Rav Kahane Kahane Codes - Bereshit Shmot

do something to express our trust in Him - an act of faith proving we believe in G-d in difficult timestoo. So writes the Ohr HaChaiim: It does not depend on Me ... speak to the children of Israel that theyshould strengthen themselves with faith with all their heart, and they should go forward in the seabefore it splits, because due to their faith I will make a miracle ... because faith and \"bitachon\" are greatattributes, and they tip the scales for the good...\"The Ohr HaChaim continues to explain why a strong act of faith wasn't necessary, since the Jews hadjust previously demonstrated lack of faith by their saying: \"Let us alone so that we may serve Egypt\".Only after Nachson proved his trust in G-d, did G-d split the sea.That's it. Of course G-d can do it all by Himself, but He \"needs\" our active participation. He wants usto actively prove, through fulfillment of the \"dangerous\" mitzvot in the national sphere, that we trust inHim and believe that He is indeed capable of fulfilling His promises, and will not abandon us.Without a doubt, many feel that holding our ground and not withdrawing is similar to jumping intoraging waters. But precisely here is where the test lies - and we know that the sea will split! After all,our generation has witnessed unbelievable victories, against all odds! Only a blind man thinks that suchsuccess is due to our own strength. And so, when G-d demands from us difficult actions, and obligatesto help us, we must believe Him! And if we wait for Him to do everything by Himself, we will pay aheavy price, G-d forbid. This is our test. The test of faith. Who said it was supposed to be an easy one? 401

402

Yitro 403

PARSHAT YITRO Unity for Good, Unity for Evil (1996) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny GoldbergSo much is heard these days on the need to be united. \"Unity\" or \"achdus\" in Hebrew, has become oneof the major \"buzz\" words in the vernacular of the Jew who seeks to offer solutions to Jewish problems.If only we were united, we would overcome our enemies, we would bring the redemption, and simplyput, everything would be O.K. Even from the most outspoken and uncompromising types, it is amazingto hear them talking about \"unity\" as the most important thing. And so the question that must be askedhere is: Is it truly so? Is it correct that unity is the cure-all?In Parshas Yitro, we find a rare moment of unity for the Jewish People. The moment they arrived atMount Sinai, it is written, \"And Israel encamped near the mountain\". The sages, noting how the word\"encamped\" is written in singular form (vayichan) tell us \"as one man, as one heart\". What an awesomething! The Jewish People are standing at Mount Sinai about to receive the Torah, and the Torah revealsto us (the point is stressed in the Mechilta on the same verse) that this particular situation was unlikeany other. This time there were no quarrels, no bickering. This very special happening of \"MatanTorah\" was from the point of view of \"Vayichan\" - and they encamped \"as one man\". Everyone isunited for one idea and goal. The sages praise this rare moment of unification that has been attained onthis momentous occasion, and without a doubt, the responsibility of all Jews to be mutual guarantors toone another is an expression of this much needed unity among Jews, who are called \"Goy Echad\" - oneNation.But there is a tremendous difference between this kind of unity and the kind of unity that the so-calledleaders of today babble about. There is an essential difference between the unity of \"one man, oneheart\" mentioned in our parsha, and the unity to which politicians pay lip service to. For the questionisn't whether unity is good or bad, but rather what is the cause you are uniting around? For what goaland purpose?G-d dispersed the generation of the Tower of Babel because they were united on behalf of evil, anddespite their unity,they were branded with the name \"Dor Haflaga\" - the Hebrew word 'haflaga' derivedfrom the root 'pilug' which means a split or a schism. For all of their unity was based around an evilpurpose. There was a unity of wicked people, 'split' or separated from G-d.In contrast to this, the unity of the Jewish people that our rabbis find praise worthy and vital is the unityof 'Matan Torah' - when everyone is united to receive Torah and fulfill it. Indeed, not only is the unity apositive thing, but it is a very necessary ingredient for the feeling of mutual bonding of every Jew toone another, and it is a critical component of 'Matan Torah'. Nonetheless, unity of the wicked is a badthing, as the sages comment, \"The scattering of the wicked is good for them and good for the world\",and unity for the purpose of an evil goals is abhorrence.The leaders and scholars should pay heed to the words that they speak. By preaching 'Achdus' or unityin such loose terms, they are misleading the nation. Even unity has its limits - it must be for the doingof good. It is for this reason that our sages often group and pair the word 'Shalom', with 'Emes', thetruth, for true unity can only be achieved when it is based around truth. 404

In these days of darkness and confusion everything is upside down. When you finally find someonewho is willing to speak out and take a stand they become popular and comfortable activists. Why theArabs and leftists don't have such activists I will never know? Modern day Jewish activists like to be'safe activists' who don't upset anyone on the left or in the middle, whatever that means. They can't callRabin a traitor because that may cause disunity. They can't define the problems or offer the truesolutions to our critical problems because that too may alienate someone, somewhere. So they playpolitics and lie to themselves seeking some halachic justification for their fears and weaknesses. Theyforget the first golden rule of activism that it doesn't matter how unpopular we may become as a resultof saying and doing that which is right. As \"One Man\" – Only When There is \"One Heart\" (1997) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny GoldbergAny healthy society seeks unity, since division only serves to prevent society from achieving it's goals.If this is so for all of mankind, how much more it is true concerning the Jewish People. The Almightychose the Jewish People for a very specific goal: To know Hashem, spread His word, and sanctify HisName in the world. Since this goal is the most lofty of all goals, then certainly unity amongst theJewish People is a very essential ingredient.From here we learn that the concept of \"unity\" has limits. It cannot be just lip service. Any unity isachieved when there is a shared objective. On the other hand, when different parts of the society havetotally different objectives, and all the more so if these objectives contradict one another, there cannotbe unity. We stress this point because the concept of \"unity\" today has become some kind of buzzwordor blanket statement used by all segments of the nation, where people with ulterior motives throw itaround as a slogan to further their cause.\"Unity\" can be a good thing, and it can be a bad thing. On one hand, it is a powerful vehicle toactualize an idea, and to arrive at the goal. On the other hand, it can serve as the exact opposite, for itcan serve as a vehicle for the blurring over of the truth, and a distancing from it. This occurs when thegoal of unity becomes more important than the ideology itself! That is, instead of the unity becoming ameans to achieve the goal, it itself becomes the goal at all costs, and certainly at the expense of theideology. In such a case, the idea and the goal are conceded and blurred over. This is not \"unity\", butrather betrayal of one's ideology and a losing of one's way.This is exactly what we learn from the verse in our parsha, (19:2) \"And there Israel encamped beforethe mountain\". Noting how the word for encamped is used in its singular form, the sages tell us thathere the Jewish people stood united. Why was this the only place where Israel was able to stand united?Because at the mountain they received Torah! And so clearly, the Jewish People can only be unifiedwhen they share the common goal of Torah, since there is no other goal for the Jewish People. Notehow Rashi brings down the Mechilta on this verse: \"As one man with one heart (mind), but all the otherencampments (before Sinai) were with complaints and with strife\". The Hebrew word for complaintsused here is \"Tarumot\" - which is complaints against Hashem. Division amongst the Jewish Peoplebegins when its basic goal is questioned. The moment there is \"Tarumot\" (complaints) against G-d,which is a result of lack of faith, then the entire basis for unity is uprooted. The fact is, that in such a 405

situation, G-d forbid if there is NOT a split amongst the Jewish People! That would mean that theJewish People were, G-d forbid, united around the goal of complaining against and questioning G-d!But since there will always be authentic believers amongst the Jewish people, it is guaranteed that theywill \"see to it\" that there will always be such division, which in this case is a positive thing.This is the intention of Rashi saying, \"As one man, as one heart\". After all, why the redundancy?Because the \"one heart\" is vital for unity. There must be the common goal. But if there is not \"oneheart\", (the goal), then there can be no unity of \"as one man\". For one cannot throw around emptyslogans of \"united we stand\" in order to gloss over a common lacking of national destiny.Many like to point out the words of our sages who say that in the days of King Ahab, there were no warcasualties despite the fact that they were idol worshipers, because there was no Lashon Hara amongstthem. (BaMidbar Raba, 19) So many want to learn from this that unity by itself without a positive goalcan be a good thing. The answer is the following: The fact that no one fell in war was reward for thefact that the Jewish People in that generation did not inform (Lashon Hara) to the wicked kingdomabout the prophets who had been hidden in the cave and who Ahab wanted to kill! Again, their unitywas around a positive goal. They were not rewarded because they were unified around idol worship.Let us mention here that Hashem's prophet chastised the righteous King Yehoshafat for allying himselfto the same Ahab, and joining him in battle: As part of his chastisement he states: \"And Yehoshafatmade peace with he king of Israel\". Yes, making peace with a fellow Jew who is wicked is broughtdown here as a negative thing. (Kings 1, 22:45, see Radak there) 406

Mishpatim 407

PARSHAT MISHPATIM Normal People Think Ahead (1992) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny GoldbergOn the verse in our parsha, \"If a thief be found breaking in, and be smitten that he die, there shall be noblood shed on his account\", Rashi brings down a gemorah that is certain to shock liberal Jews: \"If onecomes to slay you, arise and slay him first. And this man (the thief) indeed came to kill you, for behold,he knows that one will not stand there and quietly watch his possessions being stolen. Therefore, theowner, having this in mind that the thief is prepared to kill him, should arise and slay him first.\"Absolutely amazing! In other words, the sages are telling us here that the rule, \"if one comes to slayyou, slay him first\" does not exclusively apply to the situation where one has a knife being held to histhroat. In the above Rashi we see a much more expanded application of this simple \"halacha\". We seethat one is obligated to think a few steps ahead and anticipate what the likely result will be. If one seesa real potential that this person will slay him, this in itself requires one to \"arise and slay him first\".What the sages have done here is to enter the psyche of the house thief, who, knowing the likelihood ofresistance, has prepared himself to kill the owner if necessary. The knowledge of the owner that thethief is ready to kill him, even if only potentially, allows him to kill the thief first.How we have distorted the concept of \"if one comes to slay you, arise and slay him first\"! The average\"moderdox\" Jew thinks that one can only rise up and slay the Arab who is caught in the \"pose\" ofthrowing a molotov cocktail, or one is yelling \"Allah Achbar\" as he chases his victim with a hatchet.He believes that if the danger is not this very instant but rather one hour from now or one week fromnow, than certainly the law does not apply. What was obvious to the sages, that one must think a fewsteps ahead and not \"stand there and quietly watch his possessions being stolen\", is not obvious intodays society where \"humanism\" and distorted concepts of morality run rampant.In Israel, Jews continue to passively accept being beaten and humiliated by our enemy, lacking thehealthy and normal survival instinct to \"arise and slay him first\". This self-restraint is justified by thelogic that the situation is not life-threatening. And so, soldiers and settlers shoot warning shots in the airafter being attacked, since the danger, as they see it, is no longer imminent. According to I.D.F.guidelines, soldiers, upon seeing a terrorist must shout a warning, shoot in the air, and if the situationreally gets hot, shoot at the legs. Only a Jew already dead is permitted to open fire, since one whoreacts beforehand will find himself brought to trial on murder charges.In short, we have learned two important ideas. Firstly, the rule, \"if one comes to slay you, arise and slayhim first\", is not limited to a situation where one is pointing a gun to your head, but rather one ispermitted to anticipate potential danger to one's life. Secondly, only a nation void of any self-respectwon't rise up and fight back. After all, the above Rashi deals with fighting back for one's property.Shouldn't it be all the more so when one's life is being threatened?We must cease to interpret and define the \"halacha\" according to what is comfortable to our westernmentality and mind set. We must \"rise up\", as one rises early for the \"vatikin\" prayer, and think a fewlogical steps ahead so that we can kill the murderous trespasser before it is too late. 408

\"THEY SHALL NOT DWELL IN YOUR LAND\" (1999) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny GoldbergSeveral months ago a group of 120 Rabbis from the \"religious-Zionist\" camp issued a statementregarding the prohibition of handing over parts of Eretz Yisrael to gentiles. The five part statementbegan as follows: \"Eretz Yisrael in its entirety belongs to the Jewish nation, and we are commanded bythe Torah to inherit it and to dwell in it, and not to leave it in the hands of any other nation. It isforbidden to allow the gentiles to have a foothold in Israel, as it is written,'do not allow them afoothold', and it is also written, 'they shall not dwell in your land'. Therefore it is forbidden to withdrawfrom any part of Eretz Yisrael, thereby leaving it, G-d forbid, in the hands of gentiles\".Seemingly, there is nothing new here. Ever since the withdrawal process from Eretz Yisrael gotunderway under Menachem Begin, we have heard from many sources, including the chief rabbinate,about the Torah prohibition forbidding the handing over of parts of Eretz Yisrael to gentiles. But in thislatest statement, there is an addition which caught our eye, and that is the inclusion of the verse fromour parsha, \"they shall not dwell in your land\".The Obligation To Expel the GoyimUp until now, it was customary for such pronouncements to only mention the verse, \"do not allow thema foothold\". From here the sages learn that \"it is forbidden to give them (the gentiles) a foothold in theland\" (Trachtate Yibamot), and this is brought down as the halacha. But they would never mention theverse, \"they shall not dwell in your land\", which is a clear prohibition against allowing gentiles to livein Eretz Yisrael while under Jewish sovereignty. Indeed we find that when the Rambam brings thehalacha forbidding gentiles to live in Eretz Yisrael, he sites this verse as the source of the prohibition.Here are his words from chapter ten of Hilchot Avodah Zarah (halacha 6) \"But at a time when Israelhas power over them (the gentiles), it is forbidden to allow them to live amongst us. Even as temporaryresidents... as it is written 'they shall not dwell in your land' - even temporarily. And if they accept theseven mitzvot of Bnei Noach, then they have the status of a resident stranger. And we only acceptresident strangers when the Jubilee is in effect\".Why did the religious national camp refrain from quoting the verse \"they shall not dwell in your land\"when justifying our hold onto the land? The answer is obvious. During the holy struggle by the rabbisto prevent withdrawals from Eretz Yisrael, they uncannily omitted the requirement of driving out thegentiles. This requirement is the flip side to the mitzvah of \"yishuv HaEretz\", inseparable from andessential to the mitzvah of Eretz Yisrael. There can be no inheritance of the land without adisinheritance of it's inhabitants. In order to avoid this issue, they were reluctant tobring the verse, \"they shall not dwell in your land\". [At this point we should mention that the verse, \"donot allow them a foothold\", also refers to the prohibition against allowing gentiles to remain in thoseparts of the land which we control, and not just to the buying, renting, or handing over of land, which iscertainly forbidden as well. In any event, the rabbis preferred bringing the verse \"do not allow them afoothold\" since it usually connotes the more limited prohibition of handing over Jewish land to gentilesovereignty, and thus avoids the bigger issue of removing the Arab trespasser].Making the \"Psak Halacha\" CompleteThe inclusion of the verse \"they shall not dwell in your land\" in this latest pronouncement is certainly apositive development. The problem is that after quoting this verse, and the verse, \"do not allow them afoothold,\" we are told in the very same breath that the conclusion of all this is that \"it is forbidden to 409

withdraw from any part of Eretz Yisrael and leave it G-d forbid, in the hands of gentiles\". That is theonly conclusion?? Can we not deduct something more from these two verses? If they are going to takethe time to finally quote \"do not allow them to dwell in your land\", should they not take the next step inpronouncing \"that we must drive the gentiles out of all parts of the land which are under our control,and no longer allow them to live in our land\", (and then afterwards they can add) \"and all the more so itis forbidden by the Torah to hand over parts of the land to the gentile\"!?Either Us or ThemBy now it is crystal clear to everyone that the tragic withdrawal process we find ourselves mired in isderived from the fact that we failed to drive out the gentile inhabitants after conquering the land. It isonly the presence of huge and hostile Arab population centers which brings us to the decision that\"there is no choice\" other than handing over land to them. If we would have fulfilled the verse \"do notallow them to dwell in your land\", then we would have been spared the transgression of the prohibition,\"do not allow them a foothold\". These commandments are intrinsically dependent on one another.On the verse, \"do not allow them to dwell in your land\", the Sforno comments: \"On those parts of theland which you conquer and dwell in - they shall not dwell. This was not done in the time of Joshua. Asit is written, 'the Canaanites lived amongst them at Gezer' (Judges chapter 2)...\" In other words, ourgeneration made the same tragic mistake as did the generation of Joshua. Yes, they captured the land.But by not driving out the inhabitants, they failed to actualize their conquest and sovereignty, which ineffect,rendered their conquest insubstantial. (see Judges, chapter 2) \"The deeds of the fathers are a signfor the sons\".JEWISH LAW VS. GENTILE LAWRabeinu BeChayei, in his book Kad HaKemach writes: \"It is forbidden to appear before a gentile courtof law, but only before Jewish ones, as the Torah says 'these are the ordinances which you shall setbefore them' \", and Rashi comments: 'before them, but not before the heathens'. And the sages teach usthat it is forbidden to be judged before a gentile court, even if you know that regarding a certain law,they will decide it like the laws of Israel. And so, one can only go to a court of God-fearing Torahscholars, as it says \"before them\"... The major substance of the Torah are its laws, and if we do not usethem, this is a Chillul Hashem, and he who does not protest against this desecrates the Name of God,and disgraces the Torah of Moshe, and gives a hand to idol-worship....And so it is no coincidence, that the Israeli judiciary stands at the front-line of the Hellenist camp inthis cultural war we find ourselves in the midst of. The recent decisions by the Israeli Supreme Court tocoerce the chief rabbinate to defy the Jewish halacha regrading the laws of marriage, kashurt, and \"whois a Jew\" is a part of their overall goal to cut down their natural foe - the rabbinical courts. It is to showthem again and again, who the \"boss\" is, what are the values upon which the state of Israel postulates -democratic values or Jewish ones. 410

Truma 411

PARSHAT TERUMA \"CLEANING UP THE MOUNT BEFORE BUILDING THE TEMPLE\"(2000) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny GoldbergThe following are excerpts from a lecture given by Binyamin Zev Kahane, H'yd, 2 years ago, forParashat Teruma:The parasha tell us \"and you shall make Me a sanctuary, and I shall dwell amongst them\". Simply put,we should be talking about the building of the Beit HaMikdash during this class. Today, religious Jewshave come up with all kinds of reasons (excuses?) why we shouldn't build the Temple: It will comefrom the heavens, or the Messiah will build it, we are not yet worthy, there are no Cohenim, etc....Each camp has its own special reason. Despite this problem, I will not refute these arguments in thisshiur, because as it says on the schedule, the topic of this class is: \"Cleaning up the Mount beforeBuilding the Temple\". Because I believe that with all the importance there is in building the Templeand refuting the aforementioned claims, the most BASIC and real obstacle to building the Templetoday is the existence of the Arab mosques and Waqk. That is what scares people away; that is whatmakes the concept of building the Temple sound like some far-fetched pipe-dream. Sure, the Templeseems like a distant fantasy because its been absent for 2,000 years and the offering of sacrifices is soremoved from us. But what really makes it difficult to take the building of the Temple seriously is thefact that we know how problematic that place is. The place where the Temple is supposed to stand isthe most problematic place in the entire world. This is the problem we run away from.There is a concept in Judaism, \"Sur Me Ra, Ase Tov\" (Remove evil, do good). Last week, for ParashatMishpatim, we discussed the strict prohibition of appearing before courts that carry out gentile law, andwe discussed how the Supreme Court spearheads the Hellenist front. People say that the solution is aSanhedrin. But that is not a real solution. The real solution is to first undercut the Israeli SupremeCourt. After all, what are we going to do - serve a petition to the Supreme Court to establish aSanhedrin? Of course the problem is a powerful and aggressive Israeli Supreme Court and judiciarysystem, which many people, including religious Jews find great favor with, unfortunately. And so,saying, \"we must establish a Sanhedrin\" is no answer. The REAL obstacle to the Sanhedrin and anyJewish content in our country is this all-powerful institution called the Supreme Court of Israel. Youwon't convince anyone by saying, \"establish a Sanhedrin\". It will always remain in the realm ofabstract, far off - because there already exists another well-oiled judiciary mechanism, which is theutter antithesis to a Sanhedrin.All the moreso when discussing the Temple. We say, \"we must build the Temple\". But it is a fantasywhen you have the very antithesis to it standing in its place. The problem is that people have difficultydealing with the \"negative\" aspects. They like to do the \"positive\" aspects, as we have mentionedbefore regarding the building of settlements. People want to build settlements, but don't want to dealwith the \"negative\" aspect of the mitzvah of settling the land, which is the expulsion of the goyim. Insimilar fashion, people like to establish Temple Institutes and to show the beauty of the Temple vessels,and to give the feeling of the splendor and importance of the Temple. Of course this should be done -but if ONLY this is done, there is no way we will make it a reality. First, you must take care of theproblem. That's \"Sur Me Ra, Ase Tove\". It is like doing surgery - you have to cut. There is blood and itis messy - so people choose to skirt the issue.But we must do it - we have no choice. 412

We must deal with the desecration that takes place up there. After the \"shiur\" you will see a shockingvideo from \"Chai ViKayam\" which shows the shocking reality of the Temple Mount situation. It is amust see. Every rabbi should see it. Unfortunately most rabbis will say that videos and TV's are\"impure\". The problem is that we worry about the small \"impurities\", and forget about the big\"impurities\" (like on the Temple Mount)It says in the Zohar, Parashat VaYetze: \"Rebbe Zera went to meet with R. Elazar, and saw him crying.Rebbi Zera asked the shamash of R. Elazar, 'why does he sit and cry'? The \"shamash\" said: 'twice Itried to get near him to find out, but I couldn't'. They saw R. Elazar leave his place of learning andcrying on his way home. Rebbe Zera heard R. Elazar say: 'The stone, the stone. The holy and loftieststone - the nations of the world, in the future, will degrade you and put loathsome idols on top of you todefile your holy place. Oy for the world, oy for that time, oy for that generation!'\"We are talking about the \"evin hashtiya\", the foundation stone in the Temple on which the arc stood.The Zohar continues: \"R Elazar sat down, and Rebbe Zera asked his \"shamash\": 'Go ask him if I cansee him'. The shamash entered and said, 'Rebbe Zera is here'. R. Elazar did not react. After a littlewhile, he said, 'let R Zera enter, and you sit outside'. Rebbe Zera entered. He prostrated himself beforehim. R. Elazar kicked him and said, 'arise from your bowing and sit regular'. He sat in his usualmanner. Rebbe Zera asked him: 'what were you crying about?' He said, 'On a great tragedy that willtake place. I saw that the holy stone from which the world was created; the stone which Yaakov's headrested upon, and on which the Almighty built His House upon for the Divine Presence to rest - I sawthat on this stone, it is destined in the future to be degraded by the nations, and upon it will be theircorpses. Who won't cry? Oy to the world, oy to that time, oy to that generation.\" We are talking about the impurity (\"tooma\") on the place of our holiest site. We know that the TempleMount today has indeed become a cemetary for the Arab corpses. Abdullah, king of Jordan is buriedthere. The flag of Jordan waves on the Temple Mount. In short, they have deliberately put a lot of\"tooma\" there. Throughout history, the forces of \"tooma\" have been attracted to the Temple Mount.After the Bar Cochba rebellion, Hadrian built a temple for idols; the Christians and the Muslimsafterwards. Our sages didn't just cry about the \"churban\" (destruction), but they also cry about theforeign intruders and impurities which permeate the area.In Sefer HaMitzvot, the Rambam brings down that we are forbidden to plant trees on the TempleMount, even if it is for beautifying the area. Today we know that the area is full of trees and grass, sothat the Arabs can have their picnics. When David fought the wars of Israel, he conquered areas outsideof Israel (Aram Zova and Aram Naharayim), but neglected the Yevusites in Jerusalem. The Sifri says:\"The area of My palace you didn't conquer, and you go and fight Aram Zova?\". But David DIDconquer Jerusalem, as we see in Shmuel Bet, so why is Hashem saying he didn't conquer it? But theanswer is that he left the Yevusites \"autonomy\". Despite the fact that the Yevusites were residentstrangers, it was not considered conquering them, because he left them with self-rule on the TempleMount. It is like today, where we build and build on the outskirts, but \"near My palace, you didn'tconquer\".If we don't talk about the need to remove the disgrace, we arrive at absurd conclusions. Here is anarticle by someone who suggests building the Temple in the area of the Kotel. He says this will\"neutralize the hostility\" between the nations. All this is a symptom of the sickness of not talking aboutthe mosques. It's not nice to talk about dismantling them, or blowing them up, or moving them. Buttheir presence is what deters most people from thinking about building the Temple. Here is another ideawritten here: We needn't dismantle the mosques, but rather we can have a kind of dual-condiminium 413

concept - maybe build the Temple on the second floor of the mosque...(laughter) All this stems from thesickness that we don't want a confrontation. So we have the hugest contradiction in the world: theholiest site contains the greatest \"tooma\". So we evade the issue. If you don't settle problems andcontradictions, the results are absurd and ridiculous ideas. We see this in all areas of life here. Myfather wrote an entire book on the subject called, \"Koo-Koo Land\", to depict the insanity. Today, thesituation is much worse.As I researched through the articles on the Temple Mount, I asked myself: what happened to all thatawakening which had been taking place ten years ago in regard to ascending Har HaBayit, etc. Therehad been the beginning of a real awakening in the subject. Chai ViKayam had been going up, breakingthrough. Others were going up.. What happenend to it all. Why has it faded? People go up the Mountstill, but less than before. But there is no progress. When Chai ViKayam started, they had an intentionto force the issue much further, but things got stuck, everything is stuck...Question: But we must go up still, it helps..Kahane: I say that as a rule, ascending the Mount through degradation won't help us. People should goup the Temple Mount, if that's all there is, people should do it. But I think that such activities won'tlight the fire, won't elevate, or have any revolutionary impact. This goes for all the activities takingplace on the national front. Everything is stuck. For twenty years we have had the \"Aliyot\" to theMount, and there is no progress. Therefore, we must contemplate why.I say that we are not in the galut, and we can't act as if we are. To go up to the Temple Mount, topresent our Tiudat Zehut, to be frisked, to be escorted by the Waqk - it's a degradation! We alreadysupposedly passed the stage of degradation. We are not supposed to be a generation of degradation.Though we are, it is not supposed to be. The Almighty returned us to Eretz Yisrael in order to blot outthe desecration of His Name. And the Beit HaMikdash won't be built via degradation. The State ofIsrael wasn't established through degradation, but through mighty heroism and self-sacrifice of Jewswho fought and fell on Kiddush Hashem. Beit Mikdash can't be built through anything less. It won't bebuilt via \"understandings\" with the Waqf, which is the plan of many mistaken Jews. It just doesn't gotogether.Question: What's the alternative?Kahane: That's a big question. The alternative is mighty deeds, Kiddush Hashem. I know thealternative. I'm not leveling complaints against anyone.But we must know that there is a lack of self-sacrifice today, and I know that even being one of the fewwho ascend the Mount under the present conditions is self-sacrifice, too. But it's not enough. TheAlmighty demands a great deal more of us. This is why everything that has been tried up to now hasnot worked - Hashem is not letting it work, because he wants greater \"msirut nefesh\". I'm not betterthan anyone else, but this is how I understand the realities of the situation... 414

The Grandest Mitzvah of Them All Faces Total Blackout (1994) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny GoldbergIt seems as if every year when Parshat Teruma rolls around, rabbis all over the world become hard-pressed for their sermons. Sermons, after all, must be \"relevant for our times\". And what could be lessrelevant for our times than the laws of the Temple, sacrifices, and ritual purity? One third of all themitzvot of the Torah are dependent upon the building of the Temple, yet this mitzvah is absolutelyignored by so many religious Jews.Yes, there is such a mitzvah, and this Shabbat we read it: \"and they small make a Temple; that I maydwell among them.\" A positive commandment that is emphasized no less than laying tefilin or eatingmatzoh on Passover.Waiting for MessiahOne of the leading arguments preventing Jews from taking this commandment seriously is that we mustwait for the Messiah first. In other words, the mitzvah of building the Temple is not incumbent upon us,but rather upon Messiah. Is this really so? Let us take a look at the words of the Rambam at the verybeginning of \"Hilchot Bait HaBechirah\": \"It is a positive commandment to construct a House for God,prepared for sacrifices to be offered within. We (must) celebrate there three times a year as it is written,'and you shall make me a Temple'.\" Is the Rambam limiting this mitzvah to Messiah? No. No one intheir right mind can take this mitzvah, or any other mitzvah for that matter, and claim that the Messiahhas some kind of exclusivity over it. The mitzvot were given so that the Jewish People can fulfill them,and God forbid we dismiss ourselves from even one mitzvah by passing it on to someone else, nomatter how great that someone might be.But at the end of \"Hilchot Milachim\", the Rambam writes: \"The Messiah will eventually arise... andbuild the Temple in its place and gather the dispersed of Israel\". This is an apparent contradiction to theRambam's own words in \"Hilchot Bait Habechirah\". The fact is, there is no contradiction. In \"HilchotMilachim\" the Rambam does not tell us that it must be that the Messiah build the Temple, but ratherthat if it is not already built (either because of the Jewish People's criminal negligence, or because theredemption will come so swiftly that we will not have time to build it - this being an irrelevant scenarioin our times), then he will build it. Other commentators explain that Messiah will build the Templeaccording to the futuristic plans outlined in the Book of Ezekhiel, since the description isincomprehensible to us, and we, until then, should build the Temple according to the designs of theSecond Temple. But most important are the words of the \"Kesef Mishnah\" (who is Yosef Kairo, theauthor of the Shulchan Aruch) who comments on the Rambam's writings in \"Hilchot Milachim\": \"Thischapter and the one after (which deals with the subject of Messiah) is to strengthen the faith about thecoming of Messiah, and one should not draw halachic conclusions from it.\"If one is not yet convinced, here are the words of the Rambam in \"Egeret from Yemen\": \"The mitzvot(all of them) do not depend on the coming of Messiah, but rather we are obligated to immerse ourselvesin Torah and mitzvot and try to perform them to perfection, and after doing what we have beenobligated to do, if God allows us, or our children, or our children's children to merit to see Messiah, allthe better. And if not, we have not lost a thing, but rather we benefited by doing what we wereobligated to do.\"The Temple Coming Down From the HeavensThe second argument against building the Temple today dismisses even the Messiah from taking 415

action. We are taking about the argument that the Third Temple will come down from the heavens,ready and built. First of all, simply put, such an approach automatically cancels many of the 613mitzvot given by the Torah! In addition, since when do we rely on Aggadic sources to determinehalachic matters? It must be understood that when a midrash or Aggadic source mentions a ThirdTemple coming down from the sky, it is not teaching us the practical (\"LaMayse\") or operational aspectof the mitzvah, but rather comes to convey to us an idea that goes beyond the \"dry\" halacha. Mostsages explain that the idea intended here is that once we start to build the Temple (notice how theyweren't so quick to give up on such an important mitzvah), G-d will bring down His Divine Presenceupon it. The \"Third Temple In the Heavens\" represents the spiritual aspect of the physical Temple downon earth. This same concept of a Temple above to coincide with the Temple below is also mentioned inAggadic sources concerning the building of the Tabernacle by Moses, and after the construction of thefirst Temple by Solomon.Bringing 200 Mitzvot Back to LifePerhaps it would not be so bad if our inactivity and lack of awareness to fulfill this mitzvah caused theTemple Mount to stand empty. But that is not the case. In the absence of Jewish presence there isMuslim occupation of the site. The vacuum created by lack of sanctification of G-d's Name has beenfilled by a terrible desecration of God's Name. Jews go to the \"Kotel\" and ignore the Muslim domesabove their heads and are oblivious to the wailing of the jackals that blare from the loudspeakers fivetimes a day.Every generation is obligated to build the Holy Temple (see \"Ohr HaChayim\" on the verse, \"and theyshall make a temple...\") and the conquest of the Temple Mount 28 years ago gives our generation anunprecedented opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah. It still is not too late. Removing the Mosques: Part One of the Mitzvah of Building the Temple (1996) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny GoldbergOn the verse, \"and you shall make me a sanctuary\", the Ohr HaChaim writes: \"And by saying, 'youmake shall me a sanctuary' - it is a mitzvah for all times\". The Rambam writes in Chapter 1 of \"HilchotBet HaBicheira\": \"It is a positive commandment to construct a House for G-d, as it is written, 'and youshall make me sanctuary...\" We have discussed this subject on numerous occasions, and we willcontinue writing about how the mitzvah of building the Temple is an unconditional commandment, notdependent on Moshiach, and not on the nation's \"level\". Certainly we will continue to address all theother arguments and lame excuses that have enabled Jews to dismiss themselves from this vitalmitzvah.But in this article, our goal is not to deal with the different arguments which oppose the building of theTemple in our days. A reason for this is that in recent years, more and more people have become awareof the Temple and the Temple Mount. The irrelevant arguments preventing Jews from building theTemple and entering the Temple Mount have been refuted in the hearts of many, as heightenedawareness of the subject has caused Jews to study the subject in halachic depth. More and more peopleare beginning to understand that unless we are absolutely under compulsion (as was the situation for1800 years when we did not have sovereignty in the Land of Israel), there are no excuses for cancelingany mitzvah from the Torah, including the grand mitzvah of building the Temple, of which another 200mitzvot are dependent upon. The moment the opportunity to build the Temple returned to us, then the 416

mitzvah, \"and you shall make me a sanctuary\" also returned to become an obligation, no different thanlaying tefilin.But before we can pick up the mortar and bricks to start fulfilling the awesome mitzvah of building theHoly Temple, there is a problem. It is on this problem we shall now concentrate, for it certainly is aprecondition for building the Temple.We are talking about the terrible \"Hillul Hashem\" (Desecration of G-d's Name) that is created by theexistence of the Moslem Mosques on the Temple Mount, precisely upon the place where the Holy ofHolies once stood. We are speaking about the fact that while Jews are forbidden to pray or to exhibitsigns of sovereignty there, the Arab jackals desecrate the site, blasting their loudspeakers five times aday, turning the place into their national and spiritual center, the hotbed for incitement and Jew-hatred.Let us not make the same tragic mistake concerning the Temple Mount that the YESHA settlementleaders made. What mistake are we referring to? Since the very beginning of the Gush Emmunimsettlement movement, Rabbi Kahane, HY\"D, warned and pleaded that if we do not deal with the other(\"negative\") side of the mitzvah of \"Yishuv HaAretz\" – that is if we do not expel the gentiles, than G-dforbid, the settlements will not last, as the Torah explicitly says. But his warnings fell on deaf ears. Thesettlement leaders preferred dealing in the \"positive\" aspects of \"Yishuv HaAretz\", not wanting tojeopardize public support by discussing the Arab threat. The results we see today: The Arabs arose, theleft labeled all the settlers as \"extremists\" anyway, etc., etc.It appears that the exact same mistake is in danger of being repeated concerning the Temple Mount.The desire to be accepted by larger segments of the public and to expand existing circles has preventedall talk about the removing of the terrible reproach that is represented by the mosques on the TempleMount. There is a difference, though. On the subject of \"Eretz Yisrael\", the settlers were able to settlethe land, and temporarily ignore (with the help of their illusions) the Arab powder keg that laid plantedbeneath the entire settlement enterprise. But regarding the Temple Mount, even this is impossible. Whatwill they do? Build the Temple on the second floor of the mosque??The removal of the mosques is an obligation that precedes the obligation of building the Temple. First,one must \"remove from evil\" (\"Sur MiRah\"), before he can \"do good\". (\"Ase Tov\") And so, we mustspeak about removing the mosques just as we speak about building the Temple. What are we afraid of?They will label us as fanatics? They do it anyhow! 417

418

Ki-Sissa 419

PARSHAT KI-TISSA The Seven Canaanite Nations - a People Or a Concept? (1994) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny GoldbergAt the end of Parshat Ki-Tisa, God prepares the Jewish people for their entry into the land of Israel(which awaited them shortly if not for the subsequent sin of the spies), and we see the followingcommandment: \"Observe thou that which I am commanding thee this day, behold, I am driving outbefore thee the Amorite, and the Cananite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and theJebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thougoes, lest they be for a snare in the midst of thee.\"(34:11,12)The children of Israel are about to set foot into the land of Israel, which is heavily populated by severaldifferent nations. God does not ignore the fact (like we do today) that there is a definite \"Canaaniteproblem\", and he gives the solution straight up: The Jews must give the Canaanite nations threepossible options: (see Rambam, Hilchot Milachim, Chapter 6 regarding the three letters that Joshuasent) 1. To accept the fact that the Jewish people are taking over their land even before the Jews enter, and then they can remain in the land as long as they agree to the conditions of obeying the seven Noachide Laws, taxes, and servitude. 2. If this is unacceptable to them, they have the right to leave the country immediately. 3. Their final option is to stay and fight to prevent the Jews from settling the land, and the halacha regarding their entire population of men, women, and children is: \"And thou shalt not allow a soul to live.\" After being defeated in war, they are not permitted to \"regret\" or change their minds and say: Wait, we made a mistake and we are willing to give up and accept the first option. For they have already surrendered their right to remain and live in Israel.That isn't Kahane speaking, that is the Bible.A Fifth ColumnThe great commentator the Abarbenel, on the aforementioned verse, comments on this finalcommandment which prohibits the making of a pact with the nations of the land after they have beendefeated in war, and explains the reasoning behind it: \"Because after they (the Jewish People) took theland from them, there is no doubt that they will seek to do evil to the Jews. For this the verse says, 'theland whither you goest', meaning because you, the Jews, came to this land and took it from itsinhabitants; you stole and conquered it, how can they ever make a covenant of peace and love withyou?! In other words, if there is a war (with enemies from outside), they will join your enemies andfight against you.\"Here, the Abarbenel has taught us a tremendous lesson by entering the psyche of the conquered nation.The halachic prohibition of making a covenant with the inhabitants of the land who fought against youand tried to prevent you from settling the land is derived from a very logical consideration which takesinto account the natural feelings of the nations from which the land was conquered. For a nation whichbelieves with all its heart that we stole their land will never comes to terms with such a situation, andwill forever wait for the day when he can take his land back. Even if today he realizes that he hasn't theopportunity to overcome the Jews and even shows signs of accepting the way things are and evensmiles at us, he will join the enemy as a fifth column. How can one ignore these very troubling, but 420

very natural and normal feelings that fester in the hearts of the \"loser\" - feelings that will be carriedover to the children, who become even more frustrated than the parents.For this reason the halacha comes to tell us that we must drive out those nations who refuse to acceptJewish rule and our conditions. The moment they engage in war with us and lose, they will never stopyearning and aspiring to take back the land they see as theirs.History Repeats ItselfThe Abarbenel pulls the rug out from all of those who babble about laws only applying to the SevenNations. According to logic and reason, there is absolutely no difference between the Seven Nationsand the Ishmaelites today. They rose up against us and tried to drive us into the sea. They wage a cruelwar, and unleash vicious terror in their struggle to wipe us off of the face of the earth. In so doing, theyhave become the \"Eighth Nation\", joining the list of the original seven, for the same concepts holdconcerning them. (Similar things can be seen in Trachtate Avoda Zara, 20, Tosfos, and in many otherlaws whose origin is from the Torah, yet are applied to all nations since the codifiers did not see areason to differentiate between them and the Seven Nations.)How Should a Jewish Government Behave?Can there be the slightest doubt that the words of the Abarbenel also apply to the Ishmaelites of todayin Israel, who after their defeat, \"seek to do evil to the Jews\", and will always wait for that great daywhen they can actualize their vision of \"slaughter the Jews\"? Can there be any value to a treaty withthem, other than enabling them to buy time and get stronger until the moment arises when they areconfident enough to try and massacre all of us? a true Jewish government would carry out the last partof the letter sent by Joshua to the Canaanites giving them the option of fleeing for their lives, orsuffering the consequences! WHEN DO WE CARE WHAT THE GOYIM WILL THINK? (1999) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny GoldbergAfter the sin of the golden calf, God decides upon a most severe punishment: the annihilation of theJewish People. At that point, Moshe Rabeinu steeps himself in prayer in an effort to abolish the decree.What was the argument Moshe used in order to remove the terrifying decree? \"Why should theEgyptians speak, saying: For evil did He bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and toconsume them from the face of the earth\". In Parashat Eikev as well (Dvarim, 9:28), Moshe retells theepisode: \"Lest they say...because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land (of) which Hepromised unto them...\" In other words, when Moshe understood that the sin was so great and ran out ofstatements of defense, the \"clincher argument\" he called upon to prevent the annihilation of Israel was,in essence, \"what will the goyim say\".In the sin of the spies episode, as well, God decides to wipe out Israel. There, too, interestingly enough,Moshe uses the same argument to nullify the decree: \"And the Egyptians will hear...and the nationswhich have heard of the fame of Thee will say: because the Lord was not able to bring this people intothe land which he swore to them, therefore He has slain them in the wilderness\" (BaMidbar, 14:13-16) 421

And so the question that begs asking is: That's the reason Israel was not wiped out? Only because,\"what will the goyim say\"?? And without this, it's OK to wipe them out?In DenialFrom here we learn a basic tenet of Judaism regarding Am Yisrael which must be repeated a thousandtimes over: The Name of God and of Am Yisrael is connected to one another in a direct way. It is aconnection that cannot be severed. This is why the degradation of the Jewish People is a degradation ofHis Holy Name, and the elevation of the Jewish People is a sanctification of His Name.Deep in the recesses of their consciousness, the goyim have always sensed since the beginning ofhistory, that the Jewish People are tied to the true God. But it is difficult for them to come to terms withthis. They have always tried to deny this, but it is precisely their hysterical denials which bear out thispoint. Their obsessive hate for Jews, and their attempts to replace the Jews as the chosen ones - fromEsau to Pharo to Nebuchadnezer to Christianity, until the Germans and Arabs of today - all this is proofthat their conscious gives them no rest. This is the deeper understanding of the saying: \"Esau hatesYaakov\", which is manifested today in a phenomenon coined \"anti-Semitism.\"This is why whenever the Jews were weak and oppressed, the goyim felt like winners. Pharo saw it thatway when he oppressed \"bnei Yisrael\"; the Romans saw the destruction of the Temple as a victory oftheir god over the God of Israel; and in the same fashion the Christians explained from a theologicalstandpoint why the Jews suffered in the long exile.This historical pattern is no coincidence. It is a law of nature which God set down at the very core ofthe creation: it is part of the eternal and uncompromising struggle of mankind - will man acknowledgethe Lord of Israel or won't he.The Eternal ConnectionFor this reason, when God informed Moshe of his intention to wipe out Israel, Moshe \"reminded\" Himthat even if Israel's deeds justify such a punishment, and even if the merit of the fathers is not enough toatone for such a severe sin - Hashem \"cannot\" go through with it! For the moment Hashem, God forbid,erases Israel from the map, He simultaneously, so to speak, erases His own Name, since it is directlyconnected to that of Israel's.This is the meaning of, \"why should the Egyptians say\". In this case, what they have to say is critical.For their perception that the god of Egypt is strong and the God of Israel hasn't the strength to sustainHis people is proof that He, himself, doesn't exist. We are talking about a \"Hillul Hashem\" (desecrationof His Name) in the deepest sense.When Does God \"Live\"?In Parashat Shlach, following the sin of the spies, God says something to Moshe which is simplyamazing. Immediately after God tells Moshe, \"I have pardoned, according to thy word\", (that is, Iforgive them for the reason you mentioned) the verse continues, \"but truly, as I live...\"The Gemorah in Tractate Brachot says: \"Which teaches us that the Almighty told him: Moshe, youhave made Me live with your words\". If the Gemorah didn't say it, we would never dare say such athing. Hashem is saying to Moshe: By \"preventing\" Me from wiping out Israel, you have made Mecome to life! Why? Because if I had destroyed Israel, then I, too, so to speak, would not have existed.This is Hillul Hashem in the literal sense of the word - Hillul (desecration) being derived from thehebrew word \"halal\", which means vacuum or empty. Hashem would have been \"emptied\" from theworld! 422

This lesson should be with us when we try to understand the events taking place in this generation. Godpromised that even if we are not worthy, we will still be redeemed. Why? The prophet Ezekhiel says(36): \"Not for your sakes shall I do this, but for My Holy Name's sake which you have profaned amongthe nations\". This is precisely the idea Moshe told Hashem in Parashat Ki-Tisa and Parashat Shlach.God's Name is tied to our name, and thus, He cannot destroy us. For the same reason he must redeemus from the depths, and raise us high. 423

424

Vayechel-Pekudi 425

PARSHOT VAYAKHEL – PIKUDEIA TIME TO BUILDParshiyot Vayakhel and Pekudei are basically repetitions of the material which was previously coveredin parshiyot Terumah and Tezaveh. This naturally gives rise to an often asked question: How can ourTorah, which we know is never redundant, go ahead and \"waste\" so much space on all of these extraverses? Why not simply state, \"and the bnei Yisrael did as Moses commanded them\", as is frequentlydone in the Torah?It is also important to note that even in the description itself of the Tabernacle and its vessels, the Torahis uncharacteristically verbose. Furthermore, these portions are only an introduction to the book ofVayikra, which deals primarily with topics related to the tabernacle and offerings. And yet, despite itall, most of us feel completely detached from these portions of the Torah. We can't seem to relate tothem, despite the fact that over one third of the mitzvot are connected to the subject of the Temple andsacrifices.Lost ProportionsIn light of these facts, it must be concluded that our sense of proportion regarding what Judaismconsiders truly important has been badly distorted. While this Torah sheet often expounds upon basicideas and concepts which in this lost generation have become so foreign to us, what we see now is thateven the mitzvot themselves have become foreign to us, and the Torah has been reduced to it's bearminimum.The reason that the Torah allocates such a hefty portion to the Temple and the sacrifices, is becausethese subjects are so central to the living of a true Jewish life. It is curious that when the Torah devotesa lot of space pertaining to the details of other mitzvot, no one sees this as strange. On the contrary,many feel that indeed, more space should be allotted to the explanations of various mitzvot. Why?Because people understand that without the mitzvot, there is no Torah. But this is precisely theproblem. While everyone understands that there is no Judaism without mitzvot, many do not grasp thefact that the Temple and sacrifices are also essential to Judaism, and without them, there really is noJudaism.The Holy Temple In Our DaysOnly now can we begin to address the issue of our obligation to rebuild the Temple and renew thesacrifices. In general, this idea is met with immediate opposition. There are no shortage of excuses,each camp offering it's own explanation why we can't build the Temple today. Some say: \"The Templewill fall from the sky, and it is none of our business\". Others claim: \"The Temple is a project for theMessiah\". And then there is this gem: \"We are on too low a level to deal with such a lofty topic\". Andthere are more.A Mitzva is a MitzvaFor all these excuses, there are clear and powerful answers. However, in this limited space, we cannotbring them down. But there really is no need to. Why? Because the rebuilding of the Temple is one ofthe 613 commandments. Case closed. Have you ever heard anyone say that eating matzoh on Passoveris a job for the Messiah? Has anyone ever said: Family purity? Mikveh? What for?! Family purity willdescend from the heavens! Or how about: Study Torah!? A lowly sinner like me should study the holy 426

Torah!?Of course these excuses are absurd. We do not seek ways to avoid performing mitzvot, all the moresothe mitzvah which literally causes the Divine Presence (Shechina) to dwell amongst us. (Dear friends,did G-d allow us to conquer the Temple Mount thirty years ago just so that the Arabs can continue todesecrate His Name on our holiest site, this time under Jewish sovereignty? Shouldn't we feel that thisis the very last mitzvah we should choose to ignore?)Grass eatersMany say that since in the exile there were mitzvot which served as substitutes for the \"Shechina\", it isnot so terrible if we suffice with these substitutes temporarily in Israel, too. But in the exile we had nochoice, and Hashem will forgive us for neglecting the mitzvot pertaining to the Temple. But now, whenwe control our own fate, how can we possibly suffice with substitutes? This is similar to a man whoeats grass instead of food. People ask him: What are you doing? He answers: Look, I was once stuck inthe wilderness without food. I found some grass and I ate it to survive. They tell him: Fool! Then, youhad no choice, so you were forced to eat grass. But now? You have real food, so why are you stilleating grass? And we. When will we stop eating grass?... The Pitfall of Power: Arrogance (1994) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny GoldbergTwo years after the Jews left the suffering, slavery and humiliations of Egypt, they constructed theTabernacle - the place where G-d's Presence prevails in the world and the pipeline for all the prayers ofthe Jewish People to their Father in Heaven. Precisely at such a momentous occasion, one would expectthe leaders of the Jewish People to step up and set an example in the building of the Tabernacle, and toplay a key role in the contributions and sacrifices that are involved in the erecting of G-d's house. Butquite to the contrary, we find the following verse: \"And the princes brought the onyx stones\" (35-27)and Rashi comments: \"Rabbi Nathan said: Why did the princes contribute at the dedication of the altarat the beginning, while at the construction of the Tabernacle they did not contribute at the beginning?Instead, thus did the princes say: 'Let the community contribute what it will contribute, and we willcomplete whatever will be lacking. And since they were slothful at first, \"yud\" is missing from theirname (the Hebrew letter \"yud\" is missing from the word prince, in Hebrew - Niseim). Rabeinu Bchaiadds: \"For it is the way of the princes to look down on the rest of the nation ... and thus princes broughtthe stones that rested on Aharon's heart, in order to atone for the arrogance of their heart. These sameprinces who not long ago were lowly slaves and now were princes of Israel - immediately uponreceiving their high appointment, they started to look down at their brothers, and on this the Talmud inTrachtate Pesachim says: \"Four things are intolerable ... the public appointee who looks down at therest of the community for no reason.\"Ego Rises With PowerThe Torah's concern for one's high position affecting his ego is seen clearly in the laws dealing with theKing. The following is written in Parshat Shoftim: \"He shall not multiply horses to himself...Neithershall he multiply to himself wives that his heart turns not away; and silver and gold will he not greatlymultiply to himself...and he will write a copy of this Torah. And it shall be with him and he shall read 427

therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God...that his heart is not lifted upabove his brethren.\" And the Rambam in Hilchot Tefilah adds: \"One who prays must bow five timeseach and every tefilah...and the King since he prostrates himself from the very beginning of his prayer,does not raise his head until he finishes the entire prayer.\"Our Mission: To Bring Down the Haughty In Our DaysWe can see the arrogance, corruption and egoism of the Israeli politician most overtly during anelection year. Each party stomps on the fresh blood of Jewish victims to further its political advantage,though none of them possess an iota of a solution to the problem.We have observed our \"leaders\" basking in the glory of Nobel Peace Prizes and in the shadow ofgentile leaders and Arab murderers, so engrossed with themselves, their speeches of \"peace\" and theirplace in the history books that no amount of Jewish blood can budge them from their \"vision\".May it be G-d's Will that these leaders be replaced by true Jewish leaders guided by Torah, and whoknow that, \"It is not high appointment I give you, but rather bondage I give you.\" May we merit leaderswho go in the way of Moshe Rabeinu, who not only was not interested about his reputation in thehistory books, but was even willing to have his name erased from God's Holy Book itself (\"Blot me, Ipray thee, out of Thy book which You have written\", Exodus, 32-32) in order to save the Jewish peoplefrom annihilation. We must have leaders who possess self-sacrifice to serve the community, and notexploit it. Turn to Me and I Will Turn to You (1998) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny GoldbergThis is the time of year when the weekly Torah readings deal with thesubjects of the Temple, sacrifices,and ritual purity. But alas, for thevast majority of us these parshas seem irrelevant. But what are we todo?They appear in the Torah, and therefore we must read them. They do notinspire us at all. In fact, wefeel detached and are bored by them.The Red HeiferAnd yet, even the subject of the red heifer cannot be kept inconsequential forever. Here we are, aboutto read \"Parshat Para\" which deals with the laws of the red heifer, another seemingly irrelevant topic .Or is it? Surely you have heard of the red heifer which was born in Kfar Chassidim, which caused greatexcitement. Recently, though, it was disqualified when it grew two black hairs on its tail at the age ofsix months. Apparently, only a very few people were truly devastated by this. Everyone else,obviously,dismissed it with the thought: Nu, we've lived 2,000 years without this sacred cow, certainlywe can wait a little more... And thus they returned to their truly important affairs....We have not the slightest doubt that this red heifer, like so many other events taking place in our days,is a sign from heaven. Everything is ready( but we prefer to busy ourselves in the smallness of our day-to-day lives. Even the disqualifying black hairs are a sign from above: G-d may open thedoor, but it isstill up to us to enter. And if not, then that door closes. In our generation, G-d has opened up manydoors for us; we have had opportunity after opportunity. And us? King Solomon described this situationlaconically in the Song of Songs: \"my Beloved is knocking, saying, Open tome, my sister, my bride,my undefiled..\". And us? \"I have put off my coat;how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; howshall I soil them?\" And in the meantime - \"But my Beloved has turned away\".... 428

\"The Divine Presence\" - What Is It?The real question is: Do the b'nei Torah of our time see this as irrelevant -or worse, contemptible? Dothey understand that the red heifer is notmerely one more personal mitzvah, but rather the pre-conditionfor thehundreds of mitzvot which are dependent upon the Temple and in fact – the pre-condition for theDivine Presence in Israel!To our great sorrow, even the phrase the pre-condition for the Divine Presence in Israel does not arouseany great emotions. It is simply words. The truth is (and this is so hard to say) that the Torah world hasgrown accustomed to living without this. In fact, why not? As long as one occupies himself with Torahfrom morning till evening, is concerned with all the myriad details of halacha - what can be missing?The Temple? The Temple?! Forget that! Go learn another page of Gemorrah, and chill out.But those who think this way are cut off from authentic Judaism. Through2,000 years of exile a barrierwas erected between the Torah and the HolyTemple. And this, in point of fact, is a barrier between theTorah and Hewho gave the Torah!An Intolerable SituationIndeed it is so. There is no Torah without the Giver of the Torah, and the connection to Him is throughthe Divine presence in the Temple. The essence of the temple is the ark in the holy of holies, where thetablets are kept. That is where the Divine Presence is found. And The Sages explained in Shemot Rabaon Parshat Terumah (33:1): \"G-d said to Israel: I have given you the Torah - I cannot separate myselffrom it; and I cannot tell you not to take it; so wherever you may be found, build a house for me todwell in – as it is written \"Build for me a temple\".We must understand what is written here. G-d \"could not\" separate himself from the Torah - and Hetherefore asked us to build for Him a house. And now, since the destruction of the Temple, the reality isthat G-d has been exiled from His house, and therefore it is as if He has been separated from His Torah.Is this only His concern? Of course not! We are in a situation where although we have the Torah - G-dis nevertheless far from us. This is an intolerable situation. It is a deficiency which damages the essenceof our connection to the Torah!When we were in exile, it was out of our hands. After all, what could we do? But what can we say nowwhen as we have the ability to build the Temple, are commanded to do so (see Rambam Hilchot BeitHabichira 1:1), yet despite this we say: There is time, there are other more pressing needs,the importantthing is to sit and learn? It is as if we are saying to the Almighty: See how nicely we are managingwithout You, with the Torah that You have given us. And You can stay where You are!This shows a lack of basic understanding in the nature of Torah and the nature of the Temple. TheTemple connects us to the Giver of the Torah. In such a situation, the learning of Torah and itsfulfillment are brought to an entirely different level. For this reason it is precisely the bnei Torah whoare constantly immersed in Torah, who must take the lead the process of building the Temple.And this must happen, as the Yerushalmi says in Tractate Maaser Sheini,before the coming theMessiah. If not, it raises doubts as to whether to some extent we are only clinging to the surface of theTorah, and not to its essence. 429

430

431