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".
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
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 and Rabbi Dov Lior and Rabbi Ya'akov Yosef who were harassed, arrested and questioned for their unwavering commitment to teaching true and uncompromising Torah.
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 and Rabbi Dov Lior and Rabbi Ya'akov Yosef who were harassed, arrested and questioned for their unwavering commitment to teaching true and uncompromising Torah.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Parashat Eikev – Fear and Love of G-d – Rav Meir Kahane
Now, O Israel, what does Hashem your G-d, ask of you? Only to fear Hashem, your G-d, to go in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve Hashem, your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul... (Deut. 10:12)
The fear of G-d! The thoughtful, contemplative person who sees G-d's wonders is astonished by the greatness of Him Whose word brought the world into being and embarrassed by his own insignificance. Fear takes hold of him – the fear of G-d.
[King] Solomon said, “The fear of the L-rd is the beginning of knowledge”(Prov. 1:7).
The beginning, the first essential element in a person's wisdom and knowledge, if he is to understand what his task is and where he is going, is the fear of G-d, vanquishing his ego and accepting G-d's yoke. If one merits this, the whole world is his. Otherwise, better he was never born. Without fear of G-d, wisdom is nothing but conceit and a tool to self-advancement. Even one's Torah lacks holiness, modesty and purity, and without these it is not Torah. Does G-d desire mere wisdom and brilliance in Torah? Does He need vain argumentation and polished, sophisticated explanations? Is not all wisdom His? Just as He has no need of candle light, so has He no need of the Torah scholar's wisdom. As our sages said (Shemot Rabbah 36:2), “It is not that I need you. Rather, shower light upon Me the way I showered light upon you.” In just the same way, G-d does not need the Torah, yet He gave it to mortal men for their own good so they would subdue their egos and cling to Him. Hence, if there is no fear of G-d, the Torah becomes mere wisdom, and better that man should not study it.
It is impossible to lead a sinless life without the fear of G-d. It therefore says (Lev. 19:14), “Fear your G-d. I am the L-rd.” Fear is the purest element there is and it naturally guarantees the absence of sin. Such is the intent of Psalms 19:10: “The fear of the L-rd is pure; it stands firm forever.” Fear, dread and reverence bind a person so he does not sin.
How difficult it is to acquire the fear of G-d! Man's arrogance and evil impulse incite him to distance himself from that trait. For this reason, before R. Yochanan ben Zackai passed away, he blessed his students as follows (Berachot 28b), “May it be G-d's will that as much fear of Heaven be upon you as fear of mortal man.” His students then asked, “Is that all?” and he responded, “You should be so fortunate as to achieve just this! Consider that when people sin they say, 'I hope no one sees me' [i.e., they do not fear G-d, Who sees all.]”
Our sages had the same intent when they said (Sotah 3a), “No person sins without suffering first a flash of insanity.” After all, any sane person will recoil from committing any sin, for G-d can see him! Would anyone sane steal, smite or murder while a policeman is standing by? Thus, if someone who believes in G-d still sins, it can only be that at that moment his thinking processes were so clouded and his selfishness and lust so overwhelmed him that he dared to sin under G-d's gaze.
It is, thus, quite important that a person always set G-d or one of the commandments before him. This is fundamental to fearing G-d. If someone envisions a commandment before him, it is as though he sees the One Who commanded it. How can he not tremble with fear?
“I set the L-rd ever before me” (Ps. 16:8): This verse [...] Rama saw as appropriate to insert at the very beginning of Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 1:1):
“Setting G-d ever before you” is an exceedingly important principle of the Torah and of those saintly individuals who walk before G-d. The way a person sits and moves and behaves at home alone is not the way he sits and moves and behaves before a great king... And when he notices that G-d, the Supreme King, Whose glory fills the earth, stands over him and sees his deeds... how much more so will he be filled with reverence and humility out of his fear and constant shame before G-d.
Envisioning G-d constantly in one's presence serves to magnify one's fear of Him. Without such fear, man has no hope, and that is why G-d requires it. (Berachot 33b): “Everything is in G-d's hands but the fear of G-d: 'And now, Israel, what does the L-rd your G-d require of you but to fear Him' (Deut. 10:12).” Whoever examines the entire verse will see that it continues, “To walk in all His ways, to love Him, and to serve the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and all your soul.” In other words, these last achievements are fulfilled through the fear of G-d. Without such fear, one cannot possibly achieve holiness, for one's ego will always take control.
That same faith in G-d which leads us to fear Him, and subsequently to modesty, lowliness and self-effacement, ultimately leads man to recognize G-d's greatness, omnipotence and omniscience. It creates in us the desire and longing to serve G-d wholeheartedly, to emulate Him and to be with Him always. Such longing is called Ahavat Hashem, the love of G-d.
Fearing G-d, without which man cannot merit holiness of purity, is itself a prerequisite to loving Him, the second stage of man's spiritual growth as he proceeds to accept upon himself the yoke of Heaven. Loving G-d is a more exalted stage, as our sages said (Sotah 31a), “One motivated by love for G-d is greater than one motivated by fear.”
Fear ensures man's separating himself from evil, making it infinitely easier for him later on to attain reward. As King David said, “Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 34:15). Fear of G-d distances man from evil, whereas love of G-d ensures that he will do good, out of desire and craving for G-d and His commandments. The more a person ponders G-d's wonders and examines the truth of His attributes and moral code, the more he will understand how much wisdom and truth are contained in them and the more there will grow within him a love for the Master, Who is all goodness, kindness and mercy.
This is Israel's task, in love and joy, longing and desire, to bring the world to recognize G-d's majesty and sovereignty, the Divine greatness of His attributes and moral code, His laws and statutes.
Even so, just as the Torah spoke in human terms, so did G-d create human love. While such love cannot be compared to love for G-d, still, as far as man is concerned, such love is so fierce that it contains within it a slight hint of what we are commanded to feel toward G-d.
As the Rambam said (Hilchot Teshuvah 10:3):
What is befitting love for G-d? It must be so enormous and fierce that it bends man's soul to G-d. A man can be so lovesick for a woman that he is never free of his infatuation for her, whether he is at home, going out, getting up in the morning or eating. Our love for G-d must be greater even than that. We must be ravished with this love constantly, as G-d commanded us, with all our heart and soul. As King Solomon said (Song of Songs 2:5), “I am lovesick.” All of Song of Songs was a metaphor for man's love of G-d.
Rabbi Akiva likewise said, “The whole universe never had as much justification to exist as the day Song of Songs was given to Israel. While all the Writings are holy, Song of Songs is holy of holies” (Yadayim 3:5). The reason for this is both profound and clear: The greatest love that man can fathom is that between man and woman, in which the man is ravished and lovesick on her account.
Ultimately, that love will be so fierce and profound that it will capture his spirit and soul. It will be a love of true devotion, as it says, “To love the L-rd your G-d, to hearken to His voice and to cling to Him” (Deut. 30:20).
[As Rav Kahane put it in “Why be Jewish?” p. 179]:
This is how a Jew who knows G-d prays:
“Thou art the Flame and I the straw – and who should have mercy upon the straw if not the Flame?
Thou art Pure, and I am sinful – and who should have mercy upon the sinful if not the Pure?
Thou art the Supporter and I the falling one – and who should have mercy upon the falling one if not the Supporter? Thou art the Shepherd and I the flock...”
The words of the Jew who looks to the real G-d and who daily whispers: I believe, I believe, I believe ... I know!”
We certainly cannot achieve the infiniteness of the love with which we were commanded, over and over, to love G-d: “Love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart, all your soul and all your might” (Deut. 6:5). We must actually love Him “with all our soul.” As our sages said (Sifri, Va'etchanan 32), “Even if He takes your soul.”
[How far this ultimate love goes we can learn from] Berachot 61b: When Rabbi Akiva was taken out to be executed [for teaching Torah in public, against a Roman decree], it was time to recite the Shema, and as they raked his flesh with iron rakes, he recited it. His students asked him, “Master! Does one's duty extend that far?” and he responded, “All my life I agonized over the verse, 'Love the L-rd your G-d... with all your soul' (Deut. 6:5), which means we must love G-d even if He takes our soul. I said, 'When will I have the opportunity to fulfill this?' Now that the opportunity has arisen, shall I not fulfill it?”
To bend the knee and bow the head and accept the Divine yoke, as one does “good” unto humanity in the way that the Almighty commanded – and then appreciate and hold Him in awe and love Him in a totality of body and soul. That is the purpose of man. [Rav Kahane in “Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews”].
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D, with brief excerpts from "Why be Jewish" and "Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews".
The fear of G-d! The thoughtful, contemplative person who sees G-d's wonders is astonished by the greatness of Him Whose word brought the world into being and embarrassed by his own insignificance. Fear takes hold of him – the fear of G-d.
[King] Solomon said, “The fear of the L-rd is the beginning of knowledge”(Prov. 1:7).
The beginning, the first essential element in a person's wisdom and knowledge, if he is to understand what his task is and where he is going, is the fear of G-d, vanquishing his ego and accepting G-d's yoke. If one merits this, the whole world is his. Otherwise, better he was never born. Without fear of G-d, wisdom is nothing but conceit and a tool to self-advancement. Even one's Torah lacks holiness, modesty and purity, and without these it is not Torah. Does G-d desire mere wisdom and brilliance in Torah? Does He need vain argumentation and polished, sophisticated explanations? Is not all wisdom His? Just as He has no need of candle light, so has He no need of the Torah scholar's wisdom. As our sages said (Shemot Rabbah 36:2), “It is not that I need you. Rather, shower light upon Me the way I showered light upon you.” In just the same way, G-d does not need the Torah, yet He gave it to mortal men for their own good so they would subdue their egos and cling to Him. Hence, if there is no fear of G-d, the Torah becomes mere wisdom, and better that man should not study it.
It is impossible to lead a sinless life without the fear of G-d. It therefore says (Lev. 19:14), “Fear your G-d. I am the L-rd.” Fear is the purest element there is and it naturally guarantees the absence of sin. Such is the intent of Psalms 19:10: “The fear of the L-rd is pure; it stands firm forever.” Fear, dread and reverence bind a person so he does not sin.
How difficult it is to acquire the fear of G-d! Man's arrogance and evil impulse incite him to distance himself from that trait. For this reason, before R. Yochanan ben Zackai passed away, he blessed his students as follows (Berachot 28b), “May it be G-d's will that as much fear of Heaven be upon you as fear of mortal man.” His students then asked, “Is that all?” and he responded, “You should be so fortunate as to achieve just this! Consider that when people sin they say, 'I hope no one sees me' [i.e., they do not fear G-d, Who sees all.]”
Our sages had the same intent when they said (Sotah 3a), “No person sins without suffering first a flash of insanity.” After all, any sane person will recoil from committing any sin, for G-d can see him! Would anyone sane steal, smite or murder while a policeman is standing by? Thus, if someone who believes in G-d still sins, it can only be that at that moment his thinking processes were so clouded and his selfishness and lust so overwhelmed him that he dared to sin under G-d's gaze.
It is, thus, quite important that a person always set G-d or one of the commandments before him. This is fundamental to fearing G-d. If someone envisions a commandment before him, it is as though he sees the One Who commanded it. How can he not tremble with fear?
“I set the L-rd ever before me” (Ps. 16:8): This verse [...] Rama saw as appropriate to insert at the very beginning of Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 1:1):
“Setting G-d ever before you” is an exceedingly important principle of the Torah and of those saintly individuals who walk before G-d. The way a person sits and moves and behaves at home alone is not the way he sits and moves and behaves before a great king... And when he notices that G-d, the Supreme King, Whose glory fills the earth, stands over him and sees his deeds... how much more so will he be filled with reverence and humility out of his fear and constant shame before G-d.
Envisioning G-d constantly in one's presence serves to magnify one's fear of Him. Without such fear, man has no hope, and that is why G-d requires it. (Berachot 33b): “Everything is in G-d's hands but the fear of G-d: 'And now, Israel, what does the L-rd your G-d require of you but to fear Him' (Deut. 10:12).” Whoever examines the entire verse will see that it continues, “To walk in all His ways, to love Him, and to serve the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and all your soul.” In other words, these last achievements are fulfilled through the fear of G-d. Without such fear, one cannot possibly achieve holiness, for one's ego will always take control.
That same faith in G-d which leads us to fear Him, and subsequently to modesty, lowliness and self-effacement, ultimately leads man to recognize G-d's greatness, omnipotence and omniscience. It creates in us the desire and longing to serve G-d wholeheartedly, to emulate Him and to be with Him always. Such longing is called Ahavat Hashem, the love of G-d.
Fearing G-d, without which man cannot merit holiness of purity, is itself a prerequisite to loving Him, the second stage of man's spiritual growth as he proceeds to accept upon himself the yoke of Heaven. Loving G-d is a more exalted stage, as our sages said (Sotah 31a), “One motivated by love for G-d is greater than one motivated by fear.”
Fear ensures man's separating himself from evil, making it infinitely easier for him later on to attain reward. As King David said, “Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 34:15). Fear of G-d distances man from evil, whereas love of G-d ensures that he will do good, out of desire and craving for G-d and His commandments. The more a person ponders G-d's wonders and examines the truth of His attributes and moral code, the more he will understand how much wisdom and truth are contained in them and the more there will grow within him a love for the Master, Who is all goodness, kindness and mercy.
This is Israel's task, in love and joy, longing and desire, to bring the world to recognize G-d's majesty and sovereignty, the Divine greatness of His attributes and moral code, His laws and statutes.
Even so, just as the Torah spoke in human terms, so did G-d create human love. While such love cannot be compared to love for G-d, still, as far as man is concerned, such love is so fierce that it contains within it a slight hint of what we are commanded to feel toward G-d.
As the Rambam said (Hilchot Teshuvah 10:3):
What is befitting love for G-d? It must be so enormous and fierce that it bends man's soul to G-d. A man can be so lovesick for a woman that he is never free of his infatuation for her, whether he is at home, going out, getting up in the morning or eating. Our love for G-d must be greater even than that. We must be ravished with this love constantly, as G-d commanded us, with all our heart and soul. As King Solomon said (Song of Songs 2:5), “I am lovesick.” All of Song of Songs was a metaphor for man's love of G-d.
Rabbi Akiva likewise said, “The whole universe never had as much justification to exist as the day Song of Songs was given to Israel. While all the Writings are holy, Song of Songs is holy of holies” (Yadayim 3:5). The reason for this is both profound and clear: The greatest love that man can fathom is that between man and woman, in which the man is ravished and lovesick on her account.
Ultimately, that love will be so fierce and profound that it will capture his spirit and soul. It will be a love of true devotion, as it says, “To love the L-rd your G-d, to hearken to His voice and to cling to Him” (Deut. 30:20).
[As Rav Kahane put it in “Why be Jewish?” p. 179]:
This is how a Jew who knows G-d prays:
“Thou art the Flame and I the straw – and who should have mercy upon the straw if not the Flame?
Thou art Pure, and I am sinful – and who should have mercy upon the sinful if not the Pure?
Thou art the Supporter and I the falling one – and who should have mercy upon the falling one if not the Supporter? Thou art the Shepherd and I the flock...”
The words of the Jew who looks to the real G-d and who daily whispers: I believe, I believe, I believe ... I know!”
We certainly cannot achieve the infiniteness of the love with which we were commanded, over and over, to love G-d: “Love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart, all your soul and all your might” (Deut. 6:5). We must actually love Him “with all our soul.” As our sages said (Sifri, Va'etchanan 32), “Even if He takes your soul.”
[How far this ultimate love goes we can learn from] Berachot 61b: When Rabbi Akiva was taken out to be executed [for teaching Torah in public, against a Roman decree], it was time to recite the Shema, and as they raked his flesh with iron rakes, he recited it. His students asked him, “Master! Does one's duty extend that far?” and he responded, “All my life I agonized over the verse, 'Love the L-rd your G-d... with all your soul' (Deut. 6:5), which means we must love G-d even if He takes our soul. I said, 'When will I have the opportunity to fulfill this?' Now that the opportunity has arisen, shall I not fulfill it?”
To bend the knee and bow the head and accept the Divine yoke, as one does “good” unto humanity in the way that the Almighty commanded – and then appreciate and hold Him in awe and love Him in a totality of body and soul. That is the purpose of man. [Rav Kahane in “Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews”].
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D, with brief excerpts from "Why be Jewish" and "Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews".
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Parashat Va'etchanan – Some Halachot regarding non-Jews in Eretz Yisrael – Rav Meir Kahane
When Hashem, your G-d, will bring you to the Land to which you come to possess it, and He will thrust away many nations from before you [...], you shall not seal a covenant with them nor shall you show them favor (“lo techanem”). (Deut. 7:2)
[Regarding this we find in] Avodah Zarah 20a:
“You must not give them any consideration ” (Deut. 7:2): Do not give them a foothold [“chanayah”] on the land. Alternately: Ascribe to them no charm [“chen”. Rashi: “Do not say, 'How fine this non-Jew is!'”]. Alternately: Give them no free [“chinam”] gift.
Later on the Talmud concludes, “All are valid.”
An additional restriction appears in Rambam, Hilchot Avodah Zarah 10:3,4:
We do not sell them houses and fields in Eretz Yisrael... neither do we lease fields to them... Why were our sages strict regarding fields? It is because [leasing them to non-Jews] has two [negative results]: It diminishes the tithes and gives non-Jews a foothold on the Land. We are allowed to sell them houses and fields outside the Land because it is not our land.
It is thus clear that there are two reasons for the Torah prohibition against selling houses, or even leasing fields, to any non-Jew, even if he be one of the righteous gentiles [a ger toshav].
Rambam mentioned both in discussing the prohibition against leasing fields (Hilchot Avodah Zarah 10:4): “It diminishes the tithes (1) and gives them a foothold on the land (2).”
(1) Since Eretz Yisrael is holy and we are duty-bound to sanctify its soil through tithes (besides all the other mitzvot that are dependent on the land), how can we dare sell or lease land to any non-Jew? A non-Jew is not bound by tithes, and by our action, we diminish the scope of the mitzvah, and, so to speak, the holiness that is thereby added to this soil.
(2) A non-Jew, by buying or renting land in Eretz Yisrael, takes a portion of the land and has a sort of ownership over it, and it is forbidden to give him this foothold. What, after all, is this “foothold”? Surely it is the feeling in the non-Jew's heart that he has found a place to live, a place to call his own.
Rambam wrote explicitly (Ibid.):
Why do we not sell to them? It says, “Do not give them any consideration” (Deut. 7:2). Give them no foothold on the Land. As long as they have no land, their residence there is temporary.
In our own time, Rabbis have struggled over this, and for various reasons, to our chagrin, some have ruled that it is permissible today to sell fields and houses to non-Jews. I have no doubt whatsoever that they are erring regarding the great foundation of the Land and People of Israel, and that there is no difference at all as far as giving non-Jews a foothold in the land and ascribing to them charm, between the seven nations, plain idolaters and ger toshav.
[The difference between these groups is that a ger toshav is essentially permitted to live in Eretz Yisrael, though without owning land, without a “foothold”, whereas members of the seven nations or those equal to them today (unless they submit to very specific conditions) and all plain idolaters may not live in Eretz Yisrael at all.]
“Ascribe them no charm”:
From the verse, “These are the laws that you must set before [Israel]” (Ex. 21:1), we derive that even if non-Jews judge the same way as Jews, it is forbidden to use their courts. The reason is that the very acceptance of the non-Jew or his laws, even if they are like Torah law, is a chilul Hashem. A Jew is forbidden to accept upon himself either non-Jewish law or a non-Jewish judge, as it says, “Their powers are not like our Mighty One, although our enemies sit in judgment.” Rashi comments (Ex. 21:1), “When our enemies sit in judgment, it testifies to the superiority of their deity” [or religion, or value system, as we encounter today in the form of Arab Muslim judges in Israel or in the case of Jews outside Israel using non-Jewish courts even in internal Jewish matters!] Here is decisive proof for the prohibition against appointing a non-Jewish judge over Israel, even if he judges according to Torah law.
Some have sought to approve non-Jews serving in positions of authority over Israel, and they bring proof from the Mishnah (Avot 1:10): “Shemaya and Avtalion received the oral tradition from them [Yehuda ben Tabai and Shimon ben Shetach].” In other words, Shemaya was the prince and Avtalion the head of the Sanhedrin, despite their having been converts, and how could they have held these posts when according to the Talmud and poskim it is forbidden to appoint a convert [meaning a ger tzedek, a complete convert to Judaism] to a position over Israel. HaKnesset HaGedolah answers this (Choshen Mishpat, mahadura kamma, siman 7), saying that if Israel accepted a convert over them, then it is permissible.
Based on this, in this orphan generation, reeling from fear of the nations and an inferiority complex regarding what Hellenists will say about the holy laws separating Israel and the nations, some have declared that there is no prohibition against appointing even non-Jews (and not just converts) to positions over Israel, if Israel accept them upon themselves. G-d forgive them! According to their opinion, can a non-Jew be appointed even king or prince if he is accepted? Can an elected government have a non-Jewish majority, or even a number of non-Jews that will enable them to place their imprint on the character of the state? And if one non-Jew can be appointed, why not a majority or such a large number that they will be able to decide on such issues as who is a Jew, Sabbath desecration, pig farming, mixed marriages, missionizing or the dissemination of the false, alien culture – and all in the name of the alien, abominable concept of “democracy”? Let the heavens be astonished! Shall those who condone this not understand the gravity of their error?
If our sages permitted the appointing of a convert by mutual agreement, that is because the law that a convert is unfit for positions of authority over Jews is just based on an exposition brought by our sages and is not explicit in any verse. Yet, the restriction forbidding the non-Jew from positions of authority is explicit in a verse and serves to separate him from Jews. It is part of his servitude and constitutes a declaration that he has no right to authority over G-d's holy people.
A convert, by contrast, is a Jew in every way and is restricted only because authority over Israel must be held exclusively by the elite and not by those who were non-Jews and have now converted. Therefore, perhaps we could say, with some reservations, that because a convert has accepted the Torah and is a Jew in every way, and there is no reason to separate him from Israel, him being part of Israel and keeping the mitzvot, then if the community agrees, he may serve in positions of authority.
Yet, none of this has any connection to the non-Jew, whose reason for being unfit for positions of authority over Israel differs entirely. The non-Jew is not a part of the Jewish People. He has no portion in the Land, and no one can seriously claim that he can be granted authority over Israel.
If G-d demanded our separation from the nations, why allow non-Jews to live in the Land?
The answer is that G-d wished to eradicate idolatry as much as possible, thereby sanctifying His name among the nations so that they would accept the yoke of His kingdom.
If a non-Jew sincerely wishes to be a resident alien (ger toshav), to abandon idolatry and undertake the seven Noahide laws, thereby sanctifying G-d's name among the nations, better that he should do this and live in Eretz Yisrael than to live outside the Land as an idolater and profane G-d's name. Clearly, however, all this applies only if he accepts conditions guaranteeing that he remain isolated from Israel and ensuring his understanding that Eretz Yisrael is the exclusive land of the Jewish People and that he has only the right to reside there.
A non-Jew does not become a ger toshav until he stands before a Jewish court and accepts the seven Noachide laws. As Rambam wrote: “Whoever accepts them is the person called a ger toshav throughout the Talmud, assuming he accepts them before a court of three” (Hilchot Melachim 8:10).
It certainly does not suffice for him to reject idolatrous beliefs or actual worship, if it is not accompanied by a court declaration. [Regarding this] Ritva ruled (Makot 9a): A ben-Noach [as opposed to a ger toshav, see above] is one who did not undertake these mitzvot in Jewish court, yet we know that he keeps them on his own... We are not commanded to sustain such a person... The stam goi [plain non-Jew] is one who does not keep the seven mitzvot [and who is not permitted to live in Eretz Yisrael under any circumstances]. From these rulings it emerges that only a non-Jew who undertook before a Jewish court to keep the seven Noachide laws is called a ger toshav, and only he can be allowed to live among us in Eretz Yisrael. This implies that a non-Jew must accept the seven mitzvot upon himself as being part of the Torah [and not for any other reason]. That, after all, is why he appears before the Jewish court.
Never forget the following rule: With all we have said about the non-Jew who undertook [...] the seven Noachide laws being called a resident alien (ger toshav), and being allowed to live in the Land, there is no duty applying to us whose omission renders us sinners. Rather, the law is just a dispensation, to make it easier for the non-Jew to come closer to the Divine truth. In other words, we are allowed - not obligated - to let such a non-Jew live in Eretz Yisrael. If, for any reason (i.e. security precautions), we fear danger of deception, then we are certainly permitted and required to forbid every non-Jew, even the resident alien (ger toshav), to live in the Land. (after all, even converts were rejected during certain periods for certain reasons).
You shall observe the commandment, and the decrees and the ordinances that I command you today, to perform them. (Deut. 7:11)
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
[As an afterthought: This also highlights an aspect of the current conversion law debate: Recognizing people as “Jewish” who underwent non-halachic “conversions” would over the course of time lead to the presence of a new category of non-Jews in Israel who are disguised as Jews and who pass this status on to their descendants. This would cast a shade of doubt on all converts, even on those who underwent a valid, halachic conversion.
As the non-halachic movements, Reform and others, don't recognize the Divine origin of the Torah, those who “converted” to them, do not even qualify halachically as a ger toshav. I acknowledge that there are well-meaning people who for a variety of reasons underwent initially a non-halachic “conversion”. They should, in my opinion, be given the chance to correct this mistake and undergo a valid, halachic conversion in Israel. I was given this chance and I used it. However, those who insist upon clinging to a non-halachic “conversion” must be made aware of their status as non-Jews and be separated from Israel.]
[Regarding this we find in] Avodah Zarah 20a:
“You must not give them any consideration ” (Deut. 7:2): Do not give them a foothold [“chanayah”] on the land. Alternately: Ascribe to them no charm [“chen”. Rashi: “Do not say, 'How fine this non-Jew is!'”]. Alternately: Give them no free [“chinam”] gift.
Later on the Talmud concludes, “All are valid.”
An additional restriction appears in Rambam, Hilchot Avodah Zarah 10:3,4:
We do not sell them houses and fields in Eretz Yisrael... neither do we lease fields to them... Why were our sages strict regarding fields? It is because [leasing them to non-Jews] has two [negative results]: It diminishes the tithes and gives non-Jews a foothold on the Land. We are allowed to sell them houses and fields outside the Land because it is not our land.
It is thus clear that there are two reasons for the Torah prohibition against selling houses, or even leasing fields, to any non-Jew, even if he be one of the righteous gentiles [a ger toshav].
Rambam mentioned both in discussing the prohibition against leasing fields (Hilchot Avodah Zarah 10:4): “It diminishes the tithes (1) and gives them a foothold on the land (2).”
(1) Since Eretz Yisrael is holy and we are duty-bound to sanctify its soil through tithes (besides all the other mitzvot that are dependent on the land), how can we dare sell or lease land to any non-Jew? A non-Jew is not bound by tithes, and by our action, we diminish the scope of the mitzvah, and, so to speak, the holiness that is thereby added to this soil.
(2) A non-Jew, by buying or renting land in Eretz Yisrael, takes a portion of the land and has a sort of ownership over it, and it is forbidden to give him this foothold. What, after all, is this “foothold”? Surely it is the feeling in the non-Jew's heart that he has found a place to live, a place to call his own.
Rambam wrote explicitly (Ibid.):
Why do we not sell to them? It says, “Do not give them any consideration” (Deut. 7:2). Give them no foothold on the Land. As long as they have no land, their residence there is temporary.
In our own time, Rabbis have struggled over this, and for various reasons, to our chagrin, some have ruled that it is permissible today to sell fields and houses to non-Jews. I have no doubt whatsoever that they are erring regarding the great foundation of the Land and People of Israel, and that there is no difference at all as far as giving non-Jews a foothold in the land and ascribing to them charm, between the seven nations, plain idolaters and ger toshav.
[The difference between these groups is that a ger toshav is essentially permitted to live in Eretz Yisrael, though without owning land, without a “foothold”, whereas members of the seven nations or those equal to them today (unless they submit to very specific conditions) and all plain idolaters may not live in Eretz Yisrael at all.]
“Ascribe them no charm”:
From the verse, “These are the laws that you must set before [Israel]” (Ex. 21:1), we derive that even if non-Jews judge the same way as Jews, it is forbidden to use their courts. The reason is that the very acceptance of the non-Jew or his laws, even if they are like Torah law, is a chilul Hashem. A Jew is forbidden to accept upon himself either non-Jewish law or a non-Jewish judge, as it says, “Their powers are not like our Mighty One, although our enemies sit in judgment.” Rashi comments (Ex. 21:1), “When our enemies sit in judgment, it testifies to the superiority of their deity” [or religion, or value system, as we encounter today in the form of Arab Muslim judges in Israel or in the case of Jews outside Israel using non-Jewish courts even in internal Jewish matters!] Here is decisive proof for the prohibition against appointing a non-Jewish judge over Israel, even if he judges according to Torah law.
Some have sought to approve non-Jews serving in positions of authority over Israel, and they bring proof from the Mishnah (Avot 1:10): “Shemaya and Avtalion received the oral tradition from them [Yehuda ben Tabai and Shimon ben Shetach].” In other words, Shemaya was the prince and Avtalion the head of the Sanhedrin, despite their having been converts, and how could they have held these posts when according to the Talmud and poskim it is forbidden to appoint a convert [meaning a ger tzedek, a complete convert to Judaism] to a position over Israel. HaKnesset HaGedolah answers this (Choshen Mishpat, mahadura kamma, siman 7), saying that if Israel accepted a convert over them, then it is permissible.
Based on this, in this orphan generation, reeling from fear of the nations and an inferiority complex regarding what Hellenists will say about the holy laws separating Israel and the nations, some have declared that there is no prohibition against appointing even non-Jews (and not just converts) to positions over Israel, if Israel accept them upon themselves. G-d forgive them! According to their opinion, can a non-Jew be appointed even king or prince if he is accepted? Can an elected government have a non-Jewish majority, or even a number of non-Jews that will enable them to place their imprint on the character of the state? And if one non-Jew can be appointed, why not a majority or such a large number that they will be able to decide on such issues as who is a Jew, Sabbath desecration, pig farming, mixed marriages, missionizing or the dissemination of the false, alien culture – and all in the name of the alien, abominable concept of “democracy”? Let the heavens be astonished! Shall those who condone this not understand the gravity of their error?
If our sages permitted the appointing of a convert by mutual agreement, that is because the law that a convert is unfit for positions of authority over Jews is just based on an exposition brought by our sages and is not explicit in any verse. Yet, the restriction forbidding the non-Jew from positions of authority is explicit in a verse and serves to separate him from Jews. It is part of his servitude and constitutes a declaration that he has no right to authority over G-d's holy people.
A convert, by contrast, is a Jew in every way and is restricted only because authority over Israel must be held exclusively by the elite and not by those who were non-Jews and have now converted. Therefore, perhaps we could say, with some reservations, that because a convert has accepted the Torah and is a Jew in every way, and there is no reason to separate him from Israel, him being part of Israel and keeping the mitzvot, then if the community agrees, he may serve in positions of authority.
Yet, none of this has any connection to the non-Jew, whose reason for being unfit for positions of authority over Israel differs entirely. The non-Jew is not a part of the Jewish People. He has no portion in the Land, and no one can seriously claim that he can be granted authority over Israel.
If G-d demanded our separation from the nations, why allow non-Jews to live in the Land?
The answer is that G-d wished to eradicate idolatry as much as possible, thereby sanctifying His name among the nations so that they would accept the yoke of His kingdom.
If a non-Jew sincerely wishes to be a resident alien (ger toshav), to abandon idolatry and undertake the seven Noahide laws, thereby sanctifying G-d's name among the nations, better that he should do this and live in Eretz Yisrael than to live outside the Land as an idolater and profane G-d's name. Clearly, however, all this applies only if he accepts conditions guaranteeing that he remain isolated from Israel and ensuring his understanding that Eretz Yisrael is the exclusive land of the Jewish People and that he has only the right to reside there.
A non-Jew does not become a ger toshav until he stands before a Jewish court and accepts the seven Noachide laws. As Rambam wrote: “Whoever accepts them is the person called a ger toshav throughout the Talmud, assuming he accepts them before a court of three” (Hilchot Melachim 8:10).
It certainly does not suffice for him to reject idolatrous beliefs or actual worship, if it is not accompanied by a court declaration. [Regarding this] Ritva ruled (Makot 9a): A ben-Noach [as opposed to a ger toshav, see above] is one who did not undertake these mitzvot in Jewish court, yet we know that he keeps them on his own... We are not commanded to sustain such a person... The stam goi [plain non-Jew] is one who does not keep the seven mitzvot [and who is not permitted to live in Eretz Yisrael under any circumstances]. From these rulings it emerges that only a non-Jew who undertook before a Jewish court to keep the seven Noachide laws is called a ger toshav, and only he can be allowed to live among us in Eretz Yisrael. This implies that a non-Jew must accept the seven mitzvot upon himself as being part of the Torah [and not for any other reason]. That, after all, is why he appears before the Jewish court.
Never forget the following rule: With all we have said about the non-Jew who undertook [...] the seven Noachide laws being called a resident alien (ger toshav), and being allowed to live in the Land, there is no duty applying to us whose omission renders us sinners. Rather, the law is just a dispensation, to make it easier for the non-Jew to come closer to the Divine truth. In other words, we are allowed - not obligated - to let such a non-Jew live in Eretz Yisrael. If, for any reason (i.e. security precautions), we fear danger of deception, then we are certainly permitted and required to forbid every non-Jew, even the resident alien (ger toshav), to live in the Land. (after all, even converts were rejected during certain periods for certain reasons).
You shall observe the commandment, and the decrees and the ordinances that I command you today, to perform them. (Deut. 7:11)
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
[As an afterthought: This also highlights an aspect of the current conversion law debate: Recognizing people as “Jewish” who underwent non-halachic “conversions” would over the course of time lead to the presence of a new category of non-Jews in Israel who are disguised as Jews and who pass this status on to their descendants. This would cast a shade of doubt on all converts, even on those who underwent a valid, halachic conversion.
As the non-halachic movements, Reform and others, don't recognize the Divine origin of the Torah, those who “converted” to them, do not even qualify halachically as a ger toshav. I acknowledge that there are well-meaning people who for a variety of reasons underwent initially a non-halachic “conversion”. They should, in my opinion, be given the chance to correct this mistake and undergo a valid, halachic conversion in Israel. I was given this chance and I used it. However, those who insist upon clinging to a non-halachic “conversion” must be made aware of their status as non-Jews and be separated from Israel.]
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