Kahane Codes - Bereshit Shmot

Vayishlach 401

PARSHAT VAYISHLACH SHIMEON AND LEVY & COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg The act of Shimeon and Levy in Shchem bears light on a subject so relevant today in our dealings with the Arab enemy. And the subject is the one called \"collective punishment\". For here is Shimeon and Levy, in response to a crime which was more sexually motivated than nationally motivated, wiping out an entire city because of the act of one individual. You can't get much more collective than that! At this juncture, we will not respond to the modern falsifiers of Torah who condemn the act. The fact is, a look in Parshat Vayishalch will reveal that Yaakov never condemned the act on a moral basis, but rather on a practical basis (\"you have brought trouble on me..and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves against me..\"). The fact is, not one Torah commentator condemns it. The wiping out of Shchem was the pride of the tribe of Shimeon, inscribed on its flag in the desert! All the commentators see the act as a mitzvah and one of great m'sirut nefesh. The only argument among the commentators is concerning the question of why it was permitted? The Rambam for instance, writes that the gentiles of Shchem were guilty for not observing the seven Noacide Laws - one of these laws being the obligation to set up court systems to try criminals. Since the people of Shchem did not bring Shchem Ben Hamor to trial, they were obligated the death penalty. The Maharal differs. He says that since the people of Shchem feared their prince, they were forcibly prevented from bringing him to trial, and were therefore dismissed from guilt. Then why was Shimeon and Levy permitted to collectively punish an entire city? The Maharal answers: \"Since both the Shchem Canaanites and Yaakov & sons were were already considered 'nations' or 'collectives' (as was mentioned in their agreement to circumcise, 'and we will be as one nation', instead of two nations), it was permitted to fight against them according to the laws of war, when nation goes against nation, as a collective. And though it is written that before such a war, one must make the offer of peace, that is only when they did not harm Israel. But here, where they violated (a Jewish girl), even though only one of them did it, he is part of a collective, and one can take vengeance against all of them. And such is the case for all wars, as it says, 'Take vengeance against the Midyanites', etc, where even though only a few did (evil), it makes no difference because they are from the same nation..and such is the case in all wars... (Gur Aryeh, Parshat Vayishlach) 402

The Killing of the Shchem Residents: A Torah Perspective (1992) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg Two zealots are focused upon in our parsha: Shimeon and Levy. And theeternal question is if they were correct in their deed or not. This parsha has certainly been one of the more misinterpreted portions in the Torah in modern times, and as a consequence, so many improper conclusions have been drawn from it. Why is that? Because indeed, there are verses in the Torah, which at first glance view the act of Shimeon and Levy as a mistake. One who reads Parshat Vayichi can easily reach the conclusion that the question is answered by Yaakov, when he says, \"Cursed be their anger for it was fierce...\" These words are directed at the actions of Shimeon and Levy in Shchem, and such words certainly seem to put the deed in a negative light. And so, this is how so many love to interpret the parsha, thereby condemning the brothers Shimeon and Levy as if they sinned in Shchem. The Act of Shchem - The Pride of the Tribe of Shimeon! But in contrast to this simplistic understanding, there are tremendous questions. Firstly, one who reads Parshat Vayishlach will notice that the Torah finishes the story with Shimeon and Levy having the upper hand. For in response to Yaakov's argument that \"you have troubled me, to make me odious among the inhabitants of the land\", Shimeon and Levy promptly answer him: \"As a harlot should one deal with our sister?\" And so the parsha ends, without a peep from Yaakov, with the brothers clearly putting the matter at rest. And indeed, the argument of Yaakov, that \"you have troubled me to make me odious among the inhabitants of the land\" seems to fall flat on its face, as the Almighty puts fear of G-d upon all the inhabitants of the cities from which Yaakov was afraid of. Could this not be a clear sign that the Almighty was giving an O.K. to the deed? More than that, pay attention to the argument of Yaakov. He is not opposing them on a \"moral\" basis. He is not criticizing them for wiping out an entire city unjustly. No! This is not his argument. His is a PRACTICAL one - that all the goyim will come after us now. And if one is not yet convinced, know what it says in the Midrash - that on the flag of Shimeon was nothing more and nothing less than a PICTURE OF THE CITY OF SHCHEM! Now ask yourselves: How could one have on his flag a symbol of something that reminded him of his sin? But certainly the act of Shimeon and Levy was a correct and positive act, to such an extent that it waves proudly on the flag of Shimeon. The fact is that none of the Jewish commentators condemn the act. For example, Rambam explains that Shimeon and Levy were justified because the people of Shchem did not put Shchem Ben Hamor on trial for his crime of raping Dina, thus violating the seven laws of Bnei Noach, and therefore being worthy of death. The Maharal argues with the Rambam, stating that one can't expect a people to put it's prince on trial, because they are afraid of him. He therefore offers an alternative explanation. The Maharal says that the children of Israel behaved as in all wars, where there is a law of collective punishment, and even though one is supposed to call for peace first, this is only when you were not wronged by them. But since in this case, they 'broke the fence\" first with their rape of Dina, one needn't call them to peace. (Gur Aryeh, Vayishlach) And so, all this makes us quite curious to know why Yaakov said in Parshat Vayichi: \"Cursed is their anger for it was fierce\"? The Act - Good. The Motive - Not So Good. The answer to this question touches upon the deep and delicate subject concerning the MOTIVE that stands behind the actions of a person. Yaakov, in his wisdom, evidently understood that while the act of Shimeon and Levy was a Kiddush Hashem, he also came to the conclusion later on that the motive standing behind the deed was not 100% pure. When did Yaakov understand this? When it became clear that the major culprits in the selling of Yosef were the same Shimeon and Levy (as the sages tell us in another place), Yaakov knew that their zealotry was not always channeled in the proper direction. He said to them: \"For in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they houghed an ox\". Rashi tell us that the \"men\" they slew were Hamor and the men of Shchem, and the \"ox\" they houghed was Yosef, who was termed \"ox\". This was the problem. After being zealous for a good cause, they went out later to hurt their brother. The act of plotting to kill Yosef shed light on their act in Shchem. It meant that their motive 403

there was somehow flawed; and they were not acting solely \"LeShame Shamayim\". It showed that there was a characteristic of anger in them, not always directed properly. And so Yaakov said \"cursed is their anger, for it is fierce.\" Yaakov did not curse them, but rather their anger, to tell us that they are not cursed, but only \"their anger\" is. That is, the use of the attribute of zealousness derived from anger, not \"Leshame Shamayim\". Interestingly enough, we see that the tribe of Levi indeed succeeded incleansing their motives, and acting \"LeShame Shamayim\". It was they who slew their brethren for the sin of the Golden Calf, and it was Pinchas who was also zealous for G-d's sake, slaying Zimri. Zimri Ben Salu, the Jewish leader who prostituted himself, was from the tribe of Shimeon. Pinchas, who was zealous against such lewdness came from the tribe of Levy. A zealot and son of a zealot - but this time with absolutely pure motives. The tribe of Levy succeeded in sublimating it's attribute of anger, thereby purifying it's motives as Yaakov requested. Shimeon apparently could not straighten out his \"middot\", falling victim to the very same sin he was once zealous for. Is \"Esau Hates Yaakov\" a Thing of the Past? (1995) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg Without a doubt there will be those who object to our bringing the following quote from a particular \"religious\" Jew who is one of the biggest opponents to the renewal of the sacrifices in our generation. During a special convention dealing with the Temple Mount, one of the participants who dons a yarmulke and carries with the title of \"Rabbi\", made the following comment: \"Must we inhale the smell of charred meat in order to manifest our religiousness?..\" And so, why must we bring the words of enemies of Judaism in our parsha commentary? Why give them a forum? Aren't there things more holy to discuss on this topic? The answer is that in many ways, almost every Jew, including observant ones, possesses thoughts similar to the above, and it is this complete mindset which must be changed. What exactly do we mean? After 2,000 years of living without a Temple and without sacrifices, the mere idea of offering sacrifices (the bringing of an animal, slaughtering it with a knife, and bringing its flesh up to the fire on the altar for G-d), has been virtually forgotten. People have even begun to reject and mock the entire concept of animal sacrifices. After all, who does such things today? For this reason, while it would never cross the lips of a believing Jew to cancel the service of the fire offerings, he also does not exhibit a great yearning to see the \"religion\" of Judaism return to the days when the offering of the sacrifices stood at their very center. He, too, can not help but think of all this as something that belongs to the Dark Ages. I mean, between us, who really needs to see flocks of sheep and cattle being scorched on the Temple Mount? After all, serving G-d in the manner in which we have become accustomed includes davening, fasting and other such ritual. How can we suddenly serve G-d in such a crude and material way? Isn't such practice more appropriate for such countries like India? But the fact is, clearly, that the way to get close to G-d is the way that G-d Himself told us to; not the way it appears through our very mortal and limited eyes. And G-d set down that the way to serve Him (nu, what can you do?), is to take an unblemished animal and offer it on the altar in the place which G-d chose, on the Temple Mount, as we contemplate how it is really WE who deserve to be slaughtered for our sin. This process nullifies our egos, and actualizes in a very concrete way the severity of our sin and the punishment we deserve, thereby enabling us to reach higher levels of spirituality. Prayer? Fasts? Of course! But only as something to supplement the sacrifices. 404

Our words are not directed towards that same clown we quoted earlier. Our words are directed at you, the reader, who perhaps mistakenly underestimated the vital importance of the service of the sacrifices and the critical need to restore it. Know and remember! For 2,000 years, all our prayers have been for the return of our Temple and for the renewal of the sacrifices, as we say in the Amida prayer three times each day, \"Restore the service to the Holy of Holies of your Temple. Speedily accept the fire offerings of Israel...\" Do not dare think that today we have \"progressed\", and already \"passed that stage\". Such thoughts eliminate a very hefty portion of the 613 Mitzvot, and one who would consider canceling even one of them is guilty of heresy. Let us not be counted among those \"moderdox\" Jews who attempt to create G-d in their own image. Let us be true Torah Jews who accept all of G-d's laws regardless of how it may jive with some western concepts which may have diluted our ability to understand and practice authentic Judaism. 405

406

Vayeshev 407

PARSHAT VAYESHEV For the Righteous, There Is No Tranquility (1993) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg Parshat Vayeshev begins with the words, \"And Jacob sat (or dwelled)\". From this seemingly mundane phrase the sages teach (Breishis Raba 84): \"When the righteous desire to live in tranquility, the Accuser comes (before G-d) and declares: Is it not enough (for the righteous) that they will receive their rewards in the World to Come; must they also request to dwell in this world in tranquility, he was punished with the troubles of Joseph.\" Amazing! All Jacob wanted was to settle down and raise a family in the way of Torah. What more could God ask of him? Here was a man beset with troubles from the very outset of his life (including in his mother's womb)- the feud with Esau, the despicable treatment he received at Laban's house, the rape of his daughter and the subsequent fear of attacks by the local gentiles after the daring liquidation of Shchem by his two sons. Didn't he deserve at least at this stage to relax a little, learn Torah, and enjoy life? However, it is exactly this outlook on life that the sages come to negate. And it is a concept we must drill into our hearts. The attainment of comfort, even if it is combined with a life of Torah and mitzvot, must not be the goal of the Jew. The real tranquility will be received in the World to Come. This world, by its very nature, is one of struggle and strife, and thus it is not the place designated for the achievement of comfort: \"The days of the years in this life are 70 years, or, given strength, 80 years; but the best of them are trouble and sorrow. They pass by speedily, and we are in darkness\" (Psalms 90:10) The essence of a Jew is selfless devotion and self-sacrifice for G-d, His Torah, and His People. My father, Rabbi Meir Kahane (may G-d avenge his blood) would frequently bless newlyweds with this blessing. Already under the \"chupah\", he would tell the couple that he does not wish for them to live in tranquility and comfort but rather they should always fulfill their tasks as Jews with \"msirus nefesh\" (self-sacrifice). This strange blessing often startled many of the guests. However, it was the message that the Rav continually stressed - a Jew must give of himself to sanctify God's Name. This includes his time, his money, and sometimes, even his life. This lesson is quite relevant to the holiday of Hanukkah that draws near. One who ponders the sequence of events of the Hanukkah story may be confounded by an enigma: What were the Jews doing before Matitiyahu and his sons began the rebellion? During the period that the Greek entourage traveled from village to village to force the Jews to sacrifice pigs to their idols, why did no one else rebel until then? Were there no other righteous Jews in Israel? This is exactly the point. What differentiated Matitiyahu and his sons from the other righteous Jews was their willingness for \"mesirut nefesh\". Surely there were many Jews who observed the commandments, but they placed their personal comfort and safety above their Jewish mission and destiny. The implications for today are obvious, and if there were only a few Maccabees back then, there are even less \"Maccabees\" today. The slogan \"never again\" was never intended to mean that another Holocaust could never again occur. It meant that Jews would never again sit quietly, in tranquility, while other Jews are suffering. It meant that Jews would do everything in their power, even at great personal cost, to help their brethren. Let us pray that the observant Jew, who observes with great vigor each and every halachic stringency, will grasp this simple and valuable lesson of \"and Jacob sat\". 408

Vayigash 409

Vayigash The Exile Self-Destructs For the \"Comfortable\" Jew (1994) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg The Egyptian exile which is defined by our sages as the first exile, begins in Parshat Vayigash. Yaakov and sons make \"yireda\" to Egypt, and from this point onward, the arduous and torturous road from \"galut\" (exile) to \"giula\" (redemption) begins. Since the sages tell us that the first redemption from Egypt is a symbol of the final redemption, we will tackle one point concerning the Egyptian exile and derive a crucial lesson for our generation. It is interesting that in every exile a definite pattern develops. Each exile that the Jews encountered began as a result of terrible affliction suffered by the Jews in the Land of Israel. First, it was the suffering of Yaakov and his lost son and the heavy famine prevailing in the Land of Canaan that brought on a departure to the first exile called Egypt. Afterwards, it was the second exile of the dispersion of the ten tribesuntil the destruction of the first Temple and the massive spilling of blood in Jerusalem. Finally, the last exile which began with the brutal war against the Romans on Jerusalem and culminated in the destruction of the second Temple and the killing of millions of Jews in Jerusalem. What is astonishing is that in all of the above exiles, after a very short period of adaptation, Jews discovered that life in the galut wasn't so bad. All the troubles they experienced in Eretz Yisrael suddenly ended, and they started to thrive and prosper...at least in the beginning. This is exactly what happened in Egypt, and on this point, the great commentator, the \"Kli Hayakar\" elaborates. On the final verse in our parsha, \"And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and THEY GRIPPED ONTO IT, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly\", the \"Kli Hayakar\", brings down the following on the phrase \"they gripped onto it\": \"The children of Israel are entirely to blame for this verse. Because the Lord decreed on them that a 'stranger your seed will be' (that is, temporary), and they wanted to be inhabitants (that is, permanent) in a place where it was decreed upon them to be transient ... this verse comes to place blame on this settling in, since they gripped onto a land that wasn't theirs.\" What happened here? The children of Yaakov were forced to go down to Egypt, and none of them were thrilled about the idea despite the hardships in Canaan, because they knew that Egypt is, after all, the exile. However, in a short time they had a change of heart. Joseph placed at their disposal the land of Goshen, which was the most fertile area of Egypt, and the brothers suddenly began to feel that \"it's not as bad as we thought\". One can even settle down in peace and tranquility and learn Torah here. What is so bad about it? So they \"gripped\" and clung to Egypt, and by this very doing so, were automatically rejecting the Holy Land of Israel. This \"seizing\" or \"gripping\" of the exile, the settling in and feeling good there, the acquiring of the mentality that \"there is life for the Jews in the Diaspora\" (a mealy- mouthed word for \"galut\" or exile), expresses in itself a rejection or \"despising of the good land\" (a verse in Psalms depicting the ten spies who spoke evil report about the land of Israel and prevented \"Aliyah\"). In their hearts, and all the more so in the hearts of their offspring, crept in the feeling that it is a good life here in exile and one can build Jerusalem here, and the dream of returning to Zion can wait for the next generation (if at all), but in the meantime, it remains strictly a \"dream\"... This is the crime of all exiles. Our sages told us long ago about this phenomenon in a midrash on a 410

verse in the \"tochacha\" of Parshat Ki-Tavowhere it is written, \"you will find no resting place for the soul of your foot\". The sages comment, \"if they would find a resting place, they would not come back.\" In other words, if the Jews could stay in galut, they would do so without any intention of returning to Eretz Yisrael, all the while building for themselves all kinds of theories why it is \"kosher\" to do so. But the gentile never allowed the Jew to remain in the galut. On the contrary, the more that the exile initially seemed to be full of promise, and the more the Jew was able to attain \"equal rights\" to the gentile, so, too, in direct proportion, was the tragedy of the exile that much more severe. Every exile turned into a bigger graveyard than the one before it. This is exactly what happened to our forefathers in Egypt. The aforementioned \"Kli Hayaker\" continues: \"And they immersed themselves tosuch an extent that they did not want to leave Egypt, until G-d had to take them out of there with a strong hand. And those who did not want to leave, died in the three days of darkness\". The \"Kli Hayakar\" touches here upon what is mentioned in Parshat \"Beshallach\", where four-fifths of the children of Israel were wiped out before the departure from Egypt, because they refused to leave. It is a divine decree that the exile, each and every one of them, has no future. This is an iron-clad law in Judaism. For this reason we find that in the poverty stricken lands which the Jews did not or could not \"grip onto\" as much, their exile was terminated in a more merciful and lenient fashion. This, of course, in contrast to the \"lands of the fleshpots\", whose ends were woefully tragic. This article was not written to give a history lesson. We are simply coming to say that this particular exile has come to an end. The doors of many exiles have been opened, including those whose doors became symbols like Russia and Syria. Every Jew has now been given the chance to get out. We have reached the final stage in the elimination of the exile. He who refuses to seize the moment and leave quickly will find his fate as those who refused to leave Egypt. Many may think that all this is not relevant for us who live here in Israel. After all, don't we have our own problems here? This is un-Jewish thinking, for we are guarantors for our brothers in the exile. And despite the fact that we here, too, stand before terrible tragedy, we have a responsibility to our brothers abroad who face, G-d forbid, much greater catastrophe than what will occur in Israel. Ultimately, our destiny is wrapped up in theirs, and we must wake up to this fast, for we are now in the \"End of Days\" - days in which our prophets warned us can come the way of \"Bi-Eta\" (in its time), which is the way of awesome suffering and labor pains of redemption, worse than anything we have experienced in exile. And if this is true, how can one sit by quietly? Mashiach Ben Yosef - Some Basic Concepts (1996) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg For most people, the concept of \"Mashiach\" relates to \"Mashiach Ben David\". In contrast, while most people may have heard of \"Mashiach Ben Yosef\", they know little about his role and importance. There is probably no more appropriate time than during the Torah portions dealing with Yosef to delve into the concept of Mashiach Ben Yosef. Indeed, it is interesting to note that Yosef is the central figure in four Torah portions (VaYeshev through VaYichi), which is more than any of the three forefathers, and certainly more than his \"counterpart\" Yehuda, the father of David's kingdom. There is a reason for this. 411

In this short article, we will touch upon the concept of \"Mashiach BenYosef\" basing ourselves upon the Gaon from Vilna (GR\"A) in his book \"Kol HaTor\", and on the writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY\"D, in his book \"OhrHaRaayon\". First of all, it must be known that in each generation, there is a person who has the potential to be Mashiach Ben Yosef. This creates free choice for every generation to bring Mashiach, and when the Almighty decides to, He actualizes this potential and unleashes the role of Mashiach (on one or both of them) in a particular generation. Mashiach Ben Yosef is the one who starts the redemption. He is the central figure in the process preceding the final and complete redemption in which a king from David's house is eventually anointed - and this is \"Mashiach Ben David\". Mashiach Ben Yosef fights the wars of Hashem against the gentile enemies of Israel, and since it is he who STARTS the redemption, he is also called \"Mashiach HaAtchalta\" - the Mashiach who begins the redemption. He is responsible for the physical, material redemption which precedes the spiritual one. The physical redemption is the ingathering of the exiles, the conquering of the Land of Israel and wars against the gentile (and for this reason he is also coined by many midrashim as the \"Mashuach Milchama\" - the anointed for war). In contrast, Mashiach Ben David is responsible for the spiritual side of the redemption which comes afterwards. It is well-known that Mashiach Ben Yosef is killed. But actually, this does not have to happen. For if the redemption comes the way of \"Achishena\" (swiftly and with glory) - that is, the Jewish People do \"tsheuva\" - then Mashiach Ben Yosef triumphs in battle. On the other hand, if the redemption comes \"BiEta\" (slowly, at it's fixed time) - then one of the results of such a scenario is that he falls in the midst of a difficult and bitter battle, where great suffering and needless tragedy take place. One of the things that is emphasized about Mashiach Ben Yosef is something that is said about Yosef himself: \"And Yosef recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him\". While the potential Mashiach Ben Yosef of every generation brings the people the truth and presents before them the conditions for the redemption, the people deny and disrespect him. But because of his \"Ahavat Yisroel\", he is willing to suffer. It is the people's refusal to recognize the truth which brings upon them the needless wars and tragedies. For if the Jewish People had only accepted and understood Mashiach Ben Yosef's message, he would bring the redemption swiftly, in the way of \"Achishena\", with glory and without needless suffering. But in the scenario of \"BiEta\", only a handful understand, identify, and go with Mashiach Ben Yosef. And while the people continue to deny him, he continues his mission in any case, provoking the goyim and sanctifying the Name of G-d, and eventually falling, as stated above. It must be pointed out here that the major obstacle for Mashiach Ben Yosef is not the gentiles, but rather the destroyers from within. They are called the \"Erev Rav\" (mixed multitude). According to the Gaon from Vilna, the major battle of Mashiach Ben Yosef is against the \"Erev Rav\", who prevents the Holy People from recognizing the truth which would bring the redemption swiftly, \"HaGiulat Achishena\". In conclusion, it must be remembered that what is written here is a general overview of the redemption process. But how things will actually turn out - depends only on us, just as it depends on us concerning whether or not Mashiach Ben Yosef will be killed. This is a heavy responsibility - to recognize the truth and to understand the conditions for redemption, despite the fact that the \"Erev Rav\" is trying to destroy and ban it. May G-d give us the strength to hold our own and fulfill the mitzvot of Kiddush Hashem, so that we may bring the redemption swiftly. Amen. 412

PARASHAT VAYIGASH \"WHO RECOGNIZES YOSEF? (Binyamin Kahane's last parasha) In Parashat Vayigash the drama and tension between Yosef and his brothers reaches its climax. And then Yosef blows everything wide open, revealing himself to his startled brothers: \"I am Yosef\". Afterwards, the brothers rush off to their father to break the news: \"Ode Yosef Chai\", Yosef is still alive. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the parasha's dealing with Yosef, we must pay attention to the fact that what lies at the center of this three parasha drama between Yosef and his brothers is the fact that on one side stands Yosef who knows that his brothers stand before him, while on the other side are the brothers who do not know that they stand before Yosef. This is summed up in the verse in Parashat Mikez: \"And Yosef recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.\" What is Meant by \"Recognize\" According to the simple understanding, the commentators explain that the brothers did not recognize Yosef because at the time they sold him, he was young and without a beard, and now he had a beard. On the other hand, Yosef recognized his brothers because at the time he was sold, they already had beards. Rashi digs deeper, explaining that the difference between the two sides was not merely recognition of external appearances. When Yosef encountered his brothers on the fateful day in Shchem, they did not \"recognize\" him; that is, they did not act brotherly towards him and sold him to the Ishmaelites. But when the brothers were at Yosef's mercy, he \"recognized\" them; he acted brotherly towards them and did not take revenge for all the pain that they caused him. In these days, after Yosef's tomb has been sold to the Ishmaelites, we must focus on this point, and to shed light on the present situation where Yosef once again is not recognized. Mashiach Ben Yosef and His Role In the Torah, when speaking of the redemption, Mashiach ben Yosef and the concept of \"Od Yosef Chai,\" play a central role. According to tradition, before Mashiach ben David's arrival, Mashiach ben Yosef will fight God's wars in the age of redemption preceding Mashiach ben David. The Atchalta DeGeula, the stage before the conclusion of redemption when all surviving nations accept Heaven's yoke, is the period of Mashiach ben Yosef. The Gra (the Gaon R. Eliayahu of Vilna), in his work Kol HaTor, calls Mashiach ben Yosef the \"Mashiach De'Atchalta\", the \"Inaugural Messiah\". The Gra explains that Mashiach ben David and Mashiach ben Yosef live and endure in every single generation, functioning in their role...\" Mashiach ben Yosef is involved in the whole physical side of the redemption, the actual return to Zion, and the fighting of God's wars, while the role of Mashiach ben David is to complete the spiritual redemption. If the Jews do not merit the redemption in a particular generation, the roles of the Messiahs are passed down to someone else in the next generation. Estranged From and Conspired Against We will now return to the central verse we mentioned, bringing the words of the Gra in Kol Ha Tor. \" 'Yosef recognized his brothers but they did not recognize him'. This is one of Yosef's attributes. Not just in his generation, but in every generation, Mashiach ben Yosef recognizes his brothers and they do not recognize him. It is an act of Satan which conceals Mashiach ben Yosef's attributes, such that the Jews unfortunately do not recognize his footsteps, and in fact scoff at them...If not for this, our troubles would already be over. If Israel 'recognized Yosef', Mashiach ben Yosef's footsteps comprising the ingathering of the exiles, etc., we would already be completely redeemed\". (Ch.2, Part 1:39) 413

Is it even necessary to expound upon our alienation from \"Yosef\" today? And now the Gra comes and teaches us that it is this very estrangement, ridicule and opposition to Mashiach ben Yosef and his role - the role of reviving the land, ingathering of the exiles, the conquest of the land and the war against the \"erev rav\" - this is the reason why the complete redemption is being delayed! Not only is there estrangement from Yosef, but a conspiring against him, as it is written on Yosef: \"And they conspired against him to slay him\". Yosef's brothers see Yosef and his dreams as a threat to them. \"What?! You are going to lead the process of redemption? You, the youngest amongst us?\" They decide that he constitutes a danger and must be killed. Ode Yosef Chai! Who more than we can testify to the estrangement and mistreatment of those who attempt to bring the complete redemption. Yet, just as Rashi explains that Yosef \"recognized\" his brothers, behaving brotherly towards them; so, too, does Mashiach ben Yosef and his followers, those who carry on the task of bringing the redemption to the Jewish People - so, too, are they willing to endure personal suffering for Israel's salvation, all out of a burning Ahavat Yisrael. The Gra teaches us that only against a few, the erev rav, must we fight a war to the bitter end. (\"The erev rav is our greatest enemy...Hence, the war against the erev rav is the hardest and most bitter, and we must gird ourselves with our last strength towards this end. Whoever does not actively take part in the war against the erev rav automatically becomes a partner to its impurity, and whoever he is, he is better off not having been born.. (Ch.2, part 2:2) But the masses that still do not recognize Yosef, attaching little or no importance to his activities (partly due to the erev rav and its propaganda) - we must \"recognize\" them. In the words of the Ohr HaChaiim, (who, by the way, was alluded to by the Gra as a spark of Mashiach ben Yosef), on our verse: \"He looked at them as one looks at brothers, and he behaved brotherly towards them\"! These days are critical ones. The war that broke out this past Rosh Hashana centered on Shchem and Kever Yosef during the first few days. Afterwards, Yosef's tomb was abandoned and sold to the Ishamaelites like discarded baggage. Our answer must be the opposite: We must cling on to all those tasks of Mashiach ben Yosef - the conquering of the land and the war against the goyim and the erev rav. We needn't worry about being popular or palatable in the eyes of those who are not willing to recognize Yosef. By so doing, those who are willing to recognize Yosef will see and understand that \"Ode Yosef Chai\". 414

CHANUKAH THE POWER OF THE PRECIOUS FEW What was miraculous about the victory of Chanukah? Any child in kindergarten knows that the miracle was the shorthanded, weaker Jews defeating the numerous and powerful Greeks. Indeed, it is an historical fact that cannot be denied. But our teacher and rabbi, Rabbi Meir Kahane, z\"tl, sought to delve a notch deeper into the miraculous victory of the few against the many, and by doing so, resolve a famous question regarding Chanukah. The \"Miracle Within The Miracle\" Rabbi Kahane would say: Remember, before the victory of the Macabees over the Greeks and hellenists took place, there was the actual war itself. When the Macabees went out to battle, they had no feasible chance of winning. Not only were the Jews fewer and weaker than the well-oiled Syrian Greek war machine, but amongst the Jews themselves, only a sparse few went out to battle under the command of Yehuda Macabee and his brothers. And so, to enable such an inconceivable victory to occur, there had to be, first of all, a few \"crazies\" who dared to rise up in arms against this invincible empire! Here, Rabbi Kahane would say that the essential miracle of Chanukah was not the war victory, but rather the very fact that a few Jews realized that \"things just cannot go on this way\", arose, and with immense faith in the Almighty, declared war on the superpower of their day. For given the fact that they were able to miraculously overcome their awesome enemies, prior to that miracle they surely did not know that the Almighty would perform the miracle for them. Nevertheless, they went out. That in itself, the Rav would say, was an act of immense courage, \"the miracle within the miracle.\" God Controls the Laws of Nature But where does the \"miracle of the oil\" come into play? Let us ask the question differently: There is some confusion concerning the reason we celebrate Chanukah. Do we celebrate Chanukah to commemorate the oil that was sufficient for only one day, and continued to burn through eight days, or are we celebrating the war victory? It is clear that the essential miracle of Chanukah, its real central theme, is not the miracle of the oil. Indeed, the special Chanukah prayer, \"Al Hanisim\", coined by the rabbis, does not even mention the miracle of the oil. The theme and heart of Chanukah is the concept mentioned in \"Al Hanisim\", of \"rabim b'yad m'atim\", \"the many (\"Syrian Greeks) who fell into the hands of the few (Jews).\" And the very miracle of the oil represents that concept, i.e., the little oil able to \"overcome\" the many days and continue to burn. The miracle of the oil symbolizes how God controls the laws of nature: Just as oil sufficient for one day can burn for eight, if He wills it; so, too, are numbers irrelevant when Am Yisrael goes out to war. By the same token, just as we said that the miracle of the war victory was the very fact that Jews went out to battle in the first place, so, too, the oil symbolizes \"the miracle within the miracle\". After all, in order for the meager quantity of oil to last for eight days, there had to be Jews who lit it in the first place - Jews who were not discouraged from the outset; Jews who did not say: why bother lighting the candles of the Temple if they are going to go out anyway…? No. You do your part, with the means available to you, and Hashem will do His part. \"Open for me an opening like the point of a needle, and I will open for you gates like the gates of the sancturary.\" The Question of the \"Bet Yosef\" Now we can ask the question posed by the Bet Yosef (Yosef Karo): There is a source which says that the length of the holiday of Chanukah is eight days because oil that was sufficient for only one day, lasted eight. The Bet Yosef asks: Why eight days? Since the oil was naturally sufficient in itself to burn 415

for one day, the miracle was actually only in the additional seven days that it continued to burn. In reality, therefore, in order to commemorate the \"miracle\", the rabbis should have established a holiday of seven days. Various and varied reasons are given. Rav Kahane says: Indeed, we celebrate eight days because the first day was a miracle as well. It commemorates the very fact that they dared to go out to battle! The very fact that they dared to \"light the candle\". That's also a miracle, \"the miracle within the miracle\". The Holiday of Our Times Chanukah is not a childrens holiday of \"dreidels\" and donuts. It is a holiday that is meant to rekindle our trust in the Almighty, to reinforce the understanding that when Jews go out to battle in an obligatory war with faith in God, they come out victorious, even if they are the underdog. Chanukah is the holiday for these days. Days when masses of Arabs arise against us, and Hashem stands at our side. But what happens when the official Jewish leadership from left to right is overcome with fear, crippled by lack of faith and thereby incapable of action? Then the torch is passed on to the few. It is passed unto those who are ready to cling onto Eretz Yisrael at any price. And then the day comes in which they are told by the non-believers: \"If you are not ready to pull out, that's your choice. But deal with the enemy by yourselves. Because we are afraid, we have no faith. You claim that you have faith?! Fine - let's see what you can do.\" And those precious few, inspired by a pristine faith in the Almighty, will arise to repel the enemy. Those with Jewish vision foresee the Macabean war in our generation. In this war, at least at the outset, only a few will take part. Those Jews of rock-solid faith in the God of Israel, who sincerely believe that God is a loyal defender of His people Israel - they will be an example to the multitudes who will eventually follow. \"In those days, at this time\". 416

Vayechi 417

PARSHAT VAYECHI What Makes Samson Such a Hero? (1992) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg When Yaakov Avenu blesses Dan, the sages tell us that through \"Ruach HaKodesh\", Yaakov saw Samson wreaking havoc upon the Philistines, and thought that he was the Messiah. Only after seeing Samson die did a disappointed Yaakov realize that Samson was not the Messiah, and thus heuttered the words in our parsha, \"I waited for your salvation, Oh Lord\". Even for those not so well-versed in the Bible, Samson has become a household name. He is the stereotype of the 'mighty hero\". Is this characterization a correct one, or a misconception of the masses? What gives Samson his superstar status, making him easily the most popular and widely know Judge? If it is for his brute physical strength, the sages surprise us by telling us that Samson was lame! Why would they say such a thing if not to remove from our minds the image of a macho-muscle-man. Perhaps one might want to say that Samson fulfilled the definition of \"hero\" (gibor, in Hebrew) according to \"Pirke Avot\": \"Who is a 'gibor'? He who conquers his evil inclination\". Without delving too deep into Samson's deeds and motives with women, one can safely say that he was not exactly a symbol of the \"Tzadeek\" who overcame his \"Yaizer\" (evil inclination). The sages tell us clearly: \"Samson went after his eyes, and thus his eyes were gouged out by the Philistines.\" Must we then conclude that the popularity surrounding the figure of Samson today is due to the fact that somehow, his persona \"caught on\" more than other heroic figures in the Bible? Is Samson's popularity amongst the masses simply a product of media-hype? After all, Devora, Yiftach, Gideon and every other Judge certainly killed a lot more of the enemy than Samson did. Killing a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass is quite an accomplishment, but it hardly rates with the electrifying and decisive victories of the other Judges that ruled before him. In fact, when the Bible tells us that the \"dead that he slew in his death were more than he slew in his life\" - it is not meant as a compliment, but rather as a commentary that Samson did not put up the \"big numbers\" like the other Judges did. And so again, is Samson, the darling of the masses, somehow overrated? Let us not jump to hasty conclusions! After all, we opened this article by saying that Yaakov Avenu himself saw Samson's potential to be the Messiah. In addition, in comparison to all the other Judges mentioned in the Book of Judges, Samson has by far the most space allotted to him. This brings us to another difficult question. During his lifetime, Samson was scorned by his own people to such an extent that we find no parallel to it with any other Judge. At one point, fellow Jews even turn him over to the Philistines. Since his support among the people is virtually non-existent, he is reduced to carrying out partisan-style attacks against the enemy instead of leading an army against them. Why should the Bible dedicate so many chapters and stories to a Judge who had absolutely no supporting cast? Why is HE a candidate for Messiah? Despite all the above questions and doubts, it is clear that Samson is indeed someone very special. Even before his birth, an angel of G-d came to his parents and spoke of the birth of this extraordinary son, \"for a Nazarite to G-d shall the boy be...and he will begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.\" The answer to the riddle of Samson's greatness lies in the supposed weakness of his not enjoying the 418

support of his people. Even though he was betrayed by his own people, he continued to love them and fight on their behalf. His internal strength and his willingness to stand alone and fight \"Chillul Hashem\" (the desecration of G-d's Name) are why he is described as \"beginning to save Israel\". In the same way that Moses never turned his back on the Jewish People, despite their endless accusations against him, Samson remained firm in his faith and \"Ahavat Yisrael\". At the same time, the people disparaged him as irresponsible and violent, a hot-blooded lunatic who \"makes things worse\" by fermenting hatred against the Jews on the part of the Philistines. Samson paid no heed to them. For this he would eventually be recognized as the great leader he was. And while it is true that he sinned, Samson physically sacrificed himself for the Jewish People. Even in his last moments where he stood weakened, blinded, and bound - what grieved him was not his personal suffering, but rather the tremendous desecration of G-d's Name that this was causing. When Yaakov saw all this; placing G-d's Honor over his own, putting his people's pain before his own - he understood that such a man is worthy of being the Messiah. Sometimes, It's Good to Be Deaf... (1997) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg Even after Yaakov died, Esau continued to seek revenge against him for the taking of the birthright, attempting even to sabotage his burial in the Cave of the Patriarchs. The Gemora (Sota, 13) recounts how the children of Yaakov arrived at the cave to bring their father to burial, and behold they found Esau waiting for them there, with some interesting \"news\": The remaining burial plot in the cave belongs to me. The stunned sons tried to remind Esau that he sold the spot to Yaakov. After an exchange of words (brought down in the Gemora), it was agreed that Naftali would run to Egypt and bring the document confirming that the burial plot was indeed sold to Yaakov. In the meantime, they waited... One of those waiting was Hushim, the son of Dan. Hushim was deaf, and therefore did not hear the discussion that had taken place between the brothers and Esau. At a certain point, he asked them what is happening. The brothers told him that Esau is delaying the burial, and everyone is waiting for Naftali. Hushim was shocked: \"And all the while that Naftali is in Egypt, my grandfather will lie here in dishonor!?\" He immediately took a stick in his hand, struck Esau in the head, and killed him. The story concludes with Esau's eyes falling out of their sockets by the legs of Yaakov, and on this it is written, \"Happy is the righteous who saw vengeance, he will wash his palms (of his legs) in the blood of the wicked.\" A question must be asked here: Why of all people, was it the grandson Hushim ben Dan who reacted this way? Why was HE shocked at was happening, and arose to wipe out the reproach? Did not the rest of the sons care about Yaakov's honor? Where was Yehuda, or the zealots Shimeon and Levy, for example? From here we learn an awesome lesson which is especially related to matters of national honor and \"Kiddush Hashem\". The difference between Hushim ben Dan and the rest of the sons of Yaakov was that Hushim was the only one who was not involved in the negotiations with Esau. Psychologically, the moment you hear out the other party and weigh his point of view, even the most outrageous claim begins to be \"understood\". The very discussing of it desensitizes you, and gets you used to the idea. 419

Without a doubt, if someone were to tell the sons of Yaakov beforehand that Esau is waiting for them in the Cave of the Patriarchs to thwart the burial of their father, they would boil over with holy rage, and guarantee that they know how to deal with the situation. But what happened was that the moment they arrived, Esau stated his case: \"It's mine\". Sure the sons of Yaakov were shocked and angry, but it is human nature not to want to leave an argument or claim unanswered, without an appropriate rebuttal. And so they reminded him that he sold it. Esau immediately countered: I only sold the birthright, not the grave, etc. At this point, too, the brothers know that Esau is wrong, but in any case, he makes an argument which demands some kind of answer. And most important of all: At this stage, the sons of Yaakov find themselves in the heat of a negotiation process. An onlooker from the side can easily get the impression that both sides make reasonable claims. They would certainly have great difficulty realizing that what we have here is a scoundrel whose entire goal is to degrade Yaakov. In contrast, the deaf Hushim ben Dan cannot hear all the claims. He knows only one thing: \"Grandfather is lying here in disrespect!\". Sure, Yaakov's sons knew exactly what kind of derelict, cheater and murderer Esau was. But because they entered into negotiations with him, they began to think that perhaps he is sincere this time, and said to themselves: all we need to do is to convince him that we are right, and everything will be O.K. But Hushim did not have the opportunity to become \"convinced\" of the justice of Esau's wicked and bogus claims, and he did not understand how his brothers allowed this low-life to delay, even for a moment, the burial of Yaakov, the father of our nation. And so he arose and took action! Sometimes, it is forbidden to negotiate. What's so bad about it? After all, you are only talking! But no! For even if you know that your \"partner\" is a liar with evil intentions, you begin to \"understand\" him and think there might be \"something\" to what he is saying after all. Unfortunately, for years we have been exposed to the lies and falsehood of our enemies. Recently, even those faithful to Eretz Yisrael are beginning to \"adjust to the realities\". We have grown used to things that would never have entered our minds only a few years ago. G-d forbid! Let us be zealous for truth, and not have inferiority complexes when facing false claims from the lowest of peoples. We are right! It is our land, and no foreign nation shall dwell in it! 420

SEFER SHMOT 421

PARSHAT SHMOT Abortions in Israel (1992) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg This column is dedicated to one of the most shocking, yet relatively undiscussed subjects - abortions in the State of Israel. There is an organization called \"Efrat\" whose primary goal is to increase the number of births of Jewish children in Israel. This group, which works with wonderful \"msirus nefesh\" in fighting the astronomical number of abortions in Israel, asked us to write about this subject for Parshat Shmot. Considering the critical nature of the matter, we are more than happy to fulfill this request. The fact is that he who remains quiet concerning the issue of elective abortions becomes a partner to this atrocious mass murder. As society increasingly depicts abortions as representing \"progress\" and \"womens rights\", the statistics regarding it have become more and more staggering. According to \"Efrat\", more than 1,000,000 children have been killed since the beginning of the State. Yes, a genuine holocaust - and no one cares. According to a recent study, 60% of women who gave birth at Hadassah Hospital in Har HaZoftim admitted than they underwent an abortion \"out of convenience\" in the past. When the former Minister of Health Dr. Sadan took it upohn himself to fight against this phenomenon, playing a short film for the members of the Israeli Knesset depicting the abomination of abortions in Israel, and comparing this legal mass murder to the Holocaust in Europe, the Knesset members jumped out of their skin. What enraged them so? The murder of the fetuses? Of course not! What shocked these bleeding hearts was the fact that Mr. Sadan made the comparison of abortion to the Holocaust. He was forced to step down and relinquish his duties. What is particularly fascinating, though, is the entire leftist, liberal approach to the subject. From their point of view, the more one supports abortions, the more \"enlightened\" that person is. You may ask: How does mass murder sit so well with humanitarian enlightened types? It's quite simple! You see, the killing of a fetus is an expression of \"freedom over one's body\", feminism, and progressive advanced society! And what about the fetuses right to live? That is not relevant to the modern and progressive. While every decent person would agree that child abuse is abhorrent, suddenly it becomes legitimate and even fashionable to kill a child in his mother's womb. Technically speaking, harming a child one second after he leaves his mother's womb is demented, but killing it a second before leaving his mother's womb is \"freedom over her body\". This gross perversion of morality is the result of morals that are dictated by man and not G-d. Not long ago, it was even reported that in certain gynecological clinics that perform abortions, dogs eat the remains of the baby after it has been grated from his mother's womb. Pay attention, dear readers. When Baruch Goldstein (may G-d avenge his blood), a doctor by profession, killed thirty of the Arab enemy in the Cave of the Patriarchs in order to prevent more non- stop spilling of Jewish blood, the liberal left was enflamed, condemning the act as the worst atrocity committed in the last few hundred years. On the other hand, when there is an agreement among doctors to kill 1,000,000 fetuses - 60,000 murders per year - that, my friends, is \"progress\". There cannot be a more concrete example to display the unbridgable gap between Judaism and western culture: That which is seen in Judaism as heinous murder is considered by them to be progress, and that which is considered in Judaism as right and just is seen by them as heinous murder. Two completely opposite worlds with completely opposing concepts. 422

The following are passages that portray the magnitude of this atrocity, claiming more victims per year than all the traffic accidents and wars in Israel put together: The Tiniest Human Being Story of a Doctor: \"Many years ago, after anesthetizing the woman for the sake of halting the pregnancy from outside the womb (second month), I held in my hand the tiniest human being ever seen. The fetus was impeccable - complete and transparent. It was a male full of energy swimming in the sac of water, adjoined by the umbilical cord to the wall of the sac. The miniature human being was completely developed - long and narrow fingers, feet and toes. Its skin was practically transparent. Its arteries and veins stood out until the tips of his fingers. The body was completely alive and was in no way similar to the pictures of fetuses that I had seen in the past. When the sac was opened, his life was terminated instantaneoulsy, and he looked just like one would expect a fetus to look like at this stage - lifeless.\" (Dr. Paul N. Rockwell) 80 Cents Short Story of a Chief of Staff: \"I was born in Tel Adashim. The date was under dispute, until my father and the head of the village determined: January 11, 1929. I left my mother's womb to breathe the world's air because my parents were... too poor. Totally impovershed. Four children came before me, and my father could not provide for them. That is why my parents decided to spare me from such poverty and put and end to me - in my mother's womb. But we were so poor that that my father couldn't come up with the two liros necessary to perform the abortion. Through great effort my father was able to collect one liro and 20. He urged the doctors to do the abortion and he would pay the 80 grushim at a later date - but the doctors refused. No credit allowed, and a son was born. Now there were five children in the needy family. There were days when my parents would say jokingly: \"This kid is worth two liros?\" (Story of former Chief of Staff, Raful Eitan) News and Commentary The recent news regarding the youth in Israel is not encouraging. The statistics show heavy crime, violence in schools, and mass drug abuse that is shocking. And the politicians? They established a \"War on Drugs\" week, and expressed their \"shock\". Not for nothing do we put these words in quotes. After all, what do they intend to do? Fight drugs? Stand up against violence that has risen 43% amongst Israeli youth this past year? Why, they are the cause of it! It is the Israeli leaders and educators who destroyed the values of Israeli society by trading in Jewish values for goyish ones. And indeed, the Jews have outdone the gentile. Who leads the famed drug parties in India? The Israeli youth! A real light unto the nations! These leaders, who are the founding fathers of the violence and decadence in Israeli society choose to direct their energies not towards fighting the real problem, but rather choose to fight Judaism. They suddenly discover, in Judaism of all places, the \"violence\", the \"lack of morality\", and \"chaos\". This is all a cynical attempt to divert attention from the real problem: The Chosen People are submersed in a decaying society infected with drugs as well as vicious and needless violence, and all this was brought on by the Israeli leadership who ripped away from them real values. How easy it would be to end here and say, \"at least we are not like them\". But we have no right to say such things because we are bound by the obligation of being guarantors for our Jewish brothers. This is why we have stepped up our distribution of material and increased the out-reach work of the Meir Youth Group among schools and circles with which we once had seldom contact. And that is because we are aware of the fact that we have the capability of offering a real and attractive alternative to those 423

particular youth who are looking to find themselves, and go looking as far as India to discover even more emptiness. It is we who can supply the youth what what they are searching for. The very fact that the establishment so opposes us is what enables us to offer an alternative in their eyes... (Translated from Meir Youth Magazine, Chodesh Tevet) Datan And Aviram Never Die – They Simply Interchange (1997) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg Parshat Shmot teaches us what a Jewish leader is all about. First of all, Moshe Rabbeinu embodies the positive leader, who is willing to sacrifice himself and his freedom for the Jewish People. But in this article, we will concentrate on the actions and motives of two negative leaders in Egypt. Two leaders who always looked to advance themselves, and attempted every step of the way to prevent the redemption. They did not do this openly. On the contrary, they always portrayed themselves as people who were concerned about the interests of the Jewish People at large. These two people are Datan and Aviram. They appear several times throughout the Torah, not always in name – sometimes it is the sages who reveal to us that they are Datan and Aviram. It is quite possible that Datan and Aviram are not specific people, but rather they are a concept – a symbol of a certain type of leader. The first time we meet Datan and Aviram, they are in the heat of a quarrel. What were these two fighting about while their brothers were in bondage? It can be assumed that they found time to bicker about some portfolio or office. And behold, Moshe Rabbeinu appears on the scene, sees his two brothers fighting, and tries to patch things up. But Datan and Aviram, who yesterday saw Moshe Rabbeinu exhibiting leadership qualities in killing the Egyptian, both smelled competition to their positions. And so, putting their own quarrel aside for the moment, they proceed to inform on Moshe to Pharo. And all this, obviously, is done out of a \"national responsibility\", for who knows what the ramifications of such a murderous act such as that of Moshe's could be for Israel... The second time we run into our friends (according to the sages) is at the end of Parshat Shmot, years later. Moshe by this time has \"taken over the leadership\". Moshe and Aharon hold their first historic meeting with Pharo where they demand to \"Let my People Go!\" On their way out, they are met by a furious Datan and Aviram. They are devoured by jealousy. They, too, had once visited Pharo's palace, though never Pharo himself. They probably had only met with the Minister of Jewish Affairs where, in classic exile tradition, they would occasionally do some groveling in order to squeeze something out of him. And so immediately they attack (with \"national responsibility\") Moshe and Aharon: \"The Lord look upon you, and judge: because you made us abhorrent in the eyes of Pharo and in the eyes of his servants to put a sword in their hand to slay us\". At first glance, these are words of logic and genuine concern. Stop making things worse for us! Because of your insanedemand to \"let my people go\" and all the rest of your wild fantasies, Pharo has increased the burden on Israel! (Even Moshe himself at this point temporarily despairs, and says to G-d: \"For since I came to Pharo to speak in Your Name, he has dealt ill with Your people.\") Let us continue following \"Datan and Aviram\". In the book of Numbers, they are already working as an active \"opposition\", as Midrash Shmot Raba explains: \"They were the ones who left over the \"Mann\", they were the ones who said (in the spy portion) 'let us return to Egypt', they were the ones who rebelled at the Red Sea.\" And of course, they were active players in the Korach incident. In other words, whenever there was an opportunity to undermine Moshe and Aharon's authority, they were 424

there, in the thick of it. The highlight of their career is during the sin of the spies, where they say: \"Let us appoint a chief and let us return to Egypt.\" Oh, how they yearned for the good old days, when their brothers were enslaved and they were strolling in the gates of Pharo's palace... And so, during the Korach dispute, their stance against Moshe is much more extreme and belligerent than the stance Korach adopted. They insolently attack Moshe: \"Is it a small thing that you have brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, and you have made yourself a prince over us?\" Again, pangs of yearning for Egypt and for their positions! Throughout all the generations until today, one can see that \"Datan andAviram\" did not die; and an important lesson can be learned from this:Sometimes a leader may have certain accomplishments under his belt, but because he places his own personal welfare as the priority, he can bring the nation to tragedy. For he is ready to see his people hurt and beaten, as long as his position remains intact. ***weekly parsha by binyamin zev kahane*** For They Are Servants of the Lord (1998), translated by Lenny Goldberg I write these words on the fiftieth anniversary of the State of Israel's Independence, from behind prison walls, only a few days after being tossed behind bars after my sentencing of nine months in jail. In parshat Behar I will seize the opportunity to show a surprisingly similar connection between my situation and a teaching found in Midrash Raba on parshat Behar: \"And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom throughout the landfor all it's inhabitants\" (a passage referring to slaves). What is so terrible about being a servant? One of the central themes of parshat Behar is the shame that exists for the Jew who is a slave. \"To Me are the children of Israel servants, for they are servants of the Lord, who took them out of the land of Egypt.\" We see that the Torah finds great fault with the idea of a Jew becoming a slave. Therefore, the Torah places boundaries on servitude, (both regarding a person who sells himself out of poverty, or because of thievery) and limits the time of servitude to a maximum of six years. A slave who wants to extend his time of servitude must have his master bore a hole in his ear as is described in parshat Mishpatim,and then he remains a slave only until the 50th Jubilee year. What is the reason? The answer lies in our sages words (Kidushim 22): \"Why is the ear different from any other part of the body? G-d said, the ear that heard My voice on Mount Sinai, when I said, to Me are Israel servants, and not servants to other servants\" (i.e. other Jews). What is so awful about being a slave? After all, we are referring to a person who is more than likely serving an acquaintance of his, which is certainly not a sin in and of itself, nor does it cause him to sin in any way. If so, what prevents a slave from being a most righteous and G-d fearing man? What is so bad about being a slave? The answer is that a slave is not merely a servant. Rather, he is a person who relinquishes his individuality in drastic fashion to another human being, flesh and blood. The desires of the slave himself become the desires of his master instead. He is completely nullified as an independent entity. He hands over his identity and individuality to the whims and desires of flesh and blood, and as a result, forfeits responsibility over his own life. And so the slave does not have the opportunity to work on his spirituality,or enrich it, and thusly he cannot advance towards the true purpose of being a Jew - sanctifying G-d's Name and coming closer to G-d's attributes. A Jew must be his own individual, a free man, submitting himself only to G-d'swill, and responsible for his own actions and his direction in life. A slave is neutralized from the very outset, and cannot achieve his goal as a Jew,since he his wholly subservient to his master. The Jubilee year sets forth the notion that every Jew is truly free. True freedom, and not the decadent 425

concept of \"freedom\" which is so prevalent in alien western culture. Rather it is a freedom of spirit in which the Jew removes from upon himself the yoke of foreign concepts and replaces it with the only yoke that he is allowed (and obligated) to accept - the Yoke of Heaven. As stated by Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi: \"Slaves of the times (i.e.- the latest American craze) are slaves of slaves: Slaves of G-d are truly free\". Though there is much disgrace in slavery, we see that the Torah, for a limited amount of time, prescribes this form of punishment. The Torah does not prescribe prison, despite the fact that today prison is considered the most humane, effective and \"progressive\" form of punishment. But anyone who understands prison life knows that it brings about a situation even worse than that of slavery. For while a slave may be nullified, he is at least in the shade of his master - something which gives him content and identity. In contrast, the situation of a prisoner is one in which a person loses all semblance of a human being. He is pushed into a small cell (and in so doing the authorities think they have solved their problems), and treated like an animal. All concept of time is lost, as the prisoner lies on his bed all day, serving no purpose, bored to death and void of any content in his life. All that concerns him is the taking care of his most base physical needs. Most prisoners lose all hope in themselves and in their future. They abandon all sense of responsibility due to the lack of a daily regiment. This inactivity increases the prisoners feeling of emptiness, and so it is no wonder that there is such a high percentage of ex-prisoners returning to crime, a destructive and vicious cycle. But for those few who possess a sense of self-worth and purpose, being behind prison walls does not hamper their individuality from shining forth. It is as if the prison walls and the prison guards do not exist. For them,it does not matter where they are. On the contrary, the experience of being behind bars serves as a catalyst, invigorating their spirit and confirming their inner sense of independence and conviction. Back WE WERE BORN TO ESTABLISH A WORLD AS IT WAS IN ITS PERFECT STATE AT THE BEGINNING (translated by Reuven Falk) At the end of \"Parshat Shemot\" we find a confrontation between Moses and Aaron on the one hand and the officers of the children of Israel on the other. On the one side stood Moses and Aaron who had been assigned by Hashem to carry out a seemingly suicidal mission: to enter uninvited into the house of the king, of the imperial, menacing kingdom of Egypt, and to request that he let the Jewish slaves go free. In spite of the odds, Moses and Aaron, with faith in Hashem, went and fulfilled their mission completely. (According to our sages, all the elders that accompanied them dropped out along the way because of tremendous fear, until Moses and Aaron alone remained to face Pharaoh). And certainly Pharaoh rejected their request out of hand. The problem was, not only did he reject their request, but also in order to quell the \"undesirable\" excitement and expectation amidst the Jews, he informed them that their work conditions would become more severe. Not only would they have to keep up the stringent quota of bricks they were now required to produce, but also they themselves would have to gather the straw needed to make the bricks! The Character of the (Jewish) Officers Now there enters into the picture the \"Officers of the Children of Israel.\" From the verses (in Shemot) and from the commentary of our sages, we know that these were not essentially bad men; in the last analysis they only wanted to lighten the burden of the Jews. Even more than this, they were prepared to carry the load for the sake of their brethren, the point being not to hand over those who were unable to fulfill their quotas, into the hands of the taskmasters. And for this reason, \"The officers were beaten\"!! 426

(Shemot 5:14) In fact, the officers were themselves sort of communal leaders who apparently represented the Jews before the Egyptian ruler. As practical men who recognized the nature of the playing field, they played the game, they did not believe either in \"making noise\" or in revolutions. They were a kind of \"workers committee\" that wanted to lighten, a bit, the harsh conditions, hoping for some improvement. In their eyes, any noise, any demonstration, any meeting with Pharaoh that was not carried out according to the rules of protocol, would be destructive and damaging to the delicate work of many years. Like a Bull in a China Shop For this reason, the moment they heard about Moses and Aaron and their results, they became very angry. They opposed them with fervor: You are novices!! You are adventurers!! \" May Hashem look upon you and judge, for you have brought us into foul odor in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to place a sword into their hands to kill us!!\" (Shemot, 5:21) Among other things, there is here a confrontation here between the old guard leadership of the 'status quo' who wish to protect their achievements - which although modest, were achieved through hard labor - and New Men, who through their 'exaggerated' requests not only accomplish nothing, but also even cause the destruction of earlier achievements. In the eyes of the officers, Moses behaves like a bull in a china shop. And truthfully, reality proves that the officers were correct. Seemingly, just after Moses and Aaron leave Pharaoh's presence a harsh decree is put upon the nation. And who suffers for this? Moses and Aaron? No, of course not! The officers are the ones who suffer. They are the ones who receive the beatings for the sake of the people who cannot fulfill the impossible quotas. And all because of the irresponsibility of Moses and Aaron. The position of the officers seemed so correct, that even Moses himself thought that perhaps they were correct. He had so little confidence in his own opinion that he sinned by showing a lack of faith in Hashem, by crying to Him, \"Why is evil happening to this people, why did You send me?!\" There is no smooth rebellion And with all this...the officers were not right! The reason (and also the lesson from this) is that there is almost never a revolution or change where the first stages do not involve a loss of accomplishment! Sometimes this is essential, for the 'accomplishments' of the past are parenthetical; the arrangements of small-minded people, while they are perhaps intended to put out fires, yet they establish a dismal situation, in themselves preventing any change. And sometimes, even in the case of true accomplishments, we must know that in order to bring change, there is no choice but lose real accomplishments, at least temporarily. Because there will always be one Pharaoh or another who will threaten that if we don't sit quietly he will nullify our achievements, \"and you will lose out because of this.\" But if we give in to his threats, we will remain captives in the hand of Pharaoh, we, our children and our children's children...until the end of the generations. Redemption - or slavery under improved conditions In conclusion, whoever wants to progress - and this is true in every area - must take into account, that he will almost certainly find himself, at least temporarily, losing some ground. Whoever is not prepared for this will find himself, all his life, remaining in the straits of Egypt. Whoever wants change needs to warmly thank the 'existing officers' for their accomplishments, but say to them: now we are going further, we are going to progress. It is possible that a part of your accomplishments, or some of your accomplishments will be lost, either temporarily or permanently. But this is the price to pay for 427

reaching the greater and ultimate goal. We were not born in order to be slaves with improved conditions in Egypt; we were born to be redeemed. We were not born to live in villas in settlements surrounded by fences, like ghettos, with conditions of \"Development Area A\": we were born to conquer and rule all of the land of Israel, free of the goyim and of our enemies. And if the price, more or less temporarily, is the loss of status of \"Development Area A,\" due to lack of participation on the part of the existing regime, or the necessity of gathering our own straw to make bricks for a while, the price is worth it. For we were not born to live with the status quo, after the fact. We were born to establish an ideal world, as it was at the beginning. 428

Vayera 429

PARSHAT VA'EYRA Once We Were Slaves, and We Still Are! (1993) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg In this week's parsha, Moses comes to the Israelite Nation with a message of redemption from the Almighty. Moses informed the people that after years of enslavement and oppression, G-d had promised to free them and return them to the land of their fathers. One would expect the people to be overjoyed. This is what they had been waiting for! Yet the response of the people was disappointing: \"And they didn't listen to Moses because of lack of spirit and hard work\" (Shmot 6:9). Why were they so non-plussed at Moses' prophecy? The answer lies in Pharo's command, \"Burden the people with work...that they shouldn't pay heed to false words\" (Shmot 5:). Here is the strategy of all dictators and oppressive regimes. When a person is subjected to oppression, in the beginning he generally attempts to fight it. When this fails he usually sinks into depression and afterwards comes acceptance and apathy. In order for him to be able to dream of freedom and plan a rebellion, he must be able to think, he must have time. The solution of Pharo and his imitators is to burden him with work. Keep him busy. One who toils from sunrise to sunset simply does not have the strength for deep thought when he gets home. Constant work that wearies the body and soul prevents one from contemplating the past or planning for the future. He is condemned to writhe in the mire of the present, living from one day to the next. It is therefore not surprising that when Moses reveals God's promise of the coming redemption, the people hardly bat an eyelid. They cannot even begin to comprehend the vision. Redemption? Freedom? These concepts could not have been further from their minds. Keep your nutty prophecies to yourself! We have to complete the daily quota of bricks! The only thing you're accomplishing is to stir up Pharo against us! This tried and tested method of preventing people from thinking is alive and well today whether it be in democracies or pseudo-democracies such as Israel. But today, with the help of modern technology, the techniques are simply more sophisticated. The task-master has been replaced by the Satan-box known as television. The television thinks for him. Modern man plops himself in front of it and is drowned in a flood of lies, half-truths, and distortions without him realizing anything. He sits staring at the set in a trance as he is engulfed by its artificial, blue light. He is force-fed a recipe of fast moving pictures, arousing photographs, and advertisements amidst blaring music. He is left a confused, debiliated nebish. He is a sponge which absorbs all this. And when not watching television, he has computer games, electronic and video games, movies and disco. He time is filled with worthless activities intended to prevent him from pondering, \"Who Am I\", \"What is my purpose in life?\", \"Am I satisfied with the present situation or is there something I can do to change it?\" The first step towards redemption is realizing that we have not been redeemed yet. The present regime in Israel is oppressive, corrupt, and anti-God. The sinister cabal that rules Israel drugs the nation by way of the media, crushing its spirit with an iron heel as they forge ahead with their demonic schemes. We can overthrow them, but first we must take the time to think. 430

Bo 431

PARSHAT BO Pasqual Lamb and Kiddush Hashem (1991) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg In Parshat Bo we are introduced to the mitzvah of the Paschal Lamb. Unfortunately, like most mitzvot in the Torah, many Jews do not grasp the concept that stands behind this mitzvah. We must always remember that generally speaking, the mitzvah is a manifestation of a particular idea that G-d wants us to internalize. So let us examine this very special mitzvah so that next Passover when we partake in the eating of the \"Afikoman\" which commemorates the Paschal Lamb, we will hopefully be doing more than just practicing sterile ritual. First of all, we must comprehend that the entire purpose of the plagues was to bring the nonbelieving Pharo, who upon Moses' arrival arrogantly proclaimed, \"I do not know Hashem\", to the recognition that Hashem, is indeed, the Almighty. When the gentile states that the Jewish God does not exist and that he does not know Him, and thus he can enslave and torture the people of this seemingly non-existent G-d, this creates the greatest \"Hillul Hashem\" (desecration of God's Name) that can possibly be. The devastation of Egypt via the plagues was to show the awesome power of Hashem - to prove that the God of Israel indeed exists. The plagues were, in effect, the process by which the desecration of God's Name, which was reflected through the weakness of His People, was turned into a sanctification of G- d's Name. After the heavy pounding the Egyptians suffered, it was impossible to deny the omnipotence of the Hebrew God. This is Kiddush Hashem. But for the sanctification to be complete, something else must be done - the offering of the Paschal Lamb. This was the nail in the coffin. In Parshat Bo, chapter 12, we see that each Jewish house was commanded to take a lamb, bring it home for four days, and then slaughter it. The lamb, which was the deity of the Egyptians is taken, prepared and slaughtered before the horrified eyes of the Egyptians, who were helplessly forced to watch all this. As if this wasn't enough, the lamb had to be roasted whole - \"eat not of it raw, nor broiled in water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with its entrails\". The humiliation was now complete. The Hebrews, slaves for 210 years, had degraded their Egyptian masters, making a mockery out of their \"religion\". For the sanctification of God's Name to be complete, there is no room for \"tolerance\" of other deities. If Hashem is One, there can be no other! This is the Jewish idea of the Paschal Lamb. The pity of the Jew today (including the religious practitioner of ritual) is his inability to perceive the Middle East crisis as a religious war -- a battle between Judaism versus Islam. While the Arab has always understood this and thus is ready to go to great lengths in the name of his religion (and for this reason they have the upper hand today), the Jew perceives events only through secular and pragmatic considerations. He does not realize that a stone thrown at a Jew is a stone thrown at the Jewish God, and a concession of any part of the Land of Israel is a declaration to the Muslims that our God is weak, God forbid. He cannot grasp that the lack of Jewish sovereignty on the Temple Mount and the presence of Arab mosques is a \"Hillul Hashem\" of outrageous proportions. It is only when the Jewish People comprehend that the \"humiliation of Israel is a desecration of His Name\" (Ezekiel 39:7 - Rashi) and that we are in a religious struggle with the Arabs, will we begin to get real help from Hashem, since only then will He have a reason to take action to defend his Holy Name. 432

News and Commentary We watch in horror as the government of Israel puts into effect the plans which only the cruelest of enemies could ever contemplate. The heart of Israel is already cut into ribbons, and time bombs in the form of sovereign Arab rule are already ticking. The best of activists stand bewildered, without an alternative or clear direction. Therefore, we must understand: There is no way that the State of Israel can on one hand decide to abandon the territories, yet at the same time continue to rule over the Jews who live there, issuing them restriction orders, trying them for retaliating against Arabs, arresting Jews on administrative detention, etc. If they want to pull out, let them - but they should at least get off our backs! There are so many Jews who are still naive enough to think that the government has good intentions since it continues to worry, so to speak, about the security of the stopped judging evil people so favorably, which incidentally, is against the \"halacha\". We must begin to understand that it is only political considerations which prevent them from completely pulling out of Judea, Samaria, and Azza. If they at all felt that the political climate was ripe enough, they would abandon the settlers tomorrow. Therefore it is imperative upon the settlers to immediately declare: We are not interested in your solutions!! Let the settlers worry about their future and their long term needs. Let them take their destiny in their own hands, and in God's hands. Obviously we would prefer united Jewish sovereignty over all parts of the Land of Israel, but if that is not possible at the moment, then let there rise another sovereign Jewish body in the territories - one composed of Jews who have faith in God and the Jewish destiny, and deal with problems, including the Arab one, in a responsible way and in a Jewish way. Only then, will something sweet come out of all the bitterness. He'll Pay for That Grin (1996) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg Whenever an act such as last week's shooting in the Hebron market takes place, we see the question of collective punishment return to the national agenda, and of course it is promptly denounced by secular and religious Jews alike. In Parshat Bo, the subject of collective punishment also tops the agenda, as we see all the Egyptians, without distinction, being smitten by the plagues. As a comment on one of the verses in our parsha, our Sages shed light on the reason why the entire population, and not just the \"bad guys\" were smitten in Egypt. On the verse: \"And the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the first born of Paro that sat on the throne to the firstborn of the prisoner that was in the dungeon\", the Sages immediately ask: \"The prisoner, what was his sin?\" After all, they themselves were captive in Egypt. And the Sages answer: \"Because they were happy with all the decrees which Paro decreed on Israel.\" (Tanchuma, Bo) The sages are teaching us here the Jewish idea concerning a nation which as a whole enslaves or harms the Jewish People: Not only are the specific individuals who actively take part in the terrorizing of Jews punished, but the entire nation, from big to little are also punished, for they are happy about what their countrymen are doing. 433

From the Idea to the Halacha This concept is codified into Jewish halacha (see Rambam, HilchotRozeach U-Shmirat Nefesh 4:11, and Kesef Mishnah, there; Shulchan Aruch,Yore Deah, 158:1. and Shach, there, and more), which determines that in time of war, one kills anyone who is part of the enemy nation. The aforementioned midrash explains the reasoning behind the halacha: When a nation fights us, there are no \"innocent\". There are some who fight in the front, and some in the back, and they are all partners. In what way? The very fact that their hearts rejoice when Jews are killed or maimed (and let us not even discuss those who give cover) is enough for them to be halachically considered as soldiers fighting in the front lines. What are the Arabs Happy About? At first glance, it may appear harsh to punish someone just for being happy when Jews are bombed. But someone who understands the realities of today can appreciate the depth and justice of our Sages words. Here are two examples to illustrate our point: 1. The dancing and celebrations of the Arabs on the roofs of their houses while the Scud missiles of Sadaam Hussein were landing, as they prayed for the \"destruction of Tel Aviv\". 2. After every suicide bombing, spontaneous and mass rejoicing erupted amongst the Arab population, and the mass mourning that took place amongst the \"Palestinian\" people when the \"engineer\", Yiche Iyash, (may his memory be blotted out) was exterminated. Certainly this tells us where the hearts and hopes of the Arabs lie. Even the Palestinian Authority could not overcome themsevles, as they shot 21 bullets while their great hero was being eulogized. And so, do not the words of our Sages ring a bell, especially if we alter the style just a bit: \"Because they were happy with all the bombs that Arabs planted against Israel?..\" Jewish Ethics: Truth and Normalacy And so, when a terrorist attack against Jews is viewed as a patriotic act of the first order, there is no room for pity – not even on the so-called innocent ones. Such mercy will certainly lead to cruelty against the merciful, as the Sages warned us. It becomes quite evident that Jewish concepts are not only G-d's absolute truth and thus should never be questioned, but they are also so brilliantly suited to man's nature. And so it is no wonder then that these values were set down by the Creator of man Himself – and how it differs from the hypocritical man-made values of those dictated by Christian or western culture. 434

Beshallach 435

PARSHAT BESHALLACH \"Don't Cry to Me - Go Forward\" (1996) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg It was exactly five years ago when the Gulf War broke out, and scud missiles started landing in Israel. Then, too, it was Parshat BeShallach, and it became quite popular to quote the verse in our parsha: \"The Lord will fight for you, and you will remain keep silent\" (14:14). Indeed, so many religious Jews found this verse both appropriate and symbolic of the Gulf War. After all, here were Israeli cities getting bombarded by Iraqi missiles, and the official government policy was one of \"self-restraint\", or as the Hebrew term goes, \"havlaga\". Jews equipped with gas masks and cages for their small children sat crouched in their sealed rooms, as missiles rocked the country. \"Everything will be O.K.\", they proclaimed. \"Hashem will fight for us\". That is, America and its president George Bush will take out those scud launchers and all will be fine. A closer look at what the Torah and sages tell us regarding this verse reveal that those who interpreted this verse in the aforementioned manner took the words entirely out of their true context, and by doing so completely distort the awesome lesson that is to be learned regarding the splitting of the Red Sea. \"A Time To Do - Not to Pray\" Firstly, let us see what the Torah says. Immediately following the verse, \"The Lord will fight for you and you will remain silent\", is the verse, \"And the Lord said unto Moses, Why do you cry unto me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward\"! Already, without even delving into any of the commentaries, we see that the picture has changed entirely. The verse is not telling us that God will fight for you and so in the meantime you can \"kick back\" and let Him \"worry about it\". What is said here is that the Lord will fight for you if you prove to Him that you truly believe in His Omnipotence, and so instead of crying to Hashem, simply obey his commandment and \"go forward\" into the stormy sea. The commentator the \"Eben Ezra\" writes the following: \"You shalt keep silent\" - to counteract the (verse) \"And the children of Israel cried (to Hashem)!\" For those whom this is not clear, the commentary on the Eben Ezra explains: \"Do not cry anymore (to Hashem) because He will fight for you. And the meaning is not that you should refrain (keep silent) from fighting\". Yes. The exact opposite of the distorted interpretation that is constantly given, where the verse \"and you shall keep silent\" means self-restraint and inaction. The Eben Ezra comes to tell us that \"and you shall keep silent\" means to stop crying to Hashem. What should you do instead? Act! -- with \"Bitachon\" in Hashem. This is in essence the idea that Rashi brings down: \"This teaches us that Moses was standing and praying. The Holy One Blessed Be He said: Now is not the time to prolong in prayer, when Israel is placed in distress.\" This is also the meaning of the Gemorah in Sota, page 37: \"Moses was engaged for a while in prayer, so the Holy One Blessed Be He said, \"My beloved ones are drowning in the sea, and thou prolongst in prayer before me? He (Moses) spoke before Him, \"Lord of the Universe, what is there in my power to do?\" He replied to him, \"Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. And lift thou up thy rod and stretch out thy hand, etc.\" Nachshon - Faith In Action The sages tell us that the children of Israel stood trembling by the shores of the Red Sea until God commanded them that they \"go forward\". They remained paralyzed with fear and did not move. Only 436

Nachshon did not hesitate to carry out Hashem's commandment. He sprang forward into the raging waters, but nothing happened. Nachshon was not taken aback. He descended deeper into the water - up to his ankles, knees, stomach - and still nothing happened. Nachshon continued until the water reached his neck, and then he cried to Hashem, \"Oh God, save me because the water has come into my soul. I sink deep in mire where there is no standing...\" Only then did the miracle of the splitting of the sea occur. (Ibid.) The lesson is crystal clear. Together with prayer, Hashem demands maximal effort, for it is only through actual deeds where one's faith is tested. Was Nachshon's faith put to the test when he recited psalms on the seashore? No. Even jumping into the stormy waters was not sufficient, for he still had an opportunity to back out. Only by going all the way in fulfilling G-d's will did he prove he is a true believer. Nachshon understood that saying, \"I believe\" and then waiting for the salvation is not authentic faith. G-d demands of us that we prove our faith by way of our actions, and not just with our mouths. Only by being willing to fulfill difficult, and what may appear to be \"dangerous\" mitzvot, do we prove our faith is genuine. This is the mistake of those religious Jews who sanctified the self-restraint policy during the Gulf Crisis. He who saw the Chosen People scurrying like roaches into their sealed-off closets while the modern day Goliath blasphemed Hashem and His people for 40 days (and 40-1 missiles), and viewed it as a positive thing, self-righteously proclaiming that \"G-d will help\" , does not begin to grasp the Jewish concept of what faith is all about. Not only did we lose our deterrent factor and our dignity during the Gulf War, but we also proved our lack of faith. It is this same lack of faith that has prevented us from expelling the Arabs, and annexing the territories. And it is only a lack of faith that has brought us to the pathetic and desperate situation we now find ourselves in today. These national mitzvot were never \"politics\", but rather the true yardsticks for faith and redemption in this generation. News And Commentary As the trial of Yigal Amir grinds on, one can observe the obsessive hate and hysteria of the Israeli media. Unable to even feign the slightest bit of responsible objective journalism, the Israeli newspaper reporters cannot hold themselves back from viciously cursing and abusing Amir. Words like \"scum\" and \"vermin\" are some of the more commonly used terms used to describe him. Such lanugage is usually not used when dealing with political assassins. In a normal society, words like \"scum\" are generally reserved for rapists or child beaters, and not for political criminals. If this uncontrolled hate was caused by an overwhelming love and sense of loss for Yitzchak Rabin, then perhaps their attacks on Amir would be understandable. But we must understand that there is something much deeper going on here. Yigal Amir in their eyes is a symbol of all religious Jews. He is educated, and idealistic, and represents to them the Judaism that they so despise. Since it would be difficult still to defame all the religious Jews and rabbis without compunction, they find Yigal Amir an easy target for them to unleash their venom in their filthy tabloids. Unfortunately, many religous Jews don't grasp this. Instead, they try to find favor in the eyes of the left by coming up with even \"jucier\" adjectives to describe Amir. In their pathetic hope not to be viewed as \"extremists\" and to create \"unity\", they attempt to outdo the left in their condemnations. Alas, it is a pity that none of this will help. Because the hellenist left in Israel looks upon these Jews as \"scum\" as well. For them, anyone who feels that the \"halacha\" is the ultimate authority, and places it over their 437

hallowed democracy is a criminal. Therefore, let us not try and gloss over the fact that we are in the heat of a cultural war with the Hellenists, and the gap between them and us is unbridgeable. Nachson and Hashem \"Partners\" in Miracle (1998) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg The midrash relates how Nachson jumps into the stormy sea, and as the water reaches up to his neck, the sea splits. We learn here the general lesson that one must follow the path of \"hishtadlut\", human effort. That is, even though G-d explicitly says to Moshe, \"Hashem will fight for you and you shall remain silent\", G-d wants our \"participation\". This is the order of the world which G-d set down: despite the fact He is Omnipotent, He demands the \"acts of man\". And while man cannot achieve anything without heavenly assistance, G-d demands from man that he strive as much as possible by non-miraculous means. By doing so, man fulfills his role in this world. Despite this fundamental principle, something is not clear regarding Nachson's act. We can understand the concept of \"hishtadlut\" when applied to one's \"parnasa\" (livelihood), for example; that while Hashem \"provides nourishment to all flesh\", man must still get up in the morning to go to work, for without this natural effort, there will be no \"parnasa\". The same applies to the wars of Israel. Though Hashem fights for us, we must do everything that can be done by natural and non-miraculous means to fight. In contrast, what did Nachson's action contribute to the sea splitting? His act was not your typical type of hishtadlut! He basically plunged into ranging waters, an act which according to the laws of nature, does absolutely nothing to cause the sea to split! This is not natural human effort; it is more like illogical suicide! And nonetheless, this is what Hashem wanted, as He says: \"Speak to the children of Israel, that they should go forward (into the sea)!\" The explanation is that Nachson's jumping into the sea symbolized what Hashem demanded from us at that moment: not only an act of \"hishtadlut\", but also an act to express bitachon (trust) in G-d. This is certainly something we can understand today, in light of the events taking place and the tests which stand before us. More than once in this generation, we have stood before tests seemingly impossible to overcome. The Almighty has placed us in situations in which holding our ground and not surrendering appeared totally illogical, and even suicidal. 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. And behold, in these very days, we have reached the critical stage, the moment of truth, where the argument countering the approach of faith and trust is: \"We have no choice. If we don't give up the territories which G-d gave us through the miracles of the 1967 war, we will be committing national suicide\", or \"fulfilling the Torah commandment to hold onto the territories and expel the Arabs is dangerous\". In essence, the Almighty has placed us in exactly the same situation which the Jews were in at the Sea of Suf. It is a situation of being between fire and fire. On one side, the Egyptian en-slavers; on the other side, the sea. On one side, giving up land and leaving the Arabs here to stay means the liquidation of Israel; on the other side, holding onto the land and expelling the Arabs endangers us by bringing the world against us. Here we need the lesson of Nachson Ben Aminadav. G-d isn't going to split the sea unless someone jumps in first. While He doesn't need Nachson in order to make the sea split, He does require that we 438

do something to express our trust in Him - an act of faith proving we believe in G-d in difficult times too. So writes the Ohr HaChaiim: It does not depend on Me ... speak to the children of Israel that they should strengthen themselves with faith with all their heart, and they should go forward in the sea before it splits, because due to their faith I will make a miracle ... because faith and \"bitachon\" are great attributes, and they tip the scales for the good...\" The Ohr HaChaim continues to explain why a strong act of faith wasn't necessary, since the Jews had just previously demonstrated lack of faith by their saying: \"Let us alone so that we may serve Egypt\". Only after Nachson proved his trust in G-d, did G-d split the sea. That's it. Of course G-d can do it all by Himself, but He \"needs\" our active participation. He wants us to actively prove, through fulfillment of the \"dangerous\" mitzvot in the national sphere, that we trust in Him and believe that He is indeed capable of fulfilling His promises, and will not abandon us. Without a doubt, many feel that holding our ground and not withdrawing is similar to jumping into raging waters. But precisely here is where the test lies - and we know that the sea will split! After all, our generation has witnessed unbelievable victories, against all odds! Only a blind man thinks that such success is due to our own strength. And so, when G-d demands from us difficult actions, and obligates to help us, we must believe Him! And if we wait for Him to do everything by Himself, we will pay a heavy price, G-d forbid. This is our test. The test of faith. Who said it was supposed to be an easy one? 439

440

Yitro 441

PARSHAT YITRO Unity for Good, Unity for Evil (1996) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg So much is heard these days on the need to be united. \"Unity\" or \"achdus\" in Hebrew, has become one of the major \"buzz\" words in the vernacular of the Jew who seeks to offer solutions to Jewish problems. If only we were united, we would overcome our enemies, we would bring the redemption, and simply put, everything would be O.K. Even from the most outspoken and uncompromising types, it is amazing to hear them talking about \"unity\" as the most important thing. And so the question that must be asked here is: Is it truly so? Is it correct that unity is the cure-all? In Parshas Yitro, we find a rare moment of unity for the Jewish People. The moment they arrived at Mount Sinai, it is written, \"And Israel encamped near the mountain\". The sages, noting how the word \"encamped\" is written in singular form (vayichan) tell us \"as one man, as one heart\". What an awesome thing! The Jewish People are standing at Mount Sinai about to receive the Torah, and the Torah reveals to us (the point is stressed in the Mechilta on the same verse) that this particular situation was unlike any other. This time there were no quarrels, no bickering. This very special happening of \"Matan Torah\" was from the point of view of \"Vayichan\" - and they encamped \"as one man\". Everyone is united for one idea and goal. The sages praise this rare moment of unification that has been attained on this momentous occasion, and without a doubt, the responsibility of all Jews to be mutual guarantors to one another is an expression of this much needed unity among Jews, who are called \"Goy Echad\" - one Nation. But there is a tremendous difference between this kind of unity and the kind of unity that the so-called leaders of today babble about. There is an essential difference between the unity of \"one man, one heart\" mentioned in our parsha, and the unity to which politicians pay lip service to. For the question isn't whether unity is good or bad, but rather what is the cause you are uniting around? For what goal and purpose? G-d dispersed the generation of the Tower of Babel because they were united on behalf of evil, and despite their unity,they were branded with the name \"Dor Haflaga\" - the Hebrew word 'haflaga' derived from the root 'pilug' which means a split or a schism. For all of their unity was based around an evil purpose. There was a unity of wicked people, 'split' or separated from G-d. In contrast to this, the unity of the Jewish people that our rabbis find praise worthy and vital is the unity of 'Matan Torah' - when everyone is united to receive Torah and fulfill it. Indeed, not only is the unity a positive thing, but it is a very necessary ingredient for the feeling of mutual bonding of every Jew to one another, and it is a critical component of 'Matan Torah'. Nonetheless, unity of the wicked is a bad thing, as the sages comment, \"The scattering of the wicked is good for them and good for the world\", and unity for the purpose of an evil goals is abhorrence. The leaders and scholars should pay heed to the words that they speak. By preaching 'Achdus' or unity in such loose terms, they are misleading the nation. Even unity has its limits - it must be for the doing of good. It is for this reason that our sages often group and pair the word 'Shalom', with 'Emes', the truth, for true unity can only be achieved when it is based around truth. 442

In these days of darkness and confusion everything is upside down. When you finally find someone who is willing to speak out and take a stand they become popular and comfortable activists. Why the Arabs and leftists don't have such activists I will never know? Modern day Jewish activists like to be 'safe activists' who don't upset anyone on the left or in the middle, whatever that means. They can't call Rabin a traitor because that may cause disunity. They can't define the problems or offer the true solutions to our critical problems because that too may alienate someone, somewhere. So they play politics and lie to themselves seeking some halachic justification for their fears and weaknesses. They forget the first golden rule of activism that it doesn't matter how unpopular we may become as a result of saying and doing that which is right. As \"One Man\" – Only When There is \"One Heart\" (1997) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg Any healthy society seeks unity, since division only serves to prevent society from achieving it's goals. If this is so for all of mankind, how much more it is true concerning the Jewish People. The Almighty chose the Jewish People for a very specific goal: To know Hashem, spread His word, and sanctify His Name in the world. Since this goal is the most lofty of all goals, then certainly unity amongst the Jewish People is a very essential ingredient. From here we learn that the concept of \"unity\" has limits. It cannot be just lip service. Any unity is achieved when there is a shared objective. On the other hand, when different parts of the society have totally different objectives, and all the more so if these objectives contradict one another, there cannot be unity. We stress this point because the concept of \"unity\" today has become some kind of buzzword or blanket statement used by all segments of the nation, where people with ulterior motives throw it around as a slogan to further their cause. \"Unity\" can be a good thing, and it can be a bad thing. On one hand, it is a powerful vehicle to actualize an idea, and to arrive at the goal. On the other hand, it can serve as the exact opposite, for it can serve as a vehicle for the blurring over of the truth, and a distancing from it. This occurs when the goal of unity becomes more important than the ideology itself! That is, instead of the unity becoming a means to achieve the goal, it itself becomes the goal at all costs, and certainly at the expense of the ideology. In such a case, the idea and the goal are conceded and blurred over. This is not \"unity\", but rather betrayal of one's ideology and a losing of one's way. This is exactly what we learn from the verse in our parsha, (19:2) \"And there Israel encamped before the mountain\". Noting how the word for encamped is used in its singular form, the sages tell us that here the Jewish people stood united. Why was this the only place where Israel was able to stand united? Because at the mountain they received Torah! And so clearly, the Jewish People can only be unified when they share the common goal of Torah, since there is no other goal for the Jewish People. Note how Rashi brings down the Mechilta on this verse: \"As one man with one heart (mind), but all the other encampments (before Sinai) were with complaints and with strife\". The Hebrew word for complaints used here is \"Tarumot\" - which is complaints against Hashem. Division amongst the Jewish People begins when its basic goal is questioned. The moment there is \"Tarumot\" (complaints) against G-d, which is a result of lack of faith, then the entire basis for unity is uprooted. The fact is, that in such a 443

situation, G-d forbid if there is NOT a split amongst the Jewish People! That would mean that the Jewish People were, G-d forbid, united around the goal of complaining against and questioning G-d! But since there will always be authentic believers amongst the Jewish people, it is guaranteed that they will \"see to it\" that there will always be such division, which in this case is a positive thing. This is the intention of Rashi saying, \"As one man, as one heart\". After all, why the redundancy? Because the \"one heart\" is vital for unity. There must be the common goal. But if there is not \"one heart\", (the goal), then there can be no unity of \"as one man\". For one cannot throw around empty slogans of \"united we stand\" in order to gloss over a common lacking of national destiny. Many like to point out the words of our sages who say that in the days of King Ahab, there were no war casualties despite the fact that they were idol worshipers, because there was no Lashon Hara amongst them. (BaMidbar Raba, 19) So many want to learn from this that unity by itself without a positive goal can be a good thing. The answer is the following: The fact that no one fell in war was reward for the fact that the Jewish People in that generation did not inform (Lashon Hara) to the wicked kingdom about the prophets who had been hidden in the cave and who Ahab wanted to kill! Again, their unity was around a positive goal. They were not rewarded because they were unified around idol worship. Let us mention here that Hashem's prophet chastised the righteous King Yehoshafat for allying himself to the same Ahab, and joining him in battle: As part of his chastisement he states: \"And Yehoshafat made peace with he king of Israel\". Yes, making peace with a fellow Jew who is wicked is brought down here as a negative thing. (Kings 1, 22:45, see Radak there) 444

Mishpatim 445

PARSHAT MISHPATIM Normal People Think Ahead (1992) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg On the verse in our parsha, \"If a thief be found breaking in, and be smitten that he die, there shall be no blood shed on his account\", Rashi brings down a gemorah that is certain to shock liberal Jews: \"If one comes to slay you, arise and slay him first. And this man (the thief) indeed came to kill you, for behold, he knows that one will not stand there and quietly watch his possessions being stolen. Therefore, the owner, having this in mind that the thief is prepared to kill him, should arise and slay him first.\" Absolutely amazing! In other words, the sages are telling us here that the rule, \"if one comes to slay you, slay him first\" does not exclusively apply to the situation where one has a knife being held to his throat. In the above Rashi we see a much more expanded application of this simple \"halacha\". We see that one is obligated to think a few steps ahead and anticipate what the likely result will be. If one sees a real potential that this person will slay him, this in itself requires one to \"arise and slay him first\". What the sages have done here is to enter the psyche of the house thief, who, knowing the likelihood of resistance, has prepared himself to kill the owner if necessary. The knowledge of the owner that the thief is ready to kill him, even if only potentially, allows him to kill the thief first. How we have distorted the concept of \"if one comes to slay you, arise and slay him first\"! The average \"moderdox\" Jew thinks that one can only rise up and slay the Arab who is caught in the \"pose\" of throwing a molotov cocktail, or one is yelling \"Allah Achbar\" as he chases his victim with a hatchet. He believes that if the danger is not this very instant but rather one hour from now or one week from now, than certainly the law does not apply. What was obvious to the sages, that one must think a few steps ahead and not \"stand there and quietly watch his possessions being stolen\", is not obvious in todays society where \"humanism\" and distorted concepts of morality run rampant. In Israel, Jews continue to passively accept being beaten and humiliated by our enemy, lacking the healthy and normal survival instinct to \"arise and slay him first\". This self-restraint is justified by the logic that the situation is not life-threatening. And so, soldiers and settlers shoot warning shots in the air after being attacked, since the danger, as they see it, is no longer imminent. According to I.D.F. guidelines, soldiers, upon seeing a terrorist must shout a warning, shoot in the air, and if the situation really gets hot, shoot at the legs. Only a Jew already dead is permitted to open fire, since one who reacts beforehand will find himself brought to trial on murder charges. In short, we have learned two important ideas. Firstly, the rule, \"if one comes to slay you, arise and slay him first\", is not limited to a situation where one is pointing a gun to your head, but rather one is permitted to anticipate potential danger to one's life. Secondly, only a nation void of any self-respect won't rise up and fight back. After all, the above Rashi deals with fighting back for one's property. Shouldn't it be all the more so when one's life is being threatened? We must cease to interpret and define the \"halacha\" according to what is comfortable to our western mentality and mind set. We must \"rise up\", as one rises early for the \"vatikin\" prayer, and think a few logical steps ahead so that we can kill the murderous trespasser before it is too late. 446

\"THEY SHALL NOT DWELL IN YOUR LAND\" (1999) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg Several months ago a group of 120 Rabbis from the \"religious-Zionist\" camp issued a statement regarding the prohibition of handing over parts of Eretz Yisrael to gentiles. The five part statement began as follows: \"Eretz Yisrael in its entirety belongs to the Jewish nation, and we are commanded by the Torah to inherit it and to dwell in it, and not to leave it in the hands of any other nation. It is forbidden to allow the gentiles to have a foothold in Israel, as it is written,'do not allow them a foothold', and it is also written, 'they shall not dwell in your land'. Therefore it is forbidden to withdraw from any part of Eretz Yisrael, thereby leaving it, G-d forbid, in the hands of gentiles\". Seemingly, there is nothing new here. Ever since the withdrawal process from Eretz Yisrael got underway under Menachem Begin, we have heard from many sources, including the chief rabbinate, about the Torah prohibition forbidding the handing over of parts of Eretz Yisrael to gentiles. But in this latest statement, there is an addition which caught our eye, and that is the inclusion of the verse from our parsha, \"they shall not dwell in your land\". The Obligation To Expel the Goyim Up until now, it was customary for such pronouncements to only mention the verse, \"do not allow them a foothold\". From here the sages learn that \"it is forbidden to give them (the gentiles) a foothold in the land\" (Trachtate Yibamot), and this is brought down as the halacha. But they would never mention the verse, \"they shall not dwell in your land\", which is a clear prohibition against allowing gentiles to live in Eretz Yisrael while under Jewish sovereignty. Indeed we find that when the Rambam brings the halacha forbidding gentiles to live in Eretz Yisrael, he sites this verse as the source of the prohibition. Here are his words from chapter ten of Hilchot Avodah Zarah (halacha 6) \"But at a time when Israel has power over them (the gentiles), it is forbidden to allow them to live amongst us. Even as temporary residents... as it is written 'they shall not dwell in your land' - even temporarily. And if they accept the seven mitzvot of Bnei Noach, then they have the status of a resident stranger. And we only accept resident strangers when the Jubilee is in effect\". Why did the religious national camp refrain from quoting the verse \"they shall not dwell in your land\" when justifying our hold onto the land? The answer is obvious. During the holy struggle by the rabbis to prevent withdrawals from Eretz Yisrael, they uncannily omitted the requirement of driving out the gentiles. This requirement is the flip side to the mitzvah of \"yishuv HaEretz\", inseparable from and essential to the mitzvah of Eretz Yisrael. There can be no inheritance of the land without a disinheritance of it's inhabitants. In order to avoid this issue, they were reluctant to bring the verse, \"they shall not dwell in your land\". [At this point we should mention that the verse, \"do not allow them a foothold\", also refers to the prohibition against allowing gentiles to remain in those parts of the land which we control, and not just to the buying, renting, or handing over of land, which is certainly forbidden as well. In any event, the rabbis preferred bringing the verse \"do not allow them a foothold\" since it usually connotes the more limited prohibition of handing over Jewish land to gentile sovereignty, and thus avoids the bigger issue of removing the Arab trespasser]. Making the \"Psak Halacha\" Complete The inclusion of the verse \"they shall not dwell in your land\" in this latest pronouncement is certainly a positive development. The problem is that after quoting this verse, and the verse, \"do not allow them a foothold,\" we are told in the very same breath that the conclusion of all this is that \"it is forbidden to 447

withdraw from any part of Eretz Yisrael and leave it G-d forbid, in the hands of gentiles\". That is the only conclusion?? Can we not deduct something more from these two verses? If they are going to take the time to finally quote \"do not allow them to dwell in your land\", should they not take the next step in pronouncing \"that we must drive the gentiles out of all parts of the land which are under our control, and no longer allow them to live in our land\", (and then afterwards they can add) \"and all the more so it is forbidden by the Torah to hand over parts of the land to the gentile\"!? Either Us or Them By now it is crystal clear to everyone that the tragic withdrawal process we find ourselves mired in is derived from the fact that we failed to drive out the gentile inhabitants after conquering the land. It is only the presence of huge and hostile Arab population centers which brings us to the decision that \"there is no choice\" other than handing over land to them. If we would have fulfilled the verse \"do not allow them to dwell in your land\", then we would have been spared the transgression of the prohibition, \"do not allow them a foothold\". These commandments are intrinsically dependent on one another. On the verse, \"do not allow them to dwell in your land\", the Sforno comments: \"On those parts of the land which you conquer and dwell in - they shall not dwell. This was not done in the time of Joshua. As it is written, 'the Canaanites lived amongst them at Gezer' (Judges chapter 2)...\" In other words, our generation made the same tragic mistake as did the generation of Joshua. Yes, they captured the land. But by not driving out the inhabitants, they failed to actualize their conquest and sovereignty, which in effect,rendered their conquest insubstantial. (see Judges, chapter 2) \"The deeds of the fathers are a sign for the sons\". JEWISH LAW VS. GENTILE LAW Rabeinu BeChayei, in his book Kad HaKemach writes: \"It is forbidden to appear before a gentile court of law, but only before Jewish ones, as the Torah says 'these are the ordinances which you shall set before them' \", and Rashi comments: 'before them, but not before the heathens'. And the sages teach us that it is forbidden to be judged before a gentile court, even if you know that regarding a certain law, they will decide it like the laws of Israel. And so, one can only go to a court of God-fearing Torah scholars, as it says \"before them\"... The major substance of the Torah are its laws, and if we do not use them, this is a Chillul Hashem, and he who does not protest against this desecrates the Name of God, and disgraces the Torah of Moshe, and gives a hand to idol-worship.... And so it is no coincidence, that the Israeli judiciary stands at the front-line of the Hellenist camp in this cultural war we find ourselves in the midst of. The recent decisions by the Israeli Supreme Court to coerce the chief rabbinate to defy the Jewish halacha regrading the laws of marriage, kashurt, and \"who is a Jew\" is a part of their overall goal to cut down their natural foe - the rabbinical courts. It is to show them again and again, who the \"boss\" is, what are the values upon which the state of Israel postulates - democratic values or Jewish ones. 448

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PARSHAT TERUMA \"CLEANING UP THE MOUNT BEFORE BUILDING THE TEMPLE\"(2000) Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Lenny Goldberg The following are excerpts from a lecture given by Binyamin Zev Kahane, H'yd, 2 years ago, for Parashat Teruma: The parasha tell us \"and you shall make Me a sanctuary, and I shall dwell amongst them\". Simply put, we should be talking about the building of the Beit HaMikdash during this class. Today, religious Jews have come up with all kinds of reasons (excuses?) why we shouldn't build the Temple: It will come from the heavens, or the Messiah will build it, we are not yet worthy, there are no Cohenim, etc.... Each camp has its own special reason. Despite this problem, I will not refute these arguments in this shiur, because as it says on the schedule, the topic of this class is: \"Cleaning up the Mount before Building the Temple\". Because I believe that with all the importance there is in building the Temple and refuting the aforementioned claims, the most BASIC and real obstacle to building the Temple today is the existence of the Arab mosques and Waqk. That is what scares people away; that is what makes the concept of building the Temple sound like some far-fetched pipe-dream. Sure, the Temple seems like a distant fantasy because its been absent for 2,000 years and the offering of sacrifices is so removed from us. But what really makes it difficult to take the building of the Temple seriously is the fact that we know how problematic that place is. The place where the Temple is supposed to stand is the most problematic place in the entire world. This is the problem we run away from. There is a concept in Judaism, \"Sur Me Ra, Ase Tov\" (Remove evil, do good). Last week, for Parashat Mishpatim, we discussed the strict prohibition of appearing before courts that carry out gentile law, and we discussed how the Supreme Court spearheads the Hellenist front. People say that the solution is a Sanhedrin. But that is not a real solution. The real solution is to first undercut the Israeli Supreme Court. After all, what are we going to do - serve a petition to the Supreme Court to establish a Sanhedrin? Of course the problem is a powerful and aggressive Israeli Supreme Court and judiciary system, which many people, including religious Jews find great favor with, unfortunately. And so, saying, \"we must establish a Sanhedrin\" is no answer. The REAL obstacle to the Sanhedrin and any Jewish content in our country is this all-powerful institution called the Supreme Court of Israel. You won't convince anyone by saying, \"establish a Sanhedrin\". It will always remain in the realm of abstract, far off - because there already exists another well-oiled judiciary mechanism, which is the utter antithesis to a Sanhedrin. All the moreso when discussing the Temple. We say, \"we must build the Temple\". But it is a fantasy when you have the very antithesis to it standing in its place. The problem is that people have difficulty dealing with the \"negative\" aspects. They like to do the \"positive\" aspects, as we have mentioned before regarding the building of settlements. People want to build settlements, but don't want to deal with the \"negative\" aspect of the mitzvah of settling the land, which is the expulsion of the goyim. In similar fashion, people like to establish Temple Institutes and to show the beauty of the Temple vessels, and to give the feeling of the splendor and importance of the Temple. Of course this should be done - but if ONLY this is done, there is no way we will make it a reality. First, you must take care of the problem. That's \"Sur Me Ra, Ase Tove\". It is like doing surgery - you have to cut. There is blood and it is messy - so people choose to skirt the issue.But we must do it - we have no choice. 450