since Iyar 25, 5760 (May 30, 2000).
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With blessings from Zion,
The two first readings of the Torah concern the creation of the world and the story of the flood. This is to establish that this story concerns all the people of the world. We all have the same beginning, the same ancestry, the same G-d.
A second objective specifically concerns the children of Israel. Rashi, a Medieval sage in France, comments,
"'He declared to His people the strength of His works (through the account of the work of Creation, in order that He might give them the heritage of the nations.' For should the peoples of the world say to Israel, 'You are robbers, because you took by force the lands of the seven nations of Canaan,' Israel may reply to them, 'All the earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it and gave it to whom He pleased. When He willed He gave it to them, and when He willed He took it from them and gave it to us.'"
Rashi's commentary was prophetic and meant to quell any and all doubts. The Covenant was re-iterated over and over to the Patriarchs and the Children of Israel at every juncture. Yes, the Bible is, most definitely, a book of deeds. This is our only true claim, over which no one has a valid argument. We need to have the courage to stand up, stop accepting the accusations and false claims of the Nations, and see ourselves as the People HaShem place in this Land for a purpose--His very special purpose that will bless the entire world. This is the Land we were given as an ETERNAL HERITAGE, but it is up to us make that promise a physical reality by first believing it ourselves.
We read about the descendants of Noah's sons, the tribes being the named for them and being the seventy root nations of modern nations. Each of them was assigned his own territory and had his own language, as Rashi's comments state--the whole earth belonged to G-d; He could give it to whom He chose and take it from whom He chose to give to another.
We next read about the calling of Avraham (Abraham), in which G-d told him to go to a distant land that He would show him. There He made an eternal covenant with him, which included the land we call holy. This Covenant was subsequently reiterated with Yitzchak (Isaac), Yacov (Jacob), and the twelve tribes that descended from Yacov's sons. Yes, the Bible is a book of deeds that even specifies borders! The Covenant and land purchases (i.e. Joseph's tomb in Shechem, Machpelah in Hebron, and the Temple Mount) were recorded for a perpetual proof. This is the strongest, most valid claim the Jewish People have to this land.
The Torah, from the very beginning of time, addresses the concerns of our day. Indeed, the Tanach (Bible) covers all time, from the Creation in the Torah to the End of Days in the Prophets.
Is it any wonder that our enemies attack Judaism and the Torah on which it is based? However, let us not forget, that just as the Creation and the Flood are our common human beginnings, Judaism, with its Torah, is the common beginning of the three monotheistic religions. How can Christians and Moslems dispute the most basic claims of their own Jewish root? And yet…
Could this be the reason the "rules" of negotiation established by the Bush-Baker era preclude any discussion of the Torah or history?
The terms "tolerance" and "unity", which we hear a lot from our lesser observant brothers, are indeed very noble concepts. However, when discussing observance of Torah in the Jewish world, these very human concepts don't consider another element-- the L-rd G-d of Israel. Each and every Jew is a participant in the Covenant with G-d. The Torah, which is the expression of His Will for the people of Israel, is an intrinsic, inseparable part of this Covenant. Those who cry "tolerance" are, in essence, expecting a condoning of their actions from the observant sector, which is nothing more than expecting permission from their fellow Jews to break the Laws of G-d. This is not a question of tolerance, but of authority. No person has the authority to give another permission to violate the Laws of G-d. This refusal to condone or accept non-observant behavior doesn't mean that the observant of Israel should not love the non-observant as fellow Jews, but it does make unity impossible.
When a person converts, he joins himself not only to the people of the Covenant, but to the Covenant itself. Like the person born into the Covenant, he, too, is uncompromisingly bound by the Laws of the Torah, as he chooses to take the "yoke of the Kingdom". The ONLY reason for converting is such a strong love of the Torah that one cannot live any other lifestyle. Observance is not optional. Just as observance is called "sanctification of G-d's Name" in Hebrew, nonobservance is called "profanity" in Hebrew, because that act is profanity of G-d's Name in the earth. In our day there is all too much of this profanity abounding, and this is a very serious problem with terrible repercussions. Why should the rabbis in Israel want to allow conversion of people who intend nothing but to add to that? Again, the ONLY reason for converting is love of Torah and an unquenchable desire to follow its teachings--not simply love of G-d. A person can love G-d with all his heart and soul and serve Him perfectly well without being Jewish.
Can peace be made with enemies?
May 25, 1999
Yitzhak Rabin made the statement that we make peace with our enemies. In the Jewish view this is not true at all. Peace--Shalom--is one of the names of G-d. We know Him as One. This indicates that there must be unity in order to achieve true peace. We can have peace with our family and friends, within our own people, with G-d, but how can we have true peace with an enemy, who has nothing in common with us? With our family and friends, within our own people, we can have common goals, as we can with G-d Himself, as we strive to obey the Torah. However, with the Arabs we do not share a language, a religion, a culture, or any other aspect of experience that would bring us to a common ground on which to build a relationship. On the contrary, each of these differences puts us at odds with each other. This is not the basis of unity, and therefore, this is not the basis of peace--true peace as defined in Biblical terms, the only one that can really last. We can have a non-belligerence treaty, but this, the most we can reasonably hope to achieve, is not peace. Our history has shown that the Arabs feel the truth of this themselves, as they have struggled with us for centuries. One will be up and the other down. One will possess the Land, the other will be dominated or pushed out. How is this even a possibility of unity or a hope for peace?
May 27, 1999
As I said a few days ago, Shalom is one of the names of G-d. With this we know that peace is His will for mankind, but what is His view of this peace? Is this a mere non-belligerence treaty until one nation can feel strong enough to beat the other in war? No. The true meaning of peace is explained to us in the words of the Prophets. In one of the Jewish prayers we look forward to the day when all nations will say: "You are One and Your Name is One." This is a prayer for peace--in the true meaning of the word. The Prophet Isaiah speaks of a time when His House will be a House of prayer for all peoples of the earth. The Prophet Zechariah tells us that one day the peoples of all the nations will come up to Jerusalem for the annual festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles). At this time, when all the nations are honoring G-d together, there will be true peace. This is the time when the nations will beats their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks.... (Micah 4:3) "The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard lie down with the kid...." (Is. 11:6) The world will then understand the meaning of true peace. In the meantime we have to do what we can to live together. However as the Prophet Jeremiah warned, let us not be fooled by the false prophets who cry "Peace, peace" when there is no peace.
There was recently an article in the "Jerusalem Post" called "Beware the Neo-Socialists". This made me start thinking about how wide-spread and accepted these socialist ideas, that facilitate big government with maximum input into the personal lives of its citizens, have become. In this day and age every nation in the world is more or less "socialist". The nation that isn't a "welfare state" is considered backward. In fact, even the UN has made welfare its business on a global scale for nations. On the surface this would look like a good thing--being benevolent and caring for the needs of the poor. Indeed, Judaism encourages the concept of charity. The question is whether a welfare system of a government can be considered a true charity--or whether there another, truer motive at work.
Let's just take an example. If I decide I want to give charity, and I do so from my own pocket, this is perfectly good. Right? However, if I decide I want to give charity from your pocket, and without your consent, is that still charity?--or is it theft? Suppose I get together with a group of other people to give charity out of your pocket without your permission. What is that? Suppose this group of people is large enough to call itself a government, does that make it any better? Is the theft then somehow transformed into charity?--or is it just legislated theft? Government doesn't have any money of its own; it only has what it takes from the people. (For services, such as utility supply or national defense for instance, this is perfectly legitimate, of course, and I'm not talking about that.) A socialist country is built on the concept of "redistribution of the wealth" or in pure Marxist terms "...from each according to his ability to each according to his need".
What about the recipient of welfare? In the US there is a term called the "poverty cycle", which means generation after generation on the dole. What does this do to these people who can never get off the welfare rolls? What happens to their dignity and their desire to help themselves? Do we remember a time when charity was in the hands of private organizations, like synagogues, churches, and benevolent societies? (Even on a global scale private organizations have gone to poor or disaster stricken countries all on private donations.) Then, when the giver and receiver could look each other in the eye, when it was personal and up close, maybe the recipients had a better chance of getting over a bad period and bettering their lives.
The Torah instructs giving of charity in detail, such as the law not to cut the corners of a field or to completely harvest a crop, so that the poor will have something to glean. However, this was not legislated or taken by a government, but rather the decision of the amount was left to the owner of the field, who could encounter the recipients personally if he chose to do so. We're told not to turn away from one in need, for one purpose in charity is to foster compassion in the giver. There should be a potential bond of love and respect between the giver and the receiver. This can't happen when welfare steps in. Rather than fostering compassion toward the needy, welfare fosters a deep resentment of a person from whom the money is taken, who has been made a victim "for the greater good". The government's taking of that money makes it less possible for a person who might like to give to have the resources to give. Also, with the socialist mind-set that has swept the world as "normal", people have more of a tendency shrug off any responsibility for the poor, expecting the government to take care them instead, thereby separating themselves from the problem and decreasing their capacity to care. Have you noticed, with the increase of the homeless and growing welfare rolls, that the poverty level has only increased over the years? So "government" isn't doing such a good job, is it?
I know this isn't a popular view these days, but isn't there an ever present, real danger of welfare making people being too dependent on the government--and therefore at its mercy? If people are at the mercy of their government, what are they but slaves--or at least, potential slaves? And this "being at the mercy of the government" extends as well to the taxpayer who must fear being ruined--through what?--legislated theft! So what is the true purpose of the welfare state in the world?
January 26, 2000/ Shevat 19, 5760
There are two kinds of fear spoken of in Torah--fear, or awe, of G-d, and fear, or fright, of circumstances. Of the latter there are many examples in Torah, making it very clear that it can be a sin.
The strongest Biblical example of this is that of the 10 spies, who returned to Moshe with a report of giants--based on fear. The people then reacted to the report with a great outcry, allowing fear to grip their hearts and rob them of realizing the promise of entering the Land. What was the consequence?--They wandered the wilderness for 40 years, until all the men over 20 at the time died.
Once in the Land the people were told to drive out the inhabitants. Yet, again, this was a command that required standing in the mitzva of being "strong and courageous". The least amount of fear, that wavering of faith, would be the opening for defeat. Throughout the Book of Shoftim (Judges) we see a repeated pattern of cycles of the people falling away from G-d, being oppressed by the enemy, crying out to G-d for relief, then being saved from the enemy.
We have seen a similar pattern in our own time. In the years 1994-1995 terrorism reached an unbearable height. On the day of the Fast of Esther in 1995, after two bombings of the #18 bus line within a week of each other, there was a gathering of thousands for prayer at the Kotel. Then came word that another bomb had exploded in Tel Aviv, resulting in a large number of casualties. The outcry and pleading to G-d for mercy was tremendous. In the following election, the government changed hands, and yes, there was a relief from the magnitude of terrorism that had been becoming all too common in our streets. But did we remember Who was responsible for the turnaround? Did our enemy suddenly become less determined in their hate?!
The peace process has been based, not on the desire to live in true peace with our neighbors, but rather on fear of them. "If we just give them what they want, they'll leave us alone." This is making decisions based on fear. What is fear? Fear is the opposite of being "strong and courageous"; fear is disbelief in Torah; FEAR IS THE OPPOSITE OF FAITH IN G-D. When this fear grips our hearts, it crowds out our faith, making it easy to believe the shameful things the world says about us--just as our ancestors believed they were grasshoppers, rather than the inheritors of the Land that G-d said they were.
My dear American Jewish family
Monday, February 14 / 8 Adar I 5760
I have recently met several very religious American youths studying in Israel. They are obviously from nice families with long backgrounds of Yiddishkeit. Yet they had very disturbing ideas about the importance of living in Israel. There seems to be an accepted idea in the American community that Israel is still galut and that making aliyah is, therefore, unnecessary. Hearing this from these young people, I was certain it must be the view of their rabbis and, of course, their parents. I have heard it said that the merit for one coming from a comfortable country, such as the US, is higher than that of one who has had to flee, having no where other than Israel as a haven. I could always understand this, even before I realized there is such community pressure against aliyah.
I feel compelled to ask a few questions. Isn't aliyah a mitzvah?-- one of such tremendous merit that the Rambam equated it with the keeping of all 613 mitzvot? Isn't there a rabbinical attitude that if there is a mitzvah to do, and it is within your power, you should not hesitate to do it?
I was under the impression that when we pray for something, we are supposed to mean it--otherwise it is considered chillul HaShem. Don't we daily pray to be brought back to the Land in every Amidah and Berkat haMazon? Is this a sincere desire and prayer?
I am very disturbed by the nay-sayers reasoning, for it sounds very much like the cries of the generation of the wilderness, longing to return to the "comfort" of Egypt, to the leeks and fish and melons. The report of the spies caused a great wail of despair, a great cry of fear and hopelessness. The Land was too hard to conquer; the inhabitants were too fierce and frightening; the challenge was too great. What did G-d call this?--lashon hara against the Land. Today we have people who despair about the Arabs, the government, the secular nature of the country of Israel, the bureaucracy, and that it's "just too hard to live there". Is this any less lashon hara against the Land than the words of our forefathers in the wilderness? Do you remember HaShem's answer to their wail on that Tish b'Av?--"You are crying for no reason. I'll give you a reason to cry."
How many of our Gadolim sacrificed everything for the dream of settling in Eretz Yisrael? Isn't this the dream that has burned in the collective Jewish soul for the past 2000 years? Yet American Jews are teaching their children that "now isn't the time", thus discouraging the dream in them. What does this say about our understanding of the values these great rabbis had to teach us? What are American Jewish children learning--that THINGS are the ultimate?
The Prophet Jeremiah wrote about a horrible time he called "Jacob's trouble". Then he wrote that those who survived the sword would "make a home in the wilderness". Can't we look at our own very recent history and see the incredible fulfillment of these passages? Please remember that rabbis in Europe before the Holocaust discouraged emigration to Palestine, for it was secular "Zionist". But at that time the world had never seen a holocaust, so how could they know it could ever be so bad? Now, however, we have.
Aliyah, as any other mitzvah, is to be performed in faith. If you're enjoying your comfortable life, saying you're waiting for the revelation of the Mashiach to go to the Land, that is not faith. Recognize the voice of the turtledove in the Land. See the fulfillment of His promises in the Prophets. Now IS the time. This is the call of our G-d to come back.
"He that scattered Israel doth gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock."--Jeremiah 31:10
"What happened to our common sense?"
Thursday, February 24, 2000 / 18 Adar I, 5760
The answer to that question is really quite obvious and simple. When the Jewish people, to whom the Torah was given, decide on a national level, to turn from it, wisdom and understanding become very UNcommon. The people become devoid of sense, as they seek to alleviate the thing that they most fear in the simplest manner. So they listen to the advice of the Nations, feeling that this is the path of acceptance. Surely the Arabs will fall in line--if the United States say so. Surely Arafat must have changed--after all the Nobel Prize committee deemed him so. Surely the Nations will applaud our peaceful efforts--the resolutions of the UN promise this. And the words and warnings of the Torah are forgotten. Faith in the G-d of Israel is replaced with fear of the Nations.
For the State of Israel to be a Jewish Nation, as we were all taught was the point of the Zionist plan, we cannot afford to turn from the constitution of the Jewish Nation--the Torah. The Torah teaches benevolent tolerance of the strangers within our gates, however, they are never to rule the Jewish People. The Torah also teaches us the dangers of imitating the ways of the Nations in an attempt to be a "nation among nations", rather than following the precepts laid out for us in our own Law. We are told that for this rebellion of turning away from our Torah and our G-d we would be plagued with a "no people, a nation of fools". This punishment is compounded by their recognition by the world as legitimate, subsequently called our legitimacy into question. And it seems we don't have the national resolve to even recognize it, much less to correct the problem at its root source within ourselves.
Sunday, February 27, 2000 / 21 Adar I, 5760
"Return to Torah" is a frightening thought, comparable to the harsh rule of Muslim theocracies? This says to me that there is a vast misunderstanding of the Law of G-d and of the time of Redemption every devout Jew prays to come. At this point in our history, what I am referring to as "return to Torah" is return to observance, the realization that G-d is our ultimate king, and faith in Him as the G-d of Israel. That this is threatening to some people is very disturbing and further proves my point--that the problem does exist. What are your concerns with a Jewish theocracy?--animal sacrifices and punishment of offenders of the Law.
At this time we do not have a Temple for animal sacrifices. One day, however, there will be, according to our Prophets. The Prophet Ezekiel (chapter 46, for example) speaks of a return to animal sacrifices in the rebuilt Temple. The Prophet Isaiah (chapter 56) speaks of a time when "My House will be a House of Prayer for all peoples." The Prophet Zechariah speaks of the peoples of all the Nations coming up for the Feast of Tabernacles. The Torah says the priests made 70 sacrifices on behalf of the 70 Nations. So, yes, we will see this re-instituted. The Temple services were not instituted by anyone other than G-d Himself, so criticism of them should be made with great hesitation.
As for punishment for breaking the Law, at this time we do not have a Sanhedrin, so, no, I do not mean a return to that. You're right; should we see this type of thing in our corrupt time, it would be sheer disaster. However, when we have a Temple, we will also have the Mashiach, who will rule with what we call the "Torah of the Mashiach". There will be changes of which I cannot hope to guess the details. I believe, though, that this will be a time of justice and peace unparalleled in the history of Mankind. It will be, according to the promises of our Prophets, a time of healing and restoration, when the ills of society will be alleviated once and for all. Even now we are on the journey to this end, and the Jewish People were created to be partners in this effort on behalf of the entire world. Judaism, unlike other religions, was designed to draw the upper world in to our lower one, bringing the Kingdom of Heaven into the physical realm. This is one of the purposes of every mitzvah we perform, and this is another reason--a higher more positive one--that a return to the Torah, to our faith in our G-d, to a recognition of our purpose on the earth, is necessary now.
Thursday 13 April 2000/Nissan 8, 5760
When talking about the judgement of G-d many times people see it as harsh and, perhaps, even biased. However, what they fail to realize is that He sees every facet of a situation. That's why He CAN judge, whereas Man, with his limited view, has a problem being totally fair. The Bible shows that G-d gives people every opportunity to repent, and that the consequences of sin are not a secret. Free will is the issue; a person must choose to obey G-d and serve Him of his own free will.
The Canaanite inhabitants of the Land were no different. When G-d made the Covenant with Avraham Avinu He told him:
"Know well that you offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years; but I will execute judgement on the nation they shall serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth...."--Genesis 15:13-14
This was a prophecy concerning the slavery in Egypt, and all that He told Avraham came to pass.
He continued:
"....And they shall return here in the fourth generation, FOR THE INIQUITY OF THE AMORITES IS NOT YET COMPLETE."--Genesis 15:16
The people of Israel were destined by heaven to execute the judgement upon the Amorites (later we see that this included all the seven nations that occupied the Land at that time), but G-d gave these people time to repent. We know from the book of Jonah that repentance can reverse a decree of judgement of the court of heaven. In the case of the Amorites, this did not happen, and we know from the Torah that they were decreed to be wiped out.
Another part of that decree was Israel's obligation to execute the judgement. They were not to live with these Canaanite people, for their idolatry, with all the perverse activities that went with it, would be a temptation. The 7th chapter of Dvarim (Deuteronomy) deals with this subject. The inhabitants of Canaan were a cursed people, who were not to join with the people G-d had blessed and chosen to bring the Torah into the world. In the book of Joshua the people of Israel were chastised for failing to obey G-d's command to totally drive out the inhabitants and told what the consequences of this failure would be:
"The L-rd has driven out great, powerful nations on your account, and not a man has withstood you to this day. A single man of you would put a thousand to flight, for the L-rd your G-d Himself has been fighting for you, as He promised you. For your own sakes, therefore, be most mindful to love the L-rd your G-d. For should you turn away and attach yourselves to the remnant of those nations... know for certain that the L-rd your G-d will not continue to drive these nations out before you; THEY SHALL BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP FOR YOU, A SCOURGE TO YOUR SIDES AND THORNS IN YOUR EYES, UNTIL YOU PERISH FROM THIS GOOD LAND THAT THE L-RD YOUR G-D HAS GIVEN YOU."--Joshua 23:9-13.
These things may be hard to understand in our modern world, but we must realize that we--with all our humanist, politically correct manners--are not more moral than G-d. If, as I said, Man cannot judge in total fairness on earth, how can he ever hope to judge the Creator of that earth--and of himself?
Wednesday, May 3 2000 / 28 Nisan 5760
It has been said that in each generation the Jewish People must prove anew the repentance of certain national sins and our "tikkun" (spiritual repair). One such sin was speaking evil against the Land that G-d gave to us.
"There are giants in the Land. We can't take it!" the generation of the wilderness declared. As punishment, the whole generation of adult men that had escaped the slavery of Egypt had to die in the forty years wilderness journey.
Today we are in the Land. Just as that generation that left Egypt, we have come home from all parts of the earth, as HaShem promised through the ancient Prophets of Israel. We are again faced with the decision of accepting the Land and proving ourselves worthy of our inheritance. Do we have the faith and courage, in which we are commanded to walk, to hold the Land and to stand against the enemies of our day? It seems we are again hearing the echoes of those quivering, fearful, slave-minded voices insisting that we do not have the strength nor the will. "We're tired." "It just isn't worth it." "Who needs it, anyway?" "Why should we and our children die--for WHAT?"
Now, in addition to the fear, we actually have leaders who verbally doubt the holiness of the Land, leading the people of Israel in disbelief and scorn, thereby underscoring and affirming our enemies' attack on our claims. "The Bible is not a book of deeds." "What is holy about Abu Dis?" This is something even the spies would never dared to have said, for they knew that that would be a lie the people of Israel would never, ever buy. Yet the principality of delusion tells our sophisticated leaders that the people of Israel in our day will believe it. The dissenters are branded "radicals", "inciters", and "extremists", rather than being acknowledged as adherents to the teachings of the Torah principles that have always defined our Nation. They are accused of pushing Israel to sure war and death, and of close-mindedly rejecting peace and the idea of brotherhood of man. Judaism, "halacha", and even Torah are portrayed as chauvinistic, out-dated ideas that have no place in public life in this modern world--certainly not in the "New Middle East".
The spies of the wilderness generation failed the test and were severely punished. They rejected the Land, because wanted the people to continue living in the wilderness, where they enjoyed the tangible Presence of HaShem and He miraculously provided their every need. Why are our leaders rejecting the Land? What do they want for our people?
With blessings from Zion,
~Miriam~
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