By killing the Egyptian, Moses bound himself inexorably to his nation and to his destiny. He jeopardized all his property, his glittering life-style, even his very life, if his deed would be discovered – but nevertheless, he did not hesitate. As the Mekhilta says:
[Moses]
gave his soul for Israel, and they were called by his name… And where
do we find that Moses gave his soul for them? – It is said…“and he went
out to his brothers…and he smote the Egyptian”. So, because he gave his
soul for Israel, they were called by his name
(Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishmael, Shirata 1, s.v. “et hashira hazot”).
Now,
Moses could have thought this through carefully, and run away from the
problem. He could have reasoned: Is it really worth while to endanger
myself by killing this Egyptian?
Would it not be better for me
to ignore this one incident, to remain the king’s son, and thereby be
able to help the Israelites in the future? More than this: perhaps it is
not worth killing this Egyptian, for in any case, he has already killed
the Jew, so what good will killing this Egyptian do? Will that bring
the Jew back to life? And in any case, maybe it is forbidden for me to
endanger myself, since this is not a case of saving a Jewish life, since
this Jew is already dead? And more than this: perhaps I am not
allowed to kill this Egyptian, for I am not a duly constituted court,
and perhaps the verse Neither is it good for the tzaddik to punish
(Proverbs 17:26) applies to me. (See Berakhot 7a: Rabbi Yehoshua ben
Levi wanted to harness G-d’s “moment of fury,” which occurs once every
day, to curse a heretic and kill him, but when the time came, he dozed
off. His response was that presumably this happened because Neither is it good for the tzaddik to punish.)
Moses,
however, understood that this accounting is false. He understood that
in a situation of hillul HaShem, all these arguments together carry no
weight – even pikuah nefesh (saving of lives), which usually takes precedence over all other commandments, does not justify hillul HaShem (even for an individual in private, unless there is definite danger to life; in public, even if there is an absolute certainty of being killed).
Neither
can one make a finely-balanced accounting, to the effect that “perhaps I
can do better another way, in another time and another place”.
In
the commentary that Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane wrote on Parashat Shemot,
we find a similar concept that he also links to our present situation:
At
the end of “Parashat Shemot” we find a confrontation between Moses and
Aaron on the one hand and the officers of the children of Israel on the
other: On the one side stood Moses and Aaron who had been assigned by HaShem to carry out a seemingly suicidal mission:
to enter uninvited into the house of the king, of the imperial,
menacing kingdom of Egypt, and to request that he let the Jewish slaves
go free. In spite of the odds, Moses and Aaron, with faith in HaShem,
went and fulfilled their mission completely. (According to our sages,
all the elders that accompanied them dropped out along the way because
of tremendous fear, until Moses and Aaron alone remained to face
Pharaoh). And certainly Pharaoh rejected their request out of hand.
[The officers then accused them:]
“May
HaShem look upon you and judge, for you have brought us into foul odor
in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to place a
sword into their hands to kill us!”.(Shemot 5:21).
And truthfully, reality proves the officers were correct.
Seemingly, just after Moses and Aaron leave Pharaoh's presence, a harsh decree is put upon the nation.
And with all this...the officers were not right! The reason (and also the lesson from this) is that there is almost never a revolution or change where the first stages do not involve a loss of accomplishment!
...And
sometimes, even in the case of true accomplishments, we must know that
in order to bring change, there is no choice but to lose real
accomplishments, at least temporarily. Because there will always be one
Pharaoh or another who will threaten that if we don't sit quietly he will nullify our achievements,
“and you will lose out because of this.” But if we give in to his
threats, we will remain captives in the hand of Pharaoh, we, our
children and our children's children ... until the end of the
generations.
...Whoever wants change needs to warmly thank the
“existing officers”for their accomplishments, but say to them: now we
are going further, we are going to progress.
It is possible
that part of your accomplishments of some of your accomplishments will
be lost, either temporarily or permanently. But this is the price to pay
for reaching the greater and ultimate goal.
We were not born in order to be slaves with improved conditions in Egypt; we were born to be redeemed. We
were not born to live in villas in settlements surrounded by fences,
like ghettos [...], we were born to conquer and rule all of the land of
Israel. [...] And if the price, more or less temporarily, is the
loss of status...due to lack of participation on the part of the
existing regime, or the necessity to gather our own straw to make bricks
for a while, the price is worth it.
For we were not born to live with the status quo, after the fact.
We were born to establish and ideal world, as it was at the beginning!
Rabbi Meir Kahane continues in Peirush HaMaccabee on Shemot:
And he smote the Egyptian, measure for measure. He killed the Hebrew, and Moses killed him. Samson expressed this same sentiment to the Jews who were afraid when they came to hand him over to the Philistines after he smote them:
And they said to Samson: Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done to us?!
And he said to them: As they did to me, so I did to them (Judges 15:11).
This
is a Jewish response – not to let the Gentile smite with impunity, for
every single blow desecrates the Children of Israel and is blasphemy
against G-d’s Name.
Anyone who smites a Jew must be smitten in return.
More than this: Moses’ smiting the Egyptian was the Children of Israel’s first response ever to the blows they had received, and foreshadowed all the blows, all the plagues, that G-d would yet inflict upon Egypt.
And buried him in the sand.
This symbolizes the humiliation of the arrogant Gentile who, in his
self-pride, thinks that he can reach the very heavens. The prophet said,
Take up a lament for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say to him: You
likened yourself to a young lion among the nations, but you are like a
crocodile of the seas… With the swords of the mighty I will bring down
your multitudes…and they will despoil the glory of Egypt (Ezekiel 32:2, 12).
But now, instead
of ascending to heaven, the Egyptian whom Moses killed was buried in
the sand, in the ground – as low as possible – foreshadowing the
humiliation of the whole of Egypt.And such will be in the future, too, when G-d will destroy the nations’ pride and show the glory of His might. Enter the rock, and bury yourself in the dust because
of the fear of HaShem and the glory of His greatness. Man’s arrogant
eyes will be humiliated, and people’s haughtiness will be humbled, and
HaShem alone will be exalted on that day (Isaiah 2:10-11).
Compiled
by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from Rav Meir Kahane's “Peirush HaMaccabee” on
Shemot (translation into English by Daniel Pinner) and “The Writings of
Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, HY”D " – commentary on Parashat Shemot
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Parashat Vayechi - Accursed is their rage - Rav Meir Kahane
[Simeon and Levi are comrades, their weaponry is a stolen
craft. Into their conspiracy, may my soul not enter! With their
congregation, do not join, O my honor! For in their rage they murdered
people and at their whim they hamstrung an ox. Accursed is their rage
for it is intense, and their wrath for it is harsh; I will separate them
within Jacob and I will disperse them in Israel. (Gen. 49:5-7)]
Simeon and Levi avenged Dinah, which constituted avenging Israel. Whoever says that their deed against Shechem was a sin, is mistaken, for G-d commanded (Num. 2:2), “The children of Israel shall camp with each person near the banner having his paternal family's insignia,” and our sages comment (Bamidbar Rabbah 2:7):
Every prince had an insignia. Each had a banner bearing the color of a precious gem on Aharon's heart...The prince of every tribe had a banner of the same color as his precious gem... Simeon's gem was emerald and his banner was green, bearing a picture of [the city of] Shechem.
If Simeon's deed in Shechem were a sin, how could G-d command that it be publicized on his banner?
Moreover, Maharzo explains the Midrash: “Shechem: For their valor and self-sacrifice at Shechem. Although Levi was with him, Simeon was older and the main character. This is his praise for having zealously dealt with sexual sin.”...What occurred at Shechem surely did not constitute sin but self-sacrifice in pursuit of revenge in the right time and place. Whoever examines Scripture well will see that Jacob did not reprimand Simeon and Levi as if the deed were unethical. He only feared the outcome, the danger that might result (Gen. 34:40) “You have gotten me in trouble, giving me a bad reputation among the Canaanites and Perizites who live in the land. I have only a small number of men. They can band together and attack me and my family and I will be wiped out.”
By their response, “Shall he treat our sister like a harlot?” (Gen. 34.31) they meant:”Surely no sin was committed here. We have avenged our sister, the victim of a heinous crime. As for your fear of the nations, to avoid profanation of G-d's name one must surely sacrifice one's life.” R. Yehuda bar Simon said (Bereshit Rabbah 80:12): [They said]:The water was muddy and we made it clear.
...If so, however, the question arises why Jacob cursed them (Gen. 49:5-7, current Parasha, see above). The answer is this: Certainly, after Simeon and Levi gave Jacob their answer - “Shall he treat our sister like a harlot?” - he silently accepted their argument, for all the aforesaid reasons. And there was certainly no sin in their killing the people of Shechem. Quite the contrary, they were fulfilling a great mitzvah of revenge and self-sacrifice. It was for this reason that G-d engraved for all time the image of the city of Shechem on Simeon's banner. Later, however, Simeon and Levi tried to scheme against Joseph and even thought to kill him. As our sages say (Lekach Tov on Gen. 49:23):
“People made his life bitter and attacked him”: These are his brothers. “Masters of strife made him their target”: These are Simeon and Levi, as it says, “They are plotting to kill him” (Gen. 37:18).
We also find (Tanchuma Yashan, VaYeshev 13), “They said to each other, 'Here comes the dreamer! Let us kill him!' (Gen. 37:19): Who spoke to each other? Simeon and Levi.”
Bereshit Rabbah (84:16) teaches: “'They took him and threw him into the pit' (Gen. 37:24). The written form is vayikachayhu, meaning 'he took him'. Who was this? Simeon. When was he punished? Later on when it says (Gen. 42:24), '[Joseph] took Simeon from them.'” Ultimately, it was Simeon and Levi who made Joseph's sale a fact. As our sages said (Midrash HaGadol on Gen. 49:5), “'Instruments of crime are their wares': This refers to the sale of Joseph.”
When Jacob heard all this, he was shocked, and he understood that although their deed at Shechem was an act of revenge, a mitzvah and a duty, they were motivated by wicked anger. Anger is so unseemly that our sages said (Nedarim 22a-22b): “Whoever becomes angry, falls prey to all sorts of Hellish forces...Even the Divine presence becomes unimportant to him...It even makes him forget his Torah learning and makes him foolish.”Jacob now understood that Simeon's and Levi's deeds stemmed from anger. True, at Shechem they performed a good deed, yet motivated by anger, they ultimately went so far as to try to kill a saint like Joseph.
...To conclude, Jacob did not, G-d forbid, curse Simeon and Levi, but their rage, the evil cause of their sin. ...Zealotry and vengefulness are crucial attributes, but only if exercised for the sake of Heaven, as done by Pinchas, Elijah and others like them. ...Certainly, revenge, violence and murder are all grave acts, and when perpetrated solely for the sake of a king's or a nation's glory, or for personal revenge, they constitute an odious sin. Yet, whoever follows G-d's orders and duly clings to His mitzvot and values, applying mercy, kindness and peace in the right time and place, and cruelty, revenge and war in the right time and place, is serving G-d.
Revenge is rooted in Israel and in their great leaders. We find this with Samson. After he “smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter” (Jud. 15:8), the base men of Yehuda came to hand him over to the Philistines, claiming fearfully (Jud. 15:11), “ Are you unaware that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?" Samson replied (Ibid.), “As they did to me, so did I to them”.
Samson was crowned with the title of tzaddik, “righteous one”.
...So great was he that Jacob thought Samson would be the Messiah (Bereshit Rabbah 98:14):”Jacob saw Samson and thought he was the Messiah. After he died, Jacob said, 'This one is dead too! I waited for your salvation, Oh L-rd!' (Gen. 49:18)
Rabbi Meir Kahane's son Rav Binyamin Ze'ev explains this in The writings of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, HY”D:
When Jacob blesses Dan, the sages tell us that through “Ruach HaKodesh”, Jacob saw Samson wreaking havoc upon the Philistines, and thought that he was the Messiah. Only after seeing Samson die did a disappointed Jacob realize that Samson was not the Messiah, and thus he uttered the words in our Parasha, “I waited for your salvation, Oh L-rd”.
There is no more disgraceful or wicked trait than cruelty at the wrong time and place. Possessing this trait can even lead to one's Jewishness being suspect, as in the ruling of Shulchan Aruch, Even Ha-Ezer, Piriah Ve-riviah 2:2:”Whoever is insolent, cruel, hates his fellow man or lacks kindness, is suspected of being a Gibeonite.”
The word “rachamim”[mercy] comes from “rechem”, [womb]. There is no mercy like that of a mother for the child of her womb. There is an inseparable bond between them because the child is part of her body, “flesh of her flesh” (Gen. 2:23). Just so must be a Jew's mercy for his fellow Jew (if that fellow is worthy). It should resemble a mother's mercy for her child.
[Joseph's brothers perceived that their father was dead, and they said, “Perhaps Joseph will nurse hatred against us and then he will surely repay us all the evil that we did him.” So they instructed that Joseph be told, “Your father gave orders before his death, saying:'Thus shall you say to Joseph:”O please, kindly forgive the spiteful deed of your brothers and their sin, for they have done you evil'”; so now, please forgive the spiteful deed of the servant of your father's G-d.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also went and flung themselves before him and said, “We are ready to be your slaves.” But Joseph said to them, Fear not, for am I instead of G-d? Although you intended me harm, G-d intended it for good: in order to accomplish – it is as clear as this day- that a vast people be kept alive. So now, fear not – I will sustain you and your young ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke to their heart. (Gen.50:15-21)]
[But, as Rabbi Kahane puts it in Peirush HaMaccabee on Shemot, Chapter 1]:
To burn evil out of our midst – this is the greatest compassion for the world, for all who are compassionate to the cruel will eventually be cruel to the compassionate (Tanhuma, Metzora 1); because this convoluted compassion allows the wicked to continue to commit evil.
In The Jewish Idea, the chapter on revenge explains this further]:
Love has its place, as does hate. Peace has its place, as does war. Mercy has its place, as do cruelty and revenge. The Torah dons sackcloth over the distortion of the concept of revenge, which has become a target for the arrows of all Jewish Hellenists and worshipers of the alien culture, as if revenge were negative and evil by nature. The very opposite is true! No trait is more justified than revenge in the right time and place. G-d, Himself, is called Nokem, Avenger: “The L-rd is a zealous and avenging G-d. The L-rd avenges and is full of wrath. He takes revenge on His adversaries and reserves wrath for His enemies.”(Nachum 1:2).
Our sages also said (Berachot 33a), “Shall we say that even revenge is great, because it appears between two names of G-d?” 'A G-d of vengeance is the L-rd' (Ps. 94:1). R. Elazar responded, 'Indeed. Where revenge is necessary, it is a great thing'” [see Rashi].
“It is a great thing!” It is a great mitzvah to take the revenge of the righteous and humble from the evildoer. Whoever forgoes such an opportunity is cruel, and he denies belief in G-d.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from "The Jewish Idea" and "Peirush HaMaccabee" of Rav Meir Kahane HY"D
Simeon and Levi avenged Dinah, which constituted avenging Israel. Whoever says that their deed against Shechem was a sin, is mistaken, for G-d commanded (Num. 2:2), “The children of Israel shall camp with each person near the banner having his paternal family's insignia,” and our sages comment (Bamidbar Rabbah 2:7):
Every prince had an insignia. Each had a banner bearing the color of a precious gem on Aharon's heart...The prince of every tribe had a banner of the same color as his precious gem... Simeon's gem was emerald and his banner was green, bearing a picture of [the city of] Shechem.
If Simeon's deed in Shechem were a sin, how could G-d command that it be publicized on his banner?
Moreover, Maharzo explains the Midrash: “Shechem: For their valor and self-sacrifice at Shechem. Although Levi was with him, Simeon was older and the main character. This is his praise for having zealously dealt with sexual sin.”...What occurred at Shechem surely did not constitute sin but self-sacrifice in pursuit of revenge in the right time and place. Whoever examines Scripture well will see that Jacob did not reprimand Simeon and Levi as if the deed were unethical. He only feared the outcome, the danger that might result (Gen. 34:40) “You have gotten me in trouble, giving me a bad reputation among the Canaanites and Perizites who live in the land. I have only a small number of men. They can band together and attack me and my family and I will be wiped out.”
By their response, “Shall he treat our sister like a harlot?” (Gen. 34.31) they meant:”Surely no sin was committed here. We have avenged our sister, the victim of a heinous crime. As for your fear of the nations, to avoid profanation of G-d's name one must surely sacrifice one's life.” R. Yehuda bar Simon said (Bereshit Rabbah 80:12): [They said]:The water was muddy and we made it clear.
...If so, however, the question arises why Jacob cursed them (Gen. 49:5-7, current Parasha, see above). The answer is this: Certainly, after Simeon and Levi gave Jacob their answer - “Shall he treat our sister like a harlot?” - he silently accepted their argument, for all the aforesaid reasons. And there was certainly no sin in their killing the people of Shechem. Quite the contrary, they were fulfilling a great mitzvah of revenge and self-sacrifice. It was for this reason that G-d engraved for all time the image of the city of Shechem on Simeon's banner. Later, however, Simeon and Levi tried to scheme against Joseph and even thought to kill him. As our sages say (Lekach Tov on Gen. 49:23):
“People made his life bitter and attacked him”: These are his brothers. “Masters of strife made him their target”: These are Simeon and Levi, as it says, “They are plotting to kill him” (Gen. 37:18).
We also find (Tanchuma Yashan, VaYeshev 13), “They said to each other, 'Here comes the dreamer! Let us kill him!' (Gen. 37:19): Who spoke to each other? Simeon and Levi.”
Bereshit Rabbah (84:16) teaches: “'They took him and threw him into the pit' (Gen. 37:24). The written form is vayikachayhu, meaning 'he took him'. Who was this? Simeon. When was he punished? Later on when it says (Gen. 42:24), '[Joseph] took Simeon from them.'” Ultimately, it was Simeon and Levi who made Joseph's sale a fact. As our sages said (Midrash HaGadol on Gen. 49:5), “'Instruments of crime are their wares': This refers to the sale of Joseph.”
When Jacob heard all this, he was shocked, and he understood that although their deed at Shechem was an act of revenge, a mitzvah and a duty, they were motivated by wicked anger. Anger is so unseemly that our sages said (Nedarim 22a-22b): “Whoever becomes angry, falls prey to all sorts of Hellish forces...Even the Divine presence becomes unimportant to him...It even makes him forget his Torah learning and makes him foolish.”Jacob now understood that Simeon's and Levi's deeds stemmed from anger. True, at Shechem they performed a good deed, yet motivated by anger, they ultimately went so far as to try to kill a saint like Joseph.
...To conclude, Jacob did not, G-d forbid, curse Simeon and Levi, but their rage, the evil cause of their sin. ...Zealotry and vengefulness are crucial attributes, but only if exercised for the sake of Heaven, as done by Pinchas, Elijah and others like them. ...Certainly, revenge, violence and murder are all grave acts, and when perpetrated solely for the sake of a king's or a nation's glory, or for personal revenge, they constitute an odious sin. Yet, whoever follows G-d's orders and duly clings to His mitzvot and values, applying mercy, kindness and peace in the right time and place, and cruelty, revenge and war in the right time and place, is serving G-d.
Revenge is rooted in Israel and in their great leaders. We find this with Samson. After he “smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter” (Jud. 15:8), the base men of Yehuda came to hand him over to the Philistines, claiming fearfully (Jud. 15:11), “ Are you unaware that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?" Samson replied (Ibid.), “As they did to me, so did I to them”.
Samson was crowned with the title of tzaddik, “righteous one”.
...So great was he that Jacob thought Samson would be the Messiah (Bereshit Rabbah 98:14):”Jacob saw Samson and thought he was the Messiah. After he died, Jacob said, 'This one is dead too! I waited for your salvation, Oh L-rd!' (Gen. 49:18)
Rabbi Meir Kahane's son Rav Binyamin Ze'ev explains this in The writings of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, HY”D:
When Jacob blesses Dan, the sages tell us that through “Ruach HaKodesh”, Jacob saw Samson wreaking havoc upon the Philistines, and thought that he was the Messiah. Only after seeing Samson die did a disappointed Jacob realize that Samson was not the Messiah, and thus he uttered the words in our Parasha, “I waited for your salvation, Oh L-rd”.
There is no more disgraceful or wicked trait than cruelty at the wrong time and place. Possessing this trait can even lead to one's Jewishness being suspect, as in the ruling of Shulchan Aruch, Even Ha-Ezer, Piriah Ve-riviah 2:2:”Whoever is insolent, cruel, hates his fellow man or lacks kindness, is suspected of being a Gibeonite.”
The word “rachamim”[mercy] comes from “rechem”, [womb]. There is no mercy like that of a mother for the child of her womb. There is an inseparable bond between them because the child is part of her body, “flesh of her flesh” (Gen. 2:23). Just so must be a Jew's mercy for his fellow Jew (if that fellow is worthy). It should resemble a mother's mercy for her child.
[Joseph's brothers perceived that their father was dead, and they said, “Perhaps Joseph will nurse hatred against us and then he will surely repay us all the evil that we did him.” So they instructed that Joseph be told, “Your father gave orders before his death, saying:'Thus shall you say to Joseph:”O please, kindly forgive the spiteful deed of your brothers and their sin, for they have done you evil'”; so now, please forgive the spiteful deed of the servant of your father's G-d.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also went and flung themselves before him and said, “We are ready to be your slaves.” But Joseph said to them, Fear not, for am I instead of G-d? Although you intended me harm, G-d intended it for good: in order to accomplish – it is as clear as this day- that a vast people be kept alive. So now, fear not – I will sustain you and your young ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke to their heart. (Gen.50:15-21)]
[But, as Rabbi Kahane puts it in Peirush HaMaccabee on Shemot, Chapter 1]:
To burn evil out of our midst – this is the greatest compassion for the world, for all who are compassionate to the cruel will eventually be cruel to the compassionate (Tanhuma, Metzora 1); because this convoluted compassion allows the wicked to continue to commit evil.
In The Jewish Idea, the chapter on revenge explains this further]:
Love has its place, as does hate. Peace has its place, as does war. Mercy has its place, as do cruelty and revenge. The Torah dons sackcloth over the distortion of the concept of revenge, which has become a target for the arrows of all Jewish Hellenists and worshipers of the alien culture, as if revenge were negative and evil by nature. The very opposite is true! No trait is more justified than revenge in the right time and place. G-d, Himself, is called Nokem, Avenger: “The L-rd is a zealous and avenging G-d. The L-rd avenges and is full of wrath. He takes revenge on His adversaries and reserves wrath for His enemies.”(Nachum 1:2).
Our sages also said (Berachot 33a), “Shall we say that even revenge is great, because it appears between two names of G-d?” 'A G-d of vengeance is the L-rd' (Ps. 94:1). R. Elazar responded, 'Indeed. Where revenge is necessary, it is a great thing'” [see Rashi].
“It is a great thing!” It is a great mitzvah to take the revenge of the righteous and humble from the evildoer. Whoever forgoes such an opportunity is cruel, and he denies belief in G-d.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from "The Jewish Idea" and "Peirush HaMaccabee" of Rav Meir Kahane HY"D
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Parashat Mikeitz - Joseph recognized his brothers- Rav Meir Kahane
Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the river... (Genesis 41:1)
Pharaoh [the epitome of a non-Jewish leader] wanted to control the river himself and be a god. My father and teacher of blessed memory [Rabbi Meir Kahane's father, Rav Yechezkel Shraga Kahane ztz”l] explained this beautifully: in Joseph’s day, Pharaoh dreamed [literally “is dreaming”] that he was standing by [literally “on”] the river (Genesis 41:1). But when he related his dream to Joseph, he said, And behold I was standing on the bank of the river (ibid. v. 17). Why did he change the wording? Furthermore, how could Pharaoh know that Joseph’s interpretation was true? After all, he had rejected the interpretations of all his soothsayers: the Midrash explains the verse, and none could interpret [the dreams] for Pharaoh (ibid. v.8) to mean, They would interpret, but their voice did not enter Pharaoh’s ear [i.e. he did not accept what they said] (Genesis Rabbah 89:6). But if this were the case, then why would Pharaoh accept the interpretation of a slave – and a Hebrew slave at that!? By way of answer, my father quoted a Talmudic passage which deals with dreams: A person is only shown what his heart already imagines (Berakhot 55b). What could Pharaoh possibly imagine, what did he not already have? One thing only he lacked, one thing only he desired that was beyond his control – the River Nile, the god of Egypt. This is why he is dreaming in the present tense – eternally dreaming of being the god of Egypt, in control of the river, on the river – above the river. But he did not want to reveal this, so he told Joseph, I was standing on the bank of the river. But Joseph understood, and interpreted the dreams to mean that the day would yet come when the river would betray those who worshiped it, and would cause a famine. Only if Pharaoh would heed Joseph’s words would he be able to supply his people with bread, and thus become their god. This was certainly what Pharaoh wanted to hear, and this was the interpretation that he accepted.
[See on the other hand Joseph, as an allusion to the qualities of a Jewish leader:] Joseph was sold as a slave. They afflicted his leg with shackles, his soul came in irons (Psalms 105: 18); and now, Joseph was the ruler of the land (Genesis 42:6). – Genesis Rabbah 30:8.
In other words: come and see the providence of the all-powerful G-d. Yesterday, Joseph was brought to Egypt as a slave, iron chains shackling his soul – who could have foreseen that overnight, G-d would overturn his world, and renew his life, and transform this slave into a ruler?! Every “soul” of Israel must learn from this that just as Joseph, whose soul came in irons, became the viceroy of Egypt – so too, will they ascend from Egypt as a great and powerful nation.
A Jewish leader’s greatness lies in his being on the one hand strong and uncompromising, able to control his own nature and overcome all obstacles, and, as G-d said to Joshua four times, be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:6, 7, 9, 18); while on the other hand, being humble in his private life and personal relationships, because G-d will never infuse His spirit into a conceited and arrogant person.
And this is how Chazal describe Joseph: Even though Joseph achieved royal dominion, he never became arrogant towards his brothers or his father’s house. Just as he was insignificant in their eyes at the beginning, when he was a slave in Egypt, so he remained insignificant in his own eyes after he became king (Exodus Rabbah 1:7). True, the Talmud says: Why did Joseph die before his brothers? – Because he acted condescendingly (Berakhot 55a, Sotah 13b). But this was only in one specific instance, when his brothers referred to Jacob ten times as your servant, our father, and he did not stop them; and, as Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer (39) says, his life was shortened by ten years for this reason. But apart from this, he always acted with humility. See how strict G-d is with the tzaddikim! In fact, the trait of humility was immensely strong in Joseph. In the words of the Ohr ha-Chayim: When [Joseph] was in Egypt, it would have been natural for him to change…in light of what they did to him – they sold him, and were cruel to him; how could he not have changed, however slightly, towards them all?… And yet, the Torah teaches that he remained equal to them.
[Even more so:] “Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him”. According to the simple understanding, the commentators explain that the brothers did not recognize Joseph because at the time when they sold him, he was young and without a beard, and now he had a beard. On the other hand, Joseph recognized his brothers because at the time he was sold, they already had beards. Rashi digs deeper, explaining that the difference between the two sides was not merely recognition of external appearances. When Joseph encountered his brothers on the fateful day in Shechem, they did not “recognize” him; that is, they did not act brotherly towards him and sold him to the Ishmaelites.
But when the brothers were at Joseph's mercy, he “recognized” them; he acted brotherly towards them and did not take revenge for all the pain that they caused him.
[From this, there is a link to redemption: at the very end of his life, Joseph's last words ever to his brothers were] “G-d is sure to visit you [pakod yifkod] (Midrash HaGadol, Bereshit 50:24) He informed them of two visits. The first [pakod] referred to the time of Moses, the second [yifkod] to that of the Messianic king. This also serves as a paradigm of the final redemption, since the complete redemption will parallel the Exodus from Egypt.
The Midrash there links every name mentioned with the redemption, and concludes: Joseph [Yosef] is thus called because in the future, G-d will yosif (“continue”) to redeem Israel from the wicked kingdom, just as He redeemed them from Egypt, as it says, And it will be on that day, the Lord will yosif (“continue”) to show His hand, to acquire the remnant of His nation (Isaiah 11:11).
Kol HaTor says [regarding the allusion to the “Mashiach ben Joseph” and the complete redemption] (Ch. 2, Part 1:39): “Joseph recognized his brothers but they did not recognize him” (Gen. 42:8): This is one of Joseph's attributes. Not just in his generation, but in every generation, Mashiach ben Joseph recognizes his brothers and they do not recognize him. It is an act of Satan which conceals Mashiach ben Joseph's attributes, such that the Jews unfortunately do not recognize his footsteps, and in fact scoff at them... If not for this, our troubles would already be over. If Israel “recognized Joseph”, Mashiach ben Joseph's footsteps comprising the ingathering of the exiles, etc., we would already be completely redeemed.”
Even before we examine our sages' words regarding Mashiach ben Joseph, we already have in hand several basic principles from the holy lips of the Gra:
1.) There are two Messiahs, Mashiach ben Joseph and Meshiach ben David. The first is called “the Inaugural Messiah”. He is involved in the whole physical side of redemption, the actual return to Zion, and he fights G-d's wars. The second completes the spiritual redemption.
2.) These two Messiahs exist among us in every generation, and if Israel only understood what they must do to bring redemption “in haste”, it would come speedily via these two Messiahs.
3.) Mashiach ben Joseph not only goes unrecognized, but Israel ridicules those who herald the truth of redemption and are fit to be Mashiach ben Joseph. If Israel only recognized him and his era, he would immediately begin complete redemption “in haste.”
Rabbi Meir Kahane's son, Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, HY”D, refers to this in his commentary on Haggadat Pesach [The Haggadah of the Jewish Idea]: Who is Mashiach ben Joseph? In every generation, there is a “candidate for the post” of Mashiach ben Joseph, as well as one who could be Mashiach ben David. It is the actions of the generation, and the subsequent judgement of G-d, that determine whether or not they be revealed. In any event, he who bears the soul of Mashiach ben Joseph strives, in every generation, to bring the physical redemption nearer; but it is only in our era that the generation has merited to see its implementation [the beginning of the ingathering of the exiles].
The [above mentioned, see Kol haTor] refusal to recognize Mashiach ben Joseph is actually refusal to take measures involving faith and trust in G-d, without fear of the nations, as the most important part of the general return to G-d and His Torah. And since Mashiach ben Joseph is ready to come every single moment, as we said above, it follows that due to Israel's refusal to repent, the Mashiach becomes like a prisoner, so to speak. The impoverished [meaning, not Torah observant] regime, whose conception and birth occurred in the alien culture of the nations, and who denies the Torah of Moses, has refused to apply the authority and sovereignty of the people and G-d of Israel upon all parts of Eretz Israel for fear of the nations. This constitutes a Chilul Hashem. A rebellion against and degradation of the holiness of Eretz Israel, large parts of which have remained under the authority of the nations. A condition for complete redemption through Kiddush Hashem is control and sovereignty of the G-d and people of Israel.
Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane ends his Haggadat Pessach commentary thus: We can but pray that all we have learnt about the Redemption will be actualized soon, swiftly and painlessly, that we may merit a hastened Redemption, that our merits may bring Mashiach ben David, who will complete the process of Redemption, Amen.
[A remark: The last shiur that Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY”D, held at the Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea before he was murdered by an Al Qaeda member in New York, dealt with Mashiach ben Joseph. More than 10 years later, when his son Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane and his wife Taliyah, HY”D, were murdered in a roadside ambush by Arab terrorists north of Jerusalem, besides their car were found bloodstained sheets with the last Parashat Hashavua commentary that Rav Binyamin had worked on: A commentary on Parashat Vayigash, focussed on Israel's refusal to recognize Mashiach ben Joseph and his willingness to endure this out of love for his people.]
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'Peirush HaMaccabee on Shemot' and 'The Jewish Idea' of Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY”D and from 'The Writings of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane HY”D', commentary on Parashat Vayigash, and from his 'Haggadah of the Jewish Idea'.
Pharaoh [the epitome of a non-Jewish leader] wanted to control the river himself and be a god. My father and teacher of blessed memory [Rabbi Meir Kahane's father, Rav Yechezkel Shraga Kahane ztz”l] explained this beautifully: in Joseph’s day, Pharaoh dreamed [literally “is dreaming”] that he was standing by [literally “on”] the river (Genesis 41:1). But when he related his dream to Joseph, he said, And behold I was standing on the bank of the river (ibid. v. 17). Why did he change the wording? Furthermore, how could Pharaoh know that Joseph’s interpretation was true? After all, he had rejected the interpretations of all his soothsayers: the Midrash explains the verse, and none could interpret [the dreams] for Pharaoh (ibid. v.8) to mean, They would interpret, but their voice did not enter Pharaoh’s ear [i.e. he did not accept what they said] (Genesis Rabbah 89:6). But if this were the case, then why would Pharaoh accept the interpretation of a slave – and a Hebrew slave at that!? By way of answer, my father quoted a Talmudic passage which deals with dreams: A person is only shown what his heart already imagines (Berakhot 55b). What could Pharaoh possibly imagine, what did he not already have? One thing only he lacked, one thing only he desired that was beyond his control – the River Nile, the god of Egypt. This is why he is dreaming in the present tense – eternally dreaming of being the god of Egypt, in control of the river, on the river – above the river. But he did not want to reveal this, so he told Joseph, I was standing on the bank of the river. But Joseph understood, and interpreted the dreams to mean that the day would yet come when the river would betray those who worshiped it, and would cause a famine. Only if Pharaoh would heed Joseph’s words would he be able to supply his people with bread, and thus become their god. This was certainly what Pharaoh wanted to hear, and this was the interpretation that he accepted.
[See on the other hand Joseph, as an allusion to the qualities of a Jewish leader:] Joseph was sold as a slave. They afflicted his leg with shackles, his soul came in irons (Psalms 105: 18); and now, Joseph was the ruler of the land (Genesis 42:6). – Genesis Rabbah 30:8.
In other words: come and see the providence of the all-powerful G-d. Yesterday, Joseph was brought to Egypt as a slave, iron chains shackling his soul – who could have foreseen that overnight, G-d would overturn his world, and renew his life, and transform this slave into a ruler?! Every “soul” of Israel must learn from this that just as Joseph, whose soul came in irons, became the viceroy of Egypt – so too, will they ascend from Egypt as a great and powerful nation.
A Jewish leader’s greatness lies in his being on the one hand strong and uncompromising, able to control his own nature and overcome all obstacles, and, as G-d said to Joshua four times, be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:6, 7, 9, 18); while on the other hand, being humble in his private life and personal relationships, because G-d will never infuse His spirit into a conceited and arrogant person.
And this is how Chazal describe Joseph: Even though Joseph achieved royal dominion, he never became arrogant towards his brothers or his father’s house. Just as he was insignificant in their eyes at the beginning, when he was a slave in Egypt, so he remained insignificant in his own eyes after he became king (Exodus Rabbah 1:7). True, the Talmud says: Why did Joseph die before his brothers? – Because he acted condescendingly (Berakhot 55a, Sotah 13b). But this was only in one specific instance, when his brothers referred to Jacob ten times as your servant, our father, and he did not stop them; and, as Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer (39) says, his life was shortened by ten years for this reason. But apart from this, he always acted with humility. See how strict G-d is with the tzaddikim! In fact, the trait of humility was immensely strong in Joseph. In the words of the Ohr ha-Chayim: When [Joseph] was in Egypt, it would have been natural for him to change…in light of what they did to him – they sold him, and were cruel to him; how could he not have changed, however slightly, towards them all?… And yet, the Torah teaches that he remained equal to them.
[Even more so:] “Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him”. According to the simple understanding, the commentators explain that the brothers did not recognize Joseph because at the time when they sold him, he was young and without a beard, and now he had a beard. On the other hand, Joseph recognized his brothers because at the time he was sold, they already had beards. Rashi digs deeper, explaining that the difference between the two sides was not merely recognition of external appearances. When Joseph encountered his brothers on the fateful day in Shechem, they did not “recognize” him; that is, they did not act brotherly towards him and sold him to the Ishmaelites.
But when the brothers were at Joseph's mercy, he “recognized” them; he acted brotherly towards them and did not take revenge for all the pain that they caused him.
[From this, there is a link to redemption: at the very end of his life, Joseph's last words ever to his brothers were] “G-d is sure to visit you [pakod yifkod] (Midrash HaGadol, Bereshit 50:24) He informed them of two visits. The first [pakod] referred to the time of Moses, the second [yifkod] to that of the Messianic king. This also serves as a paradigm of the final redemption, since the complete redemption will parallel the Exodus from Egypt.
The Midrash there links every name mentioned with the redemption, and concludes: Joseph [Yosef] is thus called because in the future, G-d will yosif (“continue”) to redeem Israel from the wicked kingdom, just as He redeemed them from Egypt, as it says, And it will be on that day, the Lord will yosif (“continue”) to show His hand, to acquire the remnant of His nation (Isaiah 11:11).
Kol HaTor says [regarding the allusion to the “Mashiach ben Joseph” and the complete redemption] (Ch. 2, Part 1:39): “Joseph recognized his brothers but they did not recognize him” (Gen. 42:8): This is one of Joseph's attributes. Not just in his generation, but in every generation, Mashiach ben Joseph recognizes his brothers and they do not recognize him. It is an act of Satan which conceals Mashiach ben Joseph's attributes, such that the Jews unfortunately do not recognize his footsteps, and in fact scoff at them... If not for this, our troubles would already be over. If Israel “recognized Joseph”, Mashiach ben Joseph's footsteps comprising the ingathering of the exiles, etc., we would already be completely redeemed.”
Even before we examine our sages' words regarding Mashiach ben Joseph, we already have in hand several basic principles from the holy lips of the Gra:
1.) There are two Messiahs, Mashiach ben Joseph and Meshiach ben David. The first is called “the Inaugural Messiah”. He is involved in the whole physical side of redemption, the actual return to Zion, and he fights G-d's wars. The second completes the spiritual redemption.
2.) These two Messiahs exist among us in every generation, and if Israel only understood what they must do to bring redemption “in haste”, it would come speedily via these two Messiahs.
3.) Mashiach ben Joseph not only goes unrecognized, but Israel ridicules those who herald the truth of redemption and are fit to be Mashiach ben Joseph. If Israel only recognized him and his era, he would immediately begin complete redemption “in haste.”
Rabbi Meir Kahane's son, Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, HY”D, refers to this in his commentary on Haggadat Pesach [The Haggadah of the Jewish Idea]: Who is Mashiach ben Joseph? In every generation, there is a “candidate for the post” of Mashiach ben Joseph, as well as one who could be Mashiach ben David. It is the actions of the generation, and the subsequent judgement of G-d, that determine whether or not they be revealed. In any event, he who bears the soul of Mashiach ben Joseph strives, in every generation, to bring the physical redemption nearer; but it is only in our era that the generation has merited to see its implementation [the beginning of the ingathering of the exiles].
The [above mentioned, see Kol haTor] refusal to recognize Mashiach ben Joseph is actually refusal to take measures involving faith and trust in G-d, without fear of the nations, as the most important part of the general return to G-d and His Torah. And since Mashiach ben Joseph is ready to come every single moment, as we said above, it follows that due to Israel's refusal to repent, the Mashiach becomes like a prisoner, so to speak. The impoverished [meaning, not Torah observant] regime, whose conception and birth occurred in the alien culture of the nations, and who denies the Torah of Moses, has refused to apply the authority and sovereignty of the people and G-d of Israel upon all parts of Eretz Israel for fear of the nations. This constitutes a Chilul Hashem. A rebellion against and degradation of the holiness of Eretz Israel, large parts of which have remained under the authority of the nations. A condition for complete redemption through Kiddush Hashem is control and sovereignty of the G-d and people of Israel.
Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane ends his Haggadat Pessach commentary thus: We can but pray that all we have learnt about the Redemption will be actualized soon, swiftly and painlessly, that we may merit a hastened Redemption, that our merits may bring Mashiach ben David, who will complete the process of Redemption, Amen.
[A remark: The last shiur that Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY”D, held at the Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea before he was murdered by an Al Qaeda member in New York, dealt with Mashiach ben Joseph. More than 10 years later, when his son Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane and his wife Taliyah, HY”D, were murdered in a roadside ambush by Arab terrorists north of Jerusalem, besides their car were found bloodstained sheets with the last Parashat Hashavua commentary that Rav Binyamin had worked on: A commentary on Parashat Vayigash, focussed on Israel's refusal to recognize Mashiach ben Joseph and his willingness to endure this out of love for his people.]
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'Peirush HaMaccabee on Shemot' and 'The Jewish Idea' of Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY”D and from 'The Writings of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane HY”D', commentary on Parashat Vayigash, and from his 'Haggadah of the Jewish Idea'.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Parashat Vayeshev - Forgetting vs. Remembering - Rabbi Meir Kahane
When a Jew is away from Israel, he must constantly acknowledge
that he is a stranger in a foreign land, living among a foreign nation,
like one who is with a woman whom he does not know. As Solomon expressed it: And why should you stray, my son, with an alien woman, and hug the bosom of a foreign woman (Proverbs
5:20). [...] Human nature is to forget suffering after some time has
passed and one finds refuge and starts to live in peace; then the נֵכָר,
nekhar (“unknown”) and the נָכְרִי, nokhri (“foreigner, stranger”)
become נִכָּר, nikkar (“recognized”) and מֻכָּר, mukkar (“known”), and
the alien land becomes homeland.
And indeed, this happened even to Joseph himself:
Joseph thought: When I was in my father’s house…my brothers envied me; now that I am here [in Egypt], I thank You that I live in wealth. G-d said to him: It is so good for you here that you are rebelling. By your life! I will incite the bears against you (Genesis Rabbah 87:4). The Tanhuma says something similar: When Joseph saw himself such [so great, in Potiphar’s service], he began to eat and drink, he curled his hair, and said: Blessed be the Omnipresent Who has caused me to forget my father’s house. G-d said to him: Your father is mourning for you in sackcloth and ashes, and you eat and drink and curl your hair?! For this, your mistress [Potiphar’s wife] will seduce you and cause you grief (Tanhuma, Vayeshev 8).
This teaches that it is not enough for the tzaddik to recognize G-d’s kindness; he must also understand that the purpose of His kindness is solely in order to help him to fulfil his obligation and his destiny. Joseph was indeed obligated to thank G-d for having been saved, and for having found a good life – but he should not have celebrated and rejoiced as long as his father was mourning and suffering. We further see that even though his personal situation in Israel with his family was far worse than his current situation in exile, this feeling was considered a sin, for a Jew is forbidden to forget his true home – and far more so, is forbidden to erase the memory of his true home. And Joseph was punished for this twice over: the first time, when he was thrown into prison; and the second time, when he forgot all [the Torah knowledge] that he had learned, as the Midrash says:
And Jacob arrived unblemished (Genesis 33:18) – Rabbi Yohanan said: unblemished in his learning. But Joseph had forgotten, as he said, G-d has caused me to forget my hardship; and subsequently it is said, The toiling spirit toils for itself (Proverbs 16:26) [in the verse which speaks of toiling in the Torah].
While he was in prison, Joseph failed in his trust in G-d when he asked the chief steward to save him. As our sages said (Shemot Rabbah 7:1),
“Joseph really only deserved ten years in prison...yet because he asked the chief steward, 'Remember that I was with you...Say something about me to Pharaoh' (Gen. 40:14), two years were added.”
A Jew who seeks help from a non-Jew out of despair and fear, lest G-d not help him, commits a grave sin. Had Joseph approached the steward with a demand because the steward owed him a favor , that would not have been considered a sin. Yet by petitioning him with a request, indicating that we need a favor from a non-Jew, he profaned G-d's name, showing that he did not trust in G-d but only in flesh and blood. From here we derive a major principle regarding aid from a non-Jew: If the non-Jew gives it as part of mutual aid, or payment for what he owes the Jew, that is allowed. If, however, we approach a non-Jew or a country with a request, like a pauper standing at the door, there is no more severe Chilul HaShem and lack of trust in G-d than this.
It is an unatonable sin for a Jew to despair. It constitutes national denial of G-d for Israel to turn to human strength, to non-Jewish allies, and to lean on them while scorning G-d's ability to help.
On the national level, this means : [...] whoever relies on the non-Jew and his aid, and fears that without such aid the Jews and their land will be unable to survive, has been caught by lack of complete trust in G-d, bordering on denial of His existence. The individual Jew and the Jewish people as a whole will not be forgiven if they abandon their faith in G-d, the Supreme, Omnipotent King Who rules over the world and over the nations. He alone is our salvation.
Even totally righteous, G-d fearing people fall prey to the terrible sin of lack of trust in G-d. As our sages said (Sotah 48b), “What is meant by 'Who has despised [baz] the day of small things?'(Zechariah 4:10)? What causes the future heavenly reward of the righteous to be squandered [yitbazbez]? Their smallness in not believing in G-d.”
Had our sages not said this, we would not dare to put this thought to words.
Yet our sages established a great and frightening principle: that it is possible to be a righteous person, i.e. one who observes Torah and mitzvot, who keeps all of Torah ritual, and still be small of faith.It is appropriate to cry over this, for the signs of this terrible sin can be seen openly in this orphan generation.King David said, “He will bless them that fear the L-rd, both children and adults [lit., 'great and small']” (Ps. 115:14). This hints that some among the G-d fearing have little fear of G-d and little faith. King Solomon warned against the terrible sin of fearing mortal man when he said, “The fear of man brings a snare; but whoever puts his trust in the L-rd shall be set up on high. Many seek the ruler's favor, but a man's judgment comes from the L-rd” (Prov. 29:25-26).
This week's Parasha ends accordingly with “Yet the [non-Jewish] chief steward [whom Joseph had asked to remember him] did not remember Joseph, but he forgot him.” (Gen. 40:32)
Interestingly, at the beginning of the redemption from Egypt G-d told Moses to address the Jewish people with a reference to remembrance (although a different word for remembering is used):
“I have assuredly remembered you - פָּקֹד פָּקַדְתִּי, pakod pakad’ti:”
G-d commanded Moses to use specifically these words because the elders had a tradition that the redeemer would use these words when he would come, and they would thereby know that this was no false messiah:
He [G-d] said to him [Moses]: They have a tradition from Joseph that I will redeem them with this word [פָּקֹד, pakod (“remember”)]. Go, address them with this sign. (Exodus Rabbah 3:18.)
This also applies to the future redemption of Israel:
פָּקֹד פָּקַדְתִּי, pakod pakad’ti: I have remembered you, and not forgotten you. I have remembered My promise and not forgotten it; I have not redeemed you until now – not because I have forgotten, but because the appointed time has not yet come, the number of years needed to redeem you has not yet passed.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from “The Jewish Idea” and “Peirush HaMaccabee on Shemot” of Rav Meir Kahane, HY”D
And indeed, this happened even to Joseph himself:
Joseph thought: When I was in my father’s house…my brothers envied me; now that I am here [in Egypt], I thank You that I live in wealth. G-d said to him: It is so good for you here that you are rebelling. By your life! I will incite the bears against you (Genesis Rabbah 87:4). The Tanhuma says something similar: When Joseph saw himself such [so great, in Potiphar’s service], he began to eat and drink, he curled his hair, and said: Blessed be the Omnipresent Who has caused me to forget my father’s house. G-d said to him: Your father is mourning for you in sackcloth and ashes, and you eat and drink and curl your hair?! For this, your mistress [Potiphar’s wife] will seduce you and cause you grief (Tanhuma, Vayeshev 8).
This teaches that it is not enough for the tzaddik to recognize G-d’s kindness; he must also understand that the purpose of His kindness is solely in order to help him to fulfil his obligation and his destiny. Joseph was indeed obligated to thank G-d for having been saved, and for having found a good life – but he should not have celebrated and rejoiced as long as his father was mourning and suffering. We further see that even though his personal situation in Israel with his family was far worse than his current situation in exile, this feeling was considered a sin, for a Jew is forbidden to forget his true home – and far more so, is forbidden to erase the memory of his true home. And Joseph was punished for this twice over: the first time, when he was thrown into prison; and the second time, when he forgot all [the Torah knowledge] that he had learned, as the Midrash says:
And Jacob arrived unblemished (Genesis 33:18) – Rabbi Yohanan said: unblemished in his learning. But Joseph had forgotten, as he said, G-d has caused me to forget my hardship; and subsequently it is said, The toiling spirit toils for itself (Proverbs 16:26) [in the verse which speaks of toiling in the Torah].
While he was in prison, Joseph failed in his trust in G-d when he asked the chief steward to save him. As our sages said (Shemot Rabbah 7:1),
“Joseph really only deserved ten years in prison...yet because he asked the chief steward, 'Remember that I was with you...Say something about me to Pharaoh' (Gen. 40:14), two years were added.”
A Jew who seeks help from a non-Jew out of despair and fear, lest G-d not help him, commits a grave sin. Had Joseph approached the steward with a demand because the steward owed him a favor , that would not have been considered a sin. Yet by petitioning him with a request, indicating that we need a favor from a non-Jew, he profaned G-d's name, showing that he did not trust in G-d but only in flesh and blood. From here we derive a major principle regarding aid from a non-Jew: If the non-Jew gives it as part of mutual aid, or payment for what he owes the Jew, that is allowed. If, however, we approach a non-Jew or a country with a request, like a pauper standing at the door, there is no more severe Chilul HaShem and lack of trust in G-d than this.
It is an unatonable sin for a Jew to despair. It constitutes national denial of G-d for Israel to turn to human strength, to non-Jewish allies, and to lean on them while scorning G-d's ability to help.
On the national level, this means : [...] whoever relies on the non-Jew and his aid, and fears that without such aid the Jews and their land will be unable to survive, has been caught by lack of complete trust in G-d, bordering on denial of His existence. The individual Jew and the Jewish people as a whole will not be forgiven if they abandon their faith in G-d, the Supreme, Omnipotent King Who rules over the world and over the nations. He alone is our salvation.
Even totally righteous, G-d fearing people fall prey to the terrible sin of lack of trust in G-d. As our sages said (Sotah 48b), “What is meant by 'Who has despised [baz] the day of small things?'(Zechariah 4:10)? What causes the future heavenly reward of the righteous to be squandered [yitbazbez]? Their smallness in not believing in G-d.”
Had our sages not said this, we would not dare to put this thought to words.
Yet our sages established a great and frightening principle: that it is possible to be a righteous person, i.e. one who observes Torah and mitzvot, who keeps all of Torah ritual, and still be small of faith.It is appropriate to cry over this, for the signs of this terrible sin can be seen openly in this orphan generation.King David said, “He will bless them that fear the L-rd, both children and adults [lit., 'great and small']” (Ps. 115:14). This hints that some among the G-d fearing have little fear of G-d and little faith. King Solomon warned against the terrible sin of fearing mortal man when he said, “The fear of man brings a snare; but whoever puts his trust in the L-rd shall be set up on high. Many seek the ruler's favor, but a man's judgment comes from the L-rd” (Prov. 29:25-26).
This week's Parasha ends accordingly with “Yet the [non-Jewish] chief steward [whom Joseph had asked to remember him] did not remember Joseph, but he forgot him.” (Gen. 40:32)
Interestingly, at the beginning of the redemption from Egypt G-d told Moses to address the Jewish people with a reference to remembrance (although a different word for remembering is used):
“I have assuredly remembered you - פָּקֹד פָּקַדְתִּי, pakod pakad’ti:”
G-d commanded Moses to use specifically these words because the elders had a tradition that the redeemer would use these words when he would come, and they would thereby know that this was no false messiah:
He [G-d] said to him [Moses]: They have a tradition from Joseph that I will redeem them with this word [פָּקֹד, pakod (“remember”)]. Go, address them with this sign. (Exodus Rabbah 3:18.)
This also applies to the future redemption of Israel:
פָּקֹד פָּקַדְתִּי, pakod pakad’ti: I have remembered you, and not forgotten you. I have remembered My promise and not forgotten it; I have not redeemed you until now – not because I have forgotten, but because the appointed time has not yet come, the number of years needed to redeem you has not yet passed.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from “The Jewish Idea” and “Peirush HaMaccabee on Shemot” of Rav Meir Kahane, HY”D
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Parashat Toldot – Behavior and Character Traits – Rav Meir Kahane
The lads grew up and Esau became one who knows hunting, a man of the field; but Jacob was a wholesome man, abiding in tents. Isaac loved Esau for game was in his mouth; but Rebecca loved Jacob. (Gen. 25:27-28)
G-d chose Abraham because of his behavior and his merits; He rejected his son Ishmael and chose Isaac, too, because of his merits; again, He rejected Esau and chose Jacob due to his behavior. So after three successive generations of tzaddikim, all the subsequent offspring of the Patriarchs could be considered spiritually fit. G-d could forge them all into a chosen, treasured, and exalted nation, who would be His emissary to the human race and a light unto all the nations, to teach them the correct ways which they should follow.
This process of choice and rejection is realized to a good degree by the intervention of the Matriarchs, Sarah and Rebecca, who interpreted the behavior of Ishmael and Esau more correctly than Abraham and Isaac.
The mother instinctively recognizes the son because she raises him, she educates him, the child is in her trust, and when it comes to the child. The mother is the expert. And therefore, when talking about Rebecca, the Torah emphasizes that she was the mother of Jacob and Esau – that she understood both of them thoroughly. The holy language of the Torah expands the concept expressed by the word "em" (“mother”) to the extent that the word "emunah" (“faith”) comes from the root "em". For who is more faithful and loyal to a child, who is more willing to sacrifice their very life for the child’s sake, than a mother?
And this is an additional reason that Rebecca is referred to there by the term “mother”: she faithfully clung to the truth, understood that Jacob had to be the spiritual heir – and for this, she was willing even to go against Isaac, to the extent of deceiving him, and telling her son Jacob, “Let your curse be upon me, my son”(Genesis 27:13).
G-d chose Abraham because of his behavior and his merits: It says [regarding Abraham] (Gen. 18:19), “I have given him special attention that he might command his children and his household after him, and they will keep the ways of the L-rd, doing charity and justice.”
Thus G-d commanded Abraham to perform acts of charity and kindness, as well as to further justice by causing G-d's role to be acknowledged. By doing what G-d had commanded, Abraham's kindness and mercy became rooted in him. These traits passed on to Isaac and then to Jacob and his seed.
R. Natan bar Abba said in the name of Rav:
The wealthy of Babylonia go to hell. When Shabtai bar Marinos came to Babylonia, he sought work, but they would not provide it nor would they feed him. He said, “These [wealthy Babylonians] are of the mixed multitude, for it says, 'G-d will make you merciful and have mercy on you' (Deut. 13:18). When anyone acts mercifully, we know he is of Abraham's seed; if he acts unmercifully, we know that he is not.” (Betza 32b)
Kindness, like all traits found in the Torah, is nothing but a Divine attribute we were commanded to emulate and accept upon ourselves with the goal of being G-d-like.
Thus we learn (Shabbat 133b):
“This is my G-d and I will glorify Him” (Ex. 15:2)... Abba Shaul said, “To 'glorify' Him means making ourselves similar to Him. Just as He is kind and merciful, so must we be kind and merciful.”
There is a double message here. Not only must we be kind and merciful, but we must “make ourselves similar to G-d,” i.e., we must be kind and merciful the way G-d explains these terms rather than the way we perceive them.
The real meaning of kindness and truth is that these principles are only part, albeit an exceedingly marked and conspicuous part, of the Torah's main purpose and goal – self-abnegation and suppression of our evil impulse and arrogance. All the mitzvot were given for this purpose, but kindness and mercy are the most direct path to this goal.
By contrast, the Jews who distort the Torah are so influenced by the alien [Western] culture that they turn kindness and mercy into goals in and of themselves. By such means they elevate them above all the mitzvot, necessarily diminishing the value of all other mitzvot. They also push the concepts of kindness and mercy to foolish and dangerous extremes, while they themselves include wicked enemies of the Jewish People.
The Torah's goal is to create a person who diminishes himself, who bridles his arrogance, breaking down and negating his ego, who suppresses his evil impulse and liberates himself from covetousness and haughtiness, which are the root of evil and impurity. The most direct, clear and immediate way to achieve this is by loving one's fellow man and by being kind to him. Such acts express the Torah's essence, breaking down one's ego. Hillel therefore called this “the whole Torah”, since indeed breaking down the ego is G-d's whole aim, and this is expressed in the clearest, most acute fashion by loving one's fellow man. “All the rest”, however, the other mitzvot, are the commentary on this. That is they show us how to suppress our evil impulse.
Whoever behaves ethically and with love, agreeing with these attributes [only] because they are esthetic and pleasant, will never reach the true goal of breaking down his ego.
Yet by fulfilling all the mitzvot, even those lacking any rationale, and all the more so those difficult mitzvot that contradict, so to speak, love and morality, one makes clear that loving one's fellow man is not a goal in and of itself, but a large part of man's true goal – breaking down his ego and accepting G-d's yoke. Similarly, whoever understands the true role of kindness and mercy in the Torah framework, will also understand their limitations, and where it is forbidden to show kindness and be merciful.
Kindness and mercy – in the right time and place – is the obligation of every Jew. It is a means of suppressing one's passions and becoming less selfish, thereby exalting oneself almost to the level of the ministering angels, and perhaps higher. Hence, from the general theme of kindness and mercy emerge countless mitzvot and ideas which have always guided the Jew in his daily life.
It is clear that a prerequisite for acquiring any good trait is destroying its opposite. First, one must “turn away from evil” (Ps. 34:15) – and only then - “do good” (Ibid.) Thus, to become loving, we must cease to be hateful. To learn respect, we must cease to scorn our fellow man. I must warn once again that all the principles I quote from the Torah and our sages are rulings that have come down as precise law, and they apply only in the time and place that our holy Torah says they apply. Hence, whoever sets out to eradicate hatred should have in mind only that hatred which opposes our Torah, false hatred, defined by our sages as sinat chinam, “groundless hatred”. Nothing originating from G-d can be “groundless”. If there is no Divine reason for hatred, it is absolutely forbidden and despised by G-d. Yet when G-d commands us to hate the evildoer, that is “truthful hatred”, a sacred duty from which no one is exempt.
The same applies as far as love. There is not, never was, and never will be a Torah concept of “groundless love”. G-d does not concede regarding hatred of those who hate Him and or the evildoers who destroy what is sacred to the Jewish People. I shall never tire of bringing our sages' words (Bava Kamma 50a), “Whoever says G-d indulgently forgoes sin, shall forgo his life” (“because he is teaching his fellow man to sin” - Rashi). Love and hate, like all Divine traits, came into the world with well-defined parameters, virtually possessing a set of laws of their own. Whoever preaches that hatred is never valid, or presents a false picture of love, shall have to account for it in the future.
All the same, where indeed inappropriate, hating one's fellow Jew is a heinous sin. Our sages said (Arachin 16b): “Do not hate your brother in your heart” (Lev. 19:17): I might think [it would suffice] not to hit him, slap him or curse him. It therefore says, “in your heart.” The verse refers even to hatred in one's heart.
It is forbidden to hate a Jew even in one's heart. Rather, one must make known one's objections and rebuke him.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from "The Jewish Idea" and "Peirush haMaccabee - Shemot" (English translation by Daniel Pinner) of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
G-d chose Abraham because of his behavior and his merits; He rejected his son Ishmael and chose Isaac, too, because of his merits; again, He rejected Esau and chose Jacob due to his behavior. So after three successive generations of tzaddikim, all the subsequent offspring of the Patriarchs could be considered spiritually fit. G-d could forge them all into a chosen, treasured, and exalted nation, who would be His emissary to the human race and a light unto all the nations, to teach them the correct ways which they should follow.
This process of choice and rejection is realized to a good degree by the intervention of the Matriarchs, Sarah and Rebecca, who interpreted the behavior of Ishmael and Esau more correctly than Abraham and Isaac.
The mother instinctively recognizes the son because she raises him, she educates him, the child is in her trust, and when it comes to the child. The mother is the expert. And therefore, when talking about Rebecca, the Torah emphasizes that she was the mother of Jacob and Esau – that she understood both of them thoroughly. The holy language of the Torah expands the concept expressed by the word "em" (“mother”) to the extent that the word "emunah" (“faith”) comes from the root "em". For who is more faithful and loyal to a child, who is more willing to sacrifice their very life for the child’s sake, than a mother?
And this is an additional reason that Rebecca is referred to there by the term “mother”: she faithfully clung to the truth, understood that Jacob had to be the spiritual heir – and for this, she was willing even to go against Isaac, to the extent of deceiving him, and telling her son Jacob, “Let your curse be upon me, my son”(Genesis 27:13).
G-d chose Abraham because of his behavior and his merits: It says [regarding Abraham] (Gen. 18:19), “I have given him special attention that he might command his children and his household after him, and they will keep the ways of the L-rd, doing charity and justice.”
Thus G-d commanded Abraham to perform acts of charity and kindness, as well as to further justice by causing G-d's role to be acknowledged. By doing what G-d had commanded, Abraham's kindness and mercy became rooted in him. These traits passed on to Isaac and then to Jacob and his seed.
R. Natan bar Abba said in the name of Rav:
The wealthy of Babylonia go to hell. When Shabtai bar Marinos came to Babylonia, he sought work, but they would not provide it nor would they feed him. He said, “These [wealthy Babylonians] are of the mixed multitude, for it says, 'G-d will make you merciful and have mercy on you' (Deut. 13:18). When anyone acts mercifully, we know he is of Abraham's seed; if he acts unmercifully, we know that he is not.” (Betza 32b)
Kindness, like all traits found in the Torah, is nothing but a Divine attribute we were commanded to emulate and accept upon ourselves with the goal of being G-d-like.
Thus we learn (Shabbat 133b):
“This is my G-d and I will glorify Him” (Ex. 15:2)... Abba Shaul said, “To 'glorify' Him means making ourselves similar to Him. Just as He is kind and merciful, so must we be kind and merciful.”
There is a double message here. Not only must we be kind and merciful, but we must “make ourselves similar to G-d,” i.e., we must be kind and merciful the way G-d explains these terms rather than the way we perceive them.
The real meaning of kindness and truth is that these principles are only part, albeit an exceedingly marked and conspicuous part, of the Torah's main purpose and goal – self-abnegation and suppression of our evil impulse and arrogance. All the mitzvot were given for this purpose, but kindness and mercy are the most direct path to this goal.
By contrast, the Jews who distort the Torah are so influenced by the alien [Western] culture that they turn kindness and mercy into goals in and of themselves. By such means they elevate them above all the mitzvot, necessarily diminishing the value of all other mitzvot. They also push the concepts of kindness and mercy to foolish and dangerous extremes, while they themselves include wicked enemies of the Jewish People.
The Torah's goal is to create a person who diminishes himself, who bridles his arrogance, breaking down and negating his ego, who suppresses his evil impulse and liberates himself from covetousness and haughtiness, which are the root of evil and impurity. The most direct, clear and immediate way to achieve this is by loving one's fellow man and by being kind to him. Such acts express the Torah's essence, breaking down one's ego. Hillel therefore called this “the whole Torah”, since indeed breaking down the ego is G-d's whole aim, and this is expressed in the clearest, most acute fashion by loving one's fellow man. “All the rest”, however, the other mitzvot, are the commentary on this. That is they show us how to suppress our evil impulse.
Whoever behaves ethically and with love, agreeing with these attributes [only] because they are esthetic and pleasant, will never reach the true goal of breaking down his ego.
Yet by fulfilling all the mitzvot, even those lacking any rationale, and all the more so those difficult mitzvot that contradict, so to speak, love and morality, one makes clear that loving one's fellow man is not a goal in and of itself, but a large part of man's true goal – breaking down his ego and accepting G-d's yoke. Similarly, whoever understands the true role of kindness and mercy in the Torah framework, will also understand their limitations, and where it is forbidden to show kindness and be merciful.
Kindness and mercy – in the right time and place – is the obligation of every Jew. It is a means of suppressing one's passions and becoming less selfish, thereby exalting oneself almost to the level of the ministering angels, and perhaps higher. Hence, from the general theme of kindness and mercy emerge countless mitzvot and ideas which have always guided the Jew in his daily life.
It is clear that a prerequisite for acquiring any good trait is destroying its opposite. First, one must “turn away from evil” (Ps. 34:15) – and only then - “do good” (Ibid.) Thus, to become loving, we must cease to be hateful. To learn respect, we must cease to scorn our fellow man. I must warn once again that all the principles I quote from the Torah and our sages are rulings that have come down as precise law, and they apply only in the time and place that our holy Torah says they apply. Hence, whoever sets out to eradicate hatred should have in mind only that hatred which opposes our Torah, false hatred, defined by our sages as sinat chinam, “groundless hatred”. Nothing originating from G-d can be “groundless”. If there is no Divine reason for hatred, it is absolutely forbidden and despised by G-d. Yet when G-d commands us to hate the evildoer, that is “truthful hatred”, a sacred duty from which no one is exempt.
The same applies as far as love. There is not, never was, and never will be a Torah concept of “groundless love”. G-d does not concede regarding hatred of those who hate Him and or the evildoers who destroy what is sacred to the Jewish People. I shall never tire of bringing our sages' words (Bava Kamma 50a), “Whoever says G-d indulgently forgoes sin, shall forgo his life” (“because he is teaching his fellow man to sin” - Rashi). Love and hate, like all Divine traits, came into the world with well-defined parameters, virtually possessing a set of laws of their own. Whoever preaches that hatred is never valid, or presents a false picture of love, shall have to account for it in the future.
All the same, where indeed inappropriate, hating one's fellow Jew is a heinous sin. Our sages said (Arachin 16b): “Do not hate your brother in your heart” (Lev. 19:17): I might think [it would suffice] not to hit him, slap him or curse him. It therefore says, “in your heart.” The verse refers even to hatred in one's heart.
It is forbidden to hate a Jew even in one's heart. Rather, one must make known one's objections and rebuke him.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from "The Jewish Idea" and "Peirush haMaccabee - Shemot" (English translation by Daniel Pinner) of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Parashat Chayei Sarah - Whose Hebron is it, anyway? – Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
(Plus added background-article from the writings of Rav Meir Kahane: "Who stole Eretz Yisrael?")
“And Avraham weighed to Ephron the silver...” (Gen. 23:16).
Rabbi Yehuda Bar Simon said: It is one of the three places where the nations of the world would not be able to deceive Israel by claiming: You are thieves (since it was acquired with money). The Cave of the Patriarchs, as it is written: 'And Avraham weighed to Ephron the silver...'; The Temple Mount, as it is written, 'So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold coins by weight'; Joseph's Tomb, as it is written, and he (Yaakov) bought the parcel of ground ... at the hand of the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem (Bereshit Rabbah, 89).
Three questions arise from the above Midrash:
1.) And on the rest of the Land of Israel the gentiles can say that we are robbers?
2.) What does it mean, “they will not be able”? We see that they are quite able and even successful in undermining our claim to those three places. Indeed, precisely those three places are where they concentrate their struggle!
3.) On the verse in Psalms (111:6), “The power of His works has He declared to His people in giving them the heritage of the nations”, Rashi writes: “so that the nations will not be able to say you are robbers when you conquer the seven nations”. And so, we see that Rashi says that on all of Israel “they cannot say” that we are thieves!
The Torah knew that when the gentile would rise up against the Jewish “thieves” and “occupiers”, certain Jews may doubt the justice of their cause due to all kind of guilt feelings. Perhaps the gentile is right that we stole his land? Perhaps he has an ethical argument? And so the sages come to tell us: Look, there are three places that even according to simple logic the gentile cannot open his mouth about, for they were purchased with money. And in any case, this justified claim makes no impression on them.
On the contrary, it is precisely in these three places where they center their struggle against us! What does this teach us? That it isn't justice or ethics which motivates them, nor is it a dispute over property that can be resolved. Rather, it is a national-religious struggle!
Now the sages come and explain: Just as you know that in these three places their claims are not justified, by the same token you should not get excited about the rest of their claims on other parts of the land of Israel, since “the entire world belongs to the Holy One, Blessed Be He, He created it and gave it to whomever it was right in His eyes, of His own will He gave it to them and of His own will He took it from them and gave it to us!” (Rashi on the beginning of Genesis).
This now explains Rashi in the aforementioned Psalm, that “the nations of the world won't be able to say you are robbers”. Not that they “won't be able to say” it. On the contrary, they'll say it all the time. But the “won't be able to” is not directed to the gentile, but rather to the ears of the Jews!
That they must know that G-d gave us the Land, with an obligation to conquer and to expel. And so it is said: “The power of His works He has declared to His people in giving them the heritage of the nations” - the answer is intended for “His people”. The gentiles are not being addressed here, either because they will not listen anyway, or perhaps it simply is not important what they think.
Hebron, Shechem, and the Temple Mount [...] have become symbols of the Arab-Israeli struggle in the land of Israel. Indeed, the battle for the Land of Israel has reached its climax, and those three locations which the “gentile won't be able” to contest, are, in fact, the most hotly contested.
Excerpted by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from the commentary on Chayei Sarah in “The writings of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane. HY”D”
[Please read also this]:
Background: Who stole Eretz Yisrael? - From the writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane
G-d is Creator of the universe and Owner and Master of the earth and all that it contains:
“The earth is the L-rd's, and the fullness thereof” (Ps. 24:1). He gave Eretz Yisrael to the Jewish People as their land, to enable them to fulfill their mission of building a state and society in accordance with the laws and foundations of the Holy Torah: “He gave them the lands of nations; they inherited people's toils, that they might keep His statutes and observe His laws” (Ps. 105:44-45).
As far as Eretz Yisrael, no apologies or justifications are necessary. The Jewish People came to the land where the seven nations dwelled and took it from them by decree of the Owner, G-d.
G-d uprooted the nations who dwelled there and brought in His chosen people, Israel, because the land is His and does not belong to those who lived there as occupants.
As R. Yehoshua of Sachnin said in the name of R. Levi (Bereshit Rabbah, 1:2):
“He declared to His people the power of His works, in giving them the lands of the nations” (Ps. 111:6): Why did G-d reveal to Israel what was created on the first and second days of Creation? [I.e., why did the Torah relate the entire Creation narrative when it should have concentrated on Torah law?]
It was because of the nations of the world, lest they curse Israel and say, “What a nation of pillagers you are!” Israel can respond, “Are you yourselves not pillagers? Surely it says, 'The Kaftorim came from Kaftor and annihilated the Avvim, occupying their territories' (Deut. 2:23).”
I.e., you and all the nations who claim that we, Israel, are pillagers, are hypocrites. After all, many nations took lands from nations who lived on them without any right or pretest for doing so. [Consider also America, Australia...] For example, the Kaftorim annihilated the Avvim and occupied their land. See Deut. 2 for further examples of nations who pillaged other nations and took their lands.
The point seems to be that before Israel respond to the nations with the main answer, they advance a side argument, namely: How can you and the Canaanites attempt to pose as innocent? After all, Eretz Yisrael was given to the descendants of Shem, and the Canaanites, descendants of Ham, took it from them. As Rashi wrote regarding the verse, “The Canaanites were then in the Land” (Gen. 12:6): “The Canaanites were gradually conquering Eretz Yisrael from Shem's descendants, for it had fallen to Shem's portion, when Noach divided up the earth amongst his sons.”
Afterwards comes the main argument: The world and all it contains were created by G-d and belong to Him. He is the Owner, and He gives to whomever He wishes and takes from whomever He wishes. He chose Israel to be His chosen people, His supreme, treasured nation, and He gave them the Land to be theirs and not the Canaanites'.
It likewise says (Deut. 6:10-11): To give you great, flourishing cities that you did not build. You will also have houses filled with all good things that you did not put there, finished cisterns that you did not quarry, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant. You shall eat and be satisfied.
[As Rabbi Kahane further explains in Peirush HaMaccabee on Shemot, Chapter 1]:
And there, in the Land of Israel, they inherited houses full of good things(Nehemiah 9:25), just as G-d had promised to give them houses filled with every type of good, which you did not fill (Deuteronomy 6:11) – you did not fill these houses, rather you captured them already filled with good. (Incidentally, this also teaches that everything that the Gentiles built and acquired when the Jews were not in Israel, they acquired illegally – in fact, by theft – because the land does not belong to them. Thus it is permitted to repossess their lands; only such property as they acquired under Jewish sovereignty is truly theirs.)
Clearly, just as G-d supervises the world and builds houses for the Jews in the Land of Israel in spite of the Gentiles and their anger, so too, when the Jews sin (!), His supervision works against THEM: They will build houses, but will not dwell in them…the great day of Hashem is near (Zephaniah 1:13-14).[...]
“For the children of Israel are slaves to Me, they are My slaves, whom I have taken out of the land of Egypt – I am Hashem, your G-d.” (Lev. 25:55) – This last verse was rendered [in Aramaic] by Targum Yonatan: “The children of Israel are Mine – slaves to My Torah.”
NO ONE ON EARTH IS FREE! The children of Israel are not free, but slaves to Him and His Torah. Being such, how can we possibly own property? Surely, whatever a slave acquires, belongs to His master [...].
A Jew must realize that everything – the world, punishment, even he himself – is under G-d's exclusive domain [...].
IT IS A MITZVAH AND DUTY UPON EVERY JEW TO LIVE IN ERETZ YISRAEL, and a chilul Hashem when Israel lives outside of it.
NO NON-JEW HAS THE SLIGHTEST RIGHT TO OWNERSHIP OVER THE LAND, and any non-Jew who denies G-d's mastery and the ownership of His people Israel over the whole Land is rebelling against G-d, denying G-d's sovereignty on earth and profaning G-d's name. He has one fate – to leave the Land or to die.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from “The Jewish Idea” and “Peirush HaMaccabee on Shemot” of Rav Meir Kahane, HY”D, English translation by Daniel Pinner
“And Avraham weighed to Ephron the silver...” (Gen. 23:16).
Rabbi Yehuda Bar Simon said: It is one of the three places where the nations of the world would not be able to deceive Israel by claiming: You are thieves (since it was acquired with money). The Cave of the Patriarchs, as it is written: 'And Avraham weighed to Ephron the silver...'; The Temple Mount, as it is written, 'So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold coins by weight'; Joseph's Tomb, as it is written, and he (Yaakov) bought the parcel of ground ... at the hand of the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem (Bereshit Rabbah, 89).
Three questions arise from the above Midrash:
1.) And on the rest of the Land of Israel the gentiles can say that we are robbers?
2.) What does it mean, “they will not be able”? We see that they are quite able and even successful in undermining our claim to those three places. Indeed, precisely those three places are where they concentrate their struggle!
3.) On the verse in Psalms (111:6), “The power of His works has He declared to His people in giving them the heritage of the nations”, Rashi writes: “so that the nations will not be able to say you are robbers when you conquer the seven nations”. And so, we see that Rashi says that on all of Israel “they cannot say” that we are thieves!
The Torah knew that when the gentile would rise up against the Jewish “thieves” and “occupiers”, certain Jews may doubt the justice of their cause due to all kind of guilt feelings. Perhaps the gentile is right that we stole his land? Perhaps he has an ethical argument? And so the sages come to tell us: Look, there are three places that even according to simple logic the gentile cannot open his mouth about, for they were purchased with money. And in any case, this justified claim makes no impression on them.
On the contrary, it is precisely in these three places where they center their struggle against us! What does this teach us? That it isn't justice or ethics which motivates them, nor is it a dispute over property that can be resolved. Rather, it is a national-religious struggle!
Now the sages come and explain: Just as you know that in these three places their claims are not justified, by the same token you should not get excited about the rest of their claims on other parts of the land of Israel, since “the entire world belongs to the Holy One, Blessed Be He, He created it and gave it to whomever it was right in His eyes, of His own will He gave it to them and of His own will He took it from them and gave it to us!” (Rashi on the beginning of Genesis).
This now explains Rashi in the aforementioned Psalm, that “the nations of the world won't be able to say you are robbers”. Not that they “won't be able to say” it. On the contrary, they'll say it all the time. But the “won't be able to” is not directed to the gentile, but rather to the ears of the Jews!
That they must know that G-d gave us the Land, with an obligation to conquer and to expel. And so it is said: “The power of His works He has declared to His people in giving them the heritage of the nations” - the answer is intended for “His people”. The gentiles are not being addressed here, either because they will not listen anyway, or perhaps it simply is not important what they think.
Hebron, Shechem, and the Temple Mount [...] have become symbols of the Arab-Israeli struggle in the land of Israel. Indeed, the battle for the Land of Israel has reached its climax, and those three locations which the “gentile won't be able” to contest, are, in fact, the most hotly contested.
Excerpted by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from the commentary on Chayei Sarah in “The writings of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane. HY”D”
[Please read also this]:
Background: Who stole Eretz Yisrael? - From the writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane
G-d is Creator of the universe and Owner and Master of the earth and all that it contains:
“The earth is the L-rd's, and the fullness thereof” (Ps. 24:1). He gave Eretz Yisrael to the Jewish People as their land, to enable them to fulfill their mission of building a state and society in accordance with the laws and foundations of the Holy Torah: “He gave them the lands of nations; they inherited people's toils, that they might keep His statutes and observe His laws” (Ps. 105:44-45).
As far as Eretz Yisrael, no apologies or justifications are necessary. The Jewish People came to the land where the seven nations dwelled and took it from them by decree of the Owner, G-d.
G-d uprooted the nations who dwelled there and brought in His chosen people, Israel, because the land is His and does not belong to those who lived there as occupants.
As R. Yehoshua of Sachnin said in the name of R. Levi (Bereshit Rabbah, 1:2):
“He declared to His people the power of His works, in giving them the lands of the nations” (Ps. 111:6): Why did G-d reveal to Israel what was created on the first and second days of Creation? [I.e., why did the Torah relate the entire Creation narrative when it should have concentrated on Torah law?]
It was because of the nations of the world, lest they curse Israel and say, “What a nation of pillagers you are!” Israel can respond, “Are you yourselves not pillagers? Surely it says, 'The Kaftorim came from Kaftor and annihilated the Avvim, occupying their territories' (Deut. 2:23).”
I.e., you and all the nations who claim that we, Israel, are pillagers, are hypocrites. After all, many nations took lands from nations who lived on them without any right or pretest for doing so. [Consider also America, Australia...] For example, the Kaftorim annihilated the Avvim and occupied their land. See Deut. 2 for further examples of nations who pillaged other nations and took their lands.
The point seems to be that before Israel respond to the nations with the main answer, they advance a side argument, namely: How can you and the Canaanites attempt to pose as innocent? After all, Eretz Yisrael was given to the descendants of Shem, and the Canaanites, descendants of Ham, took it from them. As Rashi wrote regarding the verse, “The Canaanites were then in the Land” (Gen. 12:6): “The Canaanites were gradually conquering Eretz Yisrael from Shem's descendants, for it had fallen to Shem's portion, when Noach divided up the earth amongst his sons.”
Afterwards comes the main argument: The world and all it contains were created by G-d and belong to Him. He is the Owner, and He gives to whomever He wishes and takes from whomever He wishes. He chose Israel to be His chosen people, His supreme, treasured nation, and He gave them the Land to be theirs and not the Canaanites'.
It likewise says (Deut. 6:10-11): To give you great, flourishing cities that you did not build. You will also have houses filled with all good things that you did not put there, finished cisterns that you did not quarry, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant. You shall eat and be satisfied.
[As Rabbi Kahane further explains in Peirush HaMaccabee on Shemot, Chapter 1]:
And there, in the Land of Israel, they inherited houses full of good things(Nehemiah 9:25), just as G-d had promised to give them houses filled with every type of good, which you did not fill (Deuteronomy 6:11) – you did not fill these houses, rather you captured them already filled with good. (Incidentally, this also teaches that everything that the Gentiles built and acquired when the Jews were not in Israel, they acquired illegally – in fact, by theft – because the land does not belong to them. Thus it is permitted to repossess their lands; only such property as they acquired under Jewish sovereignty is truly theirs.)
Clearly, just as G-d supervises the world and builds houses for the Jews in the Land of Israel in spite of the Gentiles and their anger, so too, when the Jews sin (!), His supervision works against THEM: They will build houses, but will not dwell in them…the great day of Hashem is near (Zephaniah 1:13-14).[...]
“For the children of Israel are slaves to Me, they are My slaves, whom I have taken out of the land of Egypt – I am Hashem, your G-d.” (Lev. 25:55) – This last verse was rendered [in Aramaic] by Targum Yonatan: “The children of Israel are Mine – slaves to My Torah.”
NO ONE ON EARTH IS FREE! The children of Israel are not free, but slaves to Him and His Torah. Being such, how can we possibly own property? Surely, whatever a slave acquires, belongs to His master [...].
A Jew must realize that everything – the world, punishment, even he himself – is under G-d's exclusive domain [...].
IT IS A MITZVAH AND DUTY UPON EVERY JEW TO LIVE IN ERETZ YISRAEL, and a chilul Hashem when Israel lives outside of it.
NO NON-JEW HAS THE SLIGHTEST RIGHT TO OWNERSHIP OVER THE LAND, and any non-Jew who denies G-d's mastery and the ownership of His people Israel over the whole Land is rebelling against G-d, denying G-d's sovereignty on earth and profaning G-d's name. He has one fate – to leave the Land or to die.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from “The Jewish Idea” and “Peirush HaMaccabee on Shemot” of Rav Meir Kahane, HY”D, English translation by Daniel Pinner
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Parashat Vayeira - Isaac and Ishmael can't coexist - Rav Meir Kahane
(Bereshit
Rabbah, 53:11): “At the moment that Isaac was born, all were happy.
Ishmael said to them: 'Fools! I am the firstborn and I take a double
portion.' From Sarah's response to Abraham, 'The son of this slave woman will not share the inheritance with my son', we derive [Ishmael's attitude].”
Clearly, Sarah demanded Ishmael's ouster for the two reasons noted above: first, so that Isaac would not learn from his ways, and second, because it would be impossible for Ishmael not to be filled with jealousy over the land, which he saw as also belonging to him, and he would surely fight Isaac to take it away from him. [The matter greatly distressed Abraham regarding his son. So G-d said to Abraham, “Let it not be grievous in your sight because of the lad or your slave woman: Whatever Sarah tells you, heed her voice, since through Isaac will offspring be considered yours.” (Gen. 21:11-12)]. Tanchuma concludes, “from here we learn that Abraham was inferior to Sarah in prophetic powers.” Likewise, foolish, groundless love spoils the normal order of things. As Bereshit Rabbah teaches regarding Abraham's not wishing to send Ishmael away, “This belongs to 'shutting one's eyes to evil'(Isaiah 33:15)”. That is, Abraham, due to his inappropriate love, turned a blind eye to Ishmael's evil, and only Sarah saw it through her prophecy. Sarah was right in not taking the path of groundless love, and Abraham ultimately banished both Ishmael and the other concubines' sons. “Abraham gave all that he owned to Isaac. To the concubines' sons... he gave gifts. Then, while he was yet alive, he sent them to the country of the East, away from Isaac” (Gen. 25:5-6). Tanchuma stresses, “He removed them far from Isaac.”
Thus, there are two reasons for Abraham's banishing Ishmael and the other sons of the concubines: first, lest Isaac's sons should learn from their evil deeds; second, that these other sons who were born in the Land would forever think the Land was theirs and hate Isaac and his son Israel for taking it all for themselves. Sarah understood both reasons, hence she added, “The son of this slave will not share the inheritance” of the Land with Isaac, and since he would not inherit it, he would always hate Isaac and try to kill him. She, therefore, demanded that he be banished from the Land.
Ishmael's hatred for Israel is from ancient times and stems from Israel being Abraham's seed. Ishmael is jealous of Isaac's seed, who were chosen to be G-d's people, while he, Ishmael, was invalidated. Tanchuma (Vayelech, 2) teaches: “My beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, [and he dug it and cleared away his stones]” (Isaiah 5:1-2). The “vineyard” refers to Israel. “He dug it” refers to Abraham, for G-d got rid of his refuse, such as Ishmael. “He cleared away its stones” refers to Isaac, from whom emerged Esau.
And the Mishna teaches (Nedarim 31a), “If someone vows not to derive any benefit from 'the offspring of Abraham,' he is forbidden to derive benefit from any Jew, but permitted to derive benefit from a non-Jew.” The Talmud then comments: What about Ishmael? It says, “It is through Isaac that you will be credited with offspring” (Gen. 21:12). And what about Esau? It says, “through Isaac” - but not all of Isaac.
Thus, Ishmael was removed from the category of Abraham's offspring, and he has no portion in Abraham, his offspring or his land. This they will never forget, and they have harbored this resentment all along. Already in the days of Alexander of Macadon, there was an incident described in Sanhedrin 91a: “...Another time, the descendants of Ishmael and Ketura came with Israel for litigation before Alexander of Macedonia. They said to Israel, Eretz Israel is yours and ours, as it says, 'these are the chronicles of Ishmael, son of Abraham' (Gen. 25:12), and, 'these are the chronicles of Isaac, son of Abraham' (Ibid., v. 19). ...Gevia ben Pesisa asked them, 'from whence are you bringing proof?' They responded, 'from the Torah'. He then said, 'I, too, will bring proof only from the Torah, for it says, 'Abraham gave all that he owned to Isaac. To the concubines' sons...he gave gifts, [and he sent them off]'(Gen. 25:5-6). If a father gives his sons an inheritance during his lifetime, and he sends them away from one another, can any of them have claims against any other?”
Here we see that over a thousand years after Ishmael's death the Ishmaelites were still claiming the land. They ignore all the arguments we put forth, just as they ignore what the Talmud states (Sanhedrin 59b) regarding circumcision: “It is Abraham whom the Torah originally admonishes 'You must keep My covenant – you and your offspring throughout their generations' (Gen. 17:9)... What about obligating the Ishmaelites [in circumcision, since they are Abraham's seed]? It says, 'it is through Isaac that you will gain posterity' (Gen. 21:12).
Thus, the Torah states explicitly that only Isaac, and not Ishmael, will be called Abraham's seed. Yet, what do the Ishmaelites or any other nation with a claim to the Land care what we say? Since they are our blood enemies and will never accept the authority of Israel and G-d, they have no place in the Land... Besides all this, we know that in the footsteps of the Messianic era, Ishmael will rise up against Israel and try to annihilate them.
R. Yitzchak said: The Torah need only have begun from Ex. 12:2, “This month shall be unto you the first of the months,” [introducing the first commandment given to Israel]. Why then did it start with the Genesis narrative?... It was so that if the nations of the world ever say to Israel, “You are thieves,” they will respond [that “the entire world is G-d's property. He created it and gave it to whoever is fitting in His eyes (Jer. 27:5); according to His will He gave it to them and according to His will he took it from them and gave it to us”] (Rashi Gen. 1:1).
Likewise, the Midrash says (Bereshit Rabbah, 1:2), “It was so that the nations would not castigate Israel and call them “a nation of plunderers”. R. Yitzchak did not say there, “because of the seven nations” but rather, “the nations of the world”, to inform us that all of the nations will join those nations who once inhabited the Land, be they the seven nations or Ishmaelites, with the claim that Israel are thieves and plunderers, and on that day, Israel shall stand alone.
It follows that those same laws that applied to the seven nations [that is, to remove them from the Land] apply to all the nations that live in Eretz Yisrael in every age.
This includes those of our age, who view Eretz Yisrael as their own land and soil, and who view the Jewish People as a nation of conquerers, robbers and thieves.
After all, what difference is there as far as G-d's warning that “those who remain shall be barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, causing you troubles in the land” (Num. 33:55), between the seven nations and between any nations that dwells in the Land, views it as its own, and then Israel come and conquer it from them? Surely it will feel that same hatred and that same fierce will for revenge as did the seven nations.
This logic appears already in Or HaChaim (Num. 33:52): “You must drive out”: Although the verse said of the seven nations, “You shall not allow any people to remain alive” (Deut. 20:16), here, the Torah is talking about other nations found there besides the seven. It therefore was careful to say, “all the Land's inhabitants”, meaning, even those not of the seven.
They, too, will always harbor resentment against Israel and will never resign themselves to us, but will await the “right” moment to rebel. As for their ostensibly having submitted nowadays, that is only out of fear and the inability to claim victory for the time being.
Abraham, out of his mercy and kindness, did not wish to see the evil done by Ishmael, especially with him being his son. G-d therefore had to command him, “Let it not be grievous in your sight because of the lad” (Gen. 21:12).
Mercy towards the cruel is not a good trait. Quite the opposite, one is duty-bound to separate oneself from the evildoer even if this is a difficult step, and even if it appears cruel. There can be no coexistence between evil and upright people – only separation. [Likewise,] the death of the wicked is infinitely preferable to the death of the righteous, and eradicating evil is infinitely superior to eradicating good.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from "The Jewish Idea" of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
Clearly, Sarah demanded Ishmael's ouster for the two reasons noted above: first, so that Isaac would not learn from his ways, and second, because it would be impossible for Ishmael not to be filled with jealousy over the land, which he saw as also belonging to him, and he would surely fight Isaac to take it away from him. [The matter greatly distressed Abraham regarding his son. So G-d said to Abraham, “Let it not be grievous in your sight because of the lad or your slave woman: Whatever Sarah tells you, heed her voice, since through Isaac will offspring be considered yours.” (Gen. 21:11-12)]. Tanchuma concludes, “from here we learn that Abraham was inferior to Sarah in prophetic powers.” Likewise, foolish, groundless love spoils the normal order of things. As Bereshit Rabbah teaches regarding Abraham's not wishing to send Ishmael away, “This belongs to 'shutting one's eyes to evil'(Isaiah 33:15)”. That is, Abraham, due to his inappropriate love, turned a blind eye to Ishmael's evil, and only Sarah saw it through her prophecy. Sarah was right in not taking the path of groundless love, and Abraham ultimately banished both Ishmael and the other concubines' sons. “Abraham gave all that he owned to Isaac. To the concubines' sons... he gave gifts. Then, while he was yet alive, he sent them to the country of the East, away from Isaac” (Gen. 25:5-6). Tanchuma stresses, “He removed them far from Isaac.”
Thus, there are two reasons for Abraham's banishing Ishmael and the other sons of the concubines: first, lest Isaac's sons should learn from their evil deeds; second, that these other sons who were born in the Land would forever think the Land was theirs and hate Isaac and his son Israel for taking it all for themselves. Sarah understood both reasons, hence she added, “The son of this slave will not share the inheritance” of the Land with Isaac, and since he would not inherit it, he would always hate Isaac and try to kill him. She, therefore, demanded that he be banished from the Land.
Ishmael's hatred for Israel is from ancient times and stems from Israel being Abraham's seed. Ishmael is jealous of Isaac's seed, who were chosen to be G-d's people, while he, Ishmael, was invalidated. Tanchuma (Vayelech, 2) teaches: “My beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, [and he dug it and cleared away his stones]” (Isaiah 5:1-2). The “vineyard” refers to Israel. “He dug it” refers to Abraham, for G-d got rid of his refuse, such as Ishmael. “He cleared away its stones” refers to Isaac, from whom emerged Esau.
And the Mishna teaches (Nedarim 31a), “If someone vows not to derive any benefit from 'the offspring of Abraham,' he is forbidden to derive benefit from any Jew, but permitted to derive benefit from a non-Jew.” The Talmud then comments: What about Ishmael? It says, “It is through Isaac that you will be credited with offspring” (Gen. 21:12). And what about Esau? It says, “through Isaac” - but not all of Isaac.
Thus, Ishmael was removed from the category of Abraham's offspring, and he has no portion in Abraham, his offspring or his land. This they will never forget, and they have harbored this resentment all along. Already in the days of Alexander of Macadon, there was an incident described in Sanhedrin 91a: “...Another time, the descendants of Ishmael and Ketura came with Israel for litigation before Alexander of Macedonia. They said to Israel, Eretz Israel is yours and ours, as it says, 'these are the chronicles of Ishmael, son of Abraham' (Gen. 25:12), and, 'these are the chronicles of Isaac, son of Abraham' (Ibid., v. 19). ...Gevia ben Pesisa asked them, 'from whence are you bringing proof?' They responded, 'from the Torah'. He then said, 'I, too, will bring proof only from the Torah, for it says, 'Abraham gave all that he owned to Isaac. To the concubines' sons...he gave gifts, [and he sent them off]'(Gen. 25:5-6). If a father gives his sons an inheritance during his lifetime, and he sends them away from one another, can any of them have claims against any other?”
Here we see that over a thousand years after Ishmael's death the Ishmaelites were still claiming the land. They ignore all the arguments we put forth, just as they ignore what the Talmud states (Sanhedrin 59b) regarding circumcision: “It is Abraham whom the Torah originally admonishes 'You must keep My covenant – you and your offspring throughout their generations' (Gen. 17:9)... What about obligating the Ishmaelites [in circumcision, since they are Abraham's seed]? It says, 'it is through Isaac that you will gain posterity' (Gen. 21:12).
Thus, the Torah states explicitly that only Isaac, and not Ishmael, will be called Abraham's seed. Yet, what do the Ishmaelites or any other nation with a claim to the Land care what we say? Since they are our blood enemies and will never accept the authority of Israel and G-d, they have no place in the Land... Besides all this, we know that in the footsteps of the Messianic era, Ishmael will rise up against Israel and try to annihilate them.
R. Yitzchak said: The Torah need only have begun from Ex. 12:2, “This month shall be unto you the first of the months,” [introducing the first commandment given to Israel]. Why then did it start with the Genesis narrative?... It was so that if the nations of the world ever say to Israel, “You are thieves,” they will respond [that “the entire world is G-d's property. He created it and gave it to whoever is fitting in His eyes (Jer. 27:5); according to His will He gave it to them and according to His will he took it from them and gave it to us”] (Rashi Gen. 1:1).
Likewise, the Midrash says (Bereshit Rabbah, 1:2), “It was so that the nations would not castigate Israel and call them “a nation of plunderers”. R. Yitzchak did not say there, “because of the seven nations” but rather, “the nations of the world”, to inform us that all of the nations will join those nations who once inhabited the Land, be they the seven nations or Ishmaelites, with the claim that Israel are thieves and plunderers, and on that day, Israel shall stand alone.
It follows that those same laws that applied to the seven nations [that is, to remove them from the Land] apply to all the nations that live in Eretz Yisrael in every age.
This includes those of our age, who view Eretz Yisrael as their own land and soil, and who view the Jewish People as a nation of conquerers, robbers and thieves.
After all, what difference is there as far as G-d's warning that “those who remain shall be barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, causing you troubles in the land” (Num. 33:55), between the seven nations and between any nations that dwells in the Land, views it as its own, and then Israel come and conquer it from them? Surely it will feel that same hatred and that same fierce will for revenge as did the seven nations.
This logic appears already in Or HaChaim (Num. 33:52): “You must drive out”: Although the verse said of the seven nations, “You shall not allow any people to remain alive” (Deut. 20:16), here, the Torah is talking about other nations found there besides the seven. It therefore was careful to say, “all the Land's inhabitants”, meaning, even those not of the seven.
They, too, will always harbor resentment against Israel and will never resign themselves to us, but will await the “right” moment to rebel. As for their ostensibly having submitted nowadays, that is only out of fear and the inability to claim victory for the time being.
Abraham, out of his mercy and kindness, did not wish to see the evil done by Ishmael, especially with him being his son. G-d therefore had to command him, “Let it not be grievous in your sight because of the lad” (Gen. 21:12).
Mercy towards the cruel is not a good trait. Quite the opposite, one is duty-bound to separate oneself from the evildoer even if this is a difficult step, and even if it appears cruel. There can be no coexistence between evil and upright people – only separation. [Likewise,] the death of the wicked is infinitely preferable to the death of the righteous, and eradicating evil is infinitely superior to eradicating good.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from "The Jewish Idea" of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Parashat Lech Lecha - Abraham and Jewish greatness - Rav Meir Kahane
Hashem said to Abram, “Go for yourself from your land,
from your relatives, and from your father's house to the land that I
will show you. And I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you,
and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless
those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and all the
families of the earth shall bless themselves by you.” (Gen. 12:1-3)
After Adam sinned and G-d saw that it was impossible to achieve by natural processes a state in which all of mankind would be good, He decided to create a single emissary, one nation which would be anointed as G-d's Messiah on earth, a light unto the nations to teach them G-d's ways. This Messiah, this chosen people, was Israel. Israel were called “Adam” because it was they who were to continue the mission of Adam, who was created for this purpose yet failed. For two thousand years, G-d searched for the man who would undertake Adam's mission but execute it differently, who would fashion a nation – from his seed – which would be G-d's elect, a holy nation that would sanctify itself and thereby influence the world to accept the yoke of Heaven.
G-d waited two thousand years, searching the world over to find one person who would be worthy to have this nation emerge from him. Yet, He did not find him until he enhanced the intellect and understanding of our forefather Abraham, making him ready for this mission if he would only use that understanding for self-sacrifice. This is the intent of Bereshit Rabbah 30:8, which stated that Abraham “was ready to direct the whole world in repentance.” Clearly, greatness cannot emerge from lowliness, and G-d perfects the spirits of certain beings for greatness. Yet, if they do not use this Divine gift, it goes to waste. As our sages said (Esther Rabbah, 6:3), “Noach was ready to recognize his Maker”, yet he did not sacrifice himself for this. Abraham's intellectual improvement came about through his being from a family that was close to the monarchy and to priests of idolatry. It is obvious that this was so, for they certainly would not have allowed just anyone to fashion and sell idols as they did with Terach [his father]. Since Abraham was in this position, he had the opportunity to learn and ponder. The same goes for Moses. G-d arranged for Moses to grow up with Pharaoh so that he would be surrounded by royalty and greatness. All the same, whoever is unready for self-sacrifice forfeits G-d's improvement.
Nedarim 32a teaches, “When Abraham was three, he recognized his Creator, as it says, “It is because [“ekev” in Hebrew] Abraham obeyed My voice [and kept My charge, My commandments, My decrees and My laws]” (Gen. 26:5). Abraham lived 175 years, and “ekev” has the numerical value of 172. It is thus interpreted that out of his 175 years, he kept G-d's charge for 172 - “ekev” - years, i.e. all but the first three. Rambam explains (Hilchot Avodah Zarah 1:3): Weaned, but still a toddler, Abraham's thoughts began to soar. Day and night this great spirit would ask himself how our world could function without a master. He wondered who was directing it, for it could not possibly direct itself. No one had taught him or informed him of anything. He was immersed in Ur Kasdim among foolish idolaters, his father and mother and his whole nation, and he worshipped with them. Gradually his understanding grew until he grasped the truth through apt perceptions. He knew that there was just one G-d and that He conducts the world and created everything, and that in all the universe there is no G-d but Him. He knew that the whole world had erred, and that their error was due to their having worshipped the stars and images until they lost the truth.
Abraham's knowing his Maker began with his understanding as a small boy that idols are meaningless. Terach made and sold them, and the boy certainly saw how they were made and understood that something man made cannot cannot possibly be man's master. Our sages said (Bereshit Rabbah, 38:13). “R. Chiya, grandson of R. Ada of Jaffa, said: Terach was an idol worshiper. One time he went out and left Abraham to sell idols for him. When a customer came in to make a purchase, Abraham would ask how old he was, and he would reply that he was fifty or sixty. Abraham would then say, woe to the sixty-year old who wishes to worship something one day old. The customer would be embarrassed and leave. One time a woman came, carrying a plate of fine flour, and said, take this and place it before the idols. Abraham took a staff and broke all the idols, placing the staff in the hands of the largest idol. When his father returned, he asked Abraham who had done this, and Abraham responded: I cannot lie to you. A woman came with a plate of fine flour and told me to place it before the idols. I did so and they all began arguing over which one would eat first. Then that large one took the staff and smashed the others. Terach then said: Why are you mocking me? Do they have minds? Abraham responded, can your ears not hear what your mouth is saying? Terach took him and handed him over to Nimrod. Nimrod said to him, let us worship fire, and Abraham replied , let us worship water which douses fire. Nimrod said, then let us worship water, and Abraham replied, if so , then let us worship the clouds which hold the water. Nimrod said, let us worship the clouds. Abraham replied, let us worship the wind which disperses the clouds. Nimrod said, let us worship the wind. Abraham replied, let us worship man, who is not moved by the wind. Nimrod said, this is all just talk. I only bow down to fire. Now I shall throw you into it, and let the G-d that you bow down to come and save you.”
Thus, once Abraham's belief was complete, he proceeded to risk his life for the Oneness of G-d, treating idolatry with contempt. First, he did so with his father's idols, and then he went out and chastised the public. Abraham completed his spiritual development by not retreating or denying his faith, instead sanctifying the name Heaven (see Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Ch. 26, where it says that before he was thrown into the fiery furnace,he also sat in prison: “His second trial was his being imprisoned for ten years, three in Cutha and seven in Kardu.”) This is how Abraham grew to greatness. G-d searched for someone fit to inaugurate the era of Torah, someone from whom the Chosen People could emerge and become G-d's anointed emissary to disseminate the true Jewish idea throughout the world. Such a person had to be unique, someone who would find the truth himself and be ready to risk his life for it without and prophecy or revelation by G-d until after he had passed his test. The true believer is known solely for his complete bitachon, his readiness to sacrifice his life for Kiddush Hashem. Our sages said (Shir HaShirim Rabbah, 1:13): “My beloved is to me a bundle of myrrh” (Song of Songs 1:13): R. Azariah, in the name of R. Yehudah, interpreted this verse as dealing with Abraham: Just as his myrrh heads the list of spices [Ex. 30:23, for the sacred anointment], so is Abraham at the head of all saints. Just as this myrrh gives off no scent without fire, so were Abraham's deeds unknown until he was thrown into a fiery furnace.
In other words, there was no proof of the genuineness of Abraham's faith until he was ready to sacrifice himself for Kiddush Hashem, trusting not that he would be saved, but in the truth of G-d's existence and in His ultimate victory. Having bitachon does not mean trusting that if one does a specific act he will be saved or that G-d will give him what he wants. When Abraham was ready to fall into a fiery furnace, he was not certain he would be saved, yet he was still ready to do it for the sake of Kiddush Hashem. He was certain of G-d's existence. Precisely his brother, Haran, who linked his trust in G-d to that G-d would perform a miracle for him, was killed. As our sages say (Bereshit Rabbah, 38:13): Haran was there, and he had conflicting thoughts. He said, “Either way! If Abraham wins, I will say that I am with Abraham, and if Nimrod wins, I will say that I am with Nimrod.” When Abraham entered the fiery furnace and was saved, they asked Haran, “Whose side are you on?” and he answered that he was with Abraham. They took him and threw him into the fire, and his innards burned up... He died in sight of Terach his father.
We see that G-d does not perform miracles for those who rely on them. That is not bitachon at all but knowledge that one will be saved. Bitachon comes into play precisely where there is danger, when a person does not know whether he will be saved, yet trusts in G-d anyway, championing Divine truth destined to win out. This self-sacrifice is the pinnacle of bitachon, as stated, and from it stems Kiddush Hashem. Kiddush Hashem is a trait that nothing else transcends; and because Abraham was ready to sanctify G-d's name even at the cost of his life, he merited to be chosen as G-d's select son, from whom would emerge lofty, holy seed.
The Jewish people were conceived through the self-sacrifice of their founder, our forefather Abraham, and only through such self-sacrifice, the climax of accepting the yoke of Heaven, was it possible to anoint the messenger nation of G-d. The Jews are unique because they possess the truth and are, moreover, obligated to preserve in their self-sacrifice on its behalf, even if standing alone like Abraham, the first Jew.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from "The Jewish Idea" of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
After Adam sinned and G-d saw that it was impossible to achieve by natural processes a state in which all of mankind would be good, He decided to create a single emissary, one nation which would be anointed as G-d's Messiah on earth, a light unto the nations to teach them G-d's ways. This Messiah, this chosen people, was Israel. Israel were called “Adam” because it was they who were to continue the mission of Adam, who was created for this purpose yet failed. For two thousand years, G-d searched for the man who would undertake Adam's mission but execute it differently, who would fashion a nation – from his seed – which would be G-d's elect, a holy nation that would sanctify itself and thereby influence the world to accept the yoke of Heaven.
G-d waited two thousand years, searching the world over to find one person who would be worthy to have this nation emerge from him. Yet, He did not find him until he enhanced the intellect and understanding of our forefather Abraham, making him ready for this mission if he would only use that understanding for self-sacrifice. This is the intent of Bereshit Rabbah 30:8, which stated that Abraham “was ready to direct the whole world in repentance.” Clearly, greatness cannot emerge from lowliness, and G-d perfects the spirits of certain beings for greatness. Yet, if they do not use this Divine gift, it goes to waste. As our sages said (Esther Rabbah, 6:3), “Noach was ready to recognize his Maker”, yet he did not sacrifice himself for this. Abraham's intellectual improvement came about through his being from a family that was close to the monarchy and to priests of idolatry. It is obvious that this was so, for they certainly would not have allowed just anyone to fashion and sell idols as they did with Terach [his father]. Since Abraham was in this position, he had the opportunity to learn and ponder. The same goes for Moses. G-d arranged for Moses to grow up with Pharaoh so that he would be surrounded by royalty and greatness. All the same, whoever is unready for self-sacrifice forfeits G-d's improvement.
Nedarim 32a teaches, “When Abraham was three, he recognized his Creator, as it says, “It is because [“ekev” in Hebrew] Abraham obeyed My voice [and kept My charge, My commandments, My decrees and My laws]” (Gen. 26:5). Abraham lived 175 years, and “ekev” has the numerical value of 172. It is thus interpreted that out of his 175 years, he kept G-d's charge for 172 - “ekev” - years, i.e. all but the first three. Rambam explains (Hilchot Avodah Zarah 1:3): Weaned, but still a toddler, Abraham's thoughts began to soar. Day and night this great spirit would ask himself how our world could function without a master. He wondered who was directing it, for it could not possibly direct itself. No one had taught him or informed him of anything. He was immersed in Ur Kasdim among foolish idolaters, his father and mother and his whole nation, and he worshipped with them. Gradually his understanding grew until he grasped the truth through apt perceptions. He knew that there was just one G-d and that He conducts the world and created everything, and that in all the universe there is no G-d but Him. He knew that the whole world had erred, and that their error was due to their having worshipped the stars and images until they lost the truth.
Abraham's knowing his Maker began with his understanding as a small boy that idols are meaningless. Terach made and sold them, and the boy certainly saw how they were made and understood that something man made cannot cannot possibly be man's master. Our sages said (Bereshit Rabbah, 38:13). “R. Chiya, grandson of R. Ada of Jaffa, said: Terach was an idol worshiper. One time he went out and left Abraham to sell idols for him. When a customer came in to make a purchase, Abraham would ask how old he was, and he would reply that he was fifty or sixty. Abraham would then say, woe to the sixty-year old who wishes to worship something one day old. The customer would be embarrassed and leave. One time a woman came, carrying a plate of fine flour, and said, take this and place it before the idols. Abraham took a staff and broke all the idols, placing the staff in the hands of the largest idol. When his father returned, he asked Abraham who had done this, and Abraham responded: I cannot lie to you. A woman came with a plate of fine flour and told me to place it before the idols. I did so and they all began arguing over which one would eat first. Then that large one took the staff and smashed the others. Terach then said: Why are you mocking me? Do they have minds? Abraham responded, can your ears not hear what your mouth is saying? Terach took him and handed him over to Nimrod. Nimrod said to him, let us worship fire, and Abraham replied , let us worship water which douses fire. Nimrod said, then let us worship water, and Abraham replied, if so , then let us worship the clouds which hold the water. Nimrod said, let us worship the clouds. Abraham replied, let us worship the wind which disperses the clouds. Nimrod said, let us worship the wind. Abraham replied, let us worship man, who is not moved by the wind. Nimrod said, this is all just talk. I only bow down to fire. Now I shall throw you into it, and let the G-d that you bow down to come and save you.”
Thus, once Abraham's belief was complete, he proceeded to risk his life for the Oneness of G-d, treating idolatry with contempt. First, he did so with his father's idols, and then he went out and chastised the public. Abraham completed his spiritual development by not retreating or denying his faith, instead sanctifying the name Heaven (see Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Ch. 26, where it says that before he was thrown into the fiery furnace,he also sat in prison: “His second trial was his being imprisoned for ten years, three in Cutha and seven in Kardu.”) This is how Abraham grew to greatness. G-d searched for someone fit to inaugurate the era of Torah, someone from whom the Chosen People could emerge and become G-d's anointed emissary to disseminate the true Jewish idea throughout the world. Such a person had to be unique, someone who would find the truth himself and be ready to risk his life for it without and prophecy or revelation by G-d until after he had passed his test. The true believer is known solely for his complete bitachon, his readiness to sacrifice his life for Kiddush Hashem. Our sages said (Shir HaShirim Rabbah, 1:13): “My beloved is to me a bundle of myrrh” (Song of Songs 1:13): R. Azariah, in the name of R. Yehudah, interpreted this verse as dealing with Abraham: Just as his myrrh heads the list of spices [Ex. 30:23, for the sacred anointment], so is Abraham at the head of all saints. Just as this myrrh gives off no scent without fire, so were Abraham's deeds unknown until he was thrown into a fiery furnace.
In other words, there was no proof of the genuineness of Abraham's faith until he was ready to sacrifice himself for Kiddush Hashem, trusting not that he would be saved, but in the truth of G-d's existence and in His ultimate victory. Having bitachon does not mean trusting that if one does a specific act he will be saved or that G-d will give him what he wants. When Abraham was ready to fall into a fiery furnace, he was not certain he would be saved, yet he was still ready to do it for the sake of Kiddush Hashem. He was certain of G-d's existence. Precisely his brother, Haran, who linked his trust in G-d to that G-d would perform a miracle for him, was killed. As our sages say (Bereshit Rabbah, 38:13): Haran was there, and he had conflicting thoughts. He said, “Either way! If Abraham wins, I will say that I am with Abraham, and if Nimrod wins, I will say that I am with Nimrod.” When Abraham entered the fiery furnace and was saved, they asked Haran, “Whose side are you on?” and he answered that he was with Abraham. They took him and threw him into the fire, and his innards burned up... He died in sight of Terach his father.
We see that G-d does not perform miracles for those who rely on them. That is not bitachon at all but knowledge that one will be saved. Bitachon comes into play precisely where there is danger, when a person does not know whether he will be saved, yet trusts in G-d anyway, championing Divine truth destined to win out. This self-sacrifice is the pinnacle of bitachon, as stated, and from it stems Kiddush Hashem. Kiddush Hashem is a trait that nothing else transcends; and because Abraham was ready to sanctify G-d's name even at the cost of his life, he merited to be chosen as G-d's select son, from whom would emerge lofty, holy seed.
The Jewish people were conceived through the self-sacrifice of their founder, our forefather Abraham, and only through such self-sacrifice, the climax of accepting the yoke of Heaven, was it possible to anoint the messenger nation of G-d. The Jews are unique because they possess the truth and are, moreover, obligated to preserve in their self-sacrifice on its behalf, even if standing alone like Abraham, the first Jew.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from "The Jewish Idea" of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Parashat Noach - Creation annihilated? - Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
And He blotted out all existence that was
on the face of the ground - from man to animals to creeping things and
to the bird of the sky; and they were blotted out from the earth. Only
Noach survived and those with him in the Ark. (Gen. 7:23)
Parashat Noach raises the following question: Why did G-d wipe out all of the beasts, birds, and crawling things in the flood? If man sinned, why should the animals suffer? Rashi explains:”The entire creation is for man, and when man is wiped out, who needs all these?” That is, the purpose of the creation is not simply to exist, but rather to actualize the destiny of the Creation. The moment there is no purpose (which is the case after G-d wiped out man, for whom the world was created), then the animals must perish since there is no longer a reason for their existence. Here, too, the moment the deeds of man prove that there is no longer a possibility for him to fulfill his destiny, his existence is no longer necessary, and he perishes. But we are still left wondering: All that creation, just for annihilation? All those generations before the flood (a span of 1654 years) were for nothing?
The answer is no. Harsh though this verses may be, a verse appears at the very end of Bereshit which turns everything around: “But Noach found grace in the eyes of G-d”. And while this lonely verse may appear to be only a small comfort to a world gone astray, the truth is that this one verse is everything. Even if we are speaking about one individual – he is the one who counts. Noach is the justification for the world's continued existence.
G-d created the world for the sake of those who will eventually fulfill the world's destiny, and He is not deterred by the possibility that there may be just a very few out there who may be willing. What really counts is that small ray of light that sometimes is not paid much attention to, but illuminates the world with the light of the world's true destiny.
But...
For 120 years, Noah fulfilled G-d's commandment and built the ark, all the while warning the people in his generation about the impending flood. When the people would pass by his house and ask what he was doing, he would reply, ”The Almighty said that He is bringing a flood upon the world”. The people reacted with vicious mockery. (Bereishit Raba 30:7)
The question that can be asked is the following: For 120 years Noach warned of the flood. And what came out of it? At first glance absolutely nothing!
In the end, the flood wiped out the entire world, except for whom? Except for Noach and his family. Not even one person was convinced to do “teshuva”. Not even one! Noach's “life endeavor” of 120 years was a waste of time. Or was it?
The story of Noach provides us with a concrete illustration as to what the true role of the chastising prophet is. Certainly the major goal of the warnings and admonishment are to direct the people onto the proper path, in the hope that they will do “teshuva” immediately. But in contrast as to what one might think, if the prophet does not succeed in bringing the people to “:teshuva”, this does not necessarily mean that he failed! A deeper look will reveal that the rebuke in itself has value. If we look at the prophets of Israel, we will notice an amazing fact: Generally speaking, they were a dismal failure. It seemed as if they influenced no one. The people were not interested in hearing them, and did not change their evil ways. Does this mean that there was no value in the warnings of the prophets? Of course not. After all, the words of the prophets are inscribed forever in our holy Tanach.
The answer to this question van be found in G-d's answer to Ezekiel when He appoints him as a prophet (chapter 2) “ And He said to me, Son of man, I sent thee to the children of Israel...that have rebelled against me...and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord G-d. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse to hear, (for they are a rebellious house), so that they shall know that there has been a prophet amongst them ”. And afterwards (3:7): ”But the house of Israel will not hearken to you...” Can this be? If G-d knows that they will not listen, why send Ezekiel out and put him through such humiliation and abuse? And so a new concept is learned here. The saying of truth has value, even if it has no apparent influence at that particular moment. What is the value? “So that they shall know that there has been a prophet amongst them”. Even if immediate results are not seen, the value of the warnings are that they manifest the bringing in of G-d's word into the world. The prophet who expresses G-d's truth in giving expression to G-d's actual presence in this world. It is showing us that the world is not “hefker” (chaos). There is justice in the world. By so doing, the prophet in essence sanctifies G-d's name.
(Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from “The writings of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane“ HY"D - end of commentary on Parashat Bereshit and commentary on Parashat Noach)
Parashat Noach raises the following question: Why did G-d wipe out all of the beasts, birds, and crawling things in the flood? If man sinned, why should the animals suffer? Rashi explains:”The entire creation is for man, and when man is wiped out, who needs all these?” That is, the purpose of the creation is not simply to exist, but rather to actualize the destiny of the Creation. The moment there is no purpose (which is the case after G-d wiped out man, for whom the world was created), then the animals must perish since there is no longer a reason for their existence. Here, too, the moment the deeds of man prove that there is no longer a possibility for him to fulfill his destiny, his existence is no longer necessary, and he perishes. But we are still left wondering: All that creation, just for annihilation? All those generations before the flood (a span of 1654 years) were for nothing?
The answer is no. Harsh though this verses may be, a verse appears at the very end of Bereshit which turns everything around: “But Noach found grace in the eyes of G-d”. And while this lonely verse may appear to be only a small comfort to a world gone astray, the truth is that this one verse is everything. Even if we are speaking about one individual – he is the one who counts. Noach is the justification for the world's continued existence.
G-d created the world for the sake of those who will eventually fulfill the world's destiny, and He is not deterred by the possibility that there may be just a very few out there who may be willing. What really counts is that small ray of light that sometimes is not paid much attention to, but illuminates the world with the light of the world's true destiny.
But...
For 120 years, Noah fulfilled G-d's commandment and built the ark, all the while warning the people in his generation about the impending flood. When the people would pass by his house and ask what he was doing, he would reply, ”The Almighty said that He is bringing a flood upon the world”. The people reacted with vicious mockery. (Bereishit Raba 30:7)
The question that can be asked is the following: For 120 years Noach warned of the flood. And what came out of it? At first glance absolutely nothing!
In the end, the flood wiped out the entire world, except for whom? Except for Noach and his family. Not even one person was convinced to do “teshuva”. Not even one! Noach's “life endeavor” of 120 years was a waste of time. Or was it?
The story of Noach provides us with a concrete illustration as to what the true role of the chastising prophet is. Certainly the major goal of the warnings and admonishment are to direct the people onto the proper path, in the hope that they will do “teshuva” immediately. But in contrast as to what one might think, if the prophet does not succeed in bringing the people to “:teshuva”, this does not necessarily mean that he failed! A deeper look will reveal that the rebuke in itself has value. If we look at the prophets of Israel, we will notice an amazing fact: Generally speaking, they were a dismal failure. It seemed as if they influenced no one. The people were not interested in hearing them, and did not change their evil ways. Does this mean that there was no value in the warnings of the prophets? Of course not. After all, the words of the prophets are inscribed forever in our holy Tanach.
The answer to this question van be found in G-d's answer to Ezekiel when He appoints him as a prophet (chapter 2) “ And He said to me, Son of man, I sent thee to the children of Israel...that have rebelled against me...and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord G-d. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse to hear, (for they are a rebellious house), so that they shall know that there has been a prophet amongst them ”. And afterwards (3:7): ”But the house of Israel will not hearken to you...” Can this be? If G-d knows that they will not listen, why send Ezekiel out and put him through such humiliation and abuse? And so a new concept is learned here. The saying of truth has value, even if it has no apparent influence at that particular moment. What is the value? “So that they shall know that there has been a prophet amongst them”. Even if immediate results are not seen, the value of the warnings are that they manifest the bringing in of G-d's word into the world. The prophet who expresses G-d's truth in giving expression to G-d's actual presence in this world. It is showing us that the world is not “hefker” (chaos). There is justice in the world. By so doing, the prophet in essence sanctifies G-d's name.
(Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from “The writings of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane“ HY"D - end of commentary on Parashat Bereshit and commentary on Parashat Noach)
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Parashat Vezot HaBrachah - Judaism: Religion or Nation? - Rav Meir Kahane
... from His right hand He presented the fire of “dat” to them.
Indeed, You loved the tribes greatly, all its holy ones were in Your hands; for they planted themselves at Your feet, bearing [the yoke of] Your utterances. (Deut. 33:2-3)
...He became King over Jeshurun when the numbers of the nation gathered – the tribes of Israel in unity. (Deut. 33:5)
At Sinai, the first thing G-d commanded Moses to tell Israel was that they are a “holy nation”. Not a religion, and certainly not just a people or nationality, but a great joining of both: a nation, a people - but holy. As our sages said (Mechilta, Yitro, BaChodesh 2)
He called them a “nation”, as it says (I Chron. 17:21), “And who is like your people Israel, one nation in the Land?” and He called them “holy”, utterly sanctified, separate from the nations of the world and from their abominations.
Israel are a holy nation, separate from all others. G-d commanded Moses to say this immediately before the Giving of the Torah, for it is the basis of the whole Torah, the definition of Israel.
Israel are not a religion, as so many of our fellow Jews unfortunately believe due to the exile. However much we examine the Torah, we do not find the word “dat” [religion], except for one time: - “...the fire of “dat” to them” (Deut. 33:2, see above), and there the connotation is clear: the law of the King, not just some worship cut off from the concept of nationhood. Neither in the rest of Scripture do we find this word, except in the book of Ruth, where “dat” clearly refers to a royal command. It most certainly does not refer to mere worship or faith such as that connoted by the word “religion”. “Religion” means one faith subscribed to by people of different nations, the only connection between them being that faith, while they are tied by nationality to other people in their land who subscribe to other faiths. Israel most certainly reject that conception and view it as an abomination. G-d labeled Israel a “people” and “nation” to emphasize that no Jew has any tie to state, nationality or society linking him to any non-Jew. All of Israel constitute a single unit, a nation set apart.
We are not a religion or a kehilah kedoshah, a “holy congregation,” but a holy, chosen nation, tied to a holy and special land by a duty to return to it and settle it.
The curse of the exile which befell us almost two thousand years ago distorted the very definition of a Jew. The Jew sank in the morass of forgetfulness of the main concept of G-d's Torah – the definition and identity of the Jewish People, the centrality within Torah of nationhood and a land.
The very fact of a prolonged, ongoing exile accustomed the Jew to live without a land, to live not as a nation but as a religion. In this way, the Jewish People, holy and chosen and separate, tied by their umbilical cord to the Land of Israel, were transformed into a religion and form of worship without any close, vital connection to a land exclusively theirs.
Without a country and a government, it is only natural that all the laws of government and statehood, and inseparable and central part of G-d's Torah were set aside like irrelevant laws, a sort of Shulchan Aruch for the future, and in effect forgotten entirely with the “religion” awaiting the Messiah's advent.
All the concepts of people and nationhood, of normal, natural life, of leaders and wars, were filed away and ultimately denied. The emphasis came to be on the limited laws of the individual. A point was reached at which the very concepts of a state, a nation, and army, natural life in the Land of Israel were considered hostile, “irreligious' concepts – Heaven help us!
Scripture describes Israel as a “goy”, a nation, and as “kadosh”, holy. By being both, Israel merit victory over their enemies and life on their land, as it says “[You must thus make the choice] to love the L-rd your G-d, to obey Him, and to attach yourself to Him. This is your sole means of survival and long live when you dwell in the land that the L-rd swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, [promising] that He would give it to them” (Deut. 30:20).
The Jewish People are not a nation like all others, but a holy nation which accepts upon itself the yoke of Heaven, holy character traits and G-d's mitzvot. This contradicts the approach of those who have cast off their yoke and thought to make us a nation like all others, neither holy nor apart.
[As Rav Kahane explains in “Peirush HaMaccabee” on Shemot, Ch. 1:]
G-d chose Abraham because of his behavior and his merits; He rejected his son Ishmael and chose Isaac, too, because of his merits; again, He rejected Esau and chose Jacob due to his behavior. So after three successive generations of tzaddikim, all the subsequent offspring of the Patriarchs could be considered spiritually fit. G-d could forge them all into a chosen, treasured, and exalted nation, who would be His emissary to the human race and a light unto all the nations, to teach them the correct ways which they should follow. As King David said: He forged [His covenant] with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, and established it as a statute for Jacob, as an eternal covenant with Israel (Psalms 105:9-10). They could fulfill this task only in their own Land, in which they would establish an exalted State, an exalted society, separated from the other nations’ foreign culture.
However, before Jacob’s children could fulfill this role, they had to evolve from a collection of families and tribes to a single, unified nation, heading for its ultimate destiny in unity. Similarly, this nation itself had to believe with perfect emunah that Hashem is the true G-d, that He is omnipotent, that He is truly the Creator. Therefore, the nation had to undergo a period of suffering and servitude and tribulations, to the extent that they would despair of ever being redeemed, since it would be inconceivable to them that anyone would ever be able to defeat the mighty kingdom of Pharaoh, the “great crocodile”. And so, only after this nadir of subjugation and despair, G-d humbled the haughty and exalted the humble, destroying those Egyptians who did not know Hashem. His miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea, and the climax of knowledge of Hashem and sanctification of His Name at Mount Sinai, exalted and sanctified Him in the eyes of the world in general and Israel in particular. He appeared unto the entire Nation without exception, and forged them into a united Nation – His chosen and exalted Nation. This gave them their emunah in G-d and His greatness.
The Jewish People were conceived at the redemption from Egypt where they began to become a nation; born at Mount Sinai where they became a holy nation; and they achieved perfection when they entered Eretz Yisrael and at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal stood for the blessings and the curses.
We must never forget this great Torah principle: Perfection for Israel requires four elements: nationhood, the Torah, the Land and the language. It is a source of endless trouble that we have forgotten this and have, thereby, strayed from the path set for us by G-d.
[See the] great allusion made by our sages when they established this foundation in the Grace After Meals. Berachot 48b teaches:
R. Eliezer says, “Whoever does not mention the 'lovely and spacious land' in the second blessing of the Grace, or the 'royal house of David' in the third, has not met his obligation.” Nachum HaZaken says: “He must mention the covenant.” R. Yossi says, “He must mention Torah.”
R. Yosef Karo subsequently ruled:
If he does not mention both covenant and Torah in the blessing on the Land, even if he omits only one of them, we make him go back... If he does not mention the royal house of David in the third blessing, we make him go back. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, 187:3-4)
Here in their greatness, the sages of Israel established and defined precisely who and what Israel are: a monarchic nation, sanctified via covenant and Torah, living in their own land.
The different elements are interdependent. The Jewish People's link to a state is tied to the holiness of the covenant and the Torah, and vice versa. The history of the Jewish People and their fate and future – whether for good or for evil, G-d forbid – depend on Israel's being a holy nation that clings to holiness and purity and to the yoke of Heaven.
It is thus, clear that G-d not only gave the Jewish People a special land, but also decreed that they must live in it. Living in the Land is not merely a right, but a duty that cannot be forgone. It is a mitzvah, a Divine decree, that we must live in Eretz Yisrael under G-d's domination, sanctifying His name, in order to create a holy state and society which clings to mitzvot completely and properly, uninfluenced by the alien, false culture of the nations.
Fortunate are you, O Israel: Who is like you! O people delivered by Hashem, the Shield of your help, Who is the Sword of your grandeur; your foes will try to deceive you, but you will trample their haughty ones. (Deut. 33:29)
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' and 'Peirush HaMaccabee (Shemot)' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
Indeed, You loved the tribes greatly, all its holy ones were in Your hands; for they planted themselves at Your feet, bearing [the yoke of] Your utterances. (Deut. 33:2-3)
...He became King over Jeshurun when the numbers of the nation gathered – the tribes of Israel in unity. (Deut. 33:5)
At Sinai, the first thing G-d commanded Moses to tell Israel was that they are a “holy nation”. Not a religion, and certainly not just a people or nationality, but a great joining of both: a nation, a people - but holy. As our sages said (Mechilta, Yitro, BaChodesh 2)
He called them a “nation”, as it says (I Chron. 17:21), “And who is like your people Israel, one nation in the Land?” and He called them “holy”, utterly sanctified, separate from the nations of the world and from their abominations.
Israel are a holy nation, separate from all others. G-d commanded Moses to say this immediately before the Giving of the Torah, for it is the basis of the whole Torah, the definition of Israel.
Israel are not a religion, as so many of our fellow Jews unfortunately believe due to the exile. However much we examine the Torah, we do not find the word “dat” [religion], except for one time: - “...the fire of “dat” to them” (Deut. 33:2, see above), and there the connotation is clear: the law of the King, not just some worship cut off from the concept of nationhood. Neither in the rest of Scripture do we find this word, except in the book of Ruth, where “dat” clearly refers to a royal command. It most certainly does not refer to mere worship or faith such as that connoted by the word “religion”. “Religion” means one faith subscribed to by people of different nations, the only connection between them being that faith, while they are tied by nationality to other people in their land who subscribe to other faiths. Israel most certainly reject that conception and view it as an abomination. G-d labeled Israel a “people” and “nation” to emphasize that no Jew has any tie to state, nationality or society linking him to any non-Jew. All of Israel constitute a single unit, a nation set apart.
We are not a religion or a kehilah kedoshah, a “holy congregation,” but a holy, chosen nation, tied to a holy and special land by a duty to return to it and settle it.
The curse of the exile which befell us almost two thousand years ago distorted the very definition of a Jew. The Jew sank in the morass of forgetfulness of the main concept of G-d's Torah – the definition and identity of the Jewish People, the centrality within Torah of nationhood and a land.
The very fact of a prolonged, ongoing exile accustomed the Jew to live without a land, to live not as a nation but as a religion. In this way, the Jewish People, holy and chosen and separate, tied by their umbilical cord to the Land of Israel, were transformed into a religion and form of worship without any close, vital connection to a land exclusively theirs.
Without a country and a government, it is only natural that all the laws of government and statehood, and inseparable and central part of G-d's Torah were set aside like irrelevant laws, a sort of Shulchan Aruch for the future, and in effect forgotten entirely with the “religion” awaiting the Messiah's advent.
All the concepts of people and nationhood, of normal, natural life, of leaders and wars, were filed away and ultimately denied. The emphasis came to be on the limited laws of the individual. A point was reached at which the very concepts of a state, a nation, and army, natural life in the Land of Israel were considered hostile, “irreligious' concepts – Heaven help us!
Scripture describes Israel as a “goy”, a nation, and as “kadosh”, holy. By being both, Israel merit victory over their enemies and life on their land, as it says “[You must thus make the choice] to love the L-rd your G-d, to obey Him, and to attach yourself to Him. This is your sole means of survival and long live when you dwell in the land that the L-rd swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, [promising] that He would give it to them” (Deut. 30:20).
The Jewish People are not a nation like all others, but a holy nation which accepts upon itself the yoke of Heaven, holy character traits and G-d's mitzvot. This contradicts the approach of those who have cast off their yoke and thought to make us a nation like all others, neither holy nor apart.
[As Rav Kahane explains in “Peirush HaMaccabee” on Shemot, Ch. 1:]
G-d chose Abraham because of his behavior and his merits; He rejected his son Ishmael and chose Isaac, too, because of his merits; again, He rejected Esau and chose Jacob due to his behavior. So after three successive generations of tzaddikim, all the subsequent offspring of the Patriarchs could be considered spiritually fit. G-d could forge them all into a chosen, treasured, and exalted nation, who would be His emissary to the human race and a light unto all the nations, to teach them the correct ways which they should follow. As King David said: He forged [His covenant] with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, and established it as a statute for Jacob, as an eternal covenant with Israel (Psalms 105:9-10). They could fulfill this task only in their own Land, in which they would establish an exalted State, an exalted society, separated from the other nations’ foreign culture.
However, before Jacob’s children could fulfill this role, they had to evolve from a collection of families and tribes to a single, unified nation, heading for its ultimate destiny in unity. Similarly, this nation itself had to believe with perfect emunah that Hashem is the true G-d, that He is omnipotent, that He is truly the Creator. Therefore, the nation had to undergo a period of suffering and servitude and tribulations, to the extent that they would despair of ever being redeemed, since it would be inconceivable to them that anyone would ever be able to defeat the mighty kingdom of Pharaoh, the “great crocodile”. And so, only after this nadir of subjugation and despair, G-d humbled the haughty and exalted the humble, destroying those Egyptians who did not know Hashem. His miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea, and the climax of knowledge of Hashem and sanctification of His Name at Mount Sinai, exalted and sanctified Him in the eyes of the world in general and Israel in particular. He appeared unto the entire Nation without exception, and forged them into a united Nation – His chosen and exalted Nation. This gave them their emunah in G-d and His greatness.
The Jewish People were conceived at the redemption from Egypt where they began to become a nation; born at Mount Sinai where they became a holy nation; and they achieved perfection when they entered Eretz Yisrael and at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal stood for the blessings and the curses.
We must never forget this great Torah principle: Perfection for Israel requires four elements: nationhood, the Torah, the Land and the language. It is a source of endless trouble that we have forgotten this and have, thereby, strayed from the path set for us by G-d.
[See the] great allusion made by our sages when they established this foundation in the Grace After Meals. Berachot 48b teaches:
R. Eliezer says, “Whoever does not mention the 'lovely and spacious land' in the second blessing of the Grace, or the 'royal house of David' in the third, has not met his obligation.” Nachum HaZaken says: “He must mention the covenant.” R. Yossi says, “He must mention Torah.”
R. Yosef Karo subsequently ruled:
If he does not mention both covenant and Torah in the blessing on the Land, even if he omits only one of them, we make him go back... If he does not mention the royal house of David in the third blessing, we make him go back. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, 187:3-4)
Here in their greatness, the sages of Israel established and defined precisely who and what Israel are: a monarchic nation, sanctified via covenant and Torah, living in their own land.
The different elements are interdependent. The Jewish People's link to a state is tied to the holiness of the covenant and the Torah, and vice versa. The history of the Jewish People and their fate and future – whether for good or for evil, G-d forbid – depend on Israel's being a holy nation that clings to holiness and purity and to the yoke of Heaven.
It is thus, clear that G-d not only gave the Jewish People a special land, but also decreed that they must live in it. Living in the Land is not merely a right, but a duty that cannot be forgone. It is a mitzvah, a Divine decree, that we must live in Eretz Yisrael under G-d's domination, sanctifying His name, in order to create a holy state and society which clings to mitzvot completely and properly, uninfluenced by the alien, false culture of the nations.
Fortunate are you, O Israel: Who is like you! O people delivered by Hashem, the Shield of your help, Who is the Sword of your grandeur; your foes will try to deceive you, but you will trample their haughty ones. (Deut. 33:29)
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' and 'Peirush HaMaccabee (Shemot)' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
Monday, September 24, 2012
Parashat Ha'azinu – Torah of Life – Rav Meir Kahane
May my teaching drop like the rain, may my utterance flow
like the dew; like storm winds upon vegetation and like raindrops upon
blades of grass (Deut. 32:2)
G-d gave His people Israel a true, trustworthy, pure and perfect Torah. Thus we find, “The word of the L-rd is pure” (Psalms 18:31); “The words of the L-rd are pure words, as silver tried in a crucible on the earth, refined seven times” (Ibid., 12:7); “Your word is refined to the uttermost” (Ibid., 119:140) “The law of the L-rd is perfect, restoring the soul”(Ibid., 19:8).
This perfect Torah is formed from two elements – first, from concepts, ideas, Divine values and attributes, and second, from those practical commandments constituting Jewish observance.
The first group constitutes the Torah's very core. They serve as a lamp to our feet, elucidating and defining the ways of G-d; the path we must follow. It is to these the Torah refers each time it uses the word “derech”, way, as in “to walk in G-d's ways” (Deut. 26:17), interpreted by Ramban as meaning “to do what is right and good and to perform kind acts.”
It is G-d's ways which show us how to emulate Him. Man's task, after all, is to learn these ways and emulate G-d. As our sages said (Sifri, Ekev 49), “If it be your wish to know the One Whose word brought the world into existence, study Midrash, for through it you will come to know G-d and cling to His ways. If you fulfill your duty, I shall fulfill mine.”
Sifri (Ibid.) also comments:
“To walk in all G-d's ways” (Deut. 11:22): These are the ways of G-d, as it says, “The L-rd, the L-rd, G-d, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth...(Ex. 34:6). It also says, “It shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the L-rd shall be delivered” (Yoel 3:5). How can a man “call on the name of the L-rd”? Rather, just as G-d is called “merciful and gracious”, so, too, must we be merciful and gracious... Just as G-d is called “righteous”, so, too, must we be righteous...
The essence of Torah is to learn, to know, to become familiar with Divine attributes, concepts and ideas and to walk in G-d's ways – to cling to Him. Ritual observance is only the external expression of the internal idea. It is the conceptual framework which stands at the heart of Torah, determining the path one must follow.
How important it is to note here the role played by one revolutionary perversion, the awful removal of Bible study from the yeshivot. Who can fathom ignoring our sages' words (Avot 5:25), “At age five Bible study begins,” or their devoted instruction regarding real Torah education, or their directive that we must teach the child all of Scripture before he delves into Mishnah and Talmud? Our sages understood that the Bible is the source and foundation of the Torah structure, and that without it a flimsy, unfinished edifice will arise. They understood that only in Scripture can we find the natural model of the Jewish leader who lived and grew up in the Land of Israel in a holistic setting, and the Divine ways and ideas we must emulate.
The Torah is like a forest; the mitzvot are its trees. If someone is unfamiliar with the shape and general appearance of the forest, and the path through it, he will never know what role each tree serves or where and how to plant trees to suit the shape of the forest. The nature of G-d and the tenets of our faith are the shape of the forest. Only through them can we understand the role of the practical mitzvot and laws, thereby planting the forest as the Planner intended. Those tenets which teach us the shape of the Torah come from study of Aggad'ta and Midrash. They teach the thought and nature of G-d. Only by studying these, the larger picture, can we understand the place and essence of the practical mitzvot, the details. It is a pity we have abandoned and neglected Midrash and Aggad'ta. We are much impoverished as a result.
G-d regrets having created four things, and the main one is the exile, which perverted the original idea of Jewishness. A complete, speedy and glorious redemption is impossible until we restore the Torah to its former glory. We must destroy the dross and cut from the Torah – the Tree of Life – the branches of distortion. Once more we must embrace devotion, accepting G-d's yoke in complete submission, until we restore to ourselves an accurate grasp of G-d's nature and the Torah's concepts and values, these constituting the Torah's very heart. Then we will once more be able to establish the true, complete Torah edifice, devoid of every forbidden combination, of all foreign cultural influence. We will be able to know G-d's true ways and we will have a complete understanding of our Jewishness. We will set a straight course, veering neither right nor left from G-d's truth.
Moreover, we will then be at one with G-d. With love and joy we will accept the yoke of His kingdom, His mitzvot, His attributes, without the stain of conceit, but with devotion, with cries of “Cling to Him!” (Deut. 10:20).
When a person does not understand a mitzvah and the idea behind it, or worse, he has internalized alien, distorted concepts and attributes; then when he fulfills the mitzvah, the external form of devotion, he is only emphasizing an idea that is fallacious, or, G-d forbid, that contradicts G-d's eternal truth.
Clinging to G-d, accepting the yoke of Heaven, demands full submission and readiness on a Jew's part to accept upon himself all the details of the mitzvot, especially the Divine concepts, values and attributes, precisely as G-d commanded; although some of them may conflict with his world view or his innate feelings. G-d, and not man, establishes religious concepts, ideas and commandments. He defines exactly what is kindness, justice, uprightness, and mercy.
It is entirely possible that a person will disdain some command of Divine value, or that one of them will conflict with “kindness and mercy” as he sees them. In his false perception, G-d's ways may border on “cruelty”. Yet if someone rejects Divine attributes and concepts as our Father in Heaven determined them to be, then despite his continuing to fulfill the rituals, he is not a “mitzvah observer”. He cannot be labeled 'one who fulfills G-d's commands.” Such a person does as he sees fit. He is a slave to himself, pronouncing that he is G-d. He denies Hashem's existence.
Suppose, then, that someone who denies that the Torah's commandments originated with G-d performs a mitzvah, such as honoring one's parents or giving charity, doing so not because it is a decree of the King, a Divine edict from Sinai, but because he finds it morally agreeable. It most certainly follows that his action is worthless. His blessings are not blessings and his mitzvot are bot mitzvot – but blasphemy.
True, our sages taught (Pesachim 50b) that one should fulfill G-d's commandments even without sincerity, since insincere performance will lead to sincere performance; but that has nothing to do with the case at hand. Here, the person in question has no belief whatsoever in the concept of a “commandment”; hence his actions do not even constitute insincere fulfillment. I believe that the Pesachim source refers to one who does a mitzvah chiefly because he finds it agreeable. Our sages might agree that a mitzvah performed “insincerely” borders on not being a mitzvah at all; yet, they would say, it is still better for him to perform it. That way, there is hope that he will reach a state of sincere fulfillment, performing mitzvot as commandments in the literal sense.
It emerges that the cornerstone of the Torah edifice upon which all the mitzvot stand, and without which they would all collapse, is the yoke of Heaven and absolute devotion to G-d and His commands. With this the world has a reason to exist. Without it, Hashem rises up to His role of E-l Shadd-ai, “Almighty G-d,” and threatens to destroy it (Shabbat 88a): “G-d set a proviso before the universe:'If Israel accept the Torah, you will survive. Otherwise, I shall reinstate chaos.” It also says, “The world endures only for the sake of the Torah given to Israel” (Esther Rabbati 7:13); and “Just as it is impossible for the world to be without winds, so is it impossible for the world to be without the Jewish People” (Ta'anit 3b).
Were there no nation ready to receive the Torah and fulfill it, there would be no reason for the world or man to exist.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
G-d gave His people Israel a true, trustworthy, pure and perfect Torah. Thus we find, “The word of the L-rd is pure” (Psalms 18:31); “The words of the L-rd are pure words, as silver tried in a crucible on the earth, refined seven times” (Ibid., 12:7); “Your word is refined to the uttermost” (Ibid., 119:140) “The law of the L-rd is perfect, restoring the soul”(Ibid., 19:8).
This perfect Torah is formed from two elements – first, from concepts, ideas, Divine values and attributes, and second, from those practical commandments constituting Jewish observance.
The first group constitutes the Torah's very core. They serve as a lamp to our feet, elucidating and defining the ways of G-d; the path we must follow. It is to these the Torah refers each time it uses the word “derech”, way, as in “to walk in G-d's ways” (Deut. 26:17), interpreted by Ramban as meaning “to do what is right and good and to perform kind acts.”
It is G-d's ways which show us how to emulate Him. Man's task, after all, is to learn these ways and emulate G-d. As our sages said (Sifri, Ekev 49), “If it be your wish to know the One Whose word brought the world into existence, study Midrash, for through it you will come to know G-d and cling to His ways. If you fulfill your duty, I shall fulfill mine.”
Sifri (Ibid.) also comments:
“To walk in all G-d's ways” (Deut. 11:22): These are the ways of G-d, as it says, “The L-rd, the L-rd, G-d, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth...(Ex. 34:6). It also says, “It shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the L-rd shall be delivered” (Yoel 3:5). How can a man “call on the name of the L-rd”? Rather, just as G-d is called “merciful and gracious”, so, too, must we be merciful and gracious... Just as G-d is called “righteous”, so, too, must we be righteous...
The essence of Torah is to learn, to know, to become familiar with Divine attributes, concepts and ideas and to walk in G-d's ways – to cling to Him. Ritual observance is only the external expression of the internal idea. It is the conceptual framework which stands at the heart of Torah, determining the path one must follow.
How important it is to note here the role played by one revolutionary perversion, the awful removal of Bible study from the yeshivot. Who can fathom ignoring our sages' words (Avot 5:25), “At age five Bible study begins,” or their devoted instruction regarding real Torah education, or their directive that we must teach the child all of Scripture before he delves into Mishnah and Talmud? Our sages understood that the Bible is the source and foundation of the Torah structure, and that without it a flimsy, unfinished edifice will arise. They understood that only in Scripture can we find the natural model of the Jewish leader who lived and grew up in the Land of Israel in a holistic setting, and the Divine ways and ideas we must emulate.
The Torah is like a forest; the mitzvot are its trees. If someone is unfamiliar with the shape and general appearance of the forest, and the path through it, he will never know what role each tree serves or where and how to plant trees to suit the shape of the forest. The nature of G-d and the tenets of our faith are the shape of the forest. Only through them can we understand the role of the practical mitzvot and laws, thereby planting the forest as the Planner intended. Those tenets which teach us the shape of the Torah come from study of Aggad'ta and Midrash. They teach the thought and nature of G-d. Only by studying these, the larger picture, can we understand the place and essence of the practical mitzvot, the details. It is a pity we have abandoned and neglected Midrash and Aggad'ta. We are much impoverished as a result.
G-d regrets having created four things, and the main one is the exile, which perverted the original idea of Jewishness. A complete, speedy and glorious redemption is impossible until we restore the Torah to its former glory. We must destroy the dross and cut from the Torah – the Tree of Life – the branches of distortion. Once more we must embrace devotion, accepting G-d's yoke in complete submission, until we restore to ourselves an accurate grasp of G-d's nature and the Torah's concepts and values, these constituting the Torah's very heart. Then we will once more be able to establish the true, complete Torah edifice, devoid of every forbidden combination, of all foreign cultural influence. We will be able to know G-d's true ways and we will have a complete understanding of our Jewishness. We will set a straight course, veering neither right nor left from G-d's truth.
Moreover, we will then be at one with G-d. With love and joy we will accept the yoke of His kingdom, His mitzvot, His attributes, without the stain of conceit, but with devotion, with cries of “Cling to Him!” (Deut. 10:20).
When a person does not understand a mitzvah and the idea behind it, or worse, he has internalized alien, distorted concepts and attributes; then when he fulfills the mitzvah, the external form of devotion, he is only emphasizing an idea that is fallacious, or, G-d forbid, that contradicts G-d's eternal truth.
Clinging to G-d, accepting the yoke of Heaven, demands full submission and readiness on a Jew's part to accept upon himself all the details of the mitzvot, especially the Divine concepts, values and attributes, precisely as G-d commanded; although some of them may conflict with his world view or his innate feelings. G-d, and not man, establishes religious concepts, ideas and commandments. He defines exactly what is kindness, justice, uprightness, and mercy.
It is entirely possible that a person will disdain some command of Divine value, or that one of them will conflict with “kindness and mercy” as he sees them. In his false perception, G-d's ways may border on “cruelty”. Yet if someone rejects Divine attributes and concepts as our Father in Heaven determined them to be, then despite his continuing to fulfill the rituals, he is not a “mitzvah observer”. He cannot be labeled 'one who fulfills G-d's commands.” Such a person does as he sees fit. He is a slave to himself, pronouncing that he is G-d. He denies Hashem's existence.
Suppose, then, that someone who denies that the Torah's commandments originated with G-d performs a mitzvah, such as honoring one's parents or giving charity, doing so not because it is a decree of the King, a Divine edict from Sinai, but because he finds it morally agreeable. It most certainly follows that his action is worthless. His blessings are not blessings and his mitzvot are bot mitzvot – but blasphemy.
True, our sages taught (Pesachim 50b) that one should fulfill G-d's commandments even without sincerity, since insincere performance will lead to sincere performance; but that has nothing to do with the case at hand. Here, the person in question has no belief whatsoever in the concept of a “commandment”; hence his actions do not even constitute insincere fulfillment. I believe that the Pesachim source refers to one who does a mitzvah chiefly because he finds it agreeable. Our sages might agree that a mitzvah performed “insincerely” borders on not being a mitzvah at all; yet, they would say, it is still better for him to perform it. That way, there is hope that he will reach a state of sincere fulfillment, performing mitzvot as commandments in the literal sense.
It emerges that the cornerstone of the Torah edifice upon which all the mitzvot stand, and without which they would all collapse, is the yoke of Heaven and absolute devotion to G-d and His commands. With this the world has a reason to exist. Without it, Hashem rises up to His role of E-l Shadd-ai, “Almighty G-d,” and threatens to destroy it (Shabbat 88a): “G-d set a proviso before the universe:'If Israel accept the Torah, you will survive. Otherwise, I shall reinstate chaos.” It also says, “The world endures only for the sake of the Torah given to Israel” (Esther Rabbati 7:13); and “Just as it is impossible for the world to be without winds, so is it impossible for the world to be without the Jewish People” (Ta'anit 3b).
Were there no nation ready to receive the Torah and fulfill it, there would be no reason for the world or man to exist.
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Parashat Nitzavim/Vayelech – Free Will – Rav Meir Kahane
(* This is a compilation on Nitzavim/Vayelech, however, this year Parashat Nitzavim is read separately*) ------ 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
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
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