Parashat Chukat – The Legitimate Rights of the Ammonites – Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane

The modern concept of “Jewish occupied territories” rears its ugly head in Parashat Chukat and our Haftarah of the Shabbat. In our Parashah, the kings Og and Sichon prevent the Jewish People from passing through their borders on their way to the Land of Israel. Not only that, but they even wage war against us – and lose. The children of Israel conquer their land and do not let go. Interestingly enough, the following idiotic idea never dawned on either of the parties involved: O.K., we tried to annihilate you and we did not succeed, so just give us back what you conquered from us during our attempt to wipe you out, and in exchange we promise not to try to wipe you out again. No, such a proposition was never raised. When you lose, you lose, without dictating conditions afterwards.

“Land for Peace”:
And what if Sichon would have come to Israel and demanded “land for peace”? What would have been the reaction then? To answer this question, we are forced to move the clock ahead another 300 years until we arrive at the Haftarah of our Parashah. That is precisely what happens.
The king of Ammon brazenly demands that Israel return to him the territories that were conquered, and if they refuse, there will be war.
The difference between him and the Arabs of today is that the king of Ammon is a lot more “moderate”. He personally has no previous “record” of hostility towards the Jewish People. He simply makes a very limited albeit uncompromising request.
“Because Israel took away my land when they came out of Egypt, from Ammon as far as the Yabbok and the Jordan.” (Judges 11:13) The king of Ammon does not want everything. He does not seek the liquidation of the Jewish entity. He simply wants that which was taken from him. He is simply demanding to exercise the historical right of his people. And then, as if he jumped off the pages of the Tanach into today's reality, he concludes in the following manner: “Now, therefore, restore those lands peacefully.” (Judges 11:13)
“Peace”. That magic word. What normal Jewish leader can refuse such an offer?
After all, it is not an illogical claim; the lands were taken from them. They once even had a sovereign empire with a capital and an army there. And most importantly, here is a genuine opportunity for peace: “No more war, no more bloodshed.”

“Not one Inch”:
But Yiftach's answer is a real knockout. He recounts all the relevant past history, and then concludes: “So now the L-rd of Israel has driven out the Emori from before his people Israel, and you should possess the land?! Will you not possess what your god Kemosh gives you to possess? So likewise that which the L-rd our G-d has voided before us, that shall we possess.”(Judges 11:23,24)
This is the reaction of a true Jewish leader. A reaction of emunah [faith]. The land is ours not because of any “historical claim” or because we are strong, but rather because G-d gave it to us. And pay attention how Yiftach even mocks the Ammonite god “Kemosh” - take what he gives you, but from us you will get nothing – not an inch.

“How to subdue the Enemy”:
How can we begin to understand the minds of those Jews, particularly religious ones, who do not grasp all this. The cursed Arab enemy has initiated war after war against us in an effort to obliterate us, and he has failed each time. Each time G-d has granted us great miracles to overcome them, yet we insist on being ingrates, not recognizing the miracles. Only when we understand that our true right to the land is based on the ultimately ethical concept that G-d gave it to us – only then will we get the results that Yiftach achieved, “thus the children of Ammon were subdued by the children of Israel.”

From 'The writings of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane HY"D', on Parashat Chukat.

Parashat Shelach – Fatal Error - Rav Meir Kahane

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

It is a mitzvah, a Divine decree, that we must live in Eretz Yisrael under G-d's dominion, sanctifying His name, in order to create a holy state and society which clings to mitzvot completely and properly, uninfluenced by the alien, false culture of the nations.
At the same time, it is an unforgivable, loathsome sin to refuse to live in Eretz Yisrael, and to prefer the depravity of the exile and foreign rule. It is a chilul Hashem, and Israel are, thus, exposed to the influence of the nations and their abominations.
G-d, therefore, was angry at our ancestors in the desert when they refused to go up to Eretz Yisrael and called out, “Let us appoint a new leader and go back to Egypt” (Num. 14:4). Surely the spies Moses sent out were prominent and righteous, as our sages said (Tanchuma, Shelach, 4):
“Send out men” (Num. 13:2): This is in line with, “He that sends a message by the hand of a fool, severs his own feet and imbibes damage” (Prov. 26:6). Were the spies fools? Surely the Torah said, “Send out men (“anashim”),” and “anashim” always refers to righteous persons... Rather, they were called fools only because they slandered the Land... All the same, they were great men who made themselves into fools.
[As Rabbi Meir Kahane puts it in Peirush HaMaccabee – Shemot, Ch. 3]:
Incidentally, this also teaches the bitter lesson that even the greatest of men can become a “fool” in the Torah sense of the word, if he lacks faith. As the Talmud says: What can cause the tzaddikim to have less than their full share in the World to Come? – Their lack of faith (Sotah 48b). Here, their lack of faith caused the spies to put out an evil report of the Land of Israel, and G-d therefore said: For how long will this nation fight against Me and for how long will they refuse to believe in Me? (Numbers 14:11). The leader of the generation has to be perpetually on guard, to ensure that his fear of heaven is greater than his wisdom, because without fear of heaven, his wisdom will not endure. He has to work to ensure that his faith is securely anchored in his fear of heaven. And we all have to be aware that even a leader of the generation can err – especially in matters of faith.
Likewise, Num. 13:3, “All the men were leaders of the children of Israel,” was rendered by Targum Yonatan as, “All were wise men who had been appointed heads of the children of Israel.”
Thus, they were great and righteous men, yet they sinned in turning their backs on Eretz Yisrael and wishing to settle down in the exile, in Egypt. As King David said, “They scorned the Desirable Land, they believed not His word” (Ps. 106:24).
Ostensibly, they had a good argument, pikuach nefesh, i.e., they wished to prevent loss of life. The spies said of the Canaanites, “We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so were we in their sight” (Num. 13:33). They were certain that the war against the Canaanites would be severe, and it would be hard to defeat the giants. Moreover, even if they defeated them, a few Israelites would fall. After all, we do not rely on miracles.
For that reason, these great and righteous men rendered a halachic ruling that pikuach nefesh overrides all areas of Eretz Yisrael; it overrides Eretz Yisrael in its entirety. They certainly did not intend to abandon G-d's Torah, but rather to return to Egypt and keep it there. This, however, was their sin, because G-d had decreed that it was forbidden for them to dwell outside the Land, and that only in Eretz Yisrael could they sanctify His name and live in the isolation of Torah. For that reason, no danger to the nation overrode Eretz Yisrael, the only place the Jewish People could keep the Torah completely and properly.
A war over the mitzvah of living in and conquering Eretz Yisrael is a milchemet mitzvah, which no danger to life overrides. Quite the contrary, this mitzvah overrides such danger, as Ramban wrote in Sefer HaMitzvot, Ibid., Mitzvah 4):
This is what our sages call milchemet mitzvah. In the Talmud (Sotah 44b) Rava said, “ Joshua's war of conquest was an obligatory duty according to all opinions.” One should not make the mistake of saying that this mitzvah only applies to the seven nations we were commanded to destroy... That is not so. We were commanded to destroy those nations when they fought against us, and had they wished to make peace we could have done so under specific conditions. Yet, we cannot leave the Land in their control or in the control of any other nations in any generation.
Fear of the nations is just one dismal reason the Jewish People treat the Desirable Land with contempt (longing for the good life is another). Precisely because of this delusion that the exile is safe but Eretz Yisrael is dangerous, G-d became angry and decreed death in the desert for the generation that left Egypt, adding, “You said your children will be taken captive, but they will be the ones I will bring there, so that they will know the land that you rejected” (Num. 14:31). Those who feared that they and their children would die in Eretz Yisrael died precisely in the desert, whereas their children entered the Land and lived. This teaches that the only security for the Jewish People is in Eretz Yisrael, whereas the exile is their burial place. Our sages said (Torat Kohanim, Bechukotai, Ch. 1): “'You will live securely in your land' (Lev. 26:5): In your land you will live securely, but not outside it.” Likewise, Obadiah said (v. 17), “Upon Mount Zion there shall be deliverance.” In other words, in Zion but not in the exile.
G-d, Who knows His people's mind, knew, as well, that Israel would always prefer the non-Jewish life of the exile, whose abominable depravity is so sweet to the sinner among us. As King Solomon said, “Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant” (Prov. 9:17). G-d, therefore, decreed that Israel would never find safety and security in the exile. Bereshit Rabbah 33:6 teaches:
“He sent out the dove... I t could find no place to rest its feet” (Gen. 8:8-9): “Had it found a place to rest, it would not have returned. Just so, it says, 'She dwells among the nations; she finds no rest' (Lam. 1:3); and; 'Among the nations you shall have no repose; there shall be no rest for the soles of your foot' (Deut. 28:65). If Israel found rest in the exile, they would not return.”
Thus, G-d decreed that Israel would never find permanent rest (“manoach”) in the exile, and whoever says that they really can find it is an “ignoramus” [in Berachot 61a, R. Nachman calls Samson's father Manoach an “ignoramus”].
Not in vain did our sages (Mechilta, Bo, 1) compare the exile to a cemetery, for if Israel refuse to dwell in Eretz Yisrael, if they spurn it for the depravity of the exile, they have no future, but suffering, tragedy and annihilation.

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

Parashat Beha'alotcha – Jews refusing orders – Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane

In Parashat Beha'alotcha, we are witness to a unique event: the choosing of leaders. The Torah even “lets us in” on which factors played part in how these Jewish leaders were chosen.
In chapter 11 of our Parasha, Moshe Rabbeinu reaches his breaking point - “I can't carry the burden of this people alone, for it is too heavy for me”, and asks G-d to find people who can share the burden of leadership with him. How does G-d pick these leaders? After all, there was no shortage of righteous and talented Jews around.
G-d immediately singles out a specific group from which the next Jewish leadership will be chosen:
“Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and officers over them.” Rashi explains: “Those whom you recognize, who were appointed over them as officers in Egypt during the rigorous labor, and they (the officers) had pity on them (the Israelites) and were smitten because of them.” Though this may appear a rather surprising choice, a deeper probe into the matter will reveal to us a tremendous lesson, so pertinent for today. Who in the world were these Jewish police officers? In Shemot Chapter 5, Pharaoh lays down a rather heavy if not impossible edict on his Jewish slaves. They must produce a specific quota of bricks without even being given straw. The Jewish officers were ordered by the Egyptian taskmasters to oversee that this quota was met. If not, the officers would be blamed for it and beaten. Thus, they were in a dilemma. Either they can turn over their brothers and by doing so save their own skin, or they can refuse orders and be severely punished for it. In short, these “officers” were supposed to be Jewish “kapos”. But these policemen, unlike others who have been placed in similar situations in our sad history, refused to bear down on their already suffering brethren, and did not hand over the names of Jews who could not meet the quota. The result? The Egyptian taskmasters thrashed the “refusenik” policemen instead of the Jewish slaves: “And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten...” (Shemot 5:14)
If we think of this seriously, and not relate to it like to some “fairy tale” we heard in kindergarten, we would get goose bumps all over contemplating such heroism. What can be a more inspiring description of Ahavat Yisrael and caring for a fellow Jew by someone in a position of authority. Not only didn't they exploit their power, but these officers understood that sometimes they must bear the suffering of their brothers. This is what G-d saw. And He did not forget. The minute there was a need for leadership, He knew whom to turn to. G-d did not seek out people with charisma, nor did he pick talented organizers or even Torah scholars. One thing: Ahavat Yisrael.
The centrality of this attribute cannot be disputed. The two greatest leaders in Jewish history, Moshe Rabbeinu and King David, were former shepherds. The sages teach us that G-d tested them via their ability to care for their flock and show mercy on those they are responsible over.
Here we must stress a key point. Today, everyone speaks of “Ahavat” Yisrael. But too often it is merely a slogan. When selecting the leaders, G-d did not choose those who make nice speeches about “Ahavat Yisrael”. G-d wanted people with a “previous record”: a record of suffering for one's brothers; a record of placing one's personal welfare secondary to that of one's people.
How sweet it is to read again and again this Midrash about the Jewish policemen. After all, we are so familiar with the claims of the soldiers and policemen in Israel today: “I'm just a small cog in a big machine. I'm just following orders.” But that is not what the Jewish policemen did to their brothers in Egypt. The policemen saw the illegality and immorality in the cruel Egyptian decree, and refused the order! It is important to note that mesirut nefesh (self-sacrifice) for the Jewish People is not necessarily the readiness to die for them. Sometimes it may mean the readiness to be hated for your actions; the willingness to sit in jail for your people; or to be ostracized by the establishment.
Such leadership stands in stark contrast to the self-indulgent politicians of today. But know that only when such alternative leadership sprouts, Am Yisrael will be redeemed.

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

Parashat Bamidbar - Dear Jew, you are precious to G-d! - Rav Meir Kahane

Hashem spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai ..., saying: Take a census of the entire assembly of the Children of Israel according to their families, according to their fathers' household, by numbers of the names, every male according to their head count. (Num. 1:1-2).

Tanchuma, Bamidbar, 20, teaches:
A man had glass vessels, and he would take them to the market, set them out and gather them back up without ever counting them. Because they were of glass, he did not keep track of them.
He had other merchandise, fine pearls, which he would count before taking to the market, before setting them out, and before gathering them back up. Because they were pearls, he loved them. In the same way, so to speak, G-d said, “I did not count the nations, since they have no importance for Me, as it says, 'all the nations are as nothing before Him, they are accounted before Him as things of naught and vanity' (Isaiah 40:17). Yet, you, Israel, 'are borne by Me from birth, carried by Me from the womb' (Isaiah 46:3). Therefore, I count you constantly.”
Thus it says, “Make a tally of the male firstborn among the children of Israel” (Num. 3:40)
Israel are G-d's “reshit”, first and foremost among all the nations, and superior to them all. Israel are also G-d's firstborn, as it says, “You must say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the L-rd says: Israel is My son, My firstborn'” (Ex. 4:22). The word for firstborn, bechor, is close to the terms bachur and nivchar, connoting selection, because the firstborn is the one G-d selects, and then “the birthright – bechora – is legally his” (Deut. 21:17), the bechira, i.e. selection.
It is probable that the word bechira, selection, which includes examination and thought about what and whom to choose, is close to the word bakar, a root meaning to examine, clarify and choose, as in the verse, “No distinction must be made – lo yivaker – between better and worse” (Lev. 27:33).
Israel are G-d's chosen people, His treasure, His children, majestic and royal. As R. Shimon said (Shabbat 128a), “All of Israel are the children of kings.”
And R. Ashi said in Zevachim 19a:
Huna bar Natan told me, “I was once standing before[the non-Jewish]King Izgadar, and my sash was too high and he lowered it, saying: 'The Torah calls you "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation"' (Ex. 19:6).
My father and teacher [Rabbi Yechezkel Shraga Kahane ztz”l] once pointed out to me that, unfortunately, a large segment of the nation, and perhaps a majority, acknowledge their Jewishness only because of the hatred of the non-Jews who do not allow them to assimilate and disappear. For this, a Jew who keeps Torah and mitzvot is obligated to recite the blessing “She lo assani goy” (“Who didn't make me a non-Jew”) which [also] can be translated “That not the non-Jew made me [be a Jew]”. Rather, I myself, chose to be part of the Jewish People because of G-d's Torah.
Israel endures forever! And why? What do they have that the nations of the world lack? Is their skin different? Is there no wisdom among the nations? Surely, our sages explicitly said (Echa Rabbah, 2:13), “If a person says, 'There is wisdom among the nations', believe him.” Rather, there is only one difference between Israel and the nations. There is only one logical, rational reason for a person to be proud of his being a Jew: The Torah. As our sages said (Torat Kohanim, Bechukotai, 8:11): “What remains to them that has not become vile and loathsome? Were not all the fine gifts that were given to them taken away? If not for the Torah that remained with them, they would be no different from the nations at all.” This is the secret of Israel's uniqueness and exclusiveness. Only this Torah hallows, exalts and sets Israel apart from all the nations. All the rest, nationalism and national pride, are nothing but a meaningless farce.
Yet, since G-d chose Israel to be His holy people and to fulfill His Torah, they were granted extraordinary love and a special status, and they became the mate and partner, so to speak, of Him Whose word brought the world into being.
The Jew called up to the Torah blesses loudly and with joyous devotion, the One “Who chose us from all the nations and gave us His Torah.” Regarding our sages' utterance (Bava Metzia 85b) that the Second Temple was destroyed because Israel “did not recite the blessing over the Torah before studying Torah,” a great rabbi once commented that they did not make sure to say “Who chose us from all the nations,” which is the content of the blessing recited before reading from the Torah. So great is Israel's selection from among all the nations!
How great is our duty to be happy and thank G-d every single moment for pour having been born as part of the chosen people, supreme and holy! Our sages established that each day before morning prayers we must say, “Happy are we! How good is our destiny, how pleasant is our lot, how beautiful our heritage!” How disgraceful it is that a Jew is ashamed of taking pride in his role and in his exalted spiritual level, fearful of what the nations will say, trying to belittle the importance and definition of Israel as a chosen, supreme people! Consider the blight of exile and servitude. Observe how it has made the alien culture rule over us and harmed our healthy spirits. What healthy nation would not want to be chosen, treasured and unique? It was in response to this that King David said, “In You did our fathers trust; they trusted, and You did deliver them. Unto You did they trust, and were not ashamed” (Ps. 22:5-6). Faith and trust in G-d must be without shame. What times these are, when belief and trust have turned into something “illogical” that a Jew is ashamed to talk about openly. Likewise, the concept of chosenness has become a source of mockery and scorn. Under the sway of the alien culture, it has become a negative, racist concept and many good people have been ashamed to take pride in it; hence the separation between Israel and the nations has been blurred. Listen, my friend, and cast off all your shame regarding the superior status given you. Rejoice in your exalted inheritance!
The way the Hellenists and assimilationists fear the nations' reaction is just part of what compels them to deny Israel's selection. Infinitely worse is the influence of the alien culture which has so penetrated their bones that the idea that there really is a nation chosen from all the rest and spiritually superior appears to them an abomination. Surely they are hostages of the nonsensical concept of equality, which brings everything – goodness and evil, wisdom and folly, the genius and the simpleton – to one standing. Nothing brings greater ruin than this foolishness, and regarding this alien culture it says, “Do not bring any offensive idol into you house, since then you may become just like it. Shun it totally and consider it absolutely offensive, since it is taboo” (Deut. 7:26); and, “Let nothing that has been declared taboo there remain in your hands” (Ibid., 13:18). A thick wall divides Israel from the nations, a Divine partition which separates between the sacred and the profane, between Israel and the nations. Indeed, holiness and separateness descended upon us from Heaven as a beloved pair, bound to one another by Divine decree.
Our sages said (Tanchuma, Kedoshim 5): G-d said to Israel, “I am not like mortal man. With mortal man, non-royalty are forbidden to have the same name as the king.” As proof, when a person wishes to get his fellow man into trouble, he can call him by the emperor's name, and that man's life will be forfeit. Israel, however, were called by G-d's name. Every lovely name G-d had, He called Israel by it. He called Himself Elokim and He called Israel Elokim, as it says, “I said that you are elohim [G-d-like beings]” (Ps. 82:6). G-d was called chacham, wise, as it says, “He is wise of heart and mighty in strength” (Job 9:4), and He called Israel chacham, as in, “This great nation is certainly a wise and understanding people” (Deut. 4:6). He was called dodi, “my beloved”, as it says, “My beloved is white and ruddy” (Song of Songs 5:10), and He called Israel His beloved, as it says, “Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved” (Ibid., v. 1). G-d was called bachur, “select”, as it says, “select as the cedars” (Ibid., v. 15), and He called Israel select, as it says, “The L-rd your G-d selected you” (Deut. 7:6). He was called chassid, “saintly”, as it says, “I am saintly, says the L-rd” (Jer. 3:12) and He called Israel saints, as it says, “Gather My saints together unto Me” (Ps. 50:5). He was called holy, as it says, “Holy, holy, holy is the L-rd of hosts.!” (Isaiah 6:3); and, “For the L-rd our G-d is holy” (Ps. 99:9), and He called Israel holy, as it says, “You must be holy” (Lev. 19:2).
Consider what our sages said about the greatness, holiness, supremacy and belovedness of Israel – that even though G-d is the G-d of all living creatures, He still associated His name exclusively with Israel. As Shemot Rabbah, 29:4, teaches: “G-d said to Israel, 'I am the G-d of all creatures on earth, but I did not associate My name with any but you. I am not called the G-d of the nations but the G-d of Israel.”
Pesikta Rabbati (10) teaches, “G-d said to Moses, 'Moses, exalt this nation as much as you possibly can, for it is as though you exalt Me.'”

Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from “The Jewish Idea" of Rav Meir Kahane, HY”D

Parashat Behar/Bechukotai - Help! - Rav Meir Kahane

If your brother becomes impoverished and his means falter in your proximity, you shall strengthen him – proselyte or resident – so that he can live with you. Do not take from him interest and increase; you shall fear your G-d and let your brother live with you. (Lev. 25:35,36)

King Solomon said (Prov. 21:13), “He who stops his ears at the cry of the poor shall also cry himself but shall not be answered.”
Anyone who deserts a person who needs him, will in turn be deserted by G-d. This is what happened to Elimelech: Elimelech was one of the leaders of the nation and sustainers of the generation. Yet when the years of famine arrived, he said: All Israel are gathering around my door, each one with his basket [asking for donations]. He got up and ran away from the Land (Ruth Rabbah 1:4). And he was punished for this by dying – he and both of his sons – in exile. Anyone who forsakes the divine commandment of lovingkindness – G-d will forsake him, measure for measure: Thus says Hashem: You have abandoned Me, and I, too, have abandoned you (2 Chronicles 12:5).
Kindness and kind deeds are a general category that includes many individual mitzvot like charity, marrying off a poor girl, visiting the sick and comforting mourners. Truthfully, the potential for kind deeds is immeasurable. Anything one does for his fellow man, even offering a single kind word, is part of the kindness that builds the world. In other words, every good deed one does for his fellow man is called good because of the kindness it contains, because kindness is the fundamental kernel within all good.
Loving one's fellow Jew is a mitzvah of global importance.
Love, respect and reverence for our fellow Jew, created in G-d's image and sanctified at Sinai as G-d's elect, is the duty of every single Jew, because he is part of that chosen people. Every Jew must grow spiritually by showing love and respect for his fellow Jew. In that way, he expresses his esteem for someone holy and select, created in G-d's image and chosen at Sinai to be G-d's special treasure. In effect, he gains self-esteem as well. These benefits are secondary to the main benefit accrued: Though such behavior one suppresses the evil impulse and breaks down his ego. This is man's purpose, and doing so exalts and sanctifies him. It says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The moment a person equates someone else – through the love and respect he shows him – with himself, thereby ceasing to view himself as the center of the world, his own ego will begin to grow smaller.
Kindness for one's fellow man, even for someone who is not one's relative and whom one does not know at all, is the trait that separates man from beast. It is this which elevates man to a level just beneath the angels, and perhaps just above them. Man's ability to give and to sacrifice his property and time for his fellow man is what G-d wished to implement on earth when He created it, and for this he created man.
R. Elazar said (Succah 49b), “Charity is only rewarded according to the kindness it contains, as it says (Hosea 10:12), 'Sow charity for yourselves, reap according to kindness.'” Rashi comments, “The giving is charity. The trouble taken is kindness, for example, bringing the money to the poor person's house, or taking the trouble that it should help him a lot... in short, paying full heed to the poor man's welfare.” How true are Rashi's words! Once more we have clear proof that the purpose of charity and kindness is its influence on the soul of the one offering it.
Make no mistake. Kindness, per se, is not the main purpose of creation or of Torah. Rather, it is the most outstanding, pronounced expression of modesty, self-abnegation, subjugation of the evil impulse and acceptance of G-d's yoke discernible in man. Man, by giving, nullifies his sense of taking. By worrying about his fellow man, he suppresses his selfishness, arrogance and lust.
There is nothing great or praiseworthy about the poor person receiving kindness or charity. In taking and benefiting, one performs no mitzvah. The mitzvah is entirely in that the giver gives, that the kind person's mercy wells up and he forgets himself, his property and his selfishness, suppressing his ego and giving of his money or time to someone else. In doing so, he reinforces the humility within. By suppressing his evil impulse and lessening his lust, arrogance and selfishness, he fulfills his task on this earth. For this he was created. It is patently obvious that the main purpose of kind deeds is not that the receiver receive but that the giver give.
Regarding tzedaka (“charity”), Chazal said a great thing which holds true regarding all mitzvot between man and his fellow man: The poor man does more for the donor than the donor does for the poor man. For as Ruth said to Naomi, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz” (Ruth 2:19). It does not say “who worked with me,” but “with whom I worked”. She said to her: Many good deeds have I done with him today for the slice that he gave me (Leviticus Rabbah 34:8). True, the simple meaning is that the master receives greater income from G-d than what he gives in charity. But Chazal take this far deeper: the greatness of the mitzvah of tzedaka is not that the poor man receives, but that the giver gives. There is no greatness in a person receiving something material – but great is the person who gives to someone else, thereby relinquishing the benefit that he could have received from his money. Performing this mitzvah affects his soul. He elevates and sanctifies it by removing the selfishness that encrusts it. Therefore Ruth said, Many good deeds have I done with him today. The same applies to any form of kindness that a person performs for his fellow-man: the greatness lies, not in the receiving, but in the active performance of giving. This is the great difference between Torah and socialism: Torah emphasizes the giving, whereas socialism emphasizes the receiving – and receiving only increases the selfishness of the recipient, who will never be satisfied with what he has received.
The Jews who distort the Torah are so influenced by the alien 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 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 part to this goal, as I have explained. Such acts express the Torah's essence, breaking down one's ego.
The word mercy – “rachamim” in Hebrew – 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.

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

Parashat Emor - The Omer: Countdown to Faith - Rav Meir Kahane

When you come to the land that I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, you must bring an Omer of your first reaping to the Kohen. He shall wave it in the motions prescribed for a wave offering to the L-rd so that it is acceptable for you. The Kohen shall make this wave offering on the day after the first day of the [Pesach] holiday [see Torat Kohanim, Emor, Ch. 12] .
... You shall then count seven complete weeks after the day following the [Pesach] holiday when you brought the Omer as a wave offering, until the day after the seventh week, when there will be [a total of] fifty days. [On that fiftieth day] you may present new grain as a meal offering to the L-rd. (Lev. 23:10-11, 15-16)

In order to reinforce the principle of a holy nation, G-d tied Pesach, the time of national liberation, to Shavuot, the time of the Giving of the Torah, via the Sefirat HaOmer, the “counting of the Omer”. The counting is also tied to the Land, for it begins with the harvesting of the Omer.
This is why our sages declared (Menachot 83b), “All communal and individual offerings can come from the Land of Israel or from outside of it, from new grain or from old, except for the Omer and the two loaves of Shavuot, which can only be brought from new grain and from the Land.”
The mitzvah of the Omer bound Pesach to Shavuot and the people to their holiness. It completed the creation of Israel as a holy nation and ensured that this holy nation would merit Eretz Yisrael. Our sages said (Vayikra Rabbah, 28:6):
Never take the mitzvah of the Omer lightly, for Abraham merited through it to inherit the Land. It says, “To you and your offspring will I give the land where you are now living as a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan” (Gen. 17:8), and this was so that Abraham “would keep G-d's covenant” (Ibid., v. 9).
By fulfilling the mitzvah of the Omer, which ties Pesach to Shavuot, and thereby becoming a holy nation, Israel merited to inherit the Land from the nations; for had they not agreed to be a holy nation, why should G-d have taken the Land from the nations and given it to them?
Our sages ask why the Torah was not given immediately or shortly after Israel left Egypt, and they answer (Kohelet Rabbah, 3:[11]2): When Israel left Egypt, they were worthy of receiving the Torah immediately. Yet ... G-d said, “My children have not yet attained their lustre. They emerged from an enslavement of mud and bricks, and shall I give them the Torah? Let them enjoy two or three months of the Manna, well-water [Miriam's well that miraculously followed Israel] and quails, and then I shall give it to them.”
Nonetheless, the nation's faith was weak and abated very quickly. As our sages (Shemot Rabbah, 5:14):
“Moses and Aaron then went to Pharaoh” (Ex. 5:1): And where did the elders go that they were not mentioned together with Moses and Aaron, when G-d had previously said to Moses, “you and the elders will go” (Ex. 3:18)? Our sages answered, “The elders went with them, yet they stole away... and disappeared. By the time Moses and Aaron reached the palace, not one remained.”
Numerous other sources testify to Israel's lack of faith then. G-d, therefore, demanded of them at least a small sign of faith, albeit fleeting, before He would redeem them, because faith and trust are the root of serving G-d. Without them, without faith in the King, Redeemer and Savior, there is no Torah.
Therefore, the counting of the Omer not only underscores the bond between the people and holiness, between a holy nation and its holy land, but also establishes the formation of the people on the basis of faith. The Omer was harvested from the new grain, and until then it was forbidden to eat new grain and forbidden even to harvest it. As Rambam wrote (Hilchot Temidim U'Musafin 7:13), “It is forbidden to harvest in Eretz Yisrael any one of the five species of grain before the Omer is harvested.” Through this, we proclaim that G-d gives bread to all flesh and that we depend on Him for this grain, for His blessings, for His dew and His rain. Therefore, the first cutting is given to G-d as the meal offering, as an announcement that we have placed our hope in Him with faith and trust, and as an acknowledgment and giving of thanks for blessing us with this harvest.
This idea is also alluded to in the law that this Omer comes from barley (Menachot 68b), an animal food, as with the meal offering of the Sotah, the suspected adulteress, and of the Sotah we find:
All of the meal offerings come from wheat [a food consumed by humans] but [the meal offering of the Sotah] comes from barley [consumed by animals]... R. Gamliel says, “Just as her deeds were bestial, so is her offering from the food of the beast.” (Sotah 14a).
All this is so even though the Omer meal offering is not entirely like the Sotah offering, since the former requires oil and frankincense, whereas the latter does not. Furthermore, the former is brought as geresh, the finest grade barley flour (not normally consumed by animals), whereas the Sotah barley offering is brought as regular barley flour, the way animals eat it. Even so, G-d wished to hint to us at the start of the new grain that man, like the animal, depends on G-d's mercy. As King David described in Psalms (104:27), “All of them wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season.”
Our sages furthermore said (Vayikra Rabbah, 28:3):
It says, “Neither say they in their heart:'Let us now fear the L-rd our G-d, Who gives the early and late rain in due season'” (Jer. 5:24). [Let him not say], “Once G-d gives you everything, you no longer need Him.” “Who keeps for us the appointed weeks of the harvest” (Ibid.). G-d will protect us from evil winds and evil dews. When? During the seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot.
In other words, we should not think that since the winter has passed and there was rain, and there is already grain, there is no more need to pray to G-d regarding this grain. Even when there is grain, if during harvest time rain falls and there are evil winds and evil dews, the grain will be ruined. As Samuel said, “Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call unto the L-rd that He may send thunder and rain... and all the people greatly feared the L-rd and Samuel” (I Samuel 12:17-18). For this reason, the Omer meal offering is waved, as our sages said (Vayikra Rabbah 28:5):
How would he wave it? R. Chama bar Ukva said in the name of R. Yossi bar Chanina, “He passes it back and forth, and up and down. He passes it back and forth for the One Who owns the entire universe, and he raises it up and down for Him Who owns those in Heaven and earth.” R. Simon, son of R. Yehoshua says, “He passes it back and forth to cancel harsh winds, and he raises and lowers it to cancel harsh dews.”
The main point here is that faith is a fixed component of the Omer meal offering, because the meal offering itself symbolizes faith.
Indeed, G-d established this interlude between national liberation and sanctification in order to exalt and refine Israel with mitzvot and values, precisely those of faith and trust in G-d – the manna, the well and the quail. All three served as signs that the sustenance and survival of man on the individual and national level are solely in G-d's hands.
As our sages said (Pesikta Rabbati, 18):
G-d said to Israel, “My children, when I used to give you the Omer [of manna that fell for each person], I would give each of you 'an Omer per person, according to the number of people each man has in his tent' (Ex. 16:16). Now that you are giving Me the Omer, you give Me only one Omer from all of you collectively.”
We see that the waving of the Omer, which makes the new grain permissible, serves as a reminder of the Omer of the manna, and as a symbol of Israel's faith and trust in G-d.
From here, we learn that even physical and national liberation do not make the people fit to assume the mantel of holiness.
After all, a secular nation, like all the nations, surely thinks exclusively in nationalist, “realistic” terms. For such a nation, only the size of its army and the quantity of arms and allies can make them secure.
They must advance to this by keeping mitzvot which express concepts, values and trust in G-d, which refine and elevate the nation from base secular nationalism.

Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from “The Jewish Idea” of Rav Meir Kahane HY”D