Kahane Codes - Bereshit Shmot

to the British, knowing that to be a member of the Irgun was a capital punishment, a death sentence. They were the ones who in 1948 fired upon the Irgun ship, the Altalena and murdered in cold blood 17 Jews because Menahem Begin was on the ship and they wanted to liquidate Begin. And know who the commander of the operation was, his name was Yitzhak Rabin. He gave the order to fire and to murder 17 Jews; And know that the next day in the Knesset, the Prime Minister at that time, Ben Gurion rose and in the minutes, he said, \"blessed be the holy canon\", blessed be the holy canon that murdered 17 Jews! They speak to us about Democracy and about love? They were the ones who murdered in cold blood in the 1920's one of the leaders of Agudat Israel, Dahan, because he was an anti-Zionist. So you can oppose and anti-Zionist, but to murder a Jew in cold blood? And know who gave the orders: Yitzhak Ben Zvi, the second President of the State of Israel. They speak about Fascism? About hooligans? They turn now to the Sephardic Jews and tell them to watch out for Kahane! They turn to Sephardic Jews? the leftists? I remember what they did, how they destroyed whole communities of Jews from Morocco, and Algeria and Libya, and Tunisia and Egypt, and Syria and Iraq and Yemen! In the 1940's as the State came into being, hundreds of thousands of Jews poured in from Arab countries. Every one of those Jews was a Zionist, a real Zionist, not the Herzl type of Zionist! They were Zionists for 2000 years, \"ve techezena enenu leTzion\" - may our eyes behold the return to Zion. That was real Zionism. They were warm Jews, religious Jews, and what happened to them! The leftists from Mapai and Mapam stood and watched as 800,000 Jews poured into the country, and they asked themselves the only question that had any meaning to them, the only thing that bothered them, the thing that meant more to them than the State, than the Jewish people, the question was: \"For whom will they vote?\" They saw they were all religious Jews, \"they will not vote for us\" they thought, so they went about purposely in cold blood, to spiritually destroy an entire people. Jews were put into \"mabarot,\" transit camps, and if there was a job, they asked you \"in what school have you registered your child?\" and if it was a religious school, there was no job! And they would say, take this paper and take it to the Histadrut school, register your child in a Histadrut school; the Principal will then stamp the paper and you will bring it to the Labor Exchange office and you will get a job. If you wanted a job they would ask, \"where is your red book of the Histadrut? You are not a member? No job!\" Fascism? I know who the Fascists were and who the Fascists are! The pity is, that we waited 37 years to put someone in the Knesset to give to them, just as they gave to us! I have arrived!! They speak of \"kfiat dati\" - religious coercion; let me speak to you about religious coercion. In 1948 10,000 Yemenite boys, children, came to Israel without their parents under the auspices of Youth Aliyah. Every Yemenite boy that came to Israel, came with his Shabbat, with his Kashrut, and with his \"Simanim\", that's what they called the \"peyott\" - the ear-locks that every Yemenite boy had. The Simanim, the sign of the Jew. For 2000 years they had the Simanim, for 2000 years they had the Shabbat, for 2000 years they suffered but remained Jewish, they came to the Holy Land to places as 'holy' as the Kibbutzim of the Shomer HaTzair. They ripped from them their Simanim, their Judaism, their Jewishness, children ages 7, 8 and 9. Shimon Peres speaks today about the tragedy that there is crime in Israel. Crime in Israel? \"Boker Tov\" - good morning! If there is crime in Israel, who created it? If there are gangs in Israel, who created them? And if there is a breakdown in every thing that is Jewish in Israel, who created that? If not Shimon Peres and his gangsters! They ripped from Jews the only values they had, their Judaism, and left them naked to pick up the 301

values of Dizenghoff Street, and now they complain about hoodlums and gangsters. I sat in prison in Israel; I saw the Yemenites, the Iraqis, and the Moroccans, who never knew what crime was when they lived in Morocco and Yemen and Iraq. They never tasted it, they came to Israel and were destroyed spirituality by people who cynically cared only about \"for whom will they vote?\" So when I say these things in the 'Kikar' - in the town square, of course the people listen and of course people clap, and of course people cheer because finally someone is coming and saying the truth, he is saying what they have always thought all these years. You think it's an accident that so many people are shouting 'Kahane'? It's not an accident. I touched upon the things that bother them, that trouble them, the things that no one else is saying to them. I want a Jewish State; I don't want a Hebrew speaking copy of Time Square! ….Moshe Tamam, that name virtually nobody remembers; was a 19 year-old soldier hitching a ride near Natanya. Arabs picked him up and gave him a ride. They found his body four days later. And know what they did to him so you know whom we are dealing with. They gouged out his eyes, and they cut off his sexual organs; and that is what we are dealing with. And of such people our Rabbis told us already and the Humash, told us already, \"Ishmael will be a wild man, his hand will be against everybody and everybody's hand will be against him.\" That's with whom we're dealing! This is the enemy. This is Ishmael. My son came home from the army, he came from Miluim - reserve duty; and he showed me a letter, which was given to every soldier; a letter from the Israeli Defense Forces. \"Let me see the letter, let me see pride I told him.\" Do you know what the letter said? It said, \"Hayal - soldier, be careful when hitching rides\". Soldier of Israel be careful on the roads of Israel, you might be killed by Arabs in Israel! What a tragedy, what a disgrace, what a Hilul HaShem! (desecration of God's name). But the enemy is Kahanism? (sic). …...I don't hate Arabs, I love Jews! And I hate the enemies of the Jews, not because they are Arabs but because they are enemies! You think there is a single Arab living in Israel in a place that is called the Jewish State? Liberals have immense contempt for the Arabs; they believe that they can buy them. \"We'll raise their living standards and then they'll be good Arabs\" Good Arabs? What contempt! They think that a good Arab is one that will agree to the Jews living in what he considers to be his Palestine. You think there is one Arab who enjoys living in a State where there is a law of return that applies to Jews and not to non-Jews? You think there is one Arab who enjoys living in a State, which has a National Anthem: Hatikvah with words that say, 'nefesh yehudi omia' - the soul of the Jew yearns? You can imagine how that sits with them. You think there is one Arab who enjoys living in a State, whose Independence Day celebrates his defeat? You can't buy a person by giving him an indoor toilet. \"You see, you had no toilet, now you have one.\" You can't come and say as the UJA says: \"What do you want? We came and we turned the dessert into a garden\" Let me tell you what the Arab says: \"Yes it's true, but it was my dessert and now it's your garden.\" I respect the Arab, and that is why he has to go! Because I know you can't buy him, you can't buy his national pride, know that he hates the Jews and that if we allowed them they would do to us what Arabs do to other Arabs today in Lebanon. They would do to us what they did to us yesterday. Do you know what Arabs did to us in the 1920's and 1930's? Do you know what they did to us? When there was no Kahane, no Begin and no other 'fascists'? Do you know what they did to us when there was no State of Israel? What they did in Hevron and in 302

Jaffa, and Yerushalaym? How they murdered over 500 Jews! They would do that to us if we let them, but I am not going to let them! I want an exchange of populations. Beginning in 1948 we took in 800,000 Jews from Arab countries. That was phase one, now I want phase two: we took Jews from Arab countries? Well now we'll give them Arabs from the Jewish country! I am ready to offer the Arabs that want to leave voluntarily compensation for his properties, which is more that what they did for the Jews they expelled from Morocco, from Egypt, from Iraq. Do you know how much money was left behind by Jews in those countries? Billions of dollars, and we were never compensated for it. And when we signed the treaty with Egypt we didn't even have the decency, the self-respect to demand compensation for the properties seized by Gamal Abdel Nasser from the Jews in Egypt. I am better than they; I will give compensation to the Arabs that are willing to leave. And those that are not willing to leave, I will throw out without monetary compensation! This is racism? My God, this is saving ourselves, this is self-preservation, I don't hate the Arabs, I wish them well, elsewhere! I wish them the very best in any of their 22 countries. I have only one, it is mine and I am not going to lose it to either Bush or Begin. I am appalled by Jews who say, \"This is what the Germans did to the Jews.\" Did the Jews of Germany ever say, \"Germany is our country and the Germans stole it from us? And when we become the majority we will take it back and call it Israel\" (sic). That is not what they said. The Jews of Germany wanted nothing more than to be the best Germans that ever lived. The Arabs don't want to be Israelis. Let everyone know that when we came out to oppose the Camp David Accords and peace treaty with Egypt, they said \"Kahane doesn't want peace\", I want peace, but I knew what kind of peace we would have with Egypt. Peace? Any country with a modicum of self-respect would have recalled their ambassador from Egypt, if Egypt would have done to them what they did to us: murdered in cold blood seven Jews. I don't know if any of you know what the real story is, I am sure that it came here to you as one crazy Arab shoots... and every time an Arab shoots he's crazy. So the story came as 'one crazy Arab soldier shot Jews and also wounded his own soldiers', well that's a lie! another Egyptian lie; a typical Arab lie. He wasn't crazy, he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and other soldiers stood by and watched him shoot, and three of our seven soldiers did not die right away, they laid there bleeding, and the Egyptians refused to allow medical aid. And those three soldiers bled to death. And Mubarak said, \"Why should a little incident upset our relationship?\" A little incident? If I would have been Prime Minister I would have given him a little incident! I am tired. I'm tired of going to funerals, I didn't come to Israel to go to funerals; I came to Israel for 'smachot' - happy occasions, joy, and happiness. There is a growing fear in Israel and you can tell by the hysteria, the hysterical obsession with Kahanism. President Herzog is obsessed with Kahane, he goes to bed every night with 'Kahane'. Shimon Peres says Kahane is the greatest danger to Israel, I would have imagined that Syria would be, but no. The army radio station Galey Tzahal, devoted last week 18 hours, an entire day to Kahane, to attacks on Kahane; the army radio station! An army that is supposed to be above politics, being crudely used by politicians and do you know why? Because they are terrified, because they know that as much as they are against Kahane, in the streets, the people of Israel are for Kahane! …..Just as I told the people in Israel the choice in the next elections is between Kahane and Arafat; that is what the next elections will be all about. Kach or the PLO that's the choice there is no other choice! I 303

appeal to you, save Israel, save your brothers and sisters and save yourselves, because God forbid, I would not want to be in your shoes if there is no more Israel. I said I would end here but there is one more thing I want to tell you because it is vital. I believe that the State of Israel has to be the State for all the Jewish people and has to be the trustee of all the Jewish people. And I don't believe that there are boundaries that Israel cannot cross, when Jews are in trouble. And I want to tell you, that as anti- Semitism in this country (USA) grows, there will be a need for an Israel that will do things that you are not ready to do. And I want to tell you, that with God's help when I am Prime Minister, the State of Israel will never say that there are Israelis that are in trouble, we will always say that if there are Jews in trouble anywhere, our hand will reach out everywhere against those who hate Jews. Isolation KAHANE Magazine (Brooklyn, New York) Isolation. The Jew does not wish to be isolated. He fears being alone, without allies. He fears man, he trusts only in man and so - in the exquisitely Divine way of the Almighty - precisely that which he fears will be sent upon him. He fears to do that which the Almighty demands - to annex the territories and establish Jewish sovereignty over them, as part of the Holy Land of Israel. The Almighty repays him by turning them into burning caldrons of an intifada, with confused Israeli youth not knowing whether these Holy lands are indeed Jewish or \"occupied\". While a world that is normal and knows that if land belongs to you then you annex it, feels free to condemn a country that does not do so as an \"occupier\". He fears to throw out the cancer raging in his midst - the Arab enemy - lest the world turn on him. He is repaid measure for measure by a grim Almighty as the world,! daily, condemns him for \"oppression\" of people that would not have been there had he had faith in G-d rather than fear of the Gentile. In any event, the Jew will be isolated, and that is the greatest blessing imaginable. For so long as the Jew has even one ally, he will be convinced - in his smallness of mind - that his salvation came from that ally. It is only when he is alone - against all of his own efforts and frantic attempts - that he will, through no choice, be compelled to turn to G-d. And it is only when the Jew stands alone against a world unified in hatred against him, that the Almighty will turn, in His anger and wrath, against the nations that knew Him not, and His powerful arm that will bring salvation to the Jew will be the awesome proof to the nations that the Lord, G-d of Israel, is indeed One - the only One. That is why isolation will be. That it is why it must be. It is the greatest of blessings, and the foolish Jew of little faith sees it only as a curse. Foolish Jew, Jew of Exile, whose soul and mind has been destroyed by that Exile, who has turned from a Jew of faith into one of trembling before the man of dust Unless. Unless we become the Jews we were meant to be. The Jews of chosenness. Of might and faith. Unless we ignore both the money and the honey of the United States and their empty threats and condemnation. Condemnation? It is dandruff to be brushed away before moving on to do the will of G-d. In any event, there is no choice. The United States will turn on Israel, slowly and subtly. The difference is that if we turn from the Gentile first, we will have the Almighty as the immediate staff and our comfort. If not, we will have neither the Gentile nor, for a terrible stage, the Almighty. (May 1990) As mentioned previously (see Beshalach/Bo) not only Pharoah loses free choice, we also do. 304

Pesach and Yom Haatzmaut (2012) Three Days of Darkness I keep noticing more and more the direct connection between Pesach and Yom Haatzmaut. Nowhere else do we hear the midrash that 4/5ths of the Jewish people perished. This is what happened. Only one fifth of the Jewish people survived Egypt. For them it was the days of darkness and for those who were saved it was days of light. They could see what others could not see in the darkness. They saw light and they followed Moshe. Why was it ‘three days’ darkness? Maybe their darkness mirrors the ‘three days’ journey that that one fifth decided to join. Today our leaders tell us there is no ‘explanation’ to the Shoa and so G-d seems cruel and we must accept that every once in awhile he allows terrible destruction to befall us. The Rabbis in the Torah however tell us that those who died in Egypt could not be saved; they were too assimilated. As I am writing this it is Yom Hashoa in Israel and many stories are recalled about those times. Jabotinsky saw the blood coming and cried to the Jews to ‘liquidate the exile before the exile liquidates you’. He was labeled a fascist and banned from speaking in many places. Apparently in Hungary where almost all of the Jewish population was destroyed, only six percent of the Jews were Zionists. The other two halves were either Charedi (waiting for Moshiach to free them) or Nationalists. Both of these main groups despised the Zionists. The Charedi camp was waiting for Moshiach to free them and bitterly opposed nationalism and the Zionists who to them were secularists that did not keep all of the mitzvot. The Nationalists also bitterly opposed them because the Zionists were talking about ‘dual’ citizenship and they were very proud and loyal ‘Hungarians’. Of course it is easy to look back and ask ‘How could they not have seen?’ The point is, to look at the present and see the same attitude by American Jews whose loyalty is first to ‘America’. Just like the past many base their anti-Israel reactions on their loyalty to ‘America’ never thinking for a moment that ‘America’ could turn against them. In addition the Charedi community remains in the exile today because it is comfortable and Israel may be a bad influence on their children. It is harder to be a ‘kosher’ Jew in Israel than in their closed communities. There is a time limit on the ‘three day’ journey of Moshe which ends in the ‘three day’ period of darkness. I am one of those who heard the warning bells. For me it was on September 11th and a year later I uprooted myself to a foreign country called Israel. I discovered that the ‘love’ of Israel is far greater than the ‘fear’ that originally motivated me but this ‘fear’ exists for a good reason – to motivate. ‫ יכי‬:‫ יעמו‬,‫תסף‬, ‫ מע ֹקצמות יו‬-‫לאת‬- ‫שה‬-‫מ ל‬,‫ יט מו יי מקח ם‬19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him; for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, ,‫תאל‬, ‫יי קֹש נר‬ ‫יה קֹש יבי מע‬ ‫ב מע‬,‫מה קֹש ת‬ saying: 'God will surely remember you; and ye ‫אפ לקד שי רפ לקד‬,‫מר‬,‫לא ם‬,‫ת‬ ‫ני‬,‫ ֹקב ת‬-‫את‬-‫ל‬ ‫תם‬-‫ קֹו מה נע ילי ל‬,‫לכם‬- ‫א קֹת‬-‫לאל יהים ל‬ shall carry up my bones away hence with you.' ‫לכם‬- ‫לזה יא קֹת‬- ‫םמ מתי ימ‬, ‫ מע קֹצ‬-‫לאת‬- . Shmot 18:19 305

‫ קֹב מאף‬,‫תמ מעל מא ֹקד נמ נתם‬, ‫שם ֹקיה נוה‬,‫ כז מו יי קֹת ת‬27 and Hashem rooted them from upon their soil, ‫רב לח אמה ו רב הק הצף אגדול‬-‫אל‬-‫כם ל‬,‫; מו מי ֹקשלי ת‬ with anger, with wrath, and with great fury, and ‫ו‬ He cast them into another land, as it is this day'.-- ‫זה‬-‫מה ל‬ ‫מכיום‬ ,‫רת‬-‫ח ל‬-‫מא ל‬ ‫לרץ‬- ‫א‬-‫ל‬ Dvarim 30:27 Poked Yifkod = 378 Bechama vbeketzef gadol = 376+2 for the words chama and ketzef = 378 There seems to be a connection here in the gematrias. The time that Hashem is remembering us is a time for glory. If we fail to see this and act upon it the time of glory becomes a time of catastrophe. Walking Through the Sea They say that at Yum Suf even a shifcha (a maid) saw more than the greatest prophet saw. How could this be? There are stories in the Talmud of very mystic Rabbi’s who were able to make rushing rivers part with a few words of Kabbalah and walk across. If this is so then what is so special about Yum Suf parting? The uniqueness of Yum Suf is that not only Tzadikim witnessed this miracles but also many wicked people who would later worship the Golden Calf and cause other rebellions in our nation. Everyone saw this great miracle no matter what level of holiness one was at. One could say that this uniqueness was experienced again two thousand years later by the generation that escaped Europe and were part of the re-birth of the modern State of Israel. Not everyone was a Tzadik yet we have seen how those who tried to destroy us were themselves destroyed. Although they succeeded in wiping out such a large percentage of our people, they in fact were the catalyst that brought us back to life after two thousand years. There was no place to go but forward into the sea. We were alone with no support from any country and knew we faced a terrible war by claiming Nationhood. They told Ben Gurion he had a fifty percent chance of surviving. He said ‘that’s better than we have ever had’. They walked into the sea and it parted. One may ask why was Nachson the first to step in the sea? Should it not have been Moshe the leader? Should not the leader lead the way? A rabbi at Chabbad answered me that the move had to come from the people. I understand this answer. Hertzel and Jabotinsky may have inspired the people towards nationhood but it was not until those ideas became part of a critical mass that they were implemented. Rabbi Kahane in our times gave us the way, but ideas need to become internalized within the Nation before they become reality and we act upon them as Nachson did in the past, or Ben Gurion in 1948 and in our own time when we re-conquer Yehuda and Shomron from a world driving us once again into the sea. The Other Side of Yum Suf The Aliya of the crossing of the Red Sea ends with complaints on the other side. Why didn’t they end the aliyah on an up note? Why end the greatest miracle the world ever saw with something negative, especially at this festive occasion? What exactly was the complaint? The people wanted water and the water was bitter. Moshe through a tree into the water and instead of the water becoming even bitterer it became sweet. In addition the people were given the laws of the Red Heifer at this time and basic laws of Mishpatim; laws to govern the Nation. 306

I suggest that the aliya ends with these events because it is describing real events that were still connected to Yum Suf. If we look at Yum Suf as our first exodus in modern times (building Israel from the ashes of the Shoa), then the pieces seem to fit. Israel established basic civil laws that incorporated Jewish laws as well and the Jewish holidays. There was a framework then and today of Torah concepts that get us used to the ideas of our yearly cycle. Even if we have not yet accepted the yoke of Heaven and the complete Torah we certainly have a framework here in Israel. Every non-religious Jew in Israel knows about each Jewish holiday because they are National holidays. Assimilated Jews in America know much less. Torah is much more foreign to them. In addition to the civil laws which incorporate the Jewish holidays (by law government workers, banks, transportation are closed on most holidays), the laws of the Para Aduma were learned. This also seems to fit with our own times. The biggest impediment towards G-d in our times is the Shoa. This must have also been a question for those who left Egypt. The Red Heifer Kabalistically is a metaphor for the People of Israel who represent various parts from the tail to the head to the dung. All of the heifer and its dung are burned and from this comes an elixir that removes death and brings life. The lucky few who crossed the Red Sea were chosen from every level of society from the dung to the Rosh, they all witnessed the miracle and re-birth and new life. In addition they all lost relatives from every level in the darkness of Egypt and the darkness of the Shoa. It is fitting that this mystic unanswerable decree of the Red Heifer is contemplated along with the very practical civil laws and framework of the new Jewish Nation. Seen in this light one can understand the complaints in a different way. The Charedi Perspective Most of those who complained that Israel was not kosher enough and forbid their followers to go to this Zionist country that was labeled as anti-religious died in the Shoa. Their students continued to complain and banned themselves from participating in this new Jewish Nation. To those who did come a very interesting thing happened. Torah is compared to ‘water’ and it is also compared to a ‘tree’. At first there was the bitterness of lack of Torah. However those who uprooted themselves and planted the tree of Torah in these bitter waters created water that has never been so sweet. The Torah that flows from Israel today is greater than ever and far outshines the Torah of the exile. The passage after the complaints leads to seventy date palms with brooks running by each one. I suggest that these date palms refer to the seventy facets of Torah that are each represented here in Israel; each one with brooks of streaming fresh water. The Secular Perspective At the time that most people were coming to Israel the majority of Jews were trying to get to America and greener pastures. Those who came here found it very difficult as the Nation was in its infancy. We still here the same motto ‘Ze Mashe Yesh’ (this is what we have), learn to live with it. Today of course it is much easier however it is always relative to the nature of a person. In spite of the difficulties Israel has grown into a leader among the world in almost every field. In this environment where necessity meets ingenuity the Jewish minds have created the most sought after products from medicine, military, hi-tech, agriculture to name a few. Chazal tells us the seventy date palms alluded to the leadership of the Nation; the seventy leaders. From what seemed to be barren and bitter came life giving resources that continue to increase and spread throughout the world. 307

Marah the Bitter Test ‫תלך‬, ‫ מו מי ֹקש‬,‫עץ‬,‫רהו ֹקיה נוה ת‬,‫ מויו ת‬,‫ קֹיה נוה‬-‫אל‬-‫ כה מו יי קֹצ מעק ל‬25 And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD ‫םחק‬, ‫ מו יי ֹקמ ֹקתקו מה נמ יים; נשם נשם לו‬,‫ מה ממ יים‬-‫לאל‬- showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There He made ‫ קֹו נשם ינ נסהו‬,‫ו ימ קֹש נפט‬. for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them; He tested them to see whether they would accept and fulfill the commandments He gave them in marah; if so they would be worthy to receive the entire Torah. This was a test they passed (Sforno; Or Hachaim). (Artscroll Siddur Pg. 382) This test of bitterness has lead to sweet developments and is preparing us to fully accept the Torah when we arrive soon at Mount Sinai. ‫תאת‬, ,‫לשה‬- ‫םמ‬, ‫תן‬,‫םח ת‬, ,‫תהן ימ ֹקד נין‬, ‫םכ‬, ‫ א מו יי ֹקש ממע יי ֹקתרו‬1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father- ‫אל‬,‫ ו קֹל יי קֹש נר ת‬,‫לשה‬- ‫םמ‬, ‫שר נע נשה לאל יהים ֹקל‬-‫ נא ל‬-‫ נכל‬in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel His people, how that the LORD had ,‫תאל‬, ‫ יי קֹש נר‬-‫לאת‬- ‫ֹקיה נוה‬ ‫הו יציא‬-‫ יכי‬:‫עממו‬ brought Israel out of Egypt. ‫ ימ ימ ֹקצ נר יים‬. (Shmot 18:1) Yitro...heard. He heard about the miracles at the Sea and the war against Amalek. The juxtaposition of Yitro and Amalek shows the contrast between good and evil people. Both of them had heard about the Exodus, but Yitro reacted by casting his lot with the nation of God, while Amalek became a symbol of treachery and evil by defying God and launching an unprovoked sneak attack on a weak and weary people [see Dvarim 25:17-18]. Miracles alone do not transform the beliefs of the Ameleks of the world; those who refuse to recognize the hand of God will always interpret events to suit their purposes. Yitro's coming was precipitated by his hearing of both events; one would not have been enough. The miracles of the Exodus alone could have been interpreted as punishment for Pharaoh’s obstinate refusal to obey God, but they not prove conclusively that God would also be so benevolent merely for the sake of Israel. The defeat of Amalek however, proved that He would intervene for the Jews, as well (Or Hachaim). (Artscroll Siddur Pg. 395) After Israel's great victory in the Six Day War, many Christians saw the miracle that Hashem had performed for us and it inspired them to take up the cause for Israel. Many Evangelical Christians have become very strong supporters of Israel and rally to our defense politically as well as raise large amounts of capitol to help build Yesha. There is an amazing Midrash that says the Jewish people did not fully come to believe in G-d by witnessing the miracles in Egypt or the greater miracles at the sea, even at Har Sinai when they heard his voice. So when did they fully come to believe? Only when Yitro came and said 'Now I know that G-d is greater than all the other gods.' --‫ע נלה ו קֹז נב יחים‬,‫ ם‬,‫לשה‬- ‫מ‬,‫תתן ם‬, ‫םח‬, ‫ יב מו יי מקח יי ֹקתרו‬11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all ,‫אל‬,‫ני יי ֹקש נר ת‬,‫כל יז קֹק ת‬,‫רן ֹקו ם‬,‫א מא נה ם‬,‫לאל יהים; מו ניב ם‬,‫ ת‬gods; yea, for that they dealt proudly against ‫ני נה לאל יהים‬,‫ יל ֹקפ ת‬--‫לשה‬- ‫םמ‬, ‫תן‬,‫ח ת‬,‫ ם‬-‫לחם יעם‬- ‫ל‬-‫ ל‬-‫לל לא נכל‬- . them.' (Shmot 18:11) I understand this Midrash on a very personal level. Currently I work at the Jerusalem Post newspaper and we speak daily to Jews as well as many Christians that are strong supporters of Israel. Between 308

conversations we often discuss various ideas about Israel and religion. The people that work there come from various backgrounds from religious, traditional to extreme left. One of my colleagues who is a university educated scholar mocks some of us who have simple faith and patriotism. He will say things like its all 'opium for the masses' and its all about money, or power, etc. When he speaks to a Christian client however, it is fascinating to see how he is affected. The client will bless him for being part of the Jewish Nation and tell him all about the miracles that G-d does for the Jewish people and swears that he will stand by our side even against his own country if it comes down to that. All of a sudden he stops criticizing Israel and our religion and thanks the client for their support. The root cause of his criticism which is a root cause of many others is based on fear of what the world will say and because he does not want to be disliked he finds reasons to agree with our enemies or undermine our differences so that he will be accepted and not persecuted. When all of a sudden a Gentile is telling him how wonderful he and his people are he has less reason to find fault. This is the meaning of this midrash. If we take away the impediment of 'fear' then inside of every Jew is a soul that wants to express his unique Jewish soul. Pesach and Yom Haatzmaut or so connected. They are part of the original process that is happening again in our own times. At the hardware store I asked the kippa wearing clerk if he enjoyed the chag. He said its not a 'religious' chag. I said 'certainly it is' I said Hallel according to the siddur (Rinat Zion) which I believe was compiled by Rav Cook. I explained to him what I wrote above that there were a number of Tzadikim in our Talmud that were able to make rivers part so they could walk through. Why then is the miracle at Yum Suf given so much attention? The answer is that at Yum Suf not only Taddikim were granted this power and revelation but simple people, even bad people and those who would later rebel in the desert. Even those who were against G-d saw this miracle and walked through the sea. How can you say today is not a miracle? Of course we must continue and get to Har Sinai to accept the Torah but we have left Egypt. He who does not see the miracles that occurred and continue to occur is blind. Of course it is a chag. We are a free nation again and are being healed slowly and have been reborn a Nation of heroes full of courage and self- sacrifice. How can one not see the miracle we are living in? He had to agree with me. 309

The Haftorah for 7th Day of Pesach 2011-04-26 It was only when one person Nachshon jumped in that the sea actually split, then the whole people could enter. This principle exists today. The Rabbi by his example showed us the way, not only by clarifying the torah command but to fulfill it and by doing so prove to others that the sea can and must split. Look how he almost singlehandedly caused a rift between two huge superpowers – Russia and USA. With a handful of people he caused the crumbling of the walls of Russia and millions were freed. He showed us the way to split the sea, and the last things he showed us was the State of Judea. Binyanmin too wrote in one of his last essays, that if the government wants to divest, then let them divest. Leave us arms and go, we will take over Yehuda and Shomron and the Arabs will run away. But the government doesn’t want to loose control. It wants a two state solution but not a 2 nd Jewish state solution that will bring peace, only an Arab state that will bring war. While we look to Hashem and say how great are your deeds, He looks down to our tzaddikim with admiration. If only we all could be a little like them. In the Haftorah David says Hashem is my light that continually saves me from such adversity. This Haftorah further adds to this explanation of the splitting of the sea. David’s salvation and the Rav’s against all odds. Maybe the small candle that inspires David is the Ner that we wrote about from above (see Ki Sissa and Ner). Hashem looks down and sees the ner that sustains His world. Nun for Notzer and Resh for those who are jealous for Him. David explains what true vengeance is – he writes in the Haftorah for Hashem to exact His vengeance so that ‘violent’ people are uprooted. The Three Days and Amalek Earlier in this commentary I asked about the apparent fabrication the 'three days', as well as the apparent injustice of disinheriting the Canaanites (see Bo 2011 and Lech Lecha and the Promise of Canaan). What do these two ideas have in common? Even if the Israelites were not planning to return Pharaoh could have granted Moshes request for three days. We are taught that this is an example of how evil Pharaoh was that even this three day excursion he would not permit. With all of the good that Israel had brought to Egypt in the past, all was forgotten now and only after ten plagues where three days begrudgingly given to the Jews. Instead of being grateful to the Jews and allowing them to leave with blessings, the whole Nation of Egypt was destroyed because of this begrudging three days. Among the seventy Nations there are those who become close to Israel like Yitro and on the other end of the scale there are the most barbaric of nations Amalek who as the Midrash describes will burn themselves in boiling water in order to cool down the love of the nations towards Israel. Amalek creates havoc wherever he goes and one would think that the other nations would be pleased that Israel is doing battle with a nation that they also despise for it's violent and belligerent nature. Their support for a nation they could do without is connected to the begrudging release of Israel. If they had let Israel go, they would have been blessed. If they didn't meddle in Israels affairs with Amalek of the past or the suicide bombers of today they also would have been blessed. The brotherhood the nations feel towards the Amaleks that hate Israel will lead to the final war of Gog and Magog. Similar to the story of Egypt these great powers will be completely destroyed and Israel reluctantly will have conquered the entire world in the name of Hashem. One that day He will be One 310

and His name will be One. Of course the world could have allowed Israel to come into being with no resistance rather than the three day grudge and could have been blessed by Israel destroying not only Israels enemy but an enemy that is undermining the whole world. This blessing was forfeited by a three day grudge and a love for an enemy simply because he was the enemy of Israel. The animosity toward the G-d Israel that comes from the most enlightened nations will eventually be extricated at the root by uprooting Amalek whose entire being is hatred of Israel. Through the series of plagues there will be those who become closer to Israel and those like Pharaoh and his supporters that lose their free choice and be attached like fish on a hook to Amalek. We see an allusion to this in Europe of the past where normal friendly neighbors seemed to have lost their free choice and became coldhearted monsters. We in Israel will also have no choice but to become reluctant conquerors. Pharoahs sudden madness at the edge of the sea seems to be not unconnected to Amaleks madness on the other side of the sea. What triggered Pharaoh was Israels apparent retreat; the smell of blood that eternally inspires our enemies. This apparent retreat in the past was orchestrated from above to a place called Pi-Charot (the mouth of freedom) between Migdal and the sea. Maybe there is an allusion to a future Migdal (the twin towers) and a future sea and the mouth of freedom (read:Arab Spring) that apparently has the power to unite the nations against Israel for it seems that now Israel is lost. The three day excursion granted by the United Nations has run out. Let the nations make their plans and instead of rewarding and honoring the Jewish people for their infinite contributions to the world, let these ungrateful people come led by the most cruel and tyrannical forces to do away with Israel and its G-d. We here in Israel will have a special surprise waiting – our cymbals and our drums. The Marriage of Chassidut Chabbad and Kahane (2015) I suppose there is no such thing as circumstance. The fact that for years I have spent my Shabbat at my neighborhood Chabbad and sat with some of the great leaders of this movement and heard their many discourses, must have embellished my Chassidut of Rav Kahane. As well, it seems to me that Rav Kahane is the answer that Chabad Chassidim seek. They of course do not see this, and even if they did see this could never say anything about it because it is not written anywhere in their books. Or is it? This Shabbat as usual I sat across from Rav Butman a man in his eighties steeped in wisdom and Torah with a simplicity and deep understanding of life that comes from dedication despite persecution in Russia, escaping the Shoa and being a soldier and general for Chabbad Chassidim from the time he was born. Being in fact from the royal family of Shneerson, he knew the Rebbe as a family member before he became the Rebbe. When I spoke at the farbrengen and I saw his eyes light up with a wide smile and he said to me afterward I reached my peak today, then I understood that something I was saying touched a point in the heart of Chassidut. He and I both understood the uncomfortable words I was speaking that may have gone over the heads of others. I, a commoner who can barely speak Hebrew was teaching the royal family the essence of their own Chassidut. After explaining 'the whole torah' which I wrote about in Parsha Vayera I went on to add the following. One concept that is discussed in Chabbad Chassidut regarding Parsha Beshalach is the importance of the Jewish women that are mentioned; Miriam and Devorah. The Jewish women are in the forefront of 311

the Geula because they are related to the physical world. Hashem wants to build a home here on earth. The women are related to the house and setting the house in order as Sarah did with Ishmael. Because of the self-sacrifice of Miriam and her mother Yoched Hashem said He would build them 'houses'. And so houses were built. The Cohanim came from this family of Levi and Miriam married Nachson from the tribe of Yehuda who caused the sea to split when he moved forward. There is another concept of Chabbad called the 'Dor Shvii', the seventh generation. Chazal tells us that originally Gan Eden was on earth but after the fist sin it was removed from earth and placed in the Heavens. As the generations continued to sin Gan Eden moved progressively higher until the 7th level of Heaven. When Avraham appeared, Gan Eden moved closer to earth. This continued progressively seven generations until the time of Moshe. When the Israelites stood by Har Sinai Gan Eden had finally returned to earth. Unfortunately soon after was the Chet HaEgel and Gan Eden departed once again. According to Chassidut the Baal Shem Tov was like Avraham in our times. The seventh generation is the current one, the 'Dor Shvii'. Now to move from one generation to the next in a Heavenly state is not the same as moving from the last Heavenly state to the earth, which is completely different from Heaven. This of course is the challenge of the Dor Shvii which we are already in. It seems to me that the Torah of the women of Parsha Beshalach which connect that Heavenly generation to earth is the Torah of Rav Kahane who is setting the house in order. For years when I studied Torah and brought up Rav Kahane people would say, 'lets not bring in politics now, we are studying Torah'. This however is the point. Changing the political reality is exactly what happened then and what has happened in our own times, and is still happening. This is the point of 'faith' and demonstration of 'faith' that Hashem desires. We now sit in the Medina of Israel. Israel is no longer an idea, but a political reality. It may not be the way everyone wants it to be however it exists and every gentile in the world knows that the Jews have come home and there is a Nation called Israel. They may despise this Nation but it is a political reality and it is Hashems political reality. This now brings us to Beshalach today. There are those who say throw out the settlers for they are bringing about world condemnation. It is because of Yehuda and Shomron that the whole world is condemning Israel. Just like those who stood at Yum Suf and said we must return to Egypt there are still a few who believe a divorce and disengagement will solve our problems. They are wrong of course and we all know that we must move forward. We have come this far. We cannot go back ever again. There is no choice. Binyamin Kahane writes 'Since our return to Zion, our great merit has been that we have withstood the tests, without saying: “Let us return to Egypt”; and without saying we must stop building Eretz Yisrael.” (Beshalach 1998) . The essence of the Torah is faith in Hashem and His eved Moshe. The truest servants are the ones building and defending Yehuda and Shomron. The servants that are despised and persecuted and imprisoned are carrying the whole Torah on their backs. To bring Chabbad Chassidut to earth one must support those who are building the Land of Yehuda in the face of the armies of Egypt. It was Nachson from Yehuda who went forth and the Nation followed. We have no choice but to move forward into the impossible. Israel will continue to be a political reality and a spiritual reality with Yehuda. This is the faith that Hashem desires. Hashem will wage war but only if we go through. Hashem will cause the chariot wheels of our enemies to break down but we will be walking through dry land and harvesting fruit in the middle of the raging sea. 312

The Red Sea Today (2018) (at a farbrengen after Rav Boaz Segal spoke) Fievel say a L’Chaim they said. And so I answered. Boaz spoke today about Yud Aleph Shvat, the day the Lubavitcher Rebbe took on the leadership. It was also in the eleventh month of Shvat. The Rebbe was also born on the 11th of the month. What is significance of eleven? Kabbalistically it represents beyond nature; beyond the ten manifestations and ten utterances that Hashem used in Creation. We see also in the Torah how Hashem brought us beyond the natural order to reach Israel in eleven days. However, because of our sins it took us forty years. All of this is very nice. I would like to add now my own personal eleven. For years I wanted to go to Israel but back in chul they told me you need lots of money. I kept trying to save but not doing very well. Then the number eleven happened. It was September 11 and I realized something very dramatic. Within eleven minutes of the attack all of the airports were closed. Even if you had a billion dollars it meant nothing. No one was able to leave. All the doors were closed. So I knew I had to come home ready or not. And so I arrived without any money. I still have no money but thank God I'm rich. There is another eleven. Eleven years before Sept 11 Rav Kahane stood in Manhattan not far from 'ground zero' on his tour named Project Zero (Zionist Emergency Rescue Operation). After his speech pleading with Am Israel to come home now, he was gunned down. His whole Torah was the number eleven. He always spoke about b'ita achishena, 'in its time I will hasten it' (Isaiah 60:22). There are two roads; the 'in its time' in which the redemption comes accompanied with terrible suffering and bloodshed, and the 'hurried redemption' that comes speedily, with miracles and glory. He was always trying to push us to this preferred redemption which is our choice today. We stand again before the sea. The concept of the seventh generation (connecting the spiritual world to the physical world) and the number eleven are really the same thing. Where do we see the most physical action that is really spiritual and the most spiritual action that is physical? Where do we see heaven being brought down to earth? Today we stand before the sea again. There are the wild beasts of Amalek on one side. We cannot go back any longer to Egypt. We can sit and cry as we do, or we can continue and move forward. What does that mean? If we continue and annex Yehuda and Shomron and call it Israel and throw out our enemies; the sea will open. If we physically build and remove those who hate the God of Israel we will create a new spiritual reality. But we sit and cry and say we are not at the right level to do so. Take a look at what we just read in the parsha. Were the original generation ready? Were there not complainers then? And yet it was because of the few that entered that it happened. And in the song of Devorah were all the people united? There too some of the tribes did not participate at all. Did this stop the victory from the zealous few who did? There will never be 100% consensus among the Jewish people never. We are a small minority within the world and a small minority within our nation has always pushed us forward. As Rav Kahane used to say one can be a believer in mitzvot but lack faith in God and be unwilling to have the simple faith that He commands. Lets say l'chaim and hope that not only will we have faith in mitzvot but also have faith in God and walk forward into the sea with Nachson and Miriam with her tambourines. 313

314

Kahane in the Parsha Yitro 315

Yitro 2010 “…if you say that the Holy One, blessed be He, exalts Himself in the world only for Israel, this is certainly so. For Israel is the base of the shine of the candle. Yet when the other nations come forth to acknowledge Him through worship of the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, then the base of the candle increases and is strengthened.” Zohar, Parsha Yitro Parsha Yitro is the Parsha that defines the special relationship Israel has with Hashem. It is the Parsha where the Nation of Israel meets Hashem and He gives them His precious gift of Torah designating them a chosen people from all other nations in the world. It is the one Parsha where the Jewish people stood as one person, like Adam Harishon and in one voice accepted the entire Torah. One would think that such a chapter would be named after Israel, or Hashem, or the Torah. The question arises, why would such a chapter be named after a convert to Judaism? It was the Israelite Nation that suffered the bondage of Egypt and the redemption, not Yitro. Why then is the reward of Torah found in a Parsha called Yitro? There are many answers to this question. 1 – Amalek heard about this special relationship of Israel and tried to destroy it. Yitro on the other hand was inspired by these political and spiritual events to join the Israel Nation. 2 – Yitro comes from the root Yeter, ‫ יתר‬which means to ‘add on to’. He added onto the Torah. His advice to Moshe was an addition that Hashem accepted. This is alluded to in his name. The letters Torah are found within the name Yitro +5. Yitro (616) Torah (611) ‫ = תורא‬Torah (611) ‫ = יתרו‬Yitro (616) 3 – The Zohar says that even though the Israelite Nation saw the miracles and salvation it wasn’t until another event happened that they all accepted and understood that there is no other than the Holy One blessed be He. This event was Yitro arriving and making this proclamation. Yitro was the head priest of Idol Worship and his denunciation of all other idols and affirmation of the truth of Hashem was similar to the Pope in Rome today telling all the Christians we were wrong, the Jews are right, and converting to become a chassid. According to Halacha, an idol worshiper must denounce his idol worship for it to be destroyed. A jew cannot do it for him. When Yitro made this denunciation it raised the world and prepared the Nation of Israel to accept its eternal mission. In other words the force of the Gentile renouncing idol worship and accepting Hashem and His Torah raises Israel itself to a higher level. The common thread in all of these answers is the following. The Torah is not a religion to be kept by a sect of Hashem lovers that are disconnected from the outside world. The Torah is meant to change the world and bring it back in its entirety to the original cause. Moshe’s Torah stood out from our long tradition of Hashem lovers and followers. Moshe’s Torah (as explained in Parsha Shmot) challenged the authority and brought about political change. This is also Rav Kahane’s Torah, the authentic Torah that seeks to transform systems of evil and make them good. He almost singlehandedly fought against the superpowers of USA and Russia and brought millions of Russian Jews home. This was not politics, it was the Torah way. With a handful of followers he brought about the most important change which is reforming the Jewish heart and soul. He was like a 316

comet that appeared in the sky and gave hope to the Jewish people that they can be lions and not sheep, that they can overcome their enemies and that it all begins by overcoming their leadership and destroying the idol worship we cling to. Our leaders like mice offer other mice as sacrifices to the blood thirsty cats in the vain hope of building friendship between them. The Rabbi knew that the children of Esav and Ishmael will hate us regardless of how determined we are to sell our brothers, so better to fight our enemies and win. Let the world hate us, and respect us. Many times I have heard of radio talk shows Gentiles who would call in to Rav Kahane and say ‘Why are there not more Jews like you? Those who persecuted the Rav like in Shmot and said ‘you are making it bad for us, you have put a sword in Pharaohs hand’,(Shmot 5:21) the opposite is true. When we stand up and act as we should act and change ourselves, the world will become more receptive to us. When we transform our communities, our cities, our Nation, then some of the world will hate us and make war like Amalek, but more importantly the Yitros will come out and run to join us. Only then will the planet be in the proper state to relate once again to its Creator and evil will be no more, only the pursuit of goodness. We must act like Moshe and change our political world, then we will lead the Nations by their own free will. This is when the Lord will be One and His name One. The Origins of JDL (2019) The JDL began in the 1960's by Rabbi Kahane in response to an increasing amount of antisemitic attacks and lack of Jewish response to protecting vulnerable Jews in New York City. He organized Jewish patrols that not only protected Jewish communities but hit their attackers back and spread a psychological fear among the Gentiles not to prey on the Jewish community. In one instance a martial arts expert dressed as a Hassid was approached by an antisemitic attacker who was promptly given a good beating. As the attacker lay on the floor the Hassid showed him his Tzizit. He said 'You see this? Every Jew that wears these can do what I just did to you. Tell your friends to be careful'. In another instance an attacker was cornered by a Jewish squad that was hiding in the alley and told to give them his ID. They studied it and told him he better not come around here anymore. They know where he lives and they will come after him. By using a Jewish fist and Jewish brain they succeeded in creating a psychological effect on the antisemites. It made them think twice before picking on the Jews because they feared the JDL. In response to criticism by Jewish leaders of the JDL tactics the Rabbi brought up a Hasidic story about Har Sinai. The Gerer Rebbe asked a question. If the Midrash tells us that Har Sinai was given on a small mountain to teach humility, then why wasn't the Torah given in a valley? Wouldn't that be a more appropriate symbol? He answered that it was to teach two things. Number one: Be humble. Number two: Don't be too humble. Don't be walked over and stepped upon. “It is a disgrace to the pride of our people, our God. More important, there is a rule in the hoodlum jungle: The more the victim backs away, the more the hoodlum moves forward. So up from the valley and up to the mount. Jewish rights are not cheap and Jewish defense is not wrong. This is the lesson of the Mount.” (Jewish press 1968) 317

The In-Laws (2019) Its hard not to notice that every time Yitro is mentioned it says Yitro 'the father in law of Moshe'. Rabbi Kahane often spoke about the dangers of assimilation. He used to joke about interfaith marriages and say 'A Jew must obey the Laws not the In-Laws.' I wonder sometimes about the effect Yitro had on Israel. He made a suggestion to Moshe 'If you do this thing – and God will command you...' he prefaces his suggestion. Now we don't see in the written text that Moshe asks Hashem as in Parsha Shlach when Hashem responds 'Send forth men, if you please..' or with the daughters of Zelophehad ..'and Moshe brought their claim before Hashem.'(Bamidbar 27) In this instance Moshe proceeds to implement Yitro's suggestion without consulting Hashem in the written text. Now I don't particularly like jokes about the differences between Hasidim and Misnagdim that I hear often at the farbrengen table. They may have been relevant two hundred years ago but it seems to me less relevant today when the question is not about the correct 'method' of serving God but rather whether we even serve Him at all in any form. Having said that I pointed out one day at the farbrengen table that Yitro must have been a Misnagid. The ears perked up at the Shabbat Table. How so? They questioned. 'Well, I answered. Every day Moshe was handing out dollars like the Rebbe and people could see him and be blessed and then Yitro comes in the picture and no more handing out dollars.' Rabbi Reichman particularly liked my suggestion. I am sure Moshe felt a great deal of gratitude towards Yitro for harboring Moshe when he was a fugitive but look at the effect he had even on Moshes children? According to a Midrash Yitro made Moshe swear to give his first born son to Idolatry. This marriage condition was probably due to the fear for the safety of Yitro's family. Nevertheless I wonder how much influence the in-laws had to the giver of the law. Would there have been less complaints if we had been in closer contact to the Tzadik? The Misnagid Chassid (2021) Imagine getting an invitation to a big Jewish wedding. 'The Goldstein Family and the Ginzberg Family cordially invite you to our wedding featuring a special dinner with our mutual Gentile friend Yitro'. Who is Yitro and what does this stranger have to do with this distinguished wedding? Is he mentioned in the Parsha because of the judicial advise he gave to Moshe? Was his advise proper? After converting to the Hebrew faith is it not a bit chutzpadik to tell the Rebbe that he suggests handing out dollars every day to the people is not a good idea as it will tire him out? Why does the Rebbe agree? In the Pshat do we see Hashem agreeing and saying 'wonderful idea' as He did with the daughters of Zelophehad? On the contrary we see Hashem writes in His Torah around fifteen times 'father-in law' suggesting to me a 'hint' to Moshe that even a 'Rebbe' should be careful about listening to advise from his father-in-law. Before offering more advise, Moshe sends him on his way. To make the question even stronger, Moshe was almost killed because of Yitro. When he lived in Midian Yitro made him swear not to circumcise his first born son for fear of the neighbors. When Moshe went to tell Pharaoh to release Hashem's first born son or else his first born son will be killed what happened? The one who came to judge was judged first and found lacking as his own son was uncircumcised. If it had not been for the quick thinking of Yitro's daughter Moshe and the whole story of the exodus would have ended there. Why then is Yitro's name on the wedding invitation? 318

I believe it is for three other reasons, not related to the above. The number one reason and most important is that Yitro saved the Rebbe's life when he was a fugitive. Imagine a Gentile hiding the Rebbe if he had remained in Europe during the Shoa? The Rebbe would be forever indebted to the self- sacrifice of that individual who saved his life and by extension was responsible for saving his entire mission. Secondly, Rav Nachum Kahane suggests in his book With All Your Might' that Yitro may have inspired Moshe. This might be similar to Mamre who advised Avraham to do what his God commanded him and was remembered for this. Maybe Yitro was a type of Shatchan to this big Israelite wedding? Imagine the conversation at the dinner table after a long day of shepherding. Yitro: Moshe, I see you thinking about your people day and night. I was in your fathers court long before you ran away. That place is completely corrupt. There is no way you can save your people. It's impossible. There is one slim chance however. You are the only person who could do it. You are Pharaohs son. He loves you. You are the only person who can just knock on the door and say tell my father I have returned. I know I have benefited tremendously from your presence here like Lavan benefited from Yacov, but I must encourage you to go. Its not right for me to insist you stay. You need to save your people. The third reason is the tremendous outcome that Yitro and Moshe never imagined in those early days. Not only did Yitro save Moshe and encourage him but now after seeing this epic historic event that will change the entire world, Yitro wants to be more than a Shatchan. He wants to be a member of this Nation for he deduces from these events, a love between Hashem and the Hebrew people that is unmatched anywhere in the world. The Egyptians wanted to destroy the 'body' of Israel and so Hashem Himself went to war against the Egyptians. Amalek tried to destroy the 'God' of the Israelite's, so the Israelite's went to war against Amalek. Where do we see a God that fights for His people and a people that fights for their God? It seems to me the name Yitro associated with this wedding reminds us of the self sacrifice and the reward for those who help the Jewish people when it is not popular to do so, as well as the results that happen when we the Jewish people, live up to our calling and how this unites and rectifies the entire world. Geula starts with words and actions of individuals. Shifra Hoffman told me the Rav used to ask, 'How did so much water fill up the oceans? He would answer 'drop, by drop'. In his mind Geula was already here. Our mission was to return home to our Land, throw out our enemies and build our Temple. It was a simple, clear and courageous mission. On radio talk shows I remember hearing Gentiles calling in and saying. Rabbi, we have been waiting for you. Why are there not more rabbi's like you? When one speaks Geula clearly the result is twofold; Amalek attacks because he is unmasked as the evil person he is and the Yitros of the world respond to the clarity of the message and wish to join. The Yoke of Heaven I have mentioned that the Parsha where Chabbad Chassidut and Kahane Chassidut meet is in Chaia Sarah, as shlichut is the essence of Chabbad and the word eved, repeated throughout the Parsha is the gematria 76 (Kahane). Someone replied but we say 'she lo asani eved' in the prayers (thank you for not making me a slave). Today Rav Butmans son spoke and gave me a good answer. At Matan Torah we had the distinction of not only being sons of the King but also acquired the status of someone sold by the court as a slave unwillingly. This acceptance that we submit our ego to is called Ol Malchut Shomayim and the Rav spoke about this frequently. Sometimes Chabbad helps me to understand my Chassidut as I sometimes help them to understand theirs. 319

Kahane in the Parsha Mishpatim 320

Mishpatim – 2012 ‫ית‬,‫ תב‬,‫ תנ יביא‬,‫תרי מא קֹד נמ ֹקתך‬, ‫ יבכו‬,‫תרא ישית‬, ‫ יט‬19 The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt ‫ בתחנִ ללב שאמו‬,‫ֹקג ידי‬ bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou ‫של‬,‫ קֹת מב ת‬-‫םלא‬, ;‫להיך‬- ‫לאל‬ ‫ קֹיה נוה‬. shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk. ‫ה אא לנ שכ‬,‫ יל ֹקש נמ ֹקרך‬,‫לניך‬- ‫ ֹקל נפ‬,‫תל מח ממ ֹקל נאך‬, ‫ש‬,‫י ם‬ ‫נ‬,‫כ יה ת‬ 20 Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep ;‫רך‬-‫ מב נד ל‬. thee by the way, and to bring thee into the place ‫םנ יתי‬, ‫לשר נה יכ‬- ‫ מה נמקום נא‬-‫לאל‬- ,‫קֹו מל נה יבי נאך‬ which I have prepared. (Shmot 23: 19-20) When I look at these passages I see something different than most people. Once again I see Rav Kahane. It is explained that having an ‘angel’ leading us is a downgrade from having G-d Himself leading us. Moshe pleads with God in Parsha Ki Sissa regarding this and refuses to go on if Hashem does not go along with us. Here in the passages preceding the sin of the Egel it is not yet apparent why there is an angel being sent. After Parsha Ki Sissa we see it is a punishment. An angel is a servant of God and must obey the rules precisely and therefore is less lenient and forgiving of sins. What is the sin that takes G-ds presence away from us to the point where He can no longer walk among us? It is alluded to in the passage above. ‘Do not cook a kid in its mothers milk’. When Josephs brothers said ‘Look here comes the dreamer’ and planned to destroy him, what exactly where they destroying? Were his dreams and his intentions not for the benefit of his brothers and family? The Torah is like mothers milk that nourishes us and sustains us. Those who draft laws to persecute and condemn he who comes like a dreamer to save his people with laws are like one who takes the mother and boils her in her own milk. They destroy the one who brings them the remedy. They destroy the source of their nourishment. It is this evil that is too great for G-d to bear and so He leaves. Consistently throughout our history G-d sends messengers before the storm to warn us and to bring the remedy. Consistently we kill the messenger, and then G-d leaves and we are at the mercy of the Nations who have no mercy. The destruction of the Temple was preceded with the assassination of the prophet Zecharia who came like a mother to nurture the nation that boiled the mother in her own milk. We are judged by the way we judge others. The cruelty that comes to us is preceded with a cruelty we inflict upon ourselves. Alternatively when we follow the messenger and rise up from our apathy and go beyond our nature, then God goes beyond His nature to protect us and demonstrate His love or us. Why is the punishment alluded to here before the crime? The same reason that Tezaveh is written before Ki Sissa. In Ki Sissa Moshe pleads with Hashem to 'erase him from the book' if He will not forgive Israel's sin. In Tezaveh (the previous chapter) Moshe's name does not appear in fulfillment of this self-imposed curse. 321

A Blessing or Curse? :‫מר בו‬,‫ מת ת‬-‫ מאל‬,‫םקלו‬, ‫למר ימ נפ נניו ו קֹש ממע קֹב‬- ‫ כא יה נש‬21 Take heed of him, and hearken unto his voice; ‫ יכי ֹקש ימי ֹקב יק ֹקרבו‬,‫כם‬-‫א יי נשא קֹל יפ ֹקש נע ל‬,‫ יכי ל ם‬. be not rebellious against him; for he will not pardon your transgression; for My name is in him. ‫םכל‬, ,‫ קֹו נע ישי נת‬,‫םקלו‬, ‫ קֹב‬,‫ נשמו מע ית קֹש ממע‬-‫ כב יכי יאם‬22 But if thou shalt indeed hearken unto his voice, ,‫ קֹו מצ קֹר יתי‬,‫ביך‬-‫א ֹקי ל‬,‫ ם‬-‫לאת‬- ,‫ ֹקו נא מי קֹב יתי‬--‫תבר‬, ‫שר נא מד‬-‫ נא ל‬and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy ‫ליך‬-‫ ֹרקר‬,‫צם‬-‫אלת‬- . unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. -‫לאל‬- ‫לו לה יבי נאך‬- ,‫ניך‬-‫ ֹקל נפ ל‬,‫תלך ממ ֹקל נא יכי‬, ‫י‬,‫ ת‬-‫ כג יכי‬23 For Mine angel shall go before thee, and bring ‫ קֹו מה קֹפ יר יזי קֹו מה ֹקכ מנ נע יני מה יח יוי‬,‫מ ירי ֹקו מה יח יתי‬,‫ נה לא ם‬thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the ‫ קֹו מה ֹקיבו יסי; ֹקו יה קֹכ מח ֹקד יתיו‬. Jebusite; and I will cut them off. ,‫דם‬,‫א נת נע ֹקב ת‬,‫הם ֹקול ם‬-‫הי ל‬,‫לאל ת‬,‫לוה ת‬- ‫ ית ֹקש מת נח‬-‫א‬,‫ כד ל ם‬24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor ,‫סם‬,‫רס קֹת נה קֹר ת‬,‫ יכי נה ת‬:‫להם‬- ‫תשי‬, ‫שה ֹקכ ממ נע‬-‫א מת נע ל‬,‫ ֹקול ם‬serve them, nor do after their doings; but thou ‫להם‬- ‫תי‬,‫םב ת‬, ‫תצ‬, ‫בר ממ‬,‫תבר ֹקת מש ת‬, ‫ קֹו מש‬. shalt utterly overthrow them, and break in pieces their pillars. -‫את‬-‫תב מרך ל‬, ‫ ו‬,‫לכם‬- ‫הי‬,‫את ֹקיה נוה לאל ת‬,‫ ת‬,‫תם‬-‫ כה מו נע מב ֹקד ל‬25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and ,‫ר יתי ממ נח נלה‬,‫מיך; מו נה יס ם‬-‫תמי ל‬, -‫לאת‬- ‫ קֹו‬,‫ מל קֹח ֹקמך‬He will bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will ‫בך‬-‫ ימ יק ֹקר ל‬. take sickness away from the midst of thee. (Shmot 23: 21-25) Although being led by an angel instead of the Almighty is a downgrade, still these passages seem very much like a blessing. Hashem will protect us, vanquish our enemies; multiply us and cause disease to be no more. It's possible that these rewards are not really rewards that we deserved but rather rewards given for the sake of the Tzadik. The Tzadik negotiated on our behalf and paid a heavy price. One may add that the glory given to Am Israel for its victories and for settling and protecting the Land are also given to us for His sake. As it is written. ‫בית‬,‫לשר יח קֹל כלהו ת‬- ‫ נא‬,‫שם נק קֹד ישי‬,‫ ת‬-‫ מעל‬,‫םמל‬, ‫לא קֹח‬- ‫ כא נו‬21 But I had pity for My holy name, which the ‫ נבאו נש נמה‬-‫שר‬-‫ מבגו יים נא ל‬,‫אל‬,‫ יי קֹש נר ת‬. house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they came ‫םד נני‬, ‫םכה נא ממר נא‬, ,‫תאל‬, ‫ יי ֹקש נר‬-‫בית‬,‫מר קֹל ת‬,‫תכן לא ם‬, ‫ כב נל‬22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel: Thus :‫אל‬,‫תבית יי קֹש נר ת‬, ,‫שה‬-‫ע ל‬,‫כם נא יני ם‬-‫א ֹקל ממ מע קֹנ ל‬,‫ ל ם‬,‫ ֹקיה יוה‬saith the Lord GOD: I do not this for your sake, O ‫מבגו יים‬ ,‫תם‬-‫יח מל קֹל ל‬ ‫שר‬-‫נא ל‬ ‫ נק קֹד ישי‬-‫תשם‬, ‫ קֹל‬-‫יכי יאם‬ house of Israel, but for My holy name, which ye ‫לתם נשם‬- ‫ נבא‬-‫שר‬-‫ נא ל‬. have profaned among the nations, whither ye came. ,‫ מה ֹקמ כח נלל מבגו יים‬,‫ קֹש ימי מה נגדול‬-‫את‬-‫ כג קֹו יק מד קֹש יתי ל‬23 And I will sanctify My great name, which hath ‫ נא יני‬-‫ ֹקבתו נכם; ֹקו ני קֹדעו מהגו יים יכי‬,‫לתם‬- ‫שר יח מל ֹקל‬-‫ נא ל‬been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations ,‫כם‬-‫נב ל‬ ‫קֹב יה נק ֹקד ישי‬ ,‫קֹיה יוה‬ ‫םד נני‬, ‫נא‬ ‫ קֹנ כאם‬,‫ֹקיה נוה‬ shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord ‫הם‬-‫ני ל‬,‫תעי ת‬, ‫ קֹל‬. GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. (Yecheskel 36:21-23) 322

‫תםן לכה אא‬-‫ ֹקש ממ קֹע ל‬-‫א‬,‫תם ל ם‬-‫ מא ל‬,‫ ממר ֹקיה נוה‬- , ‫כ‬,‫יז לנ ת‬ Therefore, so says Hashem, “You did not hearken to Me to proclaim freedom, every man for his ;‫עהו‬,‫ר ת‬,‫א קֹדרור יאיש ֹקל נא יחיו קֹו יאיש ֹקל ת‬,‫ יל קֹקר ם‬,‫א מלי‬,‫ת‬ brother and every man for his fellow; behold! - I ‫רב‬-‫ח ל‬-‫ מה ל‬-‫אל‬-‫ ל‬,‫ קֹיה נוה‬-‫לכם קֹדרור קֹנ כאם‬- ‫תרא נל‬, ‫םק‬, ‫יה קֹנ יני‬ proclaim you to be free – the words of Hashem – ‫לכם לזועה‬- ‫א קֹת‬-‫ קֹו ננ מת יתי ל‬,‫ נה נר נעב‬-‫אל‬-‫לבר קֹו ל‬- ‫ד‬-‫ מה ל‬-‫לאל‬- for the sword, for the plague, and for the famine, ‫רץ‬-‫כל ממ קֹמ קֹלכות נה נא ל‬,‫ ֹקל ם‬,(‫) קֹל מז נע נוה‬. and I shall make you an object of trepidation for all the kingdoms of the earth. (Yermiyahu 34:17 – our Haftorah) In this passage we understand that our suffering and our exile is brought about by the way we treat each other. Why is the Rav's name associated with this passage? Early in his career the Rav founded the JDL (Jewish Defense League) as a response to rampant crime in New York City that often targeted Jews in poor neighborhoods. Many who were elderly and abandoned had no Jewish agency to help them and protect them. These Jewish activists succeeded in putting an end vandalism that visited Jewish cemeteries every Halloween. They heckled anti-Semitic speakers and protected neighborhoods that Jewish community leaders were not concerned with and had no practical solutions for. The love and concern that the Rav felt and acted upon was not only exhibited locally but globally. He called for protests against Jewish oppression by the Soviet Union. In one of his first articles about these issues in 1963 he wrote: “Silence is not always golden – sometimes its criminal. This being true, American Jewry must stand condemned for the crime of silence....While you read this two and a half million Jews in the East lie condemned to a spiritual death...They cannot train shochetim, kosher slaughterers, they cannot learn circumcision, they are harassed [for] any manifestation of Shabbath observance... And of course it will be protested: 'But what can we do? How can our protests and cries help the Jews from Russia?' To this we can only say; If a finger hurts, it may be of little benefit to cry out in pain. However if one does NOT cry out, one thing is certain: It does not hurt. If it did we would be marching at this moment around the Soviet consulate...We would cry out, boycott, protest, hold sit-ins... Let [Torah Jewry] take the lead in a campaign to re-awaken pain. Let us formulate a program of bold CONTINUOUS protest. By doing so we will give new heart to the Russian Jews who feel today that their brothers in the West have forgotten them...” (Meir Kahane : His life and thought pg.76) My brother Gavriel once pointed out a Gemora that asks a question: What do slave dream of? Although most people would answer 'freedom', the Talmud surprises us and says that a slave dreams of being 'the taskmaster.' In others words the sign of a real slave is someone who dreams of revenge, of making others suffer what he suffered, of being the 'boss' instead of the 'servant'. When this question is asked in Israel, surprisingly many Israeli's answer like the gemora. This of course indicates quite clearly that slavery is alive and well in Israel. It is the self-centered mind set of wanting to rule over others that defines one with a slave mentality. The Rav tried very hard to free us from this mind set, beginning locally in New York, then Internationally with the Russian Jews and then finally where it counts the most – in the Jewish State.. 323

The Jewish Slave (2018) We are approaching Adar and the holiday of Purim. Rav Spero in Toronto used to say that Purim is a sad day. After all of the festivities a Jewish woman (Esther) is still left married to a Gentile. This is redemption? A similar incomplete redemption we read about in our Parsha regarding the Hebrew slave. Why is this the first commandment that we read about after the giving of the Torah? Rav Kahane writes in Perush Hamaccabee When commenting on the Haftorah (Jeremiah 34:13-20). That is to say, you did not keep the mitzvah of the Hebrew slave, in which My power and My might and My mastery over the world are symbolized, and for the sake of which I took Israel down to Egypt – and I informed Avraham of My intentions when the fire passed between the parts of the calf in the Covenant between the Parts (Bereshit 15:4-21). But you transgressed My covenant, which is a hillul Hashem, because this mitzvah is the pinnacle of Kiddush Hashem. Perush HaMaccabee (1:22) Hashem took a holy people that represented Him in all of His goodness and brought them to Egypt where they were degraded into worthless slaves, beaten and tortured including the mass murder of Hebrew boys in the Nile. Then He performed great wonders and destroyed Egypt and brought them out as a free people. The Hebrew Nation became a symbol of hope and freedom and truth for the entire world. Now after giving of the Torah the commandments begin with the Eved Ivri. In other words Hashem was reminding them that it was I who foretold this to Avraham and I who brought you out as a great Nation. Instead of serving Pharoah you will now serve Me and in doing so always be a free people and a sign of truth and freedom for the entire world. One may ask how did Hashem allow this persecution to happen? There are many answers from different aspects. From the Israelite perspective there were those in Goshen who were not affected by the decrees of slavery as they remained aloof from Egyptian society in the Goshen yeshivas. From the Egyptian side if Pharaoh had simply allowed or even forced the Israelites out of Egypt he would have been called a saint. The extreme denials on both sides caused much of the suffering. The Israelites who refused to leave died in the days of darkness and the Egyptians who denied Hashem's request and were cruel and degraded the Hebrews were themselves destroyed. In our own time Hitler originally had a plan to expel the Jews from Germany however after noting the general apathy in the world he decided on the final solution. When we look at the concept of the Jewish slave we see that the status of slave came upon the Jew because of two reasons A: He owed money and sold himself to pay his debts B: He was a thief and placed in this situation by the court to repay his debts In the case of a thief one could say he was put into this situation because of his sins. The temporary servitude that he was placed in would pay his debts and then he would leave a free and rehabilitated man. Just as our National servitude and liberation were the results of consequences which eventually led to a type of rehabilitation and brought about a new 'liberated' Jew with its own army similar to our own time, the concept of the Jewish slave alludes to this epic birth of our own Nation. There is something very peculiar about the laws of the Eved Ivri. The Jewish master is allowed to give 324

his Jewish slave a non-Jewish wife to make children with. These children do not leave with him after his seven years servitute. They remain the property of the Jewish owner. If they go through conversion they may of course leave with him as a Jewish family. Alternatively he may decide to remain a slave forever and stay with his slave family. When I inquired about this Rav Halperin explained that an Eved Canaani was not a typical Gentile. The eved Canaani knew all of the Jewish laws as they were servants in a Jewish home. So we have here an unusual status of one who is not a typical Gentile and yet not a Jew either. The eved Canaani knows all of the Jewish laws and would find it much easier go through conversion and accept the yoke of Torah than a Gentile that is far removed from Jewish practice yet until they do so they remain an Eved Canaani. The Jew who is free to go after his seven years of servitude may also prefer not to be free and remain forever with his Eved Canaani. It is interesting to note that there is one simple difference between the times before Moshiach and the times after Moshiach. Rav Kahane in discussing the yoke of Heaven brings down in Persuch Hamaccabee an amazing quote from Isaiah And it will be on that day, that the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer 'rely upon its attacker'. They will rely upon Hashem the Holy One of Israel in truth..And it will be on that day that He will remove [Sennacherib's] suffering from your shoulders and his yoke from upon your neck. (Isaiah 10:20-27) The only difference between the times before moshiach and after is there will no longer be oppression from the gentile nations. This oppression however comes from our decision to accept the 'yoke' of the Torah or the yoke of the nations. When we stop 'relying on our attacker' for our security and instead rely on Hashem and move forward, then we are already in the times of Moshiach. There is something similar in the concept of the Jewish slave. One may know all of the Jewish laws just like the Eved Canaani but refuse to be free as a Jew. One may prefer the sustenance of a master who has permission to beat him and who governs his decisions and allows himself to be degraded as a slave or one can look around and see that the seven years have past and his debts are paid. He no longer needs to be a slave he can go free as a Jew who relies in truth on Hashem. A free Jew does not need a Jewish daughter to bed down with a Gentile king to be saved. He is a king himself as he serves the true master Hashem and a servant to a king is like a king. It's time we stopped to rely on our attackers and became truly free by relying in truth on Hasem. One who frees himself from this slave mentality is already living in the time of Moshiach. 325

The Conformist (2022) When I was in my adolescence my older brother had a recording of Lenny Bruce which I enjoyed. He was one of the 'deviants' of the 50's that preceded the 60's generation by unmasking hypocrisy and exposing false morality. 'In the halls of justice the only justice is in the halls' (Lenny Bruce) Many years later when I heard Rav Kahane, although he was from the opposite political spectrum I was attracted to a similar attribute of poking fun at hypocrisy and revealing truth cloaked in false morality. 'The good fortune of many Reform Rabbi's is that their congregants know less about Judaism than they do' (Rav Kahane) He was clever and witty. I was always surprised that my contemporaries who considered themselves part of the rebellious generation and enjoyed the sarcasm of Lenny Bruce did not feel the same way about the sharp wit and social commentary of Rav Kahane. Did the fact that he was an orthodox Rabbi and conservative overshadow the wit and wisdom of his words? It seems so, and in fact one of my contemporaries even explained that he was opposed to Rav Kahane because of the people he attracts. So it seems that differentiating between truth and falsehood pales in comparison to which group one is followed by. The group is more important than the objective truth. What is the end result of conforming to a group rather than a set of principles one believes in? The freedom loving hippies which opposed conservatism eventually led to a generation of unbridled hedonism and today as the dark age of Corona has befallen us there is an increasingly divided generation that no longer has a moral compass to navigate it. Many of the hippie rebels of the past have now joined forces with the establishment and have become outspoken supporters of totalitarianism while still thinking of themselves as rebels. This week one of the great symbols of the freedom loving 60's generation, Neil Young, has made an ultimatum to Spotify to ban Joe Rogan or else he will leave Spotify. What crime did Joe Rogan commit? He questioned authority. The icon of the 60's who questioned authority as a youth seeks now to forcefully threaten and cancel a new generation for questioning authority. Joe Rogan simply had distinguished guests on his show that did not blindly follow the current narrative and challenged viewers with other reputable medical facts. Neil Young who wrote a song 'Rockin in the Free World' was violently opposed to the 'free speech' of Joe Rogans's peaceful and non aggressive alternative point of view. Its interesting to note that while CNN has lost 90% of their viewers many people now prefer podcasts where there is debate and independent thought as opposed to the State and Pharma sponsored 'Pravda' news that characterizes what has become of the traditional media giants. Despite their constant bans and subjective fact checking they have failed to manipulate the masses as completely as they had expected. Strangely liberals have become totalitarian and conservatives have become the underground rebels. It is quite perplexing to me to see how many contemporaries of mine who consider themselves rebels and freedom fighters have become complete conformists and solicitors of totalitarianism. It is not the search for truth that distinguishes their quest for liberty but rather their desire to belong to a particular 'freedom loving' group (in name only) with special privileges that exclude others. It is 'group belonging' that is the overriding factor in ones choices rather than the quest for truth. In our Parsha we read: 'Do not follow the majority to do evil' (Shmot 23:2). This is not an easy task. As I 326

have navigated between truth and falsehood over the years, because the desire for truth overrides the desire to be accepted or in agreement with a particular group, I have found that my clarity of thought may seem like darkness to others whose motives may not be as truthful as they imagine and more a desire to be accepted and conform. My friend Yehuda mentioned to me today the following passage in Beshalach: 'And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines.' (Shmot 13:17) 'Not Derech Eretz Plishtim' he translates as meaning the way of the Plishtim is the way of Political Correctness. The 'Derech of Freedom' is not being 'Politically Correct'. This is not the way that leads to freedom. Rav Chanoch at the farbrengen today had a question regarding the rebuke in the Haftorah in which the prophet chastises us for not releasing the Jewish slave, which led to the destruction of Israel and the exile. His question was why should Hashem even give us the option to have a Jewish slave? Isn't this something that should not even be desired of a Jew? I answered the following. There is a difference between a Jewish slave and a Gentile one. A Jew may have a period where he must humble himself and go through a period of service, knowing all the time that he is still a Jew and that soon he will be free again. A 'real' slave however dreams of being the master. This is the true mentality of a 'real' slave and this is 'not' the Jewish way. This is the way of cruelty which is often the result of conformity and political correctness. The conformist has a natural animosity to truth which by its existence challenges the falsehoods that one accepts in order to conform so it must be removed by any means necessary. And so we live in a time where those who once considered themselves rebels and freedom fighters seek to silence truth that may shatter their falsehoods. Rav Kahane constantly stood against a sea of falsehood and remained a servant and Emissary of Hashem's kingdom which blazed a trail of authentic and objective truth that always has distinguished the Jewish people since Har Sinai till today. Although he was persecuted by the mob, the flame of his Torah can never be extinguished. Truth may be 'politically incorrect' and not in conformity with the masses. This however, has no bearing whatsoever on what is true and what is false. Truth is not voted on or coerced. It is either true or not. There are many types of conformists even those who may think of themselves as rebels and freedom fighters as they blindly inject themselves with experimental vaccines in a panic, and hysterically insist that others do the same against their will. The Jewish way is to be a servant, not a slave of the masses, and not a master to anyone against their will, and to navigate the way of truth even if the majority becomes hypnotized and increasingly aggressive. 'Do not follow the majority to do evil' My good friend Shifra Hoffman (z'tl) was always proud of a personal inscription Rav Kahane signed for her in one of the volumes of his books: 'In every generation there are always a few who understand; Always understand..even if you remain among the few' – Rav Kahane 327

328

Kahane in the Parsha Terumah 329

The Crack Part I – Terumah 'There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.' – Leonard Cohen Ever since the Garden of Eden there have been two evolutions in the world. The expanding tree of knowledge and the contracting Garden. The expanding tree I call the tree of Dos and Doubt. Dos in Hebrew is knowledge and along with this knowledge is a mixture of doubt. This knowledge continues to spread and grow and evolve and create new innovations in the world. The diminishing Garden is maintained by a small group of faithful that are zealous to retain the purity and holiness of what the world was intended to be. As they go seemingly separate directions, they are traveling actually in a circle and will eventually meet. As one expands the other contracts. The circle was completed once before at Har Sinai. The Garden took on a new form with Am Israel becoming in a sense Adam HaRishon but with the Chet HaEgel the Garden was hidden once again and diminished this time within the Mishkan. There is an illusion to Haman in the Garden of Eden when Hashem says “ HaMin Haetz?...” ‫נא נתה;ִנה שמן‬ ‫רם‬,‫תעי ם‬, ‫יכי‬ ,‫ֹקלך‬ ‫יה יגיד‬ ‫א‬ 11 And He said: 'Who told you that you are ‫ ימי‬--‫למר‬- ‫א‬,‫מוי ם‬ from which I naked? Have you eaten of the tree, -‫שר יצ יוי יתיך ֹקל יב קֹל יתי נא נכל‬-‫ נא ל‬,‫עץ‬,‫ נה ת‬- commanded you not to eat?' ‫ נא נכ ֹקל נת‬--‫למנו‬- ‫ימ‬ (Bereshit 3:11) Haman tried to destroy the Jewish people physically as well as spiritually which is alluded to the 50 amos gallows he erected that corresponds to the 50 levels of Kedusha. In the end he will be hung on his own tree; punished and destroyed similar to the original snake in the Garden and the Leviathan in the future. Although he brings about his own destruction he causes a bigger Garden to be revealed. The purpose of evil is the 'crack' that ultimately brings more light through his death. The Crack Part II - Tezaveh We understand the role of evil is to spread Dos/Doubt and in the end make the Garden greater. The role of the Tzadik is to preserve the 'purity' of the Garden. Moshe offered himself as a sacrifice in order to save the Jewish people from annihilation. Therefore he was erased from the Parsha Tezaveh. Although his name does not appear in the Parsha you can see it hidden in a peculiar place. There are two chains attached to the Shoham stones that rest on the shoulders of the Cohen. These chains carry the breastplate with all of the twelve tribes inscribed on it. The Shoham stones rearranged spell Moshe. We see an illusion to the Tzadik who carries the Jewish people on his shoulders. These Parshiot normally occur around the time of Purim. Purim is the last month of our National year which begins in Nissan. Our Nation was born in Nissan with the holiday of Pesach and the climax of our history is the end of the year with Purim. Purim is a time when the world turns upside down and is a very physical holiday. We have a feast, and we drink and we send mishloach manot (gifts of food). 330

Chanuka the other Rabbinical holiday is very spiritual. The laws of Chanuka have much to do with the purity of the oil and the spiritual joy of spreading these holy lights. Now if the goal of Creation is to return us back to the Garden would we not expect the final holiday of the year to be the most spiritual like Chanuka? To answer this question we must look at another transformation. It seems to me that there is another transformation that must take place in addition to the Dos/Doubt tree where all the good from evil is extracted and the shell discarded. One might even say that this parallel transformation is in fact the active ingredient that will extract this good from evil. What is this transformation? The tikkun of the Tzaddik. The Pach Katan; the small vile of pure Oil found in the Temple on Chanuka; the holy few that keep the light of Gan Eden shining, eventually must connect that light to the wax of the candle. As the physical becomes more spiritual the spiritual must connect the worlds together. Haman is not only seen in the Garden related to the tree of knowledge Haman is also released through the words of the giver of the Torah himself. How can this be? ‫ני‬,‫ קֹפ ת‬-‫לאל‬- --‫ מה נק נהל‬-‫את‬-‫ ל‬,‫רן‬,‫לשה קֹו מא נה ם‬- ‫מ‬,‫ י מו מי קֹק יהלו ם‬10 Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly --‫מ ירים‬,‫ ננא מה ם‬-‫ יש ֹקמעו‬,‫להם‬- ‫מר נל‬-‫םא ל‬, ‫ מה נס מלע; מוי‬together before the rock, and he said to them: 'Listen now, O rebels; shall we to bring you forth ‫לכם נמ ייםִנה שמן‬- ‫ נו יציא נל‬,‫לזה‬- ‫לס מלע מה‬- ‫ מה‬- water for you from this rock? (Bamidbar 9:10) It seems to me that the root of the ultimate redemption is concealed within these words. From within these words will come the physical manifestation of a spiritual reality. The anger of the pure against the Dos/Doubt tree precisely at the time when it is needed can cause great tragedy. An opportunity so close at hand can cause the greatest divide. For example a point at which the tribes of Israel could have been united was the same point that they were completely divided. The Holy One, Blessed is He, grabbed Yeravam by his cloak and said to him, “Return, and I, you, and the son of Yishai will stroll together in Gan Aiden.” “Who will lead?” he asked. “Ben Yishai will lead.” He [G-d] answered him. “If so,” he ended, “then I don’t want it!” (Sanhedrin 102a) Now one might say David is the pure one and Yeravam was evil as Baal Haturim writes in Netzavim: Perhaps there is among you a man, woman, family, or tribe, whose heart turns away from Hashem, our G-d today to follow and to serve the gods of these nations; maybe there is among you a source that would proliferate and spread evil in your midst, [who] upon hearing the words of this curse thinks to himself, “I will be fine, even though I do as I please.” In order to add the inadvertent transgressions to the premeditated one, G-d will not be willing to forgive him. G-d will be angry and His jealousy will rage against that man, and all the curses of this book will come after him. G-d will wipe away his name from under heaven. G-d will single him out for evil from all the tribes of Israel and cause him to experience all the curses of the covenant recorded in this Book of the Law. (Devarim 29:17-20) “G-d will single him out for evil … The gematria (of the Hebrew words) is equal to ‘This is Yeravam.'” (Ba’al HaTurim) However the Talmud tells us: When Yeravam left Jerusalem he met the prophet Achiah HaShiloni along the way, who was 331

wearing a new garment … (I Melachim 11:29) What does this mean? Rav Nachman said: Just as a new garment has no spots, so too did the teaching of Yeravam have no error. According to others: They renewed things that no ear has ever heard. What does, “And the two of them were alone in the field” mean? All other scholars were like the plants of the field compared to them. (Sanhedrin 102a) It seems that there is a type of anger or arrogance in deciding to be stricter than the Merciful One or indifferent to his manifestations (see Bechuchotai, and Vayera). In the case of Adam in Gan Eden part of the problem between him and Eve was the additional restrictions that he placed on the tree. This caused her to err. To physically touch the tree was not forbidden however Adam told Eve it was, as a precaution. When the snake pushed her against it and she didn't die, this confused her and the rest is history. The anger of Moshe caused a rift between the Jewish people precisely when the doors of redemption were beginning to open. One can see this reflected in our own century when inaction and indifference as the doors of Israel opened gave strength to Haman/Hitler. The Haman Arabs today are again testing this indifference as they spread throughout Europe and the world. Will we get angry at the rock to placate our enemies or be indifferent yet again when the new settlers are now God fearing leaving us no excuse not to join them? It seems we can see parallels sometimes between the Charedi world and the Arabs. Just as the Arabs who were offered so much of the Land refused on principle as they wanted it all; so the Charedi world stand aloof waiting for a perfect future where Moshiach will suddenly appear and the Bet Hamigash fall from Heaven. There is no compromise between good and evil yet between the two poles the world is being built. As the century evolves more physical Jews seek spiritual understanding and connection and more spiritual Jews seek to express the Divine by physically building and settling the Land. The settler movement is correcting the flaw of the pure vile and the Dos/Doubt tree by rebuilding Gan Eden over and over again despite hatred and demolitions from outside and within. Hamin Hasela? From this rock you expect salvation? Yes, the Land itself speaks. Purim is the high point of the Jewish cycle of the year where spirituality has progressed to the point that it is now physical. One of the main mitzvot of Purim is shaloach manot where we give people at least two gifts of food that can be eaten right away without preparation. This allows that person to consume one and give another to someone else. At the high point of our year we all become Chabadniks making sure we are giving to others and enabling others to also give. In addition the Torah is something we give and then we share with others however in the end of days the Torah will manifest itself physically as we resettle our Land, reclaim our King and Father in Heaven and thereby bring true peace to the world. It's interesting to note that at the end of the year where spirituality becomes physically represented in the shaloach manot in Nissan the opposite occurs. As this climax of freely giving food items comes to an end we begin again with the pure vile. For in Nissan, we restrict our diet and are very careful what we eat. We return to the concentrated Gan Eden restricted to chametz free items. And so it goes. From Gan Eden to Har Sinai to the Mishkan there is an expanding and contracting Gan Eden. The Haman in both is crucial for our growth while he himself becomes nullified. Moshes greatest success and failure is also alluded to in Tezaveh as he is erased so that Israel will live and in Parsha Parah; the rock which leads us to the elixir of life when our ways are corrected and we resettle Gan Eden. 332

The Hamantashen Obstacle to Geula (2021) If the journey of life begins with the physical needs of a baby and evolves to the spiritual aspirations of man, why is that not mirrored in the Jewish year that begins in Nissan when we were born as a Nation. It would seem appropriate that Chanuaka would be the final holiday in our yearly cycle as this is the most spiritual, dealing with light and oil, rather than Purim which is the most physical. Haman wanted to physically destroy the Jewish people and we send gifts of food to be shared and consumed. It may not be contradictory however, because in the language of Chassidut the generation of Moshiach, the seventh generation is a time where the physical becomes spiritual. It is a time where the Heavenly generations are joined to the physical world below. Now I am not a Chassid of Chabad however after hearing this concept at the farbrengen table I may offer a suggestion. Where do we see examples of this great physical spirituality in our time? I would say in the newspaper. On page five or six you may find a small article about a tribe in Africa killing thousands from another tribe. On the front page however you may find a big story about a Jew making an addition to his house in Yehdua and Shomron or building a second home next to him for his son in law. This is news. The United Nation has a special meeting. The ambassadors of America and Russia and Germany all have comments and declarations to make. The most mundane physical thing is so spiritual that it challenges the whole world. Now although this is clear to me, there are many Torah observant Jews who may not agree that this is spiritual and some may even think the whole Zionist enterprise is the work of the devil or at least the Erev Rav and there is a lot to validate their point. Some see the State of Israel as part in the process of Geula and some see it as a step against the Geula. Wherever one stands on these issues I believe we would do well to study something which I call the great Hamentashen that is suspended between Heaven and Earth and obstructing the Geula. What do I mean? Let's have a look at what the Torah Temima says on this weeks Parsha. 25:10. And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two and one half ells, its length; one and a half ells, its breadth; and one and a half ells, its height. two and one half ells, its length - R. Mesharshia said: Whence is it derived that “all who add detract\"? From: \"Two [amathaim) and one half ells, its length\"[If not for the addition of the “a” in the beginning, it would read: \"mathaim\" (two hundred)] (Sanhedrin 29a). And from Sanhedrin 29a Hezekiah said: Whence do we know that he who adds to the word of God subtracts (from it)? - From the verse, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it. (Bereshit 3:3) The Rebbe (Adam) as a precaution added 'do not touch' to his student Chava and the snake found an opening there to create the rift that changed history. He pushed her against the tree and she didn't die. This convinced her. The snake is also related to Haman from the family of Amalek. The Gemara (Chullin 139b) teaches that the verse in which Hashem asks Adam, “Hamin ha’eitz” — From the tree (that I prohibited to you, have you eaten?) — contains an allusion to Haman. Although the tree (etz) may allude to the tree Haman was hung on, it also alludes to the temptation of Chava that the serpent succeeded in instigating with Amaleks traditional weapon of 'doubt.' The Amalek family has always been instrumental in our downfall since the time of the original sin. Our 333

omissions (in the case of King Saul who was commanded to destroy Amalek) or our additions in the case of Adam create opportunities for Amalek to enter. Now we know that every descent is really an ascent. Before the giving of the Torah, there were seven generations [who angered G-d] that caused the Divine Presence to [withdraw and] ascend upward. And then there were seven generations afterwards that drew the Divine Presence downward, [making possible] the giving of the Torah. (Bereishis Rabbah 19:7 ) In a different seventh generation after being refined in the furnace of Egypt we stood at Har Sinai and collectively the Nation of Israel was now at a similar level to Adam HaRishon before being expelled from the Garden. The Garden was a much larger one now and had forever altered the physical world below. Our decline led to a greater ascension. The struggle between good and evil ultimately transforms the world so there is a harmony between Heaven and Earth which will ultimately be manifested with the future Bet Hamigdash. The nucleus of this struggle began with Adam (the Rebbe) who tries to protect, the student who misunderstands and Amalek who finds there an opening to destroy, who is himself destroyed, and through this the world is transformed. The exodus in our own time follows the same pattern. The Shoa and the birth of the State of Israel have transformed the world into a new reality. Personally I believe that preceding the 3rd Bet Hamigdash will be another new reality when the builders in Yehuda and Shomron declare the State of Judea. As Israel returned, so will Judea. This entity will not come into being to compete nor divide but rather to unite all of Israel and restore its purpose. This brings us back to the great Hamentashen floating in the sky between Heaven and Earth. We understand why the Gentile newspapers attack the builders of Yehuda and Shomron. We understand why anti religious Jews attack these builders for fear of the Gentiles. Let us examine however the Torah Jew who follows Rashi who explains that the Beit Hamikdash will descend from Heaven intact or Rambam who says it is it is a positive commandment to construct a House for G-d.* To what degree do they support reject or are indifferent to that builder in Yesha. To understand this better we must look at another place in the Torah where Haman is alluded to however not brought down anywhere (as far as I know). ‫ני‬,‫ קֹפ ת‬-‫לאל‬- --‫ מה נק נהל‬-‫את‬-‫ ל‬,‫םרן‬, ‫שה ֹקו מא נה‬-‫םמ ל‬, ‫ י מו מי קֹק יהלו‬10 Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly --‫םמ ירים‬, ‫ ננא מה‬-‫ יש ֹקמעו‬,‫הם‬-‫מר נל ל‬-‫א ל‬,‫ מה נס מלע; מוי ם‬together before the rock, and he said to them: ‫כם נמ ייםִנה שמן‬-‫ נו יציא נל ל‬,‫זה‬-‫לס מלע מה ל‬- ‫ מה‬- 'Listen now, O rebels; shall we to bring you forth water for you from this rock? (Bamidbar 9:10) The transformation of Gan Eden that began with the Rebbe Adam taking an extra precaution we see externally as our world evolves and the defeated Amalek's throughout the ages, that we gave birth to (because of our sins) are studied. Here however the Torah addition (which is a subtraction) is an addition of 'anger' in a place where Hashem was not angry. Is there an anger or resentment towards Zionism today that is not in line with how Hashem really feels? Is that possible? Do we need to add, which causes a subtraction and then delays the process of Geula? Does the anger cover up a doubt? If we don't feel worthy is that any reason not to do a mitzvah? Do we need to wait for Moshiach in order to put on Tefillin? Why are there no protests to build the Temple today? 334

The Haman in the 'Tree of Good and Evil' is easier to see than the Haman in the 'Rock' which is all 'Good.' A tree bears fruit and continually grows. The only growth that may be related to the 'Rock' is possibly the story of Rabbi Akiva who saw how a drop of water over time made a hole in a rock and concluded that the words of Torah might be able to enter his heart and make a change. Do we have faith that we can build Yehuda and Shomron and our Temple though it seems like there is so much against us? What is faith exactly when fears stop us from performing commandments? Is it better to wander in the desert and wait for the next generation? The great Hamentashen that hovers between Heaven and earth has the fruit of the tree in the center and the cookie on the outside resembling the rock that is also sweet. Both parts are challenged by Haman who is looking for an opening to delay Geula. Which is your favorite part of this Hamentashen? Whichever part you choose may it help to connect Heaven and Earth with a new physical reality which is spiritual. May it also be a healthy cookie with no additions which are subtractions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Rashi: Commentary to Talmud, Sukkah 41a and Rosh Hashanah 30a. Exodus 15:17 Rambam: It is a positive commandment to construct a House for G-d, prepared for sacrifices to be offered within. We [must] celebrate there three times a year, as [Exodus 25:8] states: \"And you shall make Me a sanctuary.\" Beit Habechirah - Chapter 1 335

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Kahane in the Parsha Tezaveh 337

Tezave - 2012 Atonement Through the Body of the Tzadik Contrary to popular belief Christianity is actually based upon a Jewish idea, namely the concept of Moshiach Ben Yoseph, which is the concept of a Tzadik that suffers for the benefit of others. The concept was marketed to pagans by reform Jews and went on to become what it is today. Of course Judaism forbids human sacrifice however sacrifice is essential to our belief beginning with Itzchak who was a drop of blood away from human sacrifice. In the end nothing that Hashem creates is wasted. Everything serves a purpose. Truth is given in teaspoons to elevate the entire world. Even the shell of the fruit grows along with its purpose which is the fruit. The shell is the friendship and animosity of the many Nations that harbored the fruit which is Israel – Hashems first born son. Of course it appears that this shell is constantly trying and succeeding to destroy the fruit but in the end it too will be refined from a coconut shell to the shell of a lichee and will easily peel off. The Christian paradigm consists of three basic ideas that differ from Judaism only by mathematics. They are: 1. There was a Jewish man who was the son of God, and he looked just like everyone else, yet he was actually the son of God. 2. He died for the sins of the world. He also elevated the world through his death 3. No one can know the father (God) unless he knows the son. The only difference between this idea and Judaism is mathematics. It is this mathematics that some of the Christian world are beginning to understand and in the end those who grasp it will become part of the fruit. What is the mathematics I speak of? 1. 'All' of the Jewish people are the sons and daughters of God. We look the same as everyone else yet we are actually the sons and daughters of God and part of His essence is within the soul of each and every Jew. Our history and His desire are one and the same. 2. 'We' constantly die and suffer for the sins of the world. Albeit we bring on our own sins as well, but through our willing and unwilling sacrifice the world is morally elevated. The world sinned with the Shoa and through our suffering was also elevated. Having had enough of these constant persecutions Israel finally emerged as the avenger. 3. Those who truly want to seek God must come to His children the 'Jewish people' in order to understand what is demanded of them. We do not demand conversion like Muslims or Christians, we simply can explain what is expected of each individual from whatever point he wishes to serve God. We can however enforce what is 'not' permitted, which we are already doing by defending ourselves and the world. Every soldier that becomes a sacrifice elevates our Nation as a whole on Yom Hazikaron when we bond as a Nation and are strengthened in our resolve. Tzadikim who fight for Gods Torah and die in combat bring an even greater elevation and resolve. On a balance scale Rav Kahane was equivalent to all of the sages of our time (see Perkei Avot 2:12) and through his sacrifice this Torah is now becoming part 338

and parcel of our Nation. His body has entered our National body so to speak. What does it mean that his Torah was equivalent to all the other Torah's? Among all of our Torah leaders none could answer the burning questions of our times. Where was God in the Shoa and where is God today in secular Israel? He demonstrated by going into battle the 'flaw' in our souls that begs the question 'Where were 'we' in the Shoa and where are 'we' today in the re-born Israel? Where are we now when it comes to protest and where are we now when the gates of Israel are wide open? The small numbers that did come out to his protests and the great numbers who hated him are an indication of who we are and what is our flaw. This is the same flaw we had before the Shoa. He made it more apparent to us. One of his famous books was called 'Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews'. This is the point. We live in denial and then do too little, too late. After years of struggle and after dying in combat bringing these ideas into the heart and soul of our Nation, we are now on the way to becoming healed and hopefully soon will be ready to accept the Torah once again. It wasn't enough for Moshe to bring the Jews out of Mitzrayim, he also had to teach them and train them and heal them so that they could receive the Torah. This was the point. It wasn't enough for the Rav to protest and bring a million Russian Jews to Israel, it was the concepts that he taught us about what is a Jew and why we must protest. What is our vocation and what is demanded of us? How do we act in a way that brings glory and not tragedy? The sword of David and the Torah of David work together. His Torah which is medicine for the Jewish soul has revived the Nation and we see today how the governing powers are fearful because those who fear God are slowly taking over the Nation. Those who fear the Nations are saying 'we hope there is a God because our leadership is leading us to confrontation'. The Rabbi would often say 'Better an Israel that is hated by the world than an Auschwitz that is loved by them'. As the Kalisher Rav quoted at the beginning of this book 'If your Torah hasn't been banned then it's not worth reading'. Bob Dylan writes about JC who 'came and died a criminals death'. The Christians built a whole religion upon this Moshiach ben Yoseph concept. There is something to this idea. All of our great spiritual leaders have been chased and harassed by government authorities. Sometimes it's hard to tell who are the 'good guys' and who are the 'bad guys'. Moshe was a fugitive because he killed a Jewish oppressor. Rav Kahane was also banned, harassed and finally assassinated because he fought against Jewish oppressors. So how does one determine who is following the law and who is breaking the law? What leaders and scholars will make the Halacha clear? This is what the Rav wrote: The Jewish concept of government is clear; The government exists to serve the state. The state exists to serve the people. The people exist to serve God.....When the government demands that a Jew disobey a [Divine] law – he must disregard the illegal order. When the government refuses to allow a Jew to obey a legal obligation – he must defy the illegal attempt [of the government]. Settlement attempts in Eretz Israel are in the highest tradition of Jewish obedience to law and order....For the sake of the Jewish people and the Jewish State, [Jewish] law and order must be preserved. (Rabbi Meir Kahane:His Life and Thought Pg. 421) Not only was his life an example (of our failure) but he laid down the Halacha clearly for us to understand the great tragedies and great miracles of our times. Millions of lives could have been saved if the escape to Israel had been promoted before the Shoa. Today as well who knows how much damage has been done by the continued animosity towards Israel from large percentages of both religious and secular Jews that refuse to leave and participate in the miracle of Israel's rebirth. 339

Let's return to our Parsha. Moshes name is not mentioned even once in the entire Parsha of Tezaveh. This was the fulfillment of a curse which Moshe brought upon himself. After the sin of the Golden Calf, he told Hashem, “If You do not forgive their sin, I beg You, blot me out from Your book which You have written!” A Tzaddik's words must take effect (even if the condition attached to them is not fulfilled). Hashem consequently erased Moshe's name from Parsha Tezaveh. This doesn't simply mean he holds him to his word, it means he has paid the price for the people. Hashem is generous to us and the Tzadik pays by being removed from a chapter of the Torah. Although his name is erased it is hidden in the passage that describes the Shoham stones. The priest breastplate was attached by two chains that were attached to two Shoham stones that rested on the Cohen's shoulder. The breastplate represented the twelve tribes with each of their stones and they were all suspended by the two Shoham stones that were on the shoulders of the Cohen. The letters that spell Shoham are the same letters that spell Moshe (‫שהם‬/‫)משה‬. This is an indication that the Tzaddik pays the price for us all. The Tzadik is the Shoham stone that carries the whole Nation on his shoulders. By his example he shows us what is demanded and what is possible. He clarifies our confusion and inability to act against the Goliath's of our times. He takes them on himself. He demonstrates our flaw and weakness by our apathy or persecution of the Tzadik who comes to help us. He is the barometer of our condition. He is the minors canary. It is we who kill the Tzadik by allowing the messenger to be destroyed in his attempt to save us. It is we who are to blame for not defending him and leaving him a target for wild beasts. As we treat the Tzadik so will the Nations treat us, measure for measure. The cure is to take up his mantle, even though we do not have the same gifts. He showed us the way and what is demanded. In our own way we must answer the call and change the body of the Nation to reflect our true calling. We too must begin to carry the Nation upon our shoulders. In this way we become like the Tzadik. When we serve God in the way that He desires then God serves us as well and protects us from harm. This is the lesson the Tzadik brings to us. He demonstrates and defines for us the authentic Torah that is demanded of our generation. He trains us in the essential actions that prevent tragedy and bring glory to our Nation. Just as many Christians return to the roots of Judaism and eventually many will join the body of the Nation as Jews; in the same way we as Jews must return to our roots and act more like the Tzadikim who paid for our survival and glory. 340

The Masses are Shaped by the Power of the Small When a cow eats grass he elevates the grass into a higher form. Jews elevate the cow when they make a blessing and consume it. The Tzadik elevates the whole Nation when the Tzadik is consumed. When Moshe said 'erase me from your book' Hashem accepted his self-sacrifice and erased Moshe from Parsha Tezaveh which paid a price for us all. One of the remedies for the Nation after the sin of the Egel is seen in Parsha Ki Sissa. Giving the half shekel to the mishkan is a way of each one making a self-sacrifice for the benefit of the Nation. It also demonstrates that we are not complete without the other. Each one of us is only a half. We all must learn from the Tzadik to be like him, even if it is only a half shekel that we can give of our-self. In the temple atonement wasn't made until the Levites consumed the sacrifice. The Nation consumes the sacrifice of the Tzadik by in a practical sense, learning from the guilt they have of his loss; a loss that they could have prevented. Learning from his example; becoming more like him in their small way, the Nation is transformed and the Tzadik's Torah is digested. On a metaphysical level, he pays for the whole nation; the whole nation is elevated because of one man. Just as Moshe's sacrifice was connected to the half shekel, so was the Rav's sacrifice connected to the 'orange revolution' that came after him and embodied his spirit on a more National level. In Parsha Yitro we learn something interesting about Nadav and Avihu. Just as Nadav and Avihu in their elation were careless and died from their proximity to holiness, we see that actually the whole Nation has this ability. As a Nation we had to be warned twice to stay back and not get too close otherwise we would die. The desire to be close to the Divine is something innate in us all. During the Spanish Inquisition many non-observant Jews gave their lives rather than convert to Christianity. The tzadik prepares us to elevate ourselves to the point of sacrifice. He is the shemen zayit; the pure oil that is able to give himself in a way that elevates the nation by his example. His sacrifice is made to unify the nation. The irony is that Rav Meir was considered a pariah like Yoseph; one that was a threat; yet in the end; like Yoseph he will be understood as the great unifier. 341

The Shoulders of the Tzadik Teiku is a word used in the Talmud when there is no resolution. It is an anachronism for Tishbi yetaretz kushiyot ubaayot (Eliyahu HaTishbi will answer the questions we have when he comes). Although these questions deal with details of the Oral law and not philosophical questions, the question of why Tzadikim die for our sins, or 'pay the price' to elevate the Nation is still difficult to understand. The Midrash tells us that Moshe was shown Rabbi Akiva in the future explaining things in the Torah that even he had not seen. When he was shown Rabbi Akiva's end Moshe had difficulty understanding this. Moshe himself was taken out of one chapter of the Torah for the sake of the Jewish people and was commanded not to set foot in the Land that he desired more than anyone. He paid the ultimate price so that the Nation of Israel would live on. The gematria of Teiku is 516. This number has a few interesting correlations. The number 516 equals the word 'shoulders' which we spoke about in Parsha Tezave. ‫םפת‬, ‫ מעל יכ קֹת‬,‫תתי נה נא נב ינים‬, ‫ קֹש‬-‫את‬-‫ יב קֹו מש קֹמ נת ל‬12 And thou shalt put the two stones upon the ‫רן‬,‫תאל; קֹו ננ נשא מא נה ם‬, ‫ני יי קֹש נר‬,‫ יל ֹקב ת‬,‫רן‬,‫תני יז נכ ם‬, ‫ מא ֹקב‬,‫פד‬,‫א ם‬,‫ נה ת‬shoulder-pieces of the ephod, to be stones of ‫רכ לת אפיו‬-- memorial for the children of Israel; and Aaron ‫תי‬,‫ ֹקש ת‬-‫מעל‬ ,‫קֹיה נוה‬ ‫ני‬,‫יל קֹפ ת‬ ‫ קֹשמו נתם‬-‫את‬-‫ל‬ shall bear their names before the LORD upon his ‫םן‬,‫ קֹלזי נכר‬two shoulders for a memorial. (Shmot 28:12) The Shoham stone which also spells Moshe (same letters) are placed on the shoulders with a chain attaching the breastplate with all the tribes of Israel on them. It is as if to say the Gadol HaDor carries all the tribes of Israel, the entire generation on his shoulders. The number 516 also is connected with the word possession ‘yerush’ . ‫תנה‬, ‫םא ננ מת נתה נז מרע; קֹו יה‬, ‫ ל‬,‫הן ילי‬,‫ ת‬--‫מר מא קֹב נרם‬-‫םא ל‬, ‫ ג מוי‬3 And Abram said: 'Behold, to me Thou hast given ‫םא יתייורלש‬, no seed, and, lo, one born in my house is to be ,‫תבי יתי‬, -‫לבן‬- . mine heir.' (Bereshit 15:3) The Tzadik that truly conquers the Land continues on despite opposition even if it seems like opposition from above. God commanded Avraham to leave his life behind and come to a strange new Land and promised him that he will inherit this Land even though it appeared by the laws of nature to have been a mistake. Moshe tried to liberate the Jewish people and he only made it worse. He didn't give up and eventually they were liberated because of his persistence. The Rav also was defeated thousands of times in many perfidious ways and yet remained undefeated, even in death. “I must confess to being surprised. And a bit disturbed. Surprised to see so many good Jews depressed and despairing, asking: 'What now? Kach as been banned from the Knesset; what is going to be?' Upset to see that so many have turned the means into the end, they have made the Knesset – which was always only a tool – into the goal. Is the banning of Kach from the Knesset the end of the world? More, has it made Kahane a different person and my teachings any less true? Was the support of Kahane meant for me, or for my carriage and horses – the Knesset...” 1 342

-‫לאת‬- ‫תם‬-‫ו קֹנ מת ל‬--‫ קֹל נא יביו‬,‫תאין מא יחים‬, -‫ יא ֹקו יאם‬11 And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall ,‫תא נליו ימ ימ ֹקש מפ קֹחתו‬, ‫םרב‬, ‫ארו מה נק‬,‫ מנ נח נלתו יל ֹקש ת‬give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. And ‫ ֹקל כח מקתרו אי תרש‬,‫אל‬,‫ני יי ֹקש נר ת‬,‫א נתה; קֹו נה קֹי נתה יל קֹב ת‬,‫ם‬ it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of ‫לשה‬- ‫םמ‬, -‫את‬-‫ ל‬,‫לשר יצ נוה ֹקיה נוה‬- ‫ מכ נא‬,‫ ימ קֹש נפט‬. judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.' (Bamidbar 27:11) The Rabbi spoke about the difference between a Torah scholar and a Navon. A scholar may have a great memory for the written and Oral Torah but a Navon is someone who can deduce. A navon has intuition and ability to read between the lines. -‫שר‬-‫לרץ נא ל‬- ‫ נה נא‬-‫לאל‬- ,‫להיך‬- ‫לו לה יבי נאך ֹקיה נוה לאל‬- ‫ ה‬5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt ‫אי ררשו‬,‫הי יט קֹבך קֹו יה קֹר קֹבך‬,‫ יוי יר ֹקש נתה; קֹו ת‬--‫תיך‬-‫ב ל‬,‫נא ם‬ possess it; and He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. ‫יך‬-‫םתל‬,‫תמאנב‬, . (Devarim 30:5) All of the above have the gematria of 516 ‫ = אי ררשו‬possessed (Devarim 30:5) - 516 ‫ = רו אי תרש‬he shall possess it (Bamidbar 27:11) - 516 ‫ = יו לרש‬my heir (Bereshit 15:3) - 516 ‫ = רכ לת אפיו‬his shoulders (Shmot 28:12) - 516 ‫' = תיקו‬letting it stand' (to be explained in the future) - 516 Understanding our purpose and the meaning of our inheritance is a difficult question that we continue to suffer with. The Talmud tells us in Berachot 5a: “God gave Israel three fine gifts and all come only through suffering: Torah, Eretz Yisrael and the World-to-Come.” How many of our brightest and finest have given their lives to build this Gan Eden here on earth called Israel? How do we understand the price that they paid? Did they pay so that we can live freely? Where is the justice? Are they re-born again, somehow? What is their reward for their ultimate sacrifice? It seems to be a ''Taiko' something we will only understand in the future or maybe in the World to Come. That Israel is a great gift there is no question, but the suffering that every family has endured is very difficult to comprehend. In addition the whole idea of the Jewish people returning to the Promised Land is difficult for the world to grasp as well as our own people. The justice of our cause is debated not only internationally but internally. The death of Tzadikim from Torah scholars to soldiers to the many other victims of terror is difficult to understand and yet through this pain our resolve becomes stronger and we continue to grow and inherit the 'gift' that has been promised us. It is also a 'Teiko' I suppose how one person can carry a nation, but this was true of Moshe, of Pinchas, and of Rav Kahane. Their example created a new reality. From the time of Avraham, this new 'Israelite' reality threatened tyrants and oppressors. Rabbi Kahane's example proved a reality that threatened dictators and lawless people. Remove the example and then we no longer need to live up to a higher 343

standard. Rav Kahane was killed because he threatened to take away those in power. He threatened to bring law where there is lawlessness. He threatened to bring justice where there is injustice. He threatened to bring mercy where there is cruelty. Why are good people removed or at best treated with hatred and animosity? Maybe it has to do with possession. Pinchas was jealous for Hashem. Jealousy is the result of someone taking something that belongs to you and calling it his. Hashem is jealous when we take other gods that don’t belong to us. Maybe the lawless individuals who have power are also jealous that the Tzadik will take away their power. It is a war of jealousy between they who are in possession of the world and the king who truly owns it. The Tzaddik carries this weight on his shoulders. The Best Question Farbrengen 2019 'This was your best question' said Rav Butman to me with a smile, a shared concern, and deep thought, as it touched both of our hearts. What was the question? ‫יפ מת ֹקח נתו‬ ;‫םש מהם‬, -‫תני‬, ‫מא קֹב‬ ‫תי‬,‫ ֹקש ת‬-‫לאת‬- ,‫ֹקו נל מק קֹח נת‬ ‫ט‬ 9 And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of ‫תאלענ‬, ‫תני יי ֹקש נר‬, ‫ ֹקשמות קֹב‬,‫הם‬-‫תלי ל‬, . Israel: (Shmot 28:9) As we know this is the one Parsha where Moshe is missing because he told Hashem regarding Israel “If You do not forgive their sin, I beg You, blot me out from Your book which You have written!” (Shmot32:32). Moshe gave his life to preserve the Jewish people. Although his name is missing here we see it hidden in this passage. ‫םש מה‬, ‫נ קֹבי מ‬,‫םש מהם = ת‬, -‫ני‬,‫מא ֹקב ת‬ Shoham Stones = The Prophet Moshe The same letters that spell Shoham stones, spell 'the prophet Moshe'. Here we see the essence of the Moshe of the generation. The breastplate containing all of the tribes of Israel is held by a chain attached to two Shoham (Onyx) stones on the shoulders of the Cohen. The Tzaddik carries the Jewish people on his shoulders. Not only does he carry the people on his shoulders, each name of every Jew is inscribed in his heart. Even more than that, this inscription is like Noah's rainbow. When Hashem is angry His anger is subdued by this agreement between Hashem and the Tzaddik. Hashem is reminded by this engraved heart that destroying the Jewish people destroys Himself and His representation here. The Tzaddik stands between us and Hashem. He pays the price for the leniency towards the people and the demands of Hashem. The word engraved ‫ יפ מת ֹקח נת‬also has the same letters as Potaiach, to open. The price the Tzaddik pays also opens our hearts and shows us the proper path. The two Shoham stones may also allude to the original Moshe and the Moshe in every generation. There is another Shoham stone on the breastplate related to the tribe of Yoseph. So we see here Moshiach Ben Yoseph and the Moshiach that carries the generation are made of the same material. 344

Whether you think Rav Kahane was Moshe who carried the weight of the generation and the Rebbe was Aaron who was loved by all, or the Rebbe carried the generation and Rav Kahane was Moshiach ben Yoseph, it doesn't really matter. The Tzaddikim carry the generation and have the generation engraved in their hearts. I looked at Rav Butman and said this is a personal question for me and I think also for you and the Chabad Hasidim who knew the Rebbe. Of course the Tzaddik lives on, and of course he continues to open peoples hearts and his Torah continues to build the Nation. However I remember a time when I thought I am looking at the Moshiach. I may see the Bet Hamigdash being built in my time. I was convinced. And then I heard terrible news one day and I was shocked. How could this be? How is this possible? And I am certain you also were shocked when you heard the news and you knew you would not see the Rebbe again. I am sure you also said at that moment how could this be? So my question is the following. Today is the time of Purim. We read this chapter always at this time when we are supposed to be Marvim B'Simcha (increasing our joy). Why is it davka now when we remember the time the Moshiach left us that we must have a greater joy than usual? How is it that at a time we thought 'How can the world continue?' 'How will the sun rise tomorrow without this person in the world?' Who will carry us on their shoulders?' This is davka the time we have a greater joy than usual? Rav Butman who is from the royal family of Lubavitch looked at me with his heavy eyes and nodded, 'This is your best question', he said. Rav Halperin suggested the following. There is a joy that is limited and a joy that is unlimited. There are things we understand that give us joy and things beyond our understanding. He brought down a Midrash that describes the angels question to Hashem. They saw the end of Rabbi Akiva being tortured to death. They asked Hashem is this the reward for being a Tzaddik such as Rabbi Akiva? Hashem answered 'Be quiet or I will turn the world back to water'. 'They had a legitimate question', said Rav Halperin. 'Why answer in such a way?' He explained with another story. An antisemitic King commissioned a Jewish tailor to make him a special suit out of a priceless gold material. The tailor accepted and requisitioned the appropriate amount of material in order to make the suit. Now of course when making a suit not every piece of material is used, some needs to be cut off in order to fit correctly. After the suit was delivered the King sent soldiers to arrest the Jewish tailor for stealing royal material. As he stood before the firing squad the tailor was given one last request. The tailor said I can give you the extra material you accuse me of stealing but I must destroy the suit in order to do this as he had sowed the extra material into the suit. This explains Hashems answer to the angels. In order to explain these questions He would need to destroy the world to show were things that we don't see are hidden. I said to Rav Halperin, 'Then would you say in different words, there is great Simcha in what we see and understand. What we don't see and understand is an even greater Simcha?' We all nodded at what we didn't understand. L'chaim. 345

The Haman in the Hamentashen 2020 There is a famous passage that is often quoted of Haman alluded to in the Torah. There is another famous passage however that I have never heard brought down. Let me explain. The well known discussion is in the Talmud (quoted from Chabbad website below): ;‫םרם נא נתה‬, ‫תעי‬, ‫ יכי‬,‫ ימי היגייד לקֹך‬--‫למר‬- ‫א‬,‫ יא מו םי‬11 And He said: 'Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten of the tree, that I commanded you ‫נִה שמן‬-‫שר יצ יוי יתיך ֹקל יב ֹקל יתי נא נכל‬-‫ נא ל‬,‫תעץ‬, ‫ נה‬- that you should not eat?' ‫ נא נכ קלֹ נת‬--‫מנו‬-‫ימ ל‬ (Bereshit 3:11) The Gemara (Chullin 139b) teaches that the verse in which Hashem asks Adam, “Hamin ha’eitz” — From the tree (that I prohibited to you, have you eaten?) — contains an allusion to Haman. On a basic level this is a play on words. Since the Torah is not written with vowels, the word “hamin” can also be pronounced “Haman.” However, if the Torah chose to hint to Haman here, there must be a more profound connection between his errors and Adam’s sin of eating from the forbidden fruit. The Torah records (1:27) that Adam and Chava were created in Hashem’s image, and Chazal teach (Avos D’Rabi Nosson 1:8) that they enjoyed great honor in Gan Eden, as heavenly angels prepared food and drink for them. Hashem told them that the entire world was theirs, with one exception: They were forbidden to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Although one would think that they could overlook one item being withheld from them in light of everything else they had, the serpent succeeded in persuading them to sin by partaking of the one food they were commanded not to eat. Harav Aharon Kotler, zt”l, points out that this sounds remarkably similar to Haman. At the same time that he arrogantly boasted of his tremendous wealth and prestige, he lamented (Megillas Esther 5:13) that it was all meaningless to him as long as one old Jew named Mordechai refused to acknowledge his greatness by bowing to him. Haman is alluded to in the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge because just as the serpent convinced Adam and Chava to focus on the one item that was denied to them, so too Haman was unable to appreciate his good fortune due to his obsession with the one thing he did not have. If this passage alludes to Haman then it seems to me that there is another famous passage that must also allude to Haman, namely; Hamin HaSelah. ‫ני‬,‫ קֹפ ת‬-‫ל‬-‫ לא‬--‫ מה נק נהל‬-‫לת‬-‫ א‬,‫םרן‬, ‫שה קֹו מא נה‬-‫מ ל‬,‫ י מו מי ֹקק יהלו ם‬10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly --‫מ ירים‬,‫ ננא מה ם‬-‫ יש קֹמעו‬,‫להם‬- ‫מר נל‬-‫א ל‬,‫ מה נס מלע; מוי ם‬together before the rock, and he said unto them: ‫לכם נמ ייםִנה שמן‬- ‫ נו יציא נל‬,‫זה‬-‫לס מלע מה ל‬- ‫ מה‬- 'Hear now, ye rebels; are we to bring you forth water out of this rock?' (Bamidbar 20:10) Let me suggest two interpretations. If the rock represents the exile, it is as if Moshe is saying. You think that your salvation will come from the exile? You think you have chosen freedom but you have really chosen Haman. Rav Kahane writes that the seventy 'souls' that went down to Egypt was an allusion to 346

the Mincha offering (which uses the word 'soul') that Yacov sent to Esav. He took the mincha which symbolizes faith in G-d – and sent it to Esav (see Rav Kahane on Parsha Vayikra). Through the suffering in Egypt we would learn to perfect this flaw in our faith. We are reminded each day in the Shma that Hashem took us out of Egypt to serve Him. We have two choices. We either serve Hashem and are free or we are serving Pharaoh and think we are free but we become progressively enslaved to the point of persecution. If we look at the rock as representing the land of Israel the thought is similar. If we despise this rock and do not come to the Land that Hashem wishes to bless us in will we not be punished? Will Hashem accept our excuse that Zionist Israel is not pure enough and a Glatt Kosher galut is preferable? ‫קש‬,‫ יב ת‬-‫ ימי‬--‫תלרנאות נפנני‬, ,‫באו‬,‫ יב יכי נת ם‬When you come to appear before Me – who sought this ‫צ נרי‬,‫ס חנ ת‬,‫ רֹק םמ‬,‫לכם‬- ‫לי ֹקד‬- ‫םאת ימ‬, ‫ ז‬from your hand, to trample My courtyards? --‫ נש ֹקוא‬-‫ נה יביא ימ קֹנ מחת‬,‫א תו יסיפו‬,‫ יג ל ם‬You shall not continue to bring a worthless meal offering - ‫דש ֹקו מש נבת‬-‫ח ל‬,‫ ליי; ם‬,‫ע נבה יהיא‬,‫רת תו ת‬-‫ט ל‬,‫ קֹק ם‬incense of abomination is it unto me; New Moon and ‫ון מו נע נצ נרה‬-‫או מכל נא ל‬-‫א‬,‫ םל‬,‫םא ימ ֹקק נרא‬, ‫ֹקקר‬ Sabbath, calling of convocation, I cannot abide mendacity with assemblage. (Yishayahu 1:12,13) Alternatively do those who live in the Land really believe that by selling this rock and betraying our destiny we will find freedom? Those who have lost their ties to the Torah and bring Mincha offering after mincha offering to the various Gentile Presidents and political leaders offering to abandon and forsake the Land which is not ours to give; will they be rewarded for this betrayal? Will Hashem be silent when we take His Land that was conquered with Jewish blood and offer it to our enemies in the 'deal of the century' or any other century? We celebrate our betrayal and think we bought freedom but actually we exchanged the Temple Mount for Haman. The rule is simple and one can read it throughout the Torah. If we spurn blessing and partake of that which Hashem forbids we will give birth to Haman. If we desire an exile that was designed as a punishment Haman will again arise in the very place we thought we could escape the yoke of Heaven, and if we despise that which Hashem desires and betray Him as Rav Kahane puts it 'with every turn of the Gentile screw', we again will give birth to Haman even if we are living in the Land of Israel. On the other hand if we desire the Garden and are not obsessed with what has been forbidden then instead of Haman we will receive Ha-Man, the Man that falls from Heaven. We will have everything our heart desires and it will taste better than that which is forbidden. If we do not desire the exile and desire to be in our home we will not suffer. We will have everything we need and more. In addition if we restore our King and His palace and expel His enemies we will succeed and be blessed. Instead of running after kings with Mincha offerings they will run after us and ask us to bless them. This is the flip side of the equation. We have only two choices Haman or Ha-Man. The blessing or the curse is in our hands to do it. 347

348

Kahane in the Parsha Ki Sisa 349

Ki Sisa In Parsha KiSissa there are two Hebrew letters written in a large font; (Nun) and (Resh) – together they spell (Ner – Candle). ,‫ ֹקיה נוה ֹקיה נוה‬,‫ מו יי ֹקק נרא‬,‫ נפ נניו‬-‫בר ֹקיה נוה מעל‬,‫ ו מו מי נע ם‬6 And the LORD passed by before him, and ‫לסד‬- ‫לח‬- -‫ קֹו מרב‬,‫לרך מא מפ יים‬- ‫לא‬- --‫אל מרחום קֹו מחנון‬,‫ ת‬proclaimed: 'The LORD, the LORD, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and ‫למת‬- ‫לו לא‬- abundant in goodness and truth; ‫לפ משענל‬- ‫שא נעון נו‬,‫םנ ת‬, ,‫סד נל נא נל יפים‬-‫לח ל‬- ‫תצר‬, ‫ז‬ 7 keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and ‫תקד נעון נאבות‬, ‫םפ‬, --‫קה‬-‫םא קֹי מנ ל‬, ‫ ל‬,‫קה‬,‫קֹו מח נט נאה; קֹו מנ ת‬ that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the -‫תל ישים ֹקו מעל‬, ‫ יש‬-‫ מעל‬,‫תני נב ינים‬, ‫ ֹקב‬-‫ נב ינים ֹקו מעל‬-‫ מעל‬iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon ‫ב יעים‬,‫ יר ת‬the children's children, unto the third and unto the fourth generation.' (Shmot 34:6-7) ‫ יכי ֹקיה נוהר‬: ‫תח‬, ‫מא‬ ‫אל‬,‫ קֹל ת‬,‫וה‬-‫א ית קֹש מת נח ל‬,‫יד יכי ל ם‬ 14 For thou shalt bow down to no other god; for ‫אל מק ננא הוא‬,‫ ת‬,‫מק ננא ֹקשמו‬ the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God; (Shmot 34:14) Nun of Ner The neighboring words shed light on the power of these two letters that combined spell Ner (candle). The first letter (nun) is the center piece of Emet Notzer Chesed. The Emet, Nozer, Chesed, are part of a passage called the thirteen attributes. These thirteen attributes define Hashem's patience and endurance and is a formula recited each day to remind Hashem of the great secret He revealed to us. This great secret of the thirteen attributes was given to Moshe in this weeks Parsha and reminds us that if it was not for His great patience our measure of sin would be filled long ago and our lives would be forfeit. Connecting two passages of the thirteen attributes are these three words Emet, Nozer, Chessed. Hashem’s original intention was for the world to stand on Truth. This was not possible because man was fallible. Alternatively if the world was governed simply by Chesed (kindness/charity), then we would be like infants and would lack the true good of earning reward which is higher than Chesed. Notzer, represents the Tzadik, the Holy man who is able to live up to Hashem’s original standard. It is on his merit, that the world exists, and it is also on his merit that Chesed is given to others who are not able to live up to this standard. We see this idea played out a few lines earlier in the very same Parsha where Moshe requests to be blotted out for the sake of Israel. Resh of Acher The Resh represents Rasha, the evil of those who serve ‘other’ gods (acher). Contrast to this Bereshit ‫ ב שיתר ר‬or ‫ שית‬-‫( ב‬read: for the sake of His firstborn). Hashem created the world for the sake of His 'Raishit' His 'firstborn'. The jealousy and anger that Hashem feels towards those who worship 350