars of the gentiles. Rather, its conception and birth are in holiness. Following is Rambam (Hilchot Melachim 7:1):
In both compulsory and noncompulsory war, a Kohen is appointed to address the nation during the war and he is anointed with the anointing oil. He is the one called the mashuach milchamah, the “anointed for war”.
Israel goes into battle behind the anointed of war. He defines and determines the nature of the war, sanctifies it through his words to the people and makes certain that Israel go to war in holiness and with trust in G-d.
Such is Jewish warfare! It is based on holiness, on faith and trust in G-d that if someone fights the wars of G-d, evil will not befall him since he is fighting for the sanctification of G-d's name.
The phrase “to save you and grant you victory over your enemies” means as follows:
First G-d will save you from yourselves, by warning you about everything evil so that you will be holy. Only then will He grant you victory, saving you from them. Sifri (258) comments, “If you do everything stated regarding this matter, G-d will ultimately save you and grant you victory over your enemies.”
The Jewish war camp must be holy, as is fitting for a war over the sanctification of G-d's name. Nothing inflames the passions more than war, when acts generally forbidden become permissible. Given such license, the evil impulse attempts to take control of a person, and no temptation is more powerful than the sexual impulse. If women were allowed to be part of a military camp during wartime, the sins incurred would outweigh the merit earned for a milchemet mitzvah.
There would be no avoiding licentiousness and promiscuity (as in the modern Israeli army camp, Heaven help us, when the Jewish state has not adopted Jewish laws of warfare).
The army camp would, thus, be transformed from a holy camp, free of impurity and abomination (see Sforno, Ibid.) to a licentious camp. If it became so, a war meant to sanctify G-d's name would become a stage for sexual sin, the height of profanation of G-d's name.
Therefore, a woman should not go to war with men.
Ramban explains:
Scripture warns against sin where sin is most prevalent. It is known that soldiers going to war customarily consume every abomination, rob and steal, and are unashamed to commit adultery and every other outrage. The most upright person, by nature, becomes cruel and vicious when the camp goes forth against the enemy. Scripture therefore warned, “You must avoid everything evil” (Deut. 23:10).
Sifri (Ibid.) comments, “This teaches that sexual sin causes the Divine Presence to withdraw.”
Thus, sexual sin endangers the troops, for without the Divine Presence there will be no victory. The Torah, therefore, forbade women going to war with men, even in a milchemet mitzvah, so as not to turn the mitzvah into a sin.
A Talmid Chacham does not go off to war either, even for a milchemet mitzvah. R. Elazar said (Nedarim 32a): Why was Abraham punished such that his descendants were enslaved to the Egyptians for 210 years? It is because he conscripted Talmidei Chachamim; “Abraham called his students [to battle].” (Gen. 14:14).
We must be aware that “Talmid Chacham” refers only to someone whose Torah study is his sole occupation, someone totally absorbed in Torah study day and night, who never leaves it for anything in the world, a person who together with his study is crucial to his generation.
There are two types of Talmidei Chachamim.
The first is the one whose Torah study is his sole occupation. This individual is totally immersed in constant Torah study. Such a Talmid Chacham does not cease Torah study even to fulfill time-bound positive precepts incumbent on him personally,, if they are of Rabbinic origin, for example, the Shemoneh Esreh according to most opinions. He ceases only for precepts of Torah origin, such as the Shema.
The other Talmid Chacham, the one whose Torah study is not his sole occupation, must cease study for every time-bound positive precept incumbent on him personally, even those Rabbinic in origin. Likewise, he must cease study even to do a mitzvah not specifically incumbent on him personally, i.e., a mitzvah of the community.
Milchemet mitzvah is a communal mitzvah upon which the future of the Jewish People depends. It follows that any Talmid Chacham whose Torah study is not his sole occupation, who does not sit day and night studying Torah without earning any living or taking any vacation, will be obligated to stop studying so as to involve himself in milchemet mitzvah. Obviously, he should do this specifically in the “holy camp” framework, lest he fall prey to sin and abomination. Only the true Talmid Chacham, whose Torah study is his sole occupation, will be exempt from taking part in this mitzvah, because it can be performed by others. Yet listen to this, dear friends, and remember it: Not everyone who wishes to claim such a title may do so. If someone cloaks himself in the mantle of a Talmid Chacham whose Torah study is his sole occupation when he is unworthy of this, only to shirk the mitzvah of going to war, sanctifying G-d's name, taking G-d's revenge and assisting Israel against the attacking foe, he is a shedder of blood and his sin is unbearable. As Rambam said regarding the person commanded to fight (Hilchot Melachim 7:15); “If he does not strive to be victorious and does not fight with all his heart and soul, it is as though he has shed everyone's blood.” What shall we say about him who was obligated to fight and did not fight at all?
When it comes to the enemies of Israel who attack and beleaguer us and desire to destroy us, we are certainly required to smite them until they are consumed. It is a mitzvah – a milchemet mitzvah.
The law states clearly that “assisting Israel against the attacking foe”, which constitutes a milchemet mitzvah, refers not just to an enemy who attacks with intent to annihilate Jews, but to every attempt to hurt or plunder as well, even just theft. Obviously, it includes a situation where non-Jews demand a portion of the Land of Israel, for there is an outright prohibition against giving part of the Land to a non-Jew, as we shall see.
Eruvin 45 teaches: “In a border town, even where the non-Jews are not attacking to kill Jews but just demanding hay and straw, we go forth armed to attack them, even violating the Sabbath to do so”. Rashi comments: “Lest they capture it, making the rest of the Land easier for them to capture.” Rashi's point is that for this reason we go forth even on the Sabbath. Yet, regarding the actual law of assisting against an attacking foe, surely, the very fact that non-Jews are demanding even just hay and straw or money and taxes is enough reason to attack them, and that is a milchemet mitzvah.
Likewise, it is clearly forbidden by a grave Torah prohibition to let a non-Jew steal even the smallest part of the Land of Israel. After all, there is a prohibition forbidding us even to diminish the spiritually pure area of the Land of Israel (Moed Kattan 5b): “We do not put a marker marking a spiritually impure area far from that area, so as not to lose part of the Land of Israel.”
Due to our sins, the reason we were exiled from our land, the laws of war have been so corrupted and confused by so many fine students that ignorance on this matter has surpassed all limits. Some have no understanding whatsoever of what a milchemet mitzvah is, and in their blindness ask whether the war between us and the Arabs today is such a war. Woe to the ears that hear this!
It is a great mitzvah to hate evil and evildoers, and even to wage war against them, it is an even greater mitzvah to love goodness and the righteous, i.e., those whom G-d has defined as good and righteous. The mitzvah to love one's fellow Jew, one of the Torah's foundations, dictates that a Jew must save the life of every other Jew who is in danger. This is a mitzvah incumbent on an individual, and how much more so regarding the community. It is part of “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18), yet it also stands independently (Ibid., v. 16): “Do not stand still when your neighbor's life is in danger.”
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Parashat Shoftim – The Jewish State – Rav Meir Kahane
Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities – which Hashem your G-d gives you – for your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. (Deut. 16:18)
When you come to the Land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you, and possess it, and settle in it, and you will say, “I will set a king over myself, like all the nations that are around me.” You shall surely set over yourself a king whom Hashem, your G-d, shall choose... (Deut. 17:14-15)
It shall be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah in a book, from before the Kohanim, the Levites. (Deut. 17:18)
The Jewish government, the king and the police apparatus were mainly intended to run the Jewish State as a theocracy in accordance with G-d's mitzvot. Regarding the verse, “Appoint yourselves judges and police [officers] (Deut. 16:18), R. Eliezer ben Shamua says (Sifri, Shoftim, 144), “If there are police, there are judges. If there are no police, there are no judges.” The intent is clear: If there are police to enforce the judge's Torah rulings, then the judges' word will endure. Otherwise, it is as though there are no judges. Their rulings are then nothing but a farce. In essence, G-d commanded that there be governmental coercion so as to ensure that the people follow G-d's path. G-d scornfully cast off of Himself and of us the alien non-Jewish opposition to “religious coercion”, opposition that is nothing but rebellion against G-d and His decrees.
Sefer haChinuch wrote (Mitzvah 491):
To appoint judges and policemen who will coerce mitzvah observance and restore to it by force those who have strayed from the truth. They will command regarding what is appropriate to do and will prevent unsavory acts from occurring, and they will uphold punishments against violators until people cease to relate to the mitzvot and prohibitions according to how they personally interpret them.
This concept stands in absolute opposition to the alien culture and to the licentiousness and abominations at its core.
The non-Jews worship many idols and follow many alien cultures, all of them false; and even looking from their point of view, we cannot tell who and which of them they consider “truth”. Therefore, with them there is certainly a need to follow the majority, since they lack any clear truth. This is why the system of majority rule was created.
For Jacob, however, there is only one truth, and it does not matter whether the whole world differs with it, because it is impossible to decide against the truth. Even if, to our great chagrin, most of Israel choose falsehood over Torah, that does not matter, since Jacob already has the truth.
Thus, it is explicit that among Israel there is just one viewpoint, that of Torah; and even if a majority of the Jewish People differ with it, their view is considered deviant and is discounted. A great rabbi once gave a reason for this: The law is that we do not follow the majority when there is testimony for the opposing view; and since Israel saw the Sinai Revelation with their own eyes, confirming G-d's existence, no majority in the world could decide anything against this testimony (SeeTorah Shlemah, Shemot, 23, se'if katan 38). R. Chama's comment[...] - “If one of them sins, it is attributed to them all” (Midrash HaGadol, Shemot, 1:5) - ...] serves to establish the other side of the rule that there is none truth, and not two. Not only must the righteous minority not surrender to or tolerate the erring majority, but they have a duty to protest against them. Not only must they not accept their viewpoint, but they must also demand that they correct their error and accept G-d's viewpoint. The mutual responsibility which exists among the Jewish People requires every Jew to share in the fate of his fellow; and if he does not protest the sins of the individual, let alone those of the community, he, too, will be punished.
[Regarding “You shall surely set over yourself a king whom Hashem, your G-d, shall choose...” (Deut. 17:15)] Rambam wrote (Hilchot Malachim 1:3), “Initially, a king is appointed by the Sanhedrin of seventy-one following a prophetic decree.”
Initially, such is the law, but if in certain circumstances it proves impossible, then we satisfy our requirement of a regime to ward off licentiousness and enemy attack via a president rather than a king – without a Sanhedrin or prophet.
Rambam taught (Ibid. 1:8):
If a prophet appointed a king from another tribe [rather than Yehudah], and that king followed the path of Torah and mitzvot and fought G-d's battles, he is a king, and all the mitzvot of the monarchy apply to him, even though the main monarchy is through David.
Thus, even when there is no Davidic dynasty for whatever reason, we still continue with a monarchic regime, rule by one man. [And further,] even when there is no prophet or Sanhedrin, there clearly remains a need for a one-man regime, a single leader, a president, and not the utter chaos of dozens or hundreds of representatives and parties, every one of which tries to extort money and power, leaving the county paralyzed while they try to reach agreement on matters of paramount importance.
Presumably, the appointment must approximate the ideal format, in that it should be implemented by a court of the great rabbis of the generation.
This is clearly the type of regime that G-d desired; and when there is a prophet and Sanhedrin, then together with the king who stands at their head, they comprise a Torah regime of “one leader to the generation, not two.”
The king or ruler is obligated to view himself as G-d's representative to herd His holy flock, Israel, and to conduct himself with them in ways that will be beneficial to them, and all in accordance with the ways of the Torah, as I have written. He must listen seriously to their complaints. The ruler must conduct himself with humility, as a servant of the people, yet he must know that he is king or president, G-d's representative not only to defend the Jewish people, but also lead and direct them on the path they must follow. He must fear no man and be deterred by no one, and he must not try to curry favor with the people or flatter them. Of this it says, “Do not flatter the land in which you live” (Num. 35:33). Rather, where necessary, he must take a staff and smite their skulls. Then G-d will be at his side.
Clearly, the government's whole worth is solely as a means towards the proper running of G-d's state. It is inconceivable that there could be any valid authority to a government that does not conduct itself this way. The monarchy, or whatever government there may be, was intended only to fulfill the Divine mission assigned it by Divine decree. Thus, all the rights and authority of Jewish governments stem solely from the Torah. A Jewish government must not resemble any regime of the nations, because the government, state and people, themselves, were created only to obey G-d.
Rashi explains (Sanhedrin 49a, s.v. Achin veRakin): “If the king sets out to nullify Torah pronouncements, we do not heed him.”
[As Rabbi Kahane explains in Peirush HaMaccabee – Devarim, Parashat Shoftim:]
Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities... and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. (Deut. 16:18) The Sforno writes: “After the mitzvot which apply to the masses [the three pilgrimage festivals, at the end of the previous Parasha] the Torah gives the commandments which apply to their leaders, who are the kings and the judges and the Kohanim and the prophets. As long as they act properly, the masses, too, will behave properly; but if they are corrupt-then they will corrupt the masses.”
We learn from this that the way to a just and proper society does not depend upon the method of government – that is, a specific political or economic idea – but rather the essence and nature and quality of the people who are the society's leaders. If the judges are just, then a fair and just society will be created; and if they are corrupt, then society as a whole will be corrupted; whatever its form of government or its ideology.
[Rabbi Kahane also refers to this in “Why be Jewish”: ] It is illusion to believe that one can make a people better by [just] changing the form of government. No change in the system of society will make that society better, for there is no such thing as “government” or “society”. There are only the individuals who comprise the government or the society and the whole is nothing more than the sum of its parts. If the parts are rotten and corrupt, the whole must emerge the same. If the people are selfish and egotistical, society will emerge the same, regardless of the form of government that it uses. An ugly world will never be made beautiful by attacking the symptoms.
It is man himself who must be changed and made better. Then and only then can the world which he makes up become better, too. The holiness of the human being guarantees the holiness and beauty of his world. Even if this is a long and difficult process, it is the only way. Of such things did the rabbis say: “There is a long way that is short and a seemingly short way that is in reality long.” And how does one change man's natural inclination to be selfish? “The commandments were given to Israel to purify people”. Here is the way the Almighty, creator of man who knows all of his workings and ways, knew that man could be brought to holiness and purity. The mitzvot, the commandments – they are the way, the only way. “And you shall fulfill all my commandments, and then shall you be holy unto your G-d."
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D, with excerpts from "Peirush HaMaccabee - Devarim, Parashat Shoftim" and "Why be Jewish".
When you come to the Land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you, and possess it, and settle in it, and you will say, “I will set a king over myself, like all the nations that are around me.” You shall surely set over yourself a king whom Hashem, your G-d, shall choose... (Deut. 17:14-15)
It shall be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah in a book, from before the Kohanim, the Levites. (Deut. 17:18)
The Jewish government, the king and the police apparatus were mainly intended to run the Jewish State as a theocracy in accordance with G-d's mitzvot. Regarding the verse, “Appoint yourselves judges and police [officers] (Deut. 16:18), R. Eliezer ben Shamua says (Sifri, Shoftim, 144), “If there are police, there are judges. If there are no police, there are no judges.” The intent is clear: If there are police to enforce the judge's Torah rulings, then the judges' word will endure. Otherwise, it is as though there are no judges. Their rulings are then nothing but a farce. In essence, G-d commanded that there be governmental coercion so as to ensure that the people follow G-d's path. G-d scornfully cast off of Himself and of us the alien non-Jewish opposition to “religious coercion”, opposition that is nothing but rebellion against G-d and His decrees.
Sefer haChinuch wrote (Mitzvah 491):
To appoint judges and policemen who will coerce mitzvah observance and restore to it by force those who have strayed from the truth. They will command regarding what is appropriate to do and will prevent unsavory acts from occurring, and they will uphold punishments against violators until people cease to relate to the mitzvot and prohibitions according to how they personally interpret them.
This concept stands in absolute opposition to the alien culture and to the licentiousness and abominations at its core.
The non-Jews worship many idols and follow many alien cultures, all of them false; and even looking from their point of view, we cannot tell who and which of them they consider “truth”. Therefore, with them there is certainly a need to follow the majority, since they lack any clear truth. This is why the system of majority rule was created.
For Jacob, however, there is only one truth, and it does not matter whether the whole world differs with it, because it is impossible to decide against the truth. Even if, to our great chagrin, most of Israel choose falsehood over Torah, that does not matter, since Jacob already has the truth.
Thus, it is explicit that among Israel there is just one viewpoint, that of Torah; and even if a majority of the Jewish People differ with it, their view is considered deviant and is discounted. A great rabbi once gave a reason for this: The law is that we do not follow the majority when there is testimony for the opposing view; and since Israel saw the Sinai Revelation with their own eyes, confirming G-d's existence, no majority in the world could decide anything against this testimony (SeeTorah Shlemah, Shemot, 23, se'if katan 38). R. Chama's comment[...] - “If one of them sins, it is attributed to them all” (Midrash HaGadol, Shemot, 1:5) - ...] serves to establish the other side of the rule that there is none truth, and not two. Not only must the righteous minority not surrender to or tolerate the erring majority, but they have a duty to protest against them. Not only must they not accept their viewpoint, but they must also demand that they correct their error and accept G-d's viewpoint. The mutual responsibility which exists among the Jewish People requires every Jew to share in the fate of his fellow; and if he does not protest the sins of the individual, let alone those of the community, he, too, will be punished.
[Regarding “You shall surely set over yourself a king whom Hashem, your G-d, shall choose...” (Deut. 17:15)] Rambam wrote (Hilchot Malachim 1:3), “Initially, a king is appointed by the Sanhedrin of seventy-one following a prophetic decree.”
Initially, such is the law, but if in certain circumstances it proves impossible, then we satisfy our requirement of a regime to ward off licentiousness and enemy attack via a president rather than a king – without a Sanhedrin or prophet.
Rambam taught (Ibid. 1:8):
If a prophet appointed a king from another tribe [rather than Yehudah], and that king followed the path of Torah and mitzvot and fought G-d's battles, he is a king, and all the mitzvot of the monarchy apply to him, even though the main monarchy is through David.
Thus, even when there is no Davidic dynasty for whatever reason, we still continue with a monarchic regime, rule by one man. [And further,] even when there is no prophet or Sanhedrin, there clearly remains a need for a one-man regime, a single leader, a president, and not the utter chaos of dozens or hundreds of representatives and parties, every one of which tries to extort money and power, leaving the county paralyzed while they try to reach agreement on matters of paramount importance.
Presumably, the appointment must approximate the ideal format, in that it should be implemented by a court of the great rabbis of the generation.
This is clearly the type of regime that G-d desired; and when there is a prophet and Sanhedrin, then together with the king who stands at their head, they comprise a Torah regime of “one leader to the generation, not two.”
The king or ruler is obligated to view himself as G-d's representative to herd His holy flock, Israel, and to conduct himself with them in ways that will be beneficial to them, and all in accordance with the ways of the Torah, as I have written. He must listen seriously to their complaints. The ruler must conduct himself with humility, as a servant of the people, yet he must know that he is king or president, G-d's representative not only to defend the Jewish people, but also lead and direct them on the path they must follow. He must fear no man and be deterred by no one, and he must not try to curry favor with the people or flatter them. Of this it says, “Do not flatter the land in which you live” (Num. 35:33). Rather, where necessary, he must take a staff and smite their skulls. Then G-d will be at his side.
Clearly, the government's whole worth is solely as a means towards the proper running of G-d's state. It is inconceivable that there could be any valid authority to a government that does not conduct itself this way. The monarchy, or whatever government there may be, was intended only to fulfill the Divine mission assigned it by Divine decree. Thus, all the rights and authority of Jewish governments stem solely from the Torah. A Jewish government must not resemble any regime of the nations, because the government, state and people, themselves, were created only to obey G-d.
Rashi explains (Sanhedrin 49a, s.v. Achin veRakin): “If the king sets out to nullify Torah pronouncements, we do not heed him.”
[As Rabbi Kahane explains in Peirush HaMaccabee – Devarim, Parashat Shoftim:]
Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities... and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. (Deut. 16:18) The Sforno writes: “After the mitzvot which apply to the masses [the three pilgrimage festivals, at the end of the previous Parasha] the Torah gives the commandments which apply to their leaders, who are the kings and the judges and the Kohanim and the prophets. As long as they act properly, the masses, too, will behave properly; but if they are corrupt-then they will corrupt the masses.”
We learn from this that the way to a just and proper society does not depend upon the method of government – that is, a specific political or economic idea – but rather the essence and nature and quality of the people who are the society's leaders. If the judges are just, then a fair and just society will be created; and if they are corrupt, then society as a whole will be corrupted; whatever its form of government or its ideology.
[Rabbi Kahane also refers to this in “Why be Jewish”: ] It is illusion to believe that one can make a people better by [just] changing the form of government. No change in the system of society will make that society better, for there is no such thing as “government” or “society”. There are only the individuals who comprise the government or the society and the whole is nothing more than the sum of its parts. If the parts are rotten and corrupt, the whole must emerge the same. If the people are selfish and egotistical, society will emerge the same, regardless of the form of government that it uses. An ugly world will never be made beautiful by attacking the symptoms.
It is man himself who must be changed and made better. Then and only then can the world which he makes up become better, too. The holiness of the human being guarantees the holiness and beauty of his world. Even if this is a long and difficult process, it is the only way. Of such things did the rabbis say: “There is a long way that is short and a seemingly short way that is in reality long.” And how does one change man's natural inclination to be selfish? “The commandments were given to Israel to purify people”. Here is the way the Almighty, creator of man who knows all of his workings and ways, knew that man could be brought to holiness and purity. The mitzvot, the commandments – they are the way, the only way. “And you shall fulfill all my commandments, and then shall you be holy unto your G-d."
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D, with excerpts from "Peirush HaMaccabee - Devarim, Parashat Shoftim" and "Why be Jewish".
Monday, August 2, 2010
Parashat Re'eh – War of Values: Halacha vs. Democracy- Rav Meir Kahane & Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
You shall break apart their altars, you shall smash their pillars; and their sacred trees shall you burn in the fire; their carved images shall you cut down; and you shall obliterate their names from that place. (Deut. 12:3)
If there should stand up in your midst a prophet or a dreamer of a dream (...) saying, “Let us follow gods of others that you did not know and we shall worship them!” - do not hearken to the words of that prophet , for Hashem, your G-d is testing you (...) And that prophet and that dreamer of a dream shall be put to death for he had spoken perversion against Hashem your G-d (...) and you shall destroy the evil from your midst. (Deut. 13:4-6)
Today's alien culture has replaced idolatry, one more reason G-d promised not to let Israel dwell among the nations.
In the battle of foreign culture against G-d's concepts of morality and faith, with the constant struggle to distort the Divine truth, no distortion is more widespread or dangerous than that which stems from “moral” opposition to G-d's concepts by the many evildoers who consider themselves far more righteous than their Creator.
In our day, such persons have proliferated due to the foreign culture which has penetrated G-d's sanctuary. Ramban warned about them in his commentary: “'You shall consume all the peoples that the L-rd your G-d shall deliver unto you. Your eye shall not pity them' (Deut. 7:16): It says, 'Your eye shall not pity them.' This conforms with, 'Taking pity on the wicked is cruel' (Prov. 12:10). Such behavior is not good but evil.”
Our sages' words provide us with true guidance. I have previously mentioned the false prophet, of whom it says (Deut. 13:6), “That prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he spoke perversion against the L-rd your G-d.” Here Or HaChaim comments, “Sifri explains that 'speaking perversion' refers to falsifying G-d's words.” Or HaCHaim continues, “And for his falsification he dies.” This teaches that whoever falsifies, perverts of distorts G-d's word has done an unbearable sin.
In the war declared against G-d by those who rebel against His word, on the one hand they brazenly question G-d's nature and infinite greatness. As King David said, “The fool says in his heart, 'There is no G-d'. They have dared to fashion their own culture, their own way of thinking, their own approach to morality, while scornfully ridiculing G-d: “They say, 'How does G-d know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?'” (Ps. 73:11).
On the other hand, these rebels, and all others for whom the laws and moral code of G-d are so unacceptable as to be tortuous, falsify the truth, and the result is distortion. The impure have entered the sanctuary of G-d's moral code and made their own rules, with light being turned into darkness, darkness into light, and falsehood overriding truth. Of all their distortions, none is more dangerous than that applied to the terms “good” and “evil”.
The liberal west categorically negates certain concepts – i.e., vengeance, hate and violence – almost a priori, while Judaism speaks of “a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace,” with the need and commandment to love the good and hate evil, to seek peace but to go to war against the wicked, with vengeance, at the proper time, an obligation, in order to show that there is a Judge and there is justice in the world. The liberal west speaks of the most important thing being life itself and thus moves easily into a concept of better anything than dead, while Judaism speaks of the quality of life, with the yardstick being the doing of G-d's will in life and the commandment being to give up one's life if necessary in order to obey certain of G-d's laws.
But above all, Judaism differs from liberal and non-liberal western values in that the foundation upon which it rests is that of “the yoke of Heaven”, the acceptance of G-d's law and values and concepts as truth, without testing them in the fires of one's own knowledge, choice, desires, and acceptance. One does not weigh and mull over Jewish values as presented in Torah authority. One does not test them to see if they are acceptable to the taste, sweet to the palate. One does not test them by his own standards to see if he believes them to be just or decent or merciful or good.
It is the Almighty Who created the world and the word, Who created finite and stumbling man, Who created justice and decency and mercy and good. That which He created is just and decent and merciful and good, and we accept it because of that. It is this yoke of Heaven, the setting aside of our will before His because He is truth and His Torah is truth, that is the fundamental of Judaism.
The values of Judaism struggle to the death with the secular, gentilized, foreign, corrupt ones of the Hellenists. This is the real struggle – the war of ideas, of values, of civilization. Will it be the victory of Judaism with its specific, separate, distinct views of holiness and purity, or the triumph of the Hebrew-speaking gentiles whose self-hate, a twisted product of cancerous ego, leads them to reject and stomp upon Judaism of discipline and embrace instead the malignancy of gentilization with its license, total self-indulgence, and self-destruction?
The war is being fought over the soul and destiny of the people and state.
A people rejects its chosenness and specialness, its sanctity and elevation, its separation from the impurities of the nations, their profanations and abominations. It pants after the gentile, it seeks to be as all the nations.The Jews against the Hellenists. The real struggle.
[As Rav Meir Kahane's son Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane wrote in the Darka shel Torah Parasha series]:
The Jewish Supreme Court that has arisen and begun to enact legislation against Torah in a frantic effort to forcefully transform the Jewish People to Hebrew-speaking gentiles. They attempt to accomplish this by laying down the following ground rules: The chosenness of the Jewish People and all other halacha that discriminates between Jew and gentile is “racism”, for it opposes the basic democratic principle of equality for all men, regardless of race, creed, color or religion. (Even the abolition of the Law of Return is in their sights.) In addition, any religious legislation can be rejected because it negates the basic democratic principle of the “individuals right to freedom”. But most importantly, the Hellenists of today are demanding that democracy take precedence over everything, including the Halacha. By use of these seemingly harmless axioms, the State of Israel is eradicating from itself all Jewish content. In these “progressive” times, there are not even “Jews”, only “Israelis”. The implications are quite serious. No longer can we say: “Well, they are tinokot shenishbu (like children who are totally unaware or ignorant of their Jewish heritage). In the meantime, we'll sit and learn Torah and gather strength and numbers until the day comes when we can change the situation and make Torah the law of the land.” Those days are over, because the Hellenists are not waiting. They are very actively exerting all their influence to establish democracy as the law of the land and ultimate value of society, banning anyone who does not succumb to them 100%. [Dear reader, please note how this, written more than 10 years ago, fits our very situation today:] Already they forcibly prohibit us from learning “forbidden” sections of Torah. Fact: A rabbi sits in jail today on the charge of racism for a Halachic essay he wrote. Rabbis are being investigated daily and soon will be jailed under suspicion that they had the “audacity” to tell their students not to follow orders which negate Torah law (and let us not even mention what will be the fate of those who actually carry out the rabbis' words). Yes, we are at the climax of a cultural war. It is “us” or “them”.
This is the first time in history that the Jews themselves have laid down decrees against halacha! And it is not relevant if it is against the entire Torah, ten halachot, or even one halacha!
What are the rabbis doing? The buzz word these days is “unity”. Fortunately for us, the Hellenists aren't interested. They fully understand that before there is any reconciliation, there must be a framework of common ground from which to work. And if that basis is not the unequivocal commitment to democracy – (i.e. that it supersedes the halacha) then there will be no reconciliation. And so they continue to lead the rabbis into tiny investigation rooms, hoping to squeeze out of them some quote from the Talmud by Rav Ashi, in order to strong-arm them: Unity? Solidarity? No problem! As long as we dictate the rules. Take the pig and say it: Democracy over halacha!
Obviously, no rabbi will accept this. We must realize that the game is over. We can no longer evade the contradiction of Jewishness and Democracy that the State of Israel was schizophrenically based upon. There is an unbridgeable gap, for it is a conflict whereby the entire premise of each philosophy totally contradicts the other. The rabbis have a mighty mission ahead. It is incumbent upon each and every one of them to get up and declare: In the same way that Jews rebuffed the harsh edicts of the Greeks and Romans, and Rabbi Akiva was even skinned alive for this principle, so too must we stand in defiance when Israeli democracy decides that certain parts of Torah cannot be learned.
These are days of religious persecution, and we must cling to the path of Rabbi Akiva – to openly learn and teach all the forbidden laws and to proclaim unequivocally that we will disobey any law that forces us to transgress the Torah. Because Torah supersedes democracy.
A person's whole life is a test to see whether he will accept the yoke of Heaven and of mitzvot. There is nothing precious that does not exact a heavy price of him who wishes to acquire it.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D, with excerpts from "Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews" and from "Darka shel Torah" of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, HY"D
This compilation is especially dedicated to Rabbis Yitzchak Shapira and Yitzchak Ginsburg of Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai who were harassed, arrested and questioned during recent days for their unwavering commitment to teaching true and uncompromising Torah.
If there should stand up in your midst a prophet or a dreamer of a dream (...) saying, “Let us follow gods of others that you did not know and we shall worship them!” - do not hearken to the words of that prophet , for Hashem, your G-d is testing you (...) And that prophet and that dreamer of a dream shall be put to death for he had spoken perversion against Hashem your G-d (...) and you shall destroy the evil from your midst. (Deut. 13:4-6)
Today's alien culture has replaced idolatry, one more reason G-d promised not to let Israel dwell among the nations.
In the battle of foreign culture against G-d's concepts of morality and faith, with the constant struggle to distort the Divine truth, no distortion is more widespread or dangerous than that which stems from “moral” opposition to G-d's concepts by the many evildoers who consider themselves far more righteous than their Creator.
In our day, such persons have proliferated due to the foreign culture which has penetrated G-d's sanctuary. Ramban warned about them in his commentary: “'You shall consume all the peoples that the L-rd your G-d shall deliver unto you. Your eye shall not pity them' (Deut. 7:16): It says, 'Your eye shall not pity them.' This conforms with, 'Taking pity on the wicked is cruel' (Prov. 12:10). Such behavior is not good but evil.”
Our sages' words provide us with true guidance. I have previously mentioned the false prophet, of whom it says (Deut. 13:6), “That prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he spoke perversion against the L-rd your G-d.” Here Or HaChaim comments, “Sifri explains that 'speaking perversion' refers to falsifying G-d's words.” Or HaCHaim continues, “And for his falsification he dies.” This teaches that whoever falsifies, perverts of distorts G-d's word has done an unbearable sin.
In the war declared against G-d by those who rebel against His word, on the one hand they brazenly question G-d's nature and infinite greatness. As King David said, “The fool says in his heart, 'There is no G-d'. They have dared to fashion their own culture, their own way of thinking, their own approach to morality, while scornfully ridiculing G-d: “They say, 'How does G-d know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?'” (Ps. 73:11).
On the other hand, these rebels, and all others for whom the laws and moral code of G-d are so unacceptable as to be tortuous, falsify the truth, and the result is distortion. The impure have entered the sanctuary of G-d's moral code and made their own rules, with light being turned into darkness, darkness into light, and falsehood overriding truth. Of all their distortions, none is more dangerous than that applied to the terms “good” and “evil”.
The liberal west categorically negates certain concepts – i.e., vengeance, hate and violence – almost a priori, while Judaism speaks of “a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace,” with the need and commandment to love the good and hate evil, to seek peace but to go to war against the wicked, with vengeance, at the proper time, an obligation, in order to show that there is a Judge and there is justice in the world. The liberal west speaks of the most important thing being life itself and thus moves easily into a concept of better anything than dead, while Judaism speaks of the quality of life, with the yardstick being the doing of G-d's will in life and the commandment being to give up one's life if necessary in order to obey certain of G-d's laws.
But above all, Judaism differs from liberal and non-liberal western values in that the foundation upon which it rests is that of “the yoke of Heaven”, the acceptance of G-d's law and values and concepts as truth, without testing them in the fires of one's own knowledge, choice, desires, and acceptance. One does not weigh and mull over Jewish values as presented in Torah authority. One does not test them to see if they are acceptable to the taste, sweet to the palate. One does not test them by his own standards to see if he believes them to be just or decent or merciful or good.
It is the Almighty Who created the world and the word, Who created finite and stumbling man, Who created justice and decency and mercy and good. That which He created is just and decent and merciful and good, and we accept it because of that. It is this yoke of Heaven, the setting aside of our will before His because He is truth and His Torah is truth, that is the fundamental of Judaism.
The values of Judaism struggle to the death with the secular, gentilized, foreign, corrupt ones of the Hellenists. This is the real struggle – the war of ideas, of values, of civilization. Will it be the victory of Judaism with its specific, separate, distinct views of holiness and purity, or the triumph of the Hebrew-speaking gentiles whose self-hate, a twisted product of cancerous ego, leads them to reject and stomp upon Judaism of discipline and embrace instead the malignancy of gentilization with its license, total self-indulgence, and self-destruction?
The war is being fought over the soul and destiny of the people and state.
A people rejects its chosenness and specialness, its sanctity and elevation, its separation from the impurities of the nations, their profanations and abominations. It pants after the gentile, it seeks to be as all the nations.The Jews against the Hellenists. The real struggle.
[As Rav Meir Kahane's son Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane wrote in the Darka shel Torah Parasha series]:
The Jewish Supreme Court that has arisen and begun to enact legislation against Torah in a frantic effort to forcefully transform the Jewish People to Hebrew-speaking gentiles. They attempt to accomplish this by laying down the following ground rules: The chosenness of the Jewish People and all other halacha that discriminates between Jew and gentile is “racism”, for it opposes the basic democratic principle of equality for all men, regardless of race, creed, color or religion. (Even the abolition of the Law of Return is in their sights.) In addition, any religious legislation can be rejected because it negates the basic democratic principle of the “individuals right to freedom”. But most importantly, the Hellenists of today are demanding that democracy take precedence over everything, including the Halacha. By use of these seemingly harmless axioms, the State of Israel is eradicating from itself all Jewish content. In these “progressive” times, there are not even “Jews”, only “Israelis”. The implications are quite serious. No longer can we say: “Well, they are tinokot shenishbu (like children who are totally unaware or ignorant of their Jewish heritage). In the meantime, we'll sit and learn Torah and gather strength and numbers until the day comes when we can change the situation and make Torah the law of the land.” Those days are over, because the Hellenists are not waiting. They are very actively exerting all their influence to establish democracy as the law of the land and ultimate value of society, banning anyone who does not succumb to them 100%. [Dear reader, please note how this, written more than 10 years ago, fits our very situation today:] Already they forcibly prohibit us from learning “forbidden” sections of Torah. Fact: A rabbi sits in jail today on the charge of racism for a Halachic essay he wrote. Rabbis are being investigated daily and soon will be jailed under suspicion that they had the “audacity” to tell their students not to follow orders which negate Torah law (and let us not even mention what will be the fate of those who actually carry out the rabbis' words). Yes, we are at the climax of a cultural war. It is “us” or “them”.
This is the first time in history that the Jews themselves have laid down decrees against halacha! And it is not relevant if it is against the entire Torah, ten halachot, or even one halacha!
What are the rabbis doing? The buzz word these days is “unity”. Fortunately for us, the Hellenists aren't interested. They fully understand that before there is any reconciliation, there must be a framework of common ground from which to work. And if that basis is not the unequivocal commitment to democracy – (i.e. that it supersedes the halacha) then there will be no reconciliation. And so they continue to lead the rabbis into tiny investigation rooms, hoping to squeeze out of them some quote from the Talmud by Rav Ashi, in order to strong-arm them: Unity? Solidarity? No problem! As long as we dictate the rules. Take the pig and say it: Democracy over halacha!
Obviously, no rabbi will accept this. We must realize that the game is over. We can no longer evade the contradiction of Jewishness and Democracy that the State of Israel was schizophrenically based upon. There is an unbridgeable gap, for it is a conflict whereby the entire premise of each philosophy totally contradicts the other. The rabbis have a mighty mission ahead. It is incumbent upon each and every one of them to get up and declare: In the same way that Jews rebuffed the harsh edicts of the Greeks and Romans, and Rabbi Akiva was even skinned alive for this principle, so too must we stand in defiance when Israeli democracy decides that certain parts of Torah cannot be learned.
These are days of religious persecution, and we must cling to the path of Rabbi Akiva – to openly learn and teach all the forbidden laws and to proclaim unequivocally that we will disobey any law that forces us to transgress the Torah. Because Torah supersedes democracy.
A person's whole life is a test to see whether he will accept the yoke of Heaven and of mitzvot. There is nothing precious that does not exact a heavy price of him who wishes to acquire it.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D, with excerpts from "Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews" and from "Darka shel Torah" of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, HY"D
This compilation is especially dedicated to Rabbis Yitzchak Shapira and Yitzchak Ginsburg of Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai who were harassed, arrested and questioned during recent days for their unwavering commitment to teaching true and uncompromising Torah.
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