Hebron Articles - Nov. - Dec. 2004
Please G-d, stop the missiles
The Katif Wall?
A Little Light Goes a Long Way
Expect the Unexpected
Once an Arab, Always an Arab
The Deafening Silence by Jack Berger
Abraham and Sarah - Examples for all Am Yisrael by Leora Kook, Englewood, N.J.
Shabbat Chaye Sarah - Hebron 5765 by Meir Glazer, Tzfat
Brain-dead or Alive
Hebron and Ma'arat HaMachpela-The roots of the Jewish people
Giving Back India
ב"ה
by David Wilder
The Jewish Community of Hebron
December 27, 2004
Where to start?
Yesterday afternoon I attended a demonstration in the heart of Tel Aviv, joining hundreds of others protesting the continued bombardment of Gush Katif. In truth, we weren't protesting the attacks – rather we were protesting the lack of reaction. The Israeli armed forces are doing nothing, absolutely nothing, to stop the Arab Kassam missile and mortar attacks on Gush Katif's 8,500 Jews.
Why?
According to Gush Katif spokesman Eran Sternberg, not too long ago, Defense Minister Shaul Mufaz ordered Chief of Staff, General Moshe Ya'alon, "Don't hit back until after the palestinian elections (on Jan. 9th). In other words, the Israelis will just have to suffer for a while – this is the cost of peace.
At the demonstration I met Mrs. Debbie Rosen, ([debihof@hofaza.org.il] - 972-8-68408470) who is working with Eran and Dror Vanunu in the Gush Katif spokesperson's office. Interviewing her for today's show, I asked Debbie, a resident of Neve Dekalim, about the situation in Gush Katif. She told me that not too long ago, following another rocket attack against them, speaking with a senior officer in the area, she asked him why the army doesn't shoot back, in the same fashion that the Jews are attacked? "Just like they shoot mortars at us, let's shoot mortars back at them."
The officer looked at her, stunned, and replied, "What, shoot at them, just like that? It's not ethical to shoot mortars or missiles at innocent people."
Debbie's response: "What about us – aren't we innocent people too?"
The officer didn't answer – he just looked at her and walked away.
I also asked her to describe to our listeners what happens when a bomb falls on your house, or next to it. Debbie attempted, for a few minutes, to express in words the inexpressible. We parted ways, and a couple of hours I was back in Hebron.
I came into the office to pull down some the pictures from the event, when my cell phone rang. It was Debbie. In a voice choked with emotion, she related to me the following account: "You asked me to describe how it feels when a mortar or a Kassam rocket hits. Well, you just cannot imagine. Listen, tonight, while we were at the demonstration, there was a Bat-Mitzvah party for one of the girls here in Neve Dekalim. My daughter was there. The girls were outside in the yard when suddenly they saw an approaching missile. Running inside the house, well, they made it just in time. The missile exploded in the garden of that very same yard, where only seconds before, they had been playing." She added, "it's just like the boy who was playing basketball last week when a bomb exploded on the basketball court, very close to him."
I sat, listening, not being able to speak. What can you say? We decided that I'd call Debbie back in the morning and let her repeat the story again, so I could record it and play it on my weekly radio show, later today (www.israelnationalradio.com).
Late last week there was a general meeting of activists from around the country, in Jerusalem. Initiated by the Yesha council, the meeting introduced the organization's new campaign to prevent the abandonment of Gush Katif and the northern Shomron. The basic element of the program is a huge sit-down strike next to the Knesset, commencing next Tuesday. People from around the country will be asked to participate, irregardless of the rain and cold, and hopefully, the crowds will grow and grow, eventually reaching tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people. The goal: to convince the Knesset that the Israeli public will not accept expulsion of people from their homes, that the Israeli public will not accept abandonment of Eretz Yisrael to our enemies, that they – our representatives in the Knesset, must vote against legislation called 'the pinui-pitzui (eviction-compensation) law" when it reaches the Knesset floor. MK Uri Ariel of the National Union party, speaking at the conference, claimed that the only way to stop the eviction is via the Knesset – convincing them to vote against the law, and if necessary, bringing the issue to the people, either in the form of a national referendum, or regular elections. According to Ariel, there is a very strong probability that Sharon will not receive his party's nomination for the premiership, and that the eviction plans will draw to a complete halt.
Other ideas are springing up. I receive an email from a reader in the United States, who (rightly) claimed that the 'Wallerstein proclamation' petition (www.petitiononline.com/eretzyis/petition.html) is not enough, that action must be taken. He suggested organizing a general strike throughout Israel, either in conjunction with the Yesha council campaign, or separately. Last night this person called me, and after some discussion, offered to try and organize such a strike.
My own idea, sort of hidden within the petition, is very simple. Certainly I hope that the eviction plan will be thwarted long before Sharon attempts its implementation. However, should it come down to it, we are going to need hordes of people to stop the horror. We need thousands and thousands of people to drop what they're doing, board the planes, come over here, and do what has to be done. It's as simple as that.
Simple, you ask? Simple? Work, family, etc etc – how can we leave all and just…come over?
So ask you . But I ask you – what about Eretz Yisrael – what comes first – Eretz Yisrael, or work, or… etc? Remember, we're not just talking about Gush Katif and the northern Shomron. We're talking about all of Judea and Samaria. We're talking about Hebron. We're talking about Jerusalem. We are talking about the fate of the Jewish people in Israel. So, what comes first? You tell me.
Basically, what it comes down to, is that we are going to have to close down the country. Not everybody is going to be able to get to Gush Katif, or even close to Gush Katif. However, Israel isn't a one-road country – I'm sure you understand what I mean.
There are those who might recoil at such a suggestion. And to an extent I agree – under normal circumstances. However, these are not normal circumstances. This government, led by Ariel Sharon, is intentionally abandoning thousands of citizens, Israelis who serve in the army, citizens who pay taxes, citizens who are people, just like you and me – to their fate, like sheep surrounded by wolves. Ariel Sharon, together with Mufaz and Ya'alon, have adopted a policy of 'live and let die' – leave the Arabs alone, even at the price of Israeli lives. There is a difference between Arab blood and Jewish blood – Arabs are, in the words of the above-mentioned officer, 'innocents.' The Israelis are 'settlers,' and we all know what that implies.
Last night, speaking at the protest, Bentzi Liberman, secretary-general of the Yesha council said, 'if three mortars hit Tel Aviv, the army would spare no efforts. But when it comes to Gush Katif, nothing is done – the people are abandoned.'
After I had, more or less, finished writing this article, I had the second above-mentioned conversation with Debbie from Gush Katif. As we were talking, I couldn't help but think: this morning the Israeli media is drenched with yesterday's disaster in India-Thailand. It really is an awful calamity, tens of thousands dead; hundreds of Israelis traveling in that part of the world are still missing. We hope and pray that they are all safe and well.
But what I have trouble understanding is that daily, almost hourly, Israeli citizens here, in Israel, not in India, not in Thailand, but here, an hour from Tel Aviv, are facing enemy attacks, their lives are threatened and some lives are destroyed. Where is Israeli radio? – where is Israeli television? – where is public opinion? Fine, talk about India, but what about our back yard? Debbie Rosen also told me about a woman whose home has come under direct enemy fire nine times. Do you have any idea what that does to a person? It has left this woman in permanent shell shock.
Last night I came upon the Barat family from Kfar Darom. Hannah Barat was seriously injured during a terror attack and left paralyzed, living permanently in a wheelchair. Hannah is a very special person, and about a year ago gave birth to another child, a little boy, despite her disabilities. Her husband, Eliezer Barat, told me how, a few days ago, a rocket hit their home, destroying part of the roof. Thank G-d, no one was injured. But don't let anyone tell you that lightning doesn't strike twice.
One final story. Debbie told me how her youngest son, in kindergarten, hearing thunder outside, told her, "Mommy, ask G-d to stop the mortars and missiles ."
The present administration can only be labeled as a 'memshelet shmad' – a government of annihilation – a government willing to sacrifice its own people – and for what – for what?
For absolutely nothing.
Please G-d – stop the missiles.
With blessings from Hebron.
The Katif Wall?
by David Wilder
The Jewish Community of Hebron
December 20, 2004
Last week, during Hanukkah, the kids were home on vacation. Here in Hebron we try to provide daily activities for the children, including parties, trips and the like. On Tuesday one of my friends approached me and asked if I’d be busy the next day. As all spokespeople are trained to do, I answered his question with another question – ‘why, what do you need?’
He proceeded to tell me that on Wednesday, he was to escort a busload of kids on their Hanukkah trip, but something came up. Could I replace him?
I didn’t have too much planned for the next day so, why not – it’s a day out of the office, without having to sit in front of the screen. So I asked, ‘where are they going?’ and he answered, “Gush Katif.” That clinched it.
I sort of felt like we were playing round robin. That very day a large group of children from Gush Katif came to visit in Hebron. They participated in all sorts of events, including skits, touring, and a big candle-lighting ceremony with Hebron children at Ma’arat HaMachpela at sundown. On Wednesday a group of Gush Katif women arrived for a day in Hebron, at the same time that our children made their way down south.
I’m sure many people will ask – this is the way to spend a vacation day? Gush Katif residents travel to Hebron and Hebron goes to Gush Katif? Couldn’t we each find more relaxing places to splurge a day away from home? I guess in some ways it’s hard to explain, but in other ways, maybe not. We spent a couple of summers vacationing in Gush Katif, at Kfar Darom. Two of my daughters did their national volunteer service there, and we developed friendships with people in the community. We’d borrow someone’s house for a few days, someone who was vacationing somewhere else, and spend a few days at the nearby beach, barbeque outside, and just enjoy the quiet, tranquil atmosphere, the beautiful scenery, which sort of reminded me of the Garden of Eden.
Believe me, it really is like that – perhaps it’s a little less quiet these days, with mortars and Kassam missiles exploding all over the place – but Gush Katif still has a beauty difficult to express in words.
I guess this is one of the reasons it was decided to send our kids there for a day during Hanukkah, to experience the character of this endangered part of Eretz Yisrael.
But of course, there’s more to it then just that. When we were under attack in Hebron, nothing was more heartening than people coming to visit – to walk the streets, to speak with us, to show support, just by being there. And I believe so it is today in Gush Katif. Over 5,000 mortars and missiles have been fired at Gush Katif residents over the past few years. Each one of those projectiles is targeted to kill – it is only due to Divine miracle that people aren’t injured or worse every single day. Only last week a Thai woman, working in a Gush Katif greenhouse, was killed by a mortar which exploded right next to her. On September 24, twenty-four year old Tiferet Tratner was murdered by one of these flying bombs.
I have a beeper which receives almost immediate news bulletins whenever ‘anything happens’ – including missile and mortar strikes in Gush Katif. There isn’t a day or night that goes by when I don’t get numerous reports of missiles and mortars, landing in Neve Dekalim, Netzarim , and other communities. Early this morning the beerer buzzed, announcing that four mortars hit Kfar Darom, damaging a whole row of homes. Thank G-d, no one was injured.
So, in truth, you really can’t ask how we go to visit for a few hours. You really have to ask how people there are able to do it – how they can live with this day after day, night after night, literally year after year.
It’s difficult to speak for them, but I have a feeling that the answer is sitting there, on the tip of my tongue. First of all, and most importantly, the people in Gush Katif aren’t crazies – over 9,000 people with a death-wish. They are people just like you and me – but they have a tremendous amount of faith – faith in G-d, faith in what they are doing, faith and determination to live their beliefs, to live the land, to bring life to the desert, to settle Eretz Yisrael. They are merely braver than most other people.
It seems clear to me that they also know and realize, all too well, that we cannot and should not flee from terror. The only way to deal with terror is to stand up to it – to fight it, but never to acquiesce to it. This is why they are so determined to stay where they are, despite the dangers and difficulties, because they know all too well: if Gush Katif falls and is abandoned to our enemies, the next front will not be Kfar Darom. The front will move up, past Sderot, (which is still under continued missile attack) to Ashkelon and Ashdod.
The heroism of Gush Katif’s residents cannot be explained as a personal interest to maintain their own homes: rather it is true patriotism – doing what is best for their people and their country – putting their lives on the line to protect others, only slightly further north. Having experienced the horrors of bombs falling out of the air at all hours of the day and night for years, they know what’s in store for their fellow countrymen, should the Arabs have the chance to hit them. And truthfully, I’m doubtful if those city residents would have the stamina or faith to endure such constant attacks, such as we’ve witnessed in Gush Katif for the past four year years.
That’s why we go there – that’s why we took the kids there – first, by our physical presence to show our support – to let them know that they are not struggling alone. But also to let our kids breathe the great courage of others – to show them that Gush Katif residents are the bravest people alive in Israel today.
It really was a beautiful day. Not in the classic sense. The weather was rather miserable. But that doesn’t stop Hebron’s children from having a good time. We had lunch on the beach, at the ‘Pagoda,’ once a stylish restaurant, perched on the Mediterranean Sea. The hotels closed, the tourism dried up, and the restaurant’s clientele became non-existent. But the owner, a pleasant fellow named Menachem who could not abandon his dream, still lives there, and opens the building to wayward wanderers like us, who need a few tables and chairs for a lunch break. The wind was chilling, and he was gracious enough to make me a cup of coffee, a lifesaver on a cold day next to the water. We talked for a while, and I could see the sea in his eyes, the idealism of a true Israeli pioneer, who could never, ever, abandon his homestead.
After lunch we drove down the road a ways, to a small community called ‘Shirat HaYam.’ Today inhabited by 17 young families who literally live on the beach, this community was initiated by a few single girls, a few years back, who fell in love with the site. They married and established their homes there – small, simple caravans, - with the sea as their back yard. It’s an amazing place populated by amazing people.
Our last stop was the Neve Dekelim Yeshiva. It was during our brief stay here that the kids really got excited. They heard booms in the background, booms of mortars falling, not too far away.
But that wasn’t what struck me at this yeshiva, which was originally established in the Sinai community of Yamit, which was deleted from the face of the earth following Menachem Begin’s abandonment of the Sinai to Egypt, almost twenty-five years ago.
Inside the yeshiva building, just as you walk in, is a memorial to the Yamit community – called the ‘Yamit wall.’ A Neve Dekalim resident who happened to be there explained the significance of the wall to the children – telling them about Yamit, explaining how it was destroyed, and how the wall remained as a memorial to the fallen community.
Watching the children, and listening to the explanation, I had a hard time keeping my composure. I kept asking myself: Twenty five years from now, will one of these kids be standing in front of a group of children, explaining to them the significance of the ‘Katif wall?’
I sure hope not.
With blessings from Hebron.
A Little Light Goes a Long Way
by David Wilder
The Jewish Community of Hebron
Hanukkah – December 13, 2004
Shalom.
We are in the midst of Hanukkah – the holiday of lights. Today is also the first day of the new month of Tevet – as we say in Hebrew – Rosh Hodesh. Hanukkah is generally a happy holiday – eight days when we light the menorah, commemorating the miracle of the Maccabees, a minority which overcame a majority of their fellow countrymen and brought about the defeat of the Greeks, the USA of their day. We celebrate the discovery of a small tin of pure olive oil, enough for lighting the Menorah in the Temple for one day, but miraculously lasting for eight days. We observe the victory of true Jewish spirit and culture over that of the Greek empire, a civilization which brought foreign traditions and assimilation to Eretz Yisrael, leading to massive Hellenization of the Jewish people in Israel.
In keeping with the spirit of the holiday, this commentary should be full of shining light, radiating with optimism and hope. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The events I am obligated to speak about today are quite the opposite.
Let's begin with several events which occurred towards the end of last week. Our illustrious armed forces decided that Hebron's Jews had crossed the line of no return and decided to take action.
Last summer, Hebron's children took upon themselves construction of, what we call in Hebrew, a 'pinat chai,' which in English, is roughly translated as a 'petting zoo.' The children, using their own money and their own two hands, constructed wire cages and purchased a variety of animals, including ducks, chickens, rabbits and the like. At one point they even bought a donkey.
This project occupied them for days and weeks, and the site became a favorite of many mothers in Hebron, whose young children had much fun clucking together with the birds.
Being that space is quite limited within the Jewish neighborhoods in Hebron, the children built their little zoo in an abandoned gas station, bordering the Beit Hadassah neighborhood. This gas station has been closed for somewhere in the vicinity of seven years, and very little of it remains. It was a perfect outdoors area for ducks, chickens and rabbits to roam around in. At least, so we thought.
Unfortunately, Hebron's new military commander, Col. Moti Baruch, thought otherwise. Last week, after having been honored to light the first Hanukkah candle at Ma'arat HaMachpela, Col. Baruch, in the middle of the night, led his forces to the 'pinat chai' and ordered its destruction. The gates to the cages were opened and their occupants expelled. Then the troops went to work. It didn't take long to finish the job. Soon, the only remnants of the zoo were a few poor ducks, quacking away their frustrations.
Why did Col. Baruch order the zoo's obliteration? Simply, because it was labeled 'illegal construction' in Hebron.
A short time earlier the same force of destruction did their dirty work on a shack in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood parking lot. A Succah, built by one of the families during the Succot holiday, had been left standing and was used for storage purposes. The family, with three children, lives in a 35 sq. meter apartment, and needed a little extra room. However, Col. Baruch doesn't really care about families living in ridiculously cramped conditions. The wood Succah-shack was declared 'illegal building' and demolished.
It should be noted that the demolition squad was accompanied by massive police and riot squad units, offering protection from the dangerous residents of Hebron – no, not the Arabs, rather the Jews.
Now, a word about illegal building in Hebron. For months on end, even before Col. Moti Baruch appeared on the scene, Hebron's leadership has been attempting to halt massive Arab illegal construction in the area surrounding Hebron's Jewish neighborhoods. The previous military commander understood the problem and attempted to help us find solutions. However, Col. Baruch is of a different opinion. He doesn't see any problem with a massive influx of Arabs into the 'Jewish-controlled' section of Hebron, despite the obvious security dangers. For months Arabs have been illegally building and renovating abandoned property, yet the Jewish demolition squad is nowhere to be seen. In particular, the Arabs are building a 'mosque' on the main road between Hebron and Kiryat Arba, at a location crucially important to Hebron. This building has been officially recognized as 'illegal construction' but Col. Baruch doesn't have the necessary forces available to halt continued Arab work at the site. It seems that the only forces he has available are those who destroy Jewish zoos and shacks.
These problems come on top of deteriorating security in the Hebron region. Last week a 16 year old Arab tried to kill Jews in Hebron by throwing a home-made bomb at a car in the city. Fortunately the bomb exploded in his hand, before he could hurl it. Several times over the past week Arabs have tried to stab Israeli security forces near Ma'arat HaMachpela. Thank G-d , these attempts have failed. However, the pattern is crystal clear, and we are certainly not happy about it.
On a broader scale, we were hoping that Hanukkah would usher in another miracle which would witness the end of the Sharon fiasco. This too, didn't happen. To the contrary, it looks like Sharon will come out of the latest government crisis stronger than he was before, forming a new coalition with Labor, and probably Shas and Agudat Yisrael.
In the meantime, the situation in Gaza isn't getting any better. Last night we lost five soldiers in an explosion of a tunnel underneath their outpost. This morning an Israeli engineer offered a unique solution to the problem of underground tunnels. He said that, just as walls can be constructed above ground to keep 'the bad guys' out, so too, walls can be built in the other direction, going down underground, offering protection from terror tunnels.
In other words, the suggested new Israeli ghetto is bi-directional, with walls surrounding us from above and from below. Truthfully, while listening to this interview I almost decided to visit my local ear doctor, requesting urgent aid. Or perhaps I needed a good psychologist – I had to have been hearing things – voices out of the air, imaginary conversations. I just could not believe my ears.
So, with all of this gloomy news, you ask, what's next. And the truth is, I really don't know. It might get worse before it gets better. At the moment, despite the holiday, there seems to be much more darkness than light. But, then again, that's what Hanukkah comes to teach us, that a very little bit of light can expel a tremendous amount of darkness. Try it. Put yourself in a totally dark room, without any windows or lights. Opening your eyes wide won't help. You can't see anything. Then, light a match – the darkness suddenly disappears. Much of what was invisible is quickly visible. It doesn't take much light – just a very little bit. I guess that's today's lesson – to ignite a small flame and watch it start to burn away the darkness, first slowly, but then blazing – just as we begin the first night with one candle, but reach the eighth night with eight candles.
Remember – a little bit of light goes a long long way.
Happy Hanukkah.
With blessings from Hebron.
by David Wilder
The Jewish Community of Hebron
November 29, 2004
In Israel, today is known as "kaf-tet b'November. 'Kaf-tet', two letters of the Hebrew alphabet represent, in Hebrew, the number 29. In other words, the 29th of November. That's today's date, so what's so special about it? As far as I know, there aren't any other days in the Gregorian calendar, known by their Hebrew equivalent. Gregorian dates are known numerically – the first of December, or April 15th. Dates on the Hebrew calendar are recognized Hebraically, 'kaf-tet Kislev – i.e., the 29th of the Hebrew month of Kislev. However, today's date is a mixture of the two – 'kaf-tev' of November.
Why? Exactly fifty-seven years ago today, one of the most unusual events in world history occurred. The United Nations voted to partition Eretz Yisrael, thereby granting the Jewish people an opportunity to declare a Jewish state, the first sovereign Jewish state in two thousand years. This, coming only two and a half years after the conclusion of the Holocaust. Today is almost a mini-independence day – recognition by the international community of a Jewish right to its homeland.
This wasn't the first time such acknowledgement was forthcoming. Almost exactly thirty years earlier, on November 2, 1917, Arthur James Balfour, then the British Foreign Secretary, issued the famous 'Balfour Declaration, a letter to Lord Rothschild, which said, "I have much pleasure in conveying to you. on behalf of His Majesty's
Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet:
His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
The major difference of course, between the 1947 partition plan and the 1917 Balfour Declaration is that the later was strictly British; the former construed international recognition.
The 1947 UN decision precipitated the declaration of Israeli statehood, in May, 1948.
Looking back at these historic decisions, different questions can be posed. For example, how would the UN vote today? Would they readily accept creation of a Jewish State? Should the Jews then have accepted partition of the Land of Israel? What would have happened had the Arabs accepted the partition plan? While Jewish leaders in Israel reluctantly accepted the arrangement, the Arabs rejected it out of hand and their reaction was an immediate declaration of war.
However, in my opinion, perhaps the most significant question to be broached is: Was it worth it? Did we do the right thing? In other words, should a Jewish state have been created and recognized?
Why do I ask this question? There are those in Israel today, both on the right and on the left, secular and religious, who doubt the wisdom of the leaders of yesteryear. Looking at the state of Israel from different angles, there are those who arrive at the same conclusion: the State of Israel was a mistake. It should be dismantled, allowing others to start again. Those on the left view supposed Israeli 'apartheid,' or treatment of Arabs as an excuse to do away with the state. So I was told by Israeli 'historian' Teddy Katz, back in September. “If I had a choice between this (i.e. – removing Arabs from their homes and villages), or giving up, I would give up”, i.e. relent on the idea . of a Jewish state.” 2) Israel is the second largest ethnic-cleansing country in the history of the world, second only to Nazi Germany. (See: A Glorious Past, Present and Future - TTTThttp://www.hebron.org.il/articles/articles1.htm). (According to media reports, Katz attended Arafat's funeral in Ramallah.)
Those on the far left aren't the only ones who have despaired. There are people on my side of the coin have also given up on the current State of Israel. Some advocate creation of a new state, calling it 'The State of Judea,' while others believe that the original state of Israel is totally 'impure,' due to the fact that the primary movers in the 1940s were secular, thereby bringing about creation of a secular state.
In truth, it's not difficult to comprehend the lost hope. Israel's current situation is far from rosy. The latest escapades of our Prime Minister, who has single-handedly annihilated the Israeli right, betraying his own philosophies and moving over to 'the other side' is deplorable. Perhaps Israel's greatest error is the continued revival of ninty-nine percent dead terror organizations.
By the time Yitzhak Rabin was elected Prime Minister in 1992, the PLO was a virtually impotent organization. Israel defeated the 'first' intifada, and Arafat was both broke and broken. Rabin, Peres, and Co. brought him back to life with the infamous and cursed Oslo Accords.
Again, we have seen history repeat itself. The second Arafat war was also lost. Following massive Arab terror, leaving over 1,500 Jews dead and thousands wounded, Israel pinpointed the multiple heads of the snake and one by one, destroyed them. For all intensive purposes, the Palestinian authority ceased to exist. Arafat was internationally recognized as a murderous thug, and his organization corrupt, unstable and totally irresponsible. The state of Israel could basically follow any path it so desired.
Ariel Sharon, rather than officially declaring Oslo a failure and decrying the creation of a poisonous palestinian state, accepted and followed the path of the 'roadmap,' much the surprise of its initiator, George W. Bush. Sharon's willingness to accept a Palestinian state, followed by the expulsion plan from Gaza is nothing less than true 'revival of the dead.' So it's not surprising that despair has reached new heights, despair leading to gloom and anguish. And a willingness to watch the state crumble to pieces.
I fully agree – the situation is not good. We are facing different types of terror, from without and from within. But our state of affairs is certainly not as serious as it was in November, 1947. How many hundreds of millions of Arabs, surrounding the not-yet created fledgling state announced their intentions to 'throw the Jews into the sea?" There weren't even a million Jews in Israel at the time. Much of the international community didn't care whether Israeli 'lived' or 'died.' And those that did care, well, most of them weren't on our side. The chances of survival weren't very good. But here we are today – still here.
The November 29th UN decision was nothing less than miraculous – so too was the Israeli military victory during the War of Independence. Today too, we are fighting a war – this time on many fronts, some of which definitely shouldn't exist. But we cannot live in a dream world of 'what should be.' This is the way it is, for whatever reason, and we have no choice but to deal with it. I won't try to relate to the despair of the far left – but I can give a word of advice to those closer to me. Should you manage to take apart the current state of Israel and start again, what will you do with all the Jews who don't agree with you – send them back to Europe, or put them in camps, or send them out to the sea? Of course not! So you will still be here, and they will still be here, and then what? If they don't like what you do, they will have learned from your precedent – they will have a good reason to attempt to destroy whatever you manage to create, just like you did.
In other words, the problems within will still exist, as will the problems from outside – you will not have solved anything.
So, what can we do? I can't speak for everyone – but I know what I have been taught and what I believe. Our job is to try as hard as we can for that which is right and just, without attempting to destroy the framework which already exists. We cannot be held responsible for failure, because much of the results are not dependant on our actions – there are many other factors involved. We can only be held responsible for trying – as hard as we can. The final result isn't in our hands.
Those listening to the vote in the UN, on November 29th, 57 years ago, could barely have expected victory – who would have thought that Russia would vote in favor of the partition plan. They could easily have delayed the vote, or cancelled it altogether. The chances of victory were virtually nil. Yet the unexpected became reality and again, after 2,000 years, the Jews held their fate in their own hands. That day – today, should be a lesson to us all – to expect the unexpected, never to despair – to keep the faith.
With blessings from Hebron.
by David Wilder
The Jewish Community of Hebron
November 15, 2004
Now I can breathe a sigh of relief.
A couple of days ago I met with journalists who came to interview one of the 'fanatic extremists' whose views and opinions are on the very fringe of Israeli society. Of course, many of their questions focused on 'what's next,' following the demise of 'terrorist number one.'
"He's dead, so what will be now?"
My first response was that I am truly sorry – I'm sorry that he didn't die at least thirty five years ago – so many lives would have been saved. I added, 'not only Jewish lives, but Arab lives too' but I'm sure my interviewers didn't take me seriously.
As to 'what's next,' I answered without hesitation. "There is going to be a blood bath. The Arabs don't know any other way. They live lives of violence, that's the way they make decisions, and that's not about to change now. They will inevitably start killing each other as part of a war of inheritance. There's much to gain: power, prestige, and money – lots and lots of money. Maybe a free trip to Washington, a picture with George W., with luck a ceremony on the White House lawn, and if history should replay itself, a Nobel Peace Prize and a big slot in the history books. So, what's a few dead people on the road to such goodies? "
The interviewers looked skeptical. So I continued. "Look, they have absolutely no respect for human life. Look how many of their own they've sacrificed over the years. A couple of weeks ago a 16-year old genocide bomber blew himself up, killing some more Israeli Jews. Fifteen year olds have been apprehended on their way to perpetrate such horrible crimes. Any leadership that sees 15 and 16 year olds as expendables, clearly don't care about life. As far as they are concerned, life is a means to an end, and if it helps them meet their goals, is worthless."
"But," they continued to ask, "maybe something has changed – new leadership, free elections, etc.?"
"Do me a favor," I responded. "There are twenty two Arab states in the Middle East. Find me one democracy. Show me one Arab state which has 'free elections.' Of course, some states, like Egypt, do conduct elections every so often, but there is only one candidate. In other countries, if you vote for the wrong person or party, you simply disappear. And many others, don't even attempt to play the game. The leadership is sold, inherited, or taken by force. That's simply the way it is."
"Now, please explain to me why the so-called 'palestinians' should be any different. These people live by the sword and the gun. This is the way they've lived for centuries. How can anyone expect them to suddenly put down their weapons and start living like Americans in the United States. Their culture does not understand the meaning of 'free democratic elections.'"
"Remember," I told them, "the Islamic fundamentalist culture that they espouse is diametrically opposed to the western culture you are trying to force down their throats. Not only don't they believe in it, they vehemently reject it. The attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the terror in Spain, there is no end to it. Years ago, in July of 1997, I wrote an article called "Uncle Muhammad" [http://www.freeman.org/m_online/aug97/wilder1.htm], warning of impending fundamental Islamic terror against the United States and the entire Western world."
"A few months ago I interviewed the director of the Norwegian chapter of the International Christian Embassy, Leif Wellerop, while he was visiting Hebron, and asked him his thoughts about the huge influx of Islam into Europe. His response was instant and still resounds in my ears. 'World War Three has already started,!' he exclaimed. The Muslims are attacking western, Christian values, traditions and culture, and their way is, of course, the way of the sword."
Imagination. I don't think so. Our Islamic friends have long memories that are saturated with revenge. The Spanish al-Qaeda attacks are a perfect example. The Middle East Info web site reports the following:
In the debris, police found a damaged videotape they said was likely recorded on March 27. Investigators salvaged images from the tape that they said showed militants, their faces covered and brandishing an assault weapon, warning of more attacks unless Spain pulled its troops out of "the land of the Muslims," an apparent reference to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Evoking the history of Christian wars that drove Muslims from Europe, the speaker on the video said, "We all know about the Spanish crusades against the Muslims, the expulsions from Al Andalus and the tribunals of the inquisition," according to a transcript of the recording released by authorities.
The statement echoed aspirations of other Islamic militants, including al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, who in a taped message evoked "Al Andalus," the ancient name for the area. In 1492, the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella ended eight centuries of Muslim rule after a long siege of the city of Granada. [http://www.middleeastinfo.org/article4250.html]
And in Time magazine:
"For Spanish investigators, it was a chilling message from beyond. As they searched a bombed-out apartment building in the Madrid suburb of Leganés last week — trying to determine from the body parts exactly how many members of the March 11 train-bombing cell had made their last stand there — the investigators found a videotape in the rubble. On it, an intense man, flanked by two others brandishing Sterling submachine guns, warned of massacres to come. "The Brigades of al-Mufti and Ansar al-Qaeda" — or supporters of al-Qaeda — were in Spain, said Sarhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet, 35, to demand that "its troops pull out immediately from the land of the Muslims." Linking Iraq and Afghanistan to the 15th century expulsion of Muslims from Spain and the Inquisition, he demanded "blood for blood!" and "destruction for destruction!" [http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901040419-610023,00.html]
In other words, Islamic warriors are presently avenging the deaths of their comrades, almost 600 years ago.
These are the people that the State of Israel are expected to 'make peace' with. These are our 'partners.' The departure of the 20th century's second-ranking terrorist is, according to western leaders, media, and everyone else, an historic changing of the guard, the opening of a 'new chapter,' a 'fresh chance' for peace.
Right, tell me all about it.
So, why do I now sigh a breath of relief?
Yesterday I heard that the 'great Palestinian hope,' Abu Mazen, had been chosen by the Fatah terror organization in Ramallah, to replace Hitler's successor. He was then, according to news accounts, to visit the 'mourner's tent' in Gaza. "Aha," I said to myself, "if he is now an official candidate, undoubtedly someone will try to kill him." And you know what – so it was. As soon as Abu Mazen arrived at the appointed place, gunmen invaded the 'tent' and started shooting. Abu Mazen wasn't hurt, and today is trying to downplay the attack, claiming that it was not an assassination attempt.
He is, of course, playing on Arab intelligence to believe him. Forget the fact that two of his bodyguards were killed. Of course it wasn't an attempt to kill him. They just 'lost control of themselves, and Abu Mazen, by chance, happened to be in the way.
Right.
That's the way they live, and that's the way they're going to continue to live – whether we like it or not. Forget about western democracy, forget about free elections. The name of the game is violence, money and corruption. And, of course, the primary element: the desire to wipe the State of Israel, and all it's Jewish inhabitants, off the map. As a first course. This was exactly what I told the journalists, just a few days ago, and it already came true. Not because I'm a prophet, rather because when you know who you're dealing with, it's just common sense.
You remember the story about the guy who said he could train a cat to be just like a human waiter. He found a tame cat, and for an entire year worked very hard, teaching the cat how to walk on two legs, how to carry a tray, how to bow, how to act with proper manners in front of important people.
Finally the day came. The cat entered the hall, wearing a tux and bow tie, spruced-up, looking great. In his 'hands' the cat held a tray filled with exotic delicacies. He started serving table by table, and all the participants laughed with delight. Tray after tray, until finally, he appeared with glasses filled to the brim with an exquisite brew.
As the cat approached the main table, a little boy ran into the room, pulled a mouse from his pocket, and threw it in front of the cat. The tray suddenly crashed on the floor, the drink drenching the important guests. The cat tore off, chasing the mouse, forgetting his manners, forgetting his tuxedo, forgetting his 'human' attributes.
Once a cat, always a cat. Learn how to deal with them, as they are, like it or not.
Once an Arab, always an Arab. Learn what they are, learn how to deal with them, as they are – like it or not.
Because the alternative isn't a tray full of drink crashing to the floor. The alternative is a replay of September 11th, again and again and again. G-d forbid.
With blessings from Hebron.
November 27, 2004
Anshe Shalom
Vayishlach, 5765
The Deafening Silence
by Jack Berger, Chicago
Shabbat Shalom! I thank the Rabbi and the Board and the Anshe Shalom auction committee for the opportunity to speak this Shabbat, and look forward to future opportunities for the lively art of open and balanced public discourse. I dedicate this sermon to the courageous and G-d-loving Jews of Gush Katif—also known as Gaza—men, women and children who over the past 30 years have built Jewish Gaza into a beautiful and thriving community. May the forcible transfer of Jews from Gush Katif or anywhere in the world never come to pass again, and may the communities of Gaza, with
G-d’s help, continue to flourish for years to come.
MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER
At a recent Islamic conference, the Malaysian prime minister gave a speech castigating the Jewish people, and, in a Jerusalem Post editorial, journalist Calev Ben David responded:
“Some days it just feels good to be a Jew. Right now, for example, I’m feeling pretty darn satisfied with myself as a member of G-d’s Chosen People. Credit for this goes in part to Malaysia’s prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, when he recently said…
‘We are up against a people [the Jews] who think. They survived 2000 years of
pogroms not by hitting back, but by thinking. They invented and successfully
promoted socialism, … human rights, and democracy so that persecuting them
would appear to be wrong… and so they may enjoy equal rights with others.
With these equal rights, they have now gained control of the most powerful countries
and they, this tiny community, have become a world power.’ “
Ben David continues—
“Whew! What a brilliant scheme! Imagine, [Jews] inventing and promoting human rights and democracy just so persecuting us would ‘appear’ wrong… (as opposed to actually being wrong)… Who needs the Elders of Zion, when simply enjoying ‘equal rights with others’ is enough for the Jews to gain control of the world’s strongest nations. Unlike the chorus of expected condemnations from …the world’s Jewish leaders, you’ll read no condemnation of Mahathir here. After all, what other ‘tiny community’ gets credit for doing such great things and having such awesome power?” Calev Ben David is right.
And in perhaps a less esoteric but equally poignant moment, Katie Couric—that effervescent talking head for NBC—recently interviewed Jon Stewart—that’s Jon Stewart Leibowitz—the star of the Daily Show, and she posed the following question: “I just talked with a number of your writers and there doesn’t seem to be much diversity on your staff. How do you pick your writers?” And Stewart answered with the glorious chutzpah of our people, “My writers have to be able to find the afikomen!”
I don’t know if Couric understood, but I’m sure many Jews were chuckling as they ate their breakfast.
And it was Alan King who, long ago, when interviewed after his first performance at Carnegie Hall, quipped, “If the walls at Carnegie Hall could talk, they’d speak with a Yiddish accent!”
NOBEL PRIZES
As you are probably aware, it was just a few weeks ago that the Nobel Prizes in science were handed out. Nobel Prizes—We Jews have plenty. Six prizes were awarded in science. Of the six, five were Jews, and when David Gross, from the University of California in Santa Barbara, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, was asked by an astonished interviewer whether he too was Jewish (a rather strange question in the secular world of science), Gross responded: “What do you think? Of course!”
And in our moments of human achievement, in our moments of love of our people, our G-d—like a proud parent—is always with us, shepping nachas. Because that’s the way it is for us. Just consider the odds: From 1901 through 2003—over the last 102 years—over 25% of all Nobel Prizes in all categories have been awarded to a people that comprise less than one-quarter of one percent of the world population! Imagine those odds—Vegas would love it! Mahathir was right—He understood. He was up against a people who thinks. —But is it just a coincidence, or are we truly a special people … as discomforting as it is for some Jews—you know you won’t find discomfort here… in spite of the fact that 75% of American Jews voted for Kerry.
SHMUEL AGNON
And as I think of Jewish thinkers and Nobel Prize winners, I don’t know how many of you have ever heard the story behind the Nobel Prize for literature awarded in 1966 to the Israeli author Shmuel Agnon. The story goes like this: The committee for the Nobel Prize usually presented the prize on a Saturday. Upon being notified that he had won the prize, Agnon, an Orthodox Jew, kindly thanked the committee for the honor, but told them that he could not attend the ceremonies. When the committee asked why, he politely told them that it was his Sabbath…his day of rest. A bit confused because many other Jews had been awarded this prize and had no problem with the day of the event, the committee decided to change the day to a Sunday afternoon in order to accommodate Agnon. And so it was that on a Sunday afternoon, a short, gray-bearded, black-hatted Jew shuffled into the Grand Palace of the King of Sweden to accept the Nobel Prize for Literature. As Agnon approached the king, the king began to speak, whereupon Agnon motioned with his finger, requesting the king to wait a moment, while Agnon’s lips moved quickly and almost inaudibly. After a minute or two, Agnon looked up at the king, and then respectfully bowed and smiled.
Taken aback, the king asked him politely what had just happened, and Agnon—with a twinkle in his eye—explained that when a Jew meets a king, there is a bracha he is obliged to recite, asking G-d for wisdom and guidance and that the king should continue to live in good health. The King of Sweden smiled. The ceremony proceeded, and after the prize was awarded, the king curiously asked Agnon where he was born and Agnon replied, “I was born in Galicia, but that was in a dream. In reality, I was born in Jerusalem and exiled by Titus in 70 A.D.” Agnon then took his prize, thanked the King, and returned to Israel to take his place as part of a people who not only thinks, but also a people of dreamers. And so we are G-d’s Am Kaddosh...His holy people…and rather than being discomforted by this unique covenant…in our acceptance of His many wondrous gifts… so do we honor our G-d, and our people…
JACOB’S CHUTZPAH
And this story of Agnon… a Jew with pride and self-respect and his meeting with the King of Sweden… always reminds me of my beloved Jacob when he meets Pharaoh. And it is Jacob the Thinker that we get to know best through his adventures and his misadventures—and who we most identify with.
Jacob wants and he takes, whether it is a birthright or a kiss—and at times is totally insensitive, oblivious to anyone else around him. It was Jacob who demanded Esau’s birthright or he wouldn’t share his food with his own brother. It was Jacob who walked up to Rachel and kissed her before he even knew her name. It was Jacob who, rather than asking for Rachel as a wife, in fact made her a material possession—his wage. Jacob—who, on the night that he consummates his marriage, doesn’t realize who he slept with, and doesn’t complain about the switch until the next morning! How many of us could get away with that!—And it was Jacob who, in giving Joseph the coat of many colors, was totally insensitive to the feelings of all his other sons—
When Rachel, his love, is upset that she has not conceived and asks Jacob to pray for her… as Isaac his father had prayed for Rivka his mother… what does Jacob do? He gets angry and chastises her!
He is Jacob the Wrestler, Jacob the Wheeler-dealer—the “fir arbiter”—Jacob of the here and now, Jacob of the speckled sheep—but he is also Jacob the Silent.
And yet, one night he wrestles with a stranger, and as dawn begins to break—he doesn’t ask the stranger for a materialistic reward, but rather a spiritual reward, the reward of a blessing—and that blessing became our reward for eternity. And Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. I didn’t write it, but I love this guy! He resonates in my kishkes. His issues are real… His issues have often been our issues… “and yes, we the sons and daughters of Jacob… can learn a lot from him, but he’s certainly not a model of humility.” (Lopatin, Chicago Jewish News 11-12-04)
MONTE HALL
When our Jacob is again so preoccupied with his own concerns that he doesn’t realize he is sleeping on holy ground, G-d tells him, “I am the G-d of Abraham and the G-d of Isaac… The ground upon which you are lying… is holy…, to you will I give it and to your descendants…Behold I am with you, I will guard you wherever you go,…” REMEMBER THIS NEXT LINE: ---“…and I will return you to this soil for I will not forsake you…” (Genesis 28: 13-15)
Yet, Jacob then plays a Jewish Monte Hall in “Let’s Make a Deal,” and replies:— “If G-d will be with me… will guard me on this way that I am going… will give me bread to eat and clothes to wear… and I return in peace to my father’s house… then Hashem will be a G-d to me…and I’ll give Him a tenth!”
Chutzpah, perhaps, but you gotta love him. And so G-d probably scratched His head (so to speak), chuckled a bit, and off they went together. Jacob is a paradox. … He is us…we are him. …He is a man who thinks…if sometimes only about himself.
PARASHA
And there is much more in this week’s portion of the Torah, but what I want to focus on this morning is the rape of Dinah and the silence of Jacob. As the story goes, Dinah went out to look over the daughters of the land, and Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivvite, the prince of the land, saw her, seized and raped her, and then held her hostage. Shechem then falls in love with Dinah, his victim, and asks his father to arrange a marriage. And it says that Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his only daughter, and he was silent…
His sons, having heard the news, come in from the field, distressed and very angry. Hamor and Shechem come out to speak to Jacob about Shechem’s feelings for Dinah and his request to marry her. Shechem promises Jacob to do whatever it takes for Dinah’s hand in marriage, but Shechem and his father are then answered not by Jacob but by his sons, Shimon and Levi. Their condition for this “marriage” is that the Hivvites need to circumcise all their males, and as it is written “… On the third day after the circumcisions, the sons of Jacob took their swords, came upon the city, slew every male, and then took Dinah from Shechem’s house.”
Yet when Jacob finally speaks, after the rescue of Dinah by Shimon and Levi, once again his words and his concerns afford us a profound look into his personality:
“You have caused me to be odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanite and among the Perizzite; [But Shechem was a Hivvite.]—I am few in number and should they band together and attack me, I will be annihilated—I and my household.” (Genesis 34:30) And the brothers’ reply has echoed throughout our history to this very day with painful clarity: “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?” (Genesis 34:31)
From the story, it is clear that Shimon and Levi massacred all the men in order to perform the mitzvah of pekuach nefesh—the saving of a life. Yet some would say that this act was not very Jewish…that we shouldn’t lower ourselves to the level of our enemies, using guile to aggressively defend our people. Actually they could have gone to the United Nations and had a few resolutions passed, but that probably wouldn’t have saved Dinah…after all, she was a Jew… So Shimon and Levi acted, and for their actions, Hashem bestowed on Levi the mantle of the priestly Levitical line and the merit of the Cohanim… and for Shimon, it is said that he became the father of great Torah teachers.
Both Jewish history and Chazal apparently judge Shimon and Levi as honorable and worthy of producing courageous Jewish leadership. Moses was from the tribe of Levi, so was Pinchas…so am I.
RISKIN
And it is Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat who wrote: “No less an authority than philosopher-legalist Mamonides supports Shimon and Levi, writing that anyone who is about to murder an innocent must be killed first—and hostage-taking and rape fall into this category. ‘…It is for this reason that all residents of Shechem were deserving of capital punishment. The people of the town were aware of the crime and yet failed to hold the perpetrator accountable and take him to trial. (Such is the obligation under the Laws of Kings 9:14.)’ Maimonides is arguing that evil, totalitarian regimes do not rule in a vacuum. They are empowered by the people who enable them to rule either by actively protecting them or by passively acquiescing to their evil… If they remain silent in the face of evil, they become partners in the crime—passive collaborators—and share both responsibility and guilt for allowing terrorism to flourish by their silence.” (Riskin – Jerusalem Post, Vayishlach 2000) Rabbi Riskin, formerly from the very liberal upper west side of New York, has changed quite a bit over the last four years—and yet our question persists: “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”
OSLO
Should we allow anyone to treat our State of Israel like a harlot?
There has been a lot of talk over the last ten years about innocent civilian deaths resulting from the Oslo War begun on the White House lawn in September of 1993. The death of innocents is a tragedy of war. But what Maimonides is stating, and the question that should confront any reality-based Jew is: Are the civilians among our enemies truly innocent, or are they culpable?
You have seen the pictures of proud Arab mothers handing out candies in celebration of their dead sons as blessed homicide bombers. You have seen videos of the vicious hatred of the brainwashed in their quest for martyrdom and 72 black-eyed virgins. You have read of a young woman who blew herself up in a Haifa restaurant, murdering both Jews and Arabs. And you have been witness to over 1400 truly innocent Jewish men, women and children splattered over the streets of Israel by homicide bombers in restaurants, on buses, and along the roads of Israel. You have seen pictures of Arabs—including Arab children—yearning to achieve martyrdom—openly relishing the slaughter of Jews.
And therefore, the question is, with no excuses or ignorant rationalizations, are they really innocent civilian casualties or—per Maimonides—did their community act as collaborators, in fact encouraging an ongoing campaign of genocide against Jews? During the Second World War the excuse was—“We were only following orders.” Today’s murderers of Jews are all too willing, giving no excuses... For them, there are no right-wingers, no left-wingers, no secular, no Orthodox—just Jews. Remember, there was a time when Abraham searched for fifty, then forty, then just ten…And over the millennia, the silence of Jacob has been deafening. You know well… the history!
MACHPELAH
And so it was that just three weeks ago, I returned to the fields of Mamre, to a place called Machpelah that is in Hebron, for the celebration of Chaye Sarah. I returned with over 20,000 other Jews of all persuasions—over two-thirds under the age of 21. We gathered at the caves of Machpelah— purchased by Abraham from Ephron for a burial site for our beloved Sarah—and while I prayed at the Kevers of Abraham and Sarah, and at the Kevers of Isaac and Rebecca in the immense Isaac’s Hall, I could not get Jacob out of my thoughts. After all his adventures and misadventures—when asked by Pharaoh in front of his court, “How many are the days and years of your life?” Jacob replies, “My years have been few and bad.”
Yet, no matter how bad his life, for his last request, he remembers his covenant from many years before and begs his son Joseph, “…If I have found favor in your eyes please place your hand under my thigh…and promise me you will not bury me in Egypt—the diaspora—Please take me and bury me with my fathers…Swear to me!” Bury me in the field at Mamre, near Kiryat Arba, at Machpelah…in Hebron. And there I was—praying in front of Kever Yaacov—Jacob’s resting place, remembering Jacob’s words from years before: “…and return me in peace to my father’s house…then Hashem will be a G-d to me.”
And so it was Joseph who honored his father Jacob’s words—and all of Egypt mourned. And there I stood; there I had the privilege and, in G-d’s mercy, the merit to pray—and to dream of my beloved Jacob—and yet, still ringing in my ears as I stood there—the words, “How dare the world treat our land and our people like a harlot!” How dare Sharon treat the courageous Jews of Gaza as a harlot!
Yes, we often seem to be a vulnerable people... But where is our hadar… our courage … our belief… our self-respect? Our covenant with Hashem binds us to a speck of land just 11,000 square miles including Judea, Samaria, the Golan and Gaza. In 1948, against all odds, as the world watched the remnants of the Holocaust, and the Arabs couldn’t wait to finish the job…our G-d was with us—and in 1967, as the world again watched in silence, awaiting Israel’s destruction… and America under Democratic President Lyndon Johnson—the “civil rights president”—stayed neutral… in Hashem’s mercy and love, we were given back the land of our covenant...the land of our Torah, of our patriarchs and matriarchs, of our prophets and our heroes…and our Jerusalem was united, never to be re-divided…despite the efforts of Bill Clinton and Ehud Barak … Is 11,000 square miles too much for our Jewish State? The Arabs have over 5 million square miles—They have plenty of land for their Arab brothers.
The generals of the American War College say that Israel must retain all the land to protect itself. A bunch of non-Jewish generals have warned Israel that to give up any of its present borders would make it vulnerable—but there are plenty of Jews who have never been to Israel and certainly many who haven’t been to Judea, Samaria or Gaza, who in their discomfort and ignorance believe that giving up land would bring peace. We’ve seen the “peace” of the last ten years. Give up land and it will only encourage our enemies. The fight is not over land—it’s over existence.
And later, walking down the streets of Hebron with families of white Jews and brown Jews and black Jews and Sephardic Jews and Asian Jews from the tribe of Menashe, families of six, eight or ten children—yes, there is a demographic problem; but it’s not between Arab and Jew but rather between Jacob and Israel—between the religious Jews and secular Jews. Secular Jews in pursuit of immediate gratification and the materialism of Tel Aviv have traded their future generations for a plasma TV and a bowl of lentils. But religious Jews believe in following the commandment to be fruitful and multiply—and they have. There must be something in the water of Judea, Samaria and Gaza—because there will be no shortage of religious Jews in their next generation. I can’t say the same for the Israelis of Tel Aviv and Herzliyah.
The Kever of Machpelah inspires dreams of what was and what can be—a reality that, as a Jew, raises you up—Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah—powerful! The very seeds of the Jewish people…forever rooted in Eretz Yisrael…or as some call it—“occupied territory.” Yes, occupied by our Jewish past and, G-d willing, our Jewish future…
TO BE A JEW
How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob…said the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
To be a Jew is to be not only a thinker but also a dreamer. A few days later, walking the streets of Jerusalem, I began to laugh out loud as I noticed that at every doorpost to a restaurant, a museum, a jewelry shop, a hair salon, at Tower Records, or at McDonald’s—a mezuzah… Israel is a place where the streets are named for rabbis and great sages…and hamburgers are called “meatburgers” just to be on the safe side…A place where people argue and make love in an ancient language that many scholars at elite Ivy League colleges like Yale and Harvard believed was a dead language. Latin is truly a dead language, but the joy and beauty of Hebrew is very much alive.
Israel is a place where, according to the historian Arnold Toynbee, the fossils called “the Jews” would never come to life again, but Am Yisrael Chai! –The People of Israel—we Jews—are very much alive! Israel is where the sunrises and the sunsets truly speak in a still small voice—and the wind whispers in your ear that the Jewish people, although not perfect, are an Am Kaddosh…and that the land of Israel from the Jordan to the sea was, in G-d’s mercy, given back to our people as an everlasting covenant with those who are here and those who are not here. The ruach of Am Yisrael dances in the raindrops…
And so our choice is, will we be Jacob the Silent or Jacob the Wrestler? …Jacob of the here and now, or Israel of eternity? Dare they treat our homeland as a harlot? What is it that we are willing to act for—what will motivate us to na’ase –before we nish’ma: for our Torah is an eternal love story… a journey to a land given to us by our G-d… and the pain, the joy and the responsibilities that come with G-d’s gift of freedom. That’s why we left Egypt—That’s why we left Europe…
BRAVEHEART
And so it is that whenever I think of freedom I think of a movie called Braveheart and the words of William Wallace played by Mel Gibson. The scene is a battlefield in Scottland. The English are on one side with overwhelming power. The Scots are on the other side. In my mind, it is an old Jewish story and Wallace becomes an historical Jew when he says:
I am William Wallace and my enemies do not go away.
I saw our good nobles hanged, my father and brother killed. My wife murdered…
I am William Wallace and I see a whole army of my countrymen here
in defiance of tyranny. You have come to fight as free men and free men you are!
But I ask you: What will you do for your freedom? Will you fight?
From the crowd of soldiers a voice calls out, “Two thousand against ten? W e will run—and live!” And Wallace replies:
Yes,---- fight and you may die,---- run and you will live, at least for a while.
And dying in your bed many years from now,---- would you be willing
to trade all the days---- from this day to that ---- for one chance
to come back here as young men, ---- and tell our enemies
that they may take our lives,---- but they will never take our freedom!
And so it has been for almost 2000 years that we Jews have been great runners and hiders. But in G-d’s mercy and great love for His people, He has returned us to our land. And looking in the mirror, will we be willing to trade all the days from this day to that---- for one chance ---- to tell our enemies and our children and, G-d willing, our grandchildren—our enemies can try to take our lives, but they will never again take our freedom?
Jacob, the man of the everyday world, was silent. But Israel, the man of Jewish destiny, wrestled and won. May the day come when Jews are no longer just runners and hiders, but are willing, as a light unto the nations, to stand up with hadar… pride and self-respect as proud, strong, unapologetic Jews, willing to fight with all our might for our people, our Torah and our Land—the Land of our patriarchs and matriarchs—every inch—given back to us by the Almighty as an everlasting covenant made with our Jacob long ago. Remember the words…If you bring me back to the land of my fathers—you will be a G-d to me! And so He has! “Next year in Jerusalem” is up to us!
Chazak, chazak, v’nit chazek! I got my money’s worth—I hope you did too.
Shabbat Shalom,
Jack Berger
ABRAHAM AND SARAH - EXAMPLES FOR ALL AM YISRAEL
BAT-MITZVAH SPEECH BY LEORA KOOK - ENGLEWOOD, N.J.
IN THE BEGINNING OF CHAYE SARAH, AVRAHAM HAS TO BUY AN ACHUZAS KEVER, BURIAL PLACE, FOR SARAH EMEINU.AVRAHAM SAYS, “ANOCHI GER V’TOSHAV”, I AM A STRANGER AND A CITIZEN. HOW CAN THIS BE? WE WOULD THINK THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE A GER, ALIEN, AND CITIZEN AT THE SAME TIME.
RASHI SAYS THAT AVRAHAM IS RELAYING A MESSAGE TO B’NAI CHEIS. HE IS MAKING THEM AN OFFER THEY CAN’T REFUSE.IF YOU WISH I AM A STRANGER; AND I WILL BUY A BURIAL PLACE FOR SARAH. HOWEVER, IF YOU REFUSE ME THIS FAVOR, CONSIDER ME A TOSHAV, A CITIZEN AND I WILL TAKE THE MACHPELA AS A GIFT. HASHEM HAS PROMISED ME THIS LAND AND I WILL TAKE WHAT IS MINE.
THE RAV, ZATZAL , OFFERS A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.
AVRAHAM LIVED IN 2 WORLDS. HE TOLD B’NAI CHES THAT HE WAS A TOSHAV BECAUSED HE SHARED A COMMON HUMANITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND. IN TERMS OF HAVING A NICE LIFE, SAFE HOME, WATER, AND FOOD THEY WOULD ALL HELP EACH OTHER. BUT, THERE WAS AND MUST BE A PART OF AVRAHAM’S LIFE THAT WAS A GER.
AVRAHAM FOLLOWED DERECH HASHEM; CHAZAL TELLS US THAT HE PERFORMED ALL OF THE MITZVOS. AS A JEW, AVRAHAM WOULD ALWAYS BE APART FROM THE REST OF SOCIETY.
THIS IS A VERY GREAT LESSON. WE MUST ALL BE PART OF OUR SOCIETY. WE ARE ALL INVOLVED IN OUR LIVES AS AMERICANS. WE VOTE, CELEBRATE THE 4TH OF JULY AND THANKSGIVING AND TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLL IN OUR COMMUNITIES. BUT WE EAT ONLY KOSHER AND DRESS APPROPRIATELY AS JEWS.WE MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER THE MESSAGE OF AVRAHAM AVEINU.
BEING SHOMER MITZVOS AND TORAH KEEPS US SEPARATE. I KNOW THAT AS I GROW IN MY RESPOSIBILITIES, THAT THE DUTY TO TORAH COMES FIRST, AND IT WILL SERVE AS THE GUIDE IN SHAPING MY LIFE AS A TOSHAV, CITIZEN.
ANOTHER TOPIC WHICH I FOUND VERY INTERESTING WAS THE CHANGING OF NAMES FROM AVRAM TO AVRAHAM AND SARAI TO SARAH WHICH WE LEARN IN PARSHAS LECH L’CHA.
THE PASUK SAYS, PEREK YUD ZION; PASUK HEY;
“V’ HAYA SHIMCHA AVRAHAM” YOUR NAME WILL BE AVRAHAM. IN PASUK TES VAV HASHEM TELLS AVRAHAM; “KI SARAH SH’MAH” SARAH IS HER NAME.
IN CHAYE SARAH THE PASUK SAYS VA’YAVO AVRAHAM LISSPOD L’SARAH V’LIVCOSAH”
THE RAV HAS A WONDERFUL EXPLAINATION.
HASHEM MADE A BRIS WITH AVRAHAM THAT HE WOULD BE A GREAT NATION; HIS CHILDREN WILL BE NUMBERED LIKE THE STARS IN THE SKY AND SAND OF THE SEA. THIS BRIS WAS ALSO A PARTNERSHIP WITH SARAH.
WHEN HASHEM SAID TO AVRAM THAT HIS NAME WILL BE AVRAHAM, SARAH HAD HER NAME CHANGED IMMEDIATELY. THEY WERE PARTNERS AND THEIR NEW ROLES AS PART OF THE BRIS WOULD ALWAYS BE SHARED.
AVRAHAM DISAPPEARS FROM THE STAGE OF THE TORAH AFTER SARAH’S DEATH, EVEN THOUGH HE LIVED FOR MANY YEARS.
AVRAHAM GAVE A HESPED FOR SARAH. IN HIS SADNESS HE TOLD HIS MANY FRIENDS AND CONVERTS OF ALL THAT SARAH HAD DONE. HE REALIZED HOW GREAT HER PART WAS IN THE WORK OF THE BRIS WITH HASHEM. HE REALIZED HOW GREAT WAS HIS LOSS. AVRAHAM’S ROLE WAS COMPLETED AS HIS PARTNER IN HASHEM’S WORK HAD DIED.
HIS ONE LAST JOB IS TO FIND A WIFE FOR YITZCHAK, SO THAT YITZCHAK CAN CONTINUE IN THE PLAN OF HASHEM. AVRAHAM KNOWS THAT ONLY WITH A WIFE AND PARTNER WILL YITZCHAK BE ABLE TO CARRY ON. THAT IS WHY OUR PARSHA DESCRIBES BRINGING RIVKA INTO THE TENT OF SARAH. RIVKA HAD THE MANY QUALITIES OF SARAH ,AND THIS WAS REFLECTED IN THE RENEWAL OF THE MIRACLES OF NEROS, CHALLAH, AND THE HOLY CLOUD REPRESENTING THE NEW COUPLE’S BEGINNING IN THEIR WORK TOGETHER.THEY WERE READY TO CONTINUE THE WORK OF AVRAHAM AND SARAH.
I WAS FORTUNATE AND WENT TO ISRAEL WITH MY FAMILY THIS PAST SUMMER. ONE DAY OF OUR TRIP WAS MOST SPECIAL. WE WENT ON A TRIP TO CHEVRON AND KEVER RACHEL. I WAS ON MY WAY TO VISIT THE AVOS AND EMAHOS. IT WAS ROSH CHODESH ELUL, A MOST EXTRAORDINARY DAY IN CHEVRON. THE YITZCHAK AND RIVKA ROOM WAS OPEN, 1 OF ONLY 10 DAYS OF THE YEAR THAT JEWS COULD VISIT YITZCHAK AVINU AND RIVKA EMEINU.
WHILE WE WERE VISITING SARA EMEINU, WE SAID TEHILLIM, AND THEN I LEARNED THE FIRST PEREK OF CHAYE SARAH WITH MY FATHER.
TEARS OF HAPPINESS STARTED TO FLOW FROM MY EYES, AND I THOUGHT TO MYSELF,”WOW! I AM ACTUALLY GETTING TO LEARN THIS PARSHA WITH SARAH EMEINU! I WAS SO TOUCHED AND DEEPLY MOVED.
I THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD BE IMPORTANT TO SHARE THESE FEELINGS TODAY, AS THAT TRIP WAS THE HIGHLITE OF MY VISIT TO ISRAEL. IT REALLY HELPED ME IN PREPARING FOR MY BAT MITZVAH.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING IN MY SIMCHA.IT HAS MADE THIS SHABBOS SO VERY SPECIAL.
I INVITE YOU ALL FOR A WONDERFUL KIDDUSH.
Shabbat Chaye Sarah - Hebron 5765
Meir Glazer - Tzfat
Avraham’s tent is real. It’s much bigger than any tent you’ve ever seen. It’s the size of the whole Jewish Community in Hebron and Kiryat Arba. This is a Shabbat that opens the hearts of hundreds of Jews who came to experience the living example of Israel’s process of redemption. Jews who came to the city of Avraham and David, of chesed-love and malkut-kingship, saw both and felt how nothing can stop the will of the Jewish soul that connects up with it sources; HaShem, the Torah and Eretz Yisrael. That will, created the possibility that Jews can walk freely surrounded by thousands of hostile Arabs. Much thanks goes to all the holy soldiers who as of now have worked so hard to guard and listen and make Hebron safe from evil hatred so that the situation will not explode into another incident of blood and death.
Hashem is with us all the time and He sends us signal flags. If we are sensitive enough, we can recognize them. Hashem sent me Noam Arnon, who decided to spend a Shabbat in Tzfat. He heard of the Beyrav synagogue where I am the chazan of the worldwide Carlebach Minyan in Tzfat. A group of settlers from Ofra and Hebron invited me to be with them for a Friday night Tish. Noam came also and told his most exciting story about the Machpelah Cave in Hebron where Adam and Chava, Avraham and Sarah, Yitzhak and Rivka and Yaakov and Leah are buried. Noam tells his story like the Hasidic masters; everyone was glued to their chairs.
After Shabbat the idea came into my head to go to Hebron for Shabbat Chaye Sarah. Like I said, Hashem sent me the sign and thank G-d I took the opportunity.
When I arrived I found out that I was to be Noam’s guest in his apartment in Beit Hadassah. It was the beginning of one of the most memorable Shabbatot that I have ever had.
Noam and I walked to the Ma’ara. The field outside the building was blocked off into different sections to separate the various minyans. We went to the central Carlebach minyan where I was to be the Chazan. I was surrounded by hundreds of men and women who came. We sang and danced. I raised my eyes to heaven to thanked Hashem for putting me in Hebron, to connect to our Avot and Emahot and all the people around me. The last years have been very difficult for the settlers but once a little opening comes Am Yisrael jumps at the opportunity. It’s a living miracle: hundreds, maybe thousands of Jews together praying, learning, singing and dancing in Hebron.
On the way back, Noam made sure that everyone had a place to eat and he brought with him 4 students. When we came back to Noam and Tzippi’s home, the living room was ready for about 30 guests, the door was open, Tzippi had prepared for all the guests and more.
Being in Beit Hadassah was like being in the King's home; guests flowed in and out all night and all day. Each one had a special story. Noam greeted them with his gracious smile and made everyone feel at home. At both of the Shabbat meals, the conversation flowed with Torah words and stories; each and every person contributing to the total atmosphere of holiness and connection to Torah, the land of Israel and it’s people.
After lunch I connected up to a tour of Hebron lead by Rabbi Simcha Hochbaum, an American-born resident of Hebron. The high point was seeing Tel Romeida which is in the place of Biblical Hebron. There is an archaeological dig showing the walls of the city. We heard the story of the murder of Rav Shlomo Ra’anan hy”d the grandson of Rav Avraham Itzchak HaCohen Kook zt”l. Jewish reaction to the murder was to build a permanent apartment building and a yeshiva in Rav Ra’anan’s name. This is the Jewish consolation to revenge. With all the feeling he had, Rav Simcha told us about it. Then we went to the hillside which looks down on the valley of Hebron and the building of the Cave. From there you can see the Arab city of thousands surrounding the 83 families who live in Hebron. Impossible, not practical, crazy, unreal, dangerous – all of these and more but these Jewish families now in Hebron prove to the world that when there is a Jewish presence in the land all will flourish. With the help of HaShem and the continued efforts of the people who live there, all who help them, all over the world, will also realize this. Then there will be a real peace in the Land and the world over.
The Shabbat ended with a Seuda Shlishit at Rav Simcha’s home. About a hundred students packed in. Simcha started to sing and immediately there was electricity in the air as he explained that at this time, Shabbat reaches its highest spiritual heights. Reb Shlomo was with us and I’m sure he was smiling his amazing smile, seeing how all these kids are here in the Land in spite of the opposition of America and how they connect up to Shlomo’s tunes and his way of Shabbat.
by David Wilder
The Jewish Community of Hebron
November 8, 2004
No. This article is not about him. I don't want to even mention his name. Maybe I'll explain why a little later. No, this article isn't about Arabs. It's about Jews.
Last week Aaron Lerner, director of IMRA [www.imra.org.il] posted a very interesting feature, which I had missed. I guess I wasn't the only one, because had others paid some attention, the item surely would have been headline news, and not just for one day. The feature by Hannah Kim was printed in HaAretz on Tuesday, Nov. 2, and was titled, "AG Mazuz's new dilemma- to indict or not to indict." [www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/496598.html] I quote:
"Israel Police are convinced they have enough evidence in the straw companies
case to indict not only MK Omri Sharon and attorney Dov Weisglass but Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon, too
The report on the investigation of MK Omri Sharon was met with relative
silence, perhaps because it took place two days before the Knesset voted on
the disengagement plan. It isn't every day that a member of Knesset is
interrogated by the police - and an MK who is the son of the prime
minister - for 13 hours straight, after already having been interrogated
several times by the National Fraud Squad, on three separate cases - the
Greek island, Cyril Kern and the straw companies affairs.
On the other hand, it isn't every day that the Knesset approves a plan for
withdrawal from some of the territories. These two matters - execution of
the disengagement plan and the attorney general's imminent decision on the
straw companies case - trouble the prime minister. The prospect of an
indictment against his son, who also happens to be his operations officer in
the Knesset and in the Likud Central Committee, must be painful.
A draft indictment against Sharon, Sr. in the Greek island case was, the
reader will recall, thrown out by the attorney general; investigation of the
Cyril Kern affair continues apace; and now comes the turn of the oldest case
of the three - the straw companies. The Israel Police are convinced that
they have enough evidence in the file for an indictment, not only against MK
Omri Sharon and attorney Dov Weisglass but also against Sharon, Sr. The
anticipated charge is a violation of the Parties Law (1992). But how will
Mazuz rule on the case?"
Hannah Kim then continues to outline the case against the two Sharons and Weisglass.
Do you remember the newspaper headlines following revelations that Bibi Netanyahu and his wife Sarah had allegedly 'stolen'
Israeli State property, i.e., gifts received when he was Prime Minister? For days on end we were bombarded with the fact that police had recommended that the Netanyahus be tried for 'illegal activities.' In fact, the media had him tried, convicted and already sitting behind bars. This, in an effort to prevent any kind of Bibi comeback. "Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein said that "difficulties with the evidence" made it unlikely that a conviction could be obtained against the couple. Police suspected they had conspired with a government contractor in a kickback scheme, illegally keeping gifts, and obstructing justice. "I have decided to close the file against Mr. Netanyahu concerning the suspicions attributed to him because of evidence insufficient for a criminal trial," said Rubinstein. [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/09/27/israel.netanyahu/]
But today the situation is different. Today we are not talking about a Bibi against Barak election, as was the case then. Today we are talking about Ariel Sharon vs. the Israeli right. Pro Eretz Yisrael against anti-Eretz Yisrael. And of course we know which side the media is on. So why should they play up a possible indictment against the story's protagonist, the true hero? Such headlines could throw a wrench into the fairytale, and ruin the wondrous conclusion.
And what about Mazuz? He is clearly in a bind. In short, according to www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org, "from 1991 until 1995 Mazuz coordinated the legal aspects of Israel's negotiations with Jordan and the Palestinians." So what would you expect from him? He has to decide: justice or chopping up Eretz Yisrael. Take a guess as to what his decision will be. You needn't even guess. The chances are pretty good that you'll never hear about this possible indictment against Sharon again. It will simply be forgotten, fade away, as if the facts never existed.
The past week the phrase 'brain-dead' has hit Israeli headlines. Of course, they are referring to 'him,' a long-dead AIDS-ridden pedophile rotting in a Parisian hospital. I mentioned earlier, I really don't want to talk about him. He doesn't deserve it. We don't deserve it. The words, expressions, the entire atmosphere pervading him, are nauseating. Such respect, such honor, such admiration: for some reason Israelis have such short memories – they forget how many children, how many women, how many men he ordered murdered. They forget that he transformed terror into a noble business, to be accepted as a legitimate means to reach a goal, which in his case, was the destruction of the State of Israel. He is the founding father of Hamas, Hizbullah, the Islamic Jihad, and many other terror organizations throughout the world.
Israeli media audacity knows no limits. Broadcasters are criticizing none other than the grieving widow, Suha. Why? Because she, quite naturally, wants to inherit her husband's money. What widow wouldn't desire her late husband's savings? It makes no matter that he stole and collected almost a billion dollars, hidden in secret accounts in banks around the world. But why should this bother Israeli media journalists? In actuality, what disturbs them is that she is involved in a power struggle, between the 'good guys' who want 'peace' – the Abus – Alah and Mazen – and the 'bad guys,' led by Faruk Kadumi , who was 'anti-Oslo.' No doubt, she is as despicable as him, but why should Israeli media interfere, and refer to her so negatively?
Understand, brain-dead does not refer to 'him.' It refers to us. Only brain-dead people could show such sorrow over the demise of a bloodthirsty fiend. Only a brain-dead media could laughingly and jokingly interview a corrupt terrorist like Jibril Rajoub on State radio, as happened this morning on Kol Yisrael. Only brain-dead people could attempt to chop up their land and abandon it to their enemies.
But, in all honesty, not everyone is brain-dead. In fact, I think there are multitudes of Israelis who are not only not brain-dead; rather they are alive and kicking, as hale and hearty as could be. This past Shabbat we witnessed an example of such lucidity.
Somewhere between twenty to thirty thousand Jews poured into Hebron for the traditional Chaye Sarah Shabbat, when we read in the weekly Torah portion how Abraham purchased Ma'arat HaMachpela, the caves of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, here in Hebron, almost four thousand years ago.
I cannot even begin to describe this past Shabbat in Hebron. On Friday night, for about two hours, there was an unending stream of people flowing into the courtyard in front of Ma'arat HaMachpela. The building itself was packed; I couldn't get inside. The courtyard was wall-to-wall people, all praying, all singing, all dancing, partaking in the beautiful Shabbat services, thanking G-d for the privilege to be Jews in Israel, in Hebron.
People from all over the world came to Israel just for this Shabbat. Well over 100 Jews flew in especially from New York, as part of a special Hebron Fund – sponsored weekend. The Zionist Organization of America – the ZOA, and the Americans for a Safe Israel, AFSI, spent the day with us. I had the honor to tour with them Saturday afternoon. No matter that trying to walk the streets was like attempting to move around in a toy store full of kids – the city was full. Saturday morning prayers, - well, there simply aren't any words. The largest room in the Ma'ara – Ohel Yitzhak – the Isaac Hall, open to us only 11 days a year, was one huge wave of worshipers – men and women, swaying through the traditional Sabbath prayers. The climax came when the Torah was taken from the Holy Ark and opened. The words, chanted year after year, for thousands of years, 'and Sarah lived for one hundred years, and for twenty years and for seven years.' Abraham's negotiations with Efron the Hittite – handing over 400 silver shekels, purchasing the field of Machpela and the caves therein. What can I say? Hearing these words at this site, words written over three millennium ago, alive today, here in Hebron, in the presence of tens of thousands of people, who belong to the same family, all with the same father and mother. Can you imagine that someone might remember you, in, let's say, 250 years – five hundred years, a thousand years, three thousand years, four thousand years?
That's the way it is with Abraham and Sarah – in reality, they are still alive, they are still with us, they are still an integral part of our essence, of our existence. This week's Shabbat is hard proof of that.
So, we look at two different kinds of people – some who are, in my book, brain-dead. And then there are others, who are brain-thriving, who don't breath death – rather they breath life. Two populations – they may look identical. But there is a big big difference between them. The brain-dead, who have no past, today have no lives, and they certainly have no future. The others, who are brain-thriving, are fully alive – experiencing the past, living the present and preparing the future. I have no doubt whatsoever, that the tens of thousands who spent Shabbat in Hebron, and the hundreds of thousands of others who were with us in spirit, if not in body, they are future of our people, they are the future of our culture, they are the future of our land. They will continue to live and thrive, despite the obstacles and hardships. They are brain-alive. This, and only this, is Am Yisrael Chai!
With blessings from Hebron.
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Dvar Torah: Hebron and Ma'arat HaMachpela– The Roots of the Jewish People
Parshat Chaye Sarah, 5765 (2004)
by David Wilder
The Jewish Community of Hebron
November 4, 2004
The Torah teaches us that Avraham, sitting outside his tent following his brit milah, seeing three men approaching, ran to fix them a meal. When he entered the sheep pen to prepare fresh meat, a calf ran away. As Avraham chased the calf, the animal suddenly disappeared. Continuing to search, Avraham saw a cave in the distance and approached, thinking that perhaps the calf had run inside. Arriving at the cave and peering in, Avraham saw a bright light glowing, from deep within. Entering to investigate, walking deeper and deeper into the cave, Avraham discovered the tombs of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman. He also smelled fragrances from the Garden of Eden.
How did Adam and Eve arrive at this site? It is written that following their exile from the Garden of Eden they wished to return, but they had no idea where it was. They searched and searched until they reached a point where they could smell the exquisite fragrances of that unique place. There, the first man began digging and dug a cave within a cave, until a voice from the heavens forbade him to dig further. There he buried his wife Eve, and later he too was interred there (Zohar).
Realizing the sanctity of the site, Avraham left the cave, desiring to purchase it. According to the Midrash (Pirkei d’Rebbi Eliezer) he approached the Jebusites and requested to purchase from them the cave. (The Midrash specifies that the Jebusites and the Hittities were both from the same tribe, Paleshet.) They answered Avraham, “We know that your future offspring will try to conquer our home city (Jerusalem). If you agree to prevent them from conquering Jerusalem, we will sell you the cave.”
Avraham agreed and signed a contract which was hung on statues outside the gates of Jerusalem. There are commentators who hold that Joshua did not conquer Jerusalem when he entered Israel, due to Avraham’s agreement. Centuries later, King David purchased Temple Mount from the Jebusites only after he destroyed these statues.
Did Avraham really agree to relinquish Jerusalem for Hebron? No. Avraham realized that in order to attain the sanctity of Jerusalem, it was necessary to begin at the foundations of civilization, at the point which joins this world to another world, to the Garden of Eden. Starting here, at the cave, the foundations of the world, they could then progress slowly, until finally reaching the holiness of Jerusalem. This is similar the “Jacob’s ladder,” of which it is written that the top of the ladder reached the heavens but the legs of the ladder were firmly entrenched on the ground.
Where is a connection between Jerusalem and Hebron, site of these caves, discovered by Avraham, called Ma’arat HaMachpela? The Talmud says, in the tractate Yoma, that every day, before beginning work in the Beit HaMikdash, the Temple, the priests would look out and ask, has the sun yet risen in the east, even as far as Hebron? If the answer was positive, work would commence. If not, if it was still dark in Hebron, the priests in Jerusalem would have to wait.
Very likely the merit by which Avraham earned discovery of Ma’arat HaMachpela is due to his desire and willingness to fulfill the positive precept of ‘’hachnasat orchim,” hosting guests,, despite the very hot weather and the pain he experienced three days after his Brit Milah. This reflects Avraham’s primary trait, that of ‘chesed’ or total, unrelenting loving-kindness.
Where did Avraham learn the trait of chesed? It would seem, from HaShem, from G-d Himself. In our prayers, which we repeat three times daily, we say, “the great, strong, awesome G-d, the supreme G-d.” What would we expect to follow? Perhaps, the G-d who created heavens and earth, or who created man? No. We continue, “[G-d] who practices fine chesed and remembers the chesed of the Forefathers. This is what Avraham learned from HaShem. And this is the pillar of Ma’arat HaMachpela – chesed.
This is Avraham’s primary trait, that of chesed, as it is written, ‘He bestowed chesed to Avraham.’ Why especially to Avraham? It is written, “A world of chesed will be created.” In other words, creation of the world was dependant on total chesed, without any restrictions. Later, rules were established and the chesed was limited, borders were implemented. (So it is that Yitzhak’s trait is ‘gevurah,’ which represents the ability to live with restrictions, an enclosing, an implementation of constraints, and the opposite of chesed.)
Why was Avraham’s trait chesed? His existence in the world and his revelation of one G-d was as the re-creation of the world anew, the seeds of the birth of Am Yisrael, a time necessitating total chesed, as was during the time of Adam and Eve. And so it was that Avraham was merited to be the first person to discover their final resting place, the entrance to the Garden of Eden.
There are different levels of revelation and of recognizing HaShem. There is a superficial recognition but also a deeper appreciation.
In Israel there is Jerusalem and Hebron – Beit HaMikdash and Ma’arat HaMachpela. Beit HaMikdash, the Temple, is open to all, high upon a hill. Ma’arat HaMachpela is a cave, hidden from all eyes, inner. Beit HaMikdash extends outward. Ma’arat HaMachpela extends inward. One, to the heavens, and one to the depths of the earth. One bursts out and the other, directed towards our roots.
Of course, each site has levels within levels. Beit HaMikdash has a section called Kodesh, Holy and a more restricted area called Kodesh HaKodeshim, the Holy of Holies. Ma’arat HaMachpela has two caves, an outer cave and an inner cave.
Why then is the supreme holiness in Jerusalem and not in Hebron? This is the way of the world: “In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was filled with tohu v’vohu (confusion). The Torah continues with incidents ‘on earth,’ that which is revealed. The heavens remain ‘hidden’ and untouched.
With that it should be noted that the final goal, the full redemption, is return to the era of the Garden of Eden before man’s original sin.
All may view that which is revealed but revelation of the hidden is dependant on G-d, on His chesed, His willingness to allow entrance into ‘the arena of the hidden’ In other words, Avraham’s discovery of Ma’arat HaMachpela is an example of how chesed begets chesed (i.e., an example of ‘mida k’neged mida’ – an attribute begets an atttibute).
We know of four couples buried at Ma’arat HaMachpela: Adam and Eve, Avraham and Sarah, Yitzhak and Rivka, Ya’akov and Lea.
However, it is written that there are actually five couples buried at Ma’arat HaMachpela, three ‘revealed’ and two ‘hidden.’ The ‘revealed’ three are the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. The ‘hidden’ are Adam and Eve and Moshe (Moses) and Tzipporah (attributed to Sefer HaTemunah in the name of R’ Nechunia HaKana and R’ Yishmael Kohen Gadol).
What is Moshe’s connection to Ma’arat HaMachpela? The Torah writes that Moshe was very humble; he was most humble of all men. Humility is a trait reflecting selflessness and concealment. Moshe brought Torah to the people of Israel and received no reward. He was as a slave and suffered, despite his efforts on behalf of the Israelites. This reflects the trait of chesed. What person would be more suitable to unify with his roots than Moshe?
In the Torah it is written (in Hebrew) Ma’arat Sde HaMachpela (the cave in the field of Machpela.) The initials of these three words, (in Hebrew) Mem, Shin and Hay, combine to spell Moshe.
Jerusalem and Hebron blend and unify. Torah –the rules, the boundaries - the tablets of the Ten Commandments, are found in Jerusaelm. (The trait of Yitzhak; Akedat Yitzhak occured on Har HaMoria, site of Beit HaMikdash.) The chesed, the full loving-kindness without restriction, the trait of Avraham, is in Hebron. The lights of Hebron and the lights of Jerusalem merge to create a unity of spirituality which imbues the Jewish people (Ya’akov-Yisrael – the unity of Chesed and Gevurah), the revealed and the hidden, this is the secret of Ma’arat HaMachpela, a unity which cannot be, and never will be, ‘disengaged.’
by David Wilder
The Jewish Community of Hebron
November 1, 2004
Yesterday I attended a very interesting media conference at the College of Judea and Samaria in the Shomron community of Ariel. The conference was dedicated in memory of David Bar-Illan, a fine man who deserves more than a few words of tribute.
A concert pianist of international renown, Bar-Illan was also editor of the Jerusalem Post and later, director of communications during Bibi’s premiership. Working together with Michael Freund and Michael Stoltz, (both of whom initiated and organized this praise-worthy annual media conference) Bar-Illan issued fact-sheets and information statements, which in many cases contradicted Netanyahu’s own political positions.
Bar-Illan was very close to Hebron and helped in any way he could, especially in the black days, before and after implementation of the ‘Hebron Accords.’ At one point, Arab terrorists, then known as ‘palestinian police,’ stationed on the Abu Sneneh hills, were supposed to receive Ingram rifles, an ‘Uzi-type weapon,’ but faster and more dangerous than the Israeli model. It goes without saying that Netanyahu had given his blessing to the transaction.
Realizing the additional dangers Hebron’s Jewish community faced should the Arabs receive these weapons, we approached Bar-Illan in his office in Jerusalem, presented him with facts and figures, and voiced our great concern. He then spoke to his boss, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, and somehow, was able to get the deal nixed. Thanks to him, the Arabs perched above us, only a few hundred meters away, had a little less ammunition to use to try and kill us.
At the conference yesterday, one of the words frequently used to describe David Bar-Illan was integrity, a trait unfortunately lacking from many many Israeli journalists today. A few of the people speaking at the conference, themselves journalists, clearly expressed their own treacherous biases in front of hundreds of people listening.
For example, Daniel Ben Simon, a correspondent for HaAretz newspaper, spoke shortly after I arrived. His words were stunning, despite the fact that he really didn’t say anything new. However, hearing someone state something even if it is self-evident, can be shocking. I jotted down a few of his remarks, things like ‘The state of Israel is a ‘Tel-Aviv state. The rest is ‘another land.’ He commented that much of what happens in Yesha ‘doesn’t have anything to do with us.’ Perhaps most importantly, he described current events as ‘a struggle for our future image, a process which will shape Israeli society.’ And of course, he believes that the media does and should have an important role in this process.
Another reporter who spoke, Shlomi Eldar, works for Channel 10 news, covering Arab affairs. One episode of his is stuck in my mind. He told how one night he slept at ‘a friend’s house’ in Gaza. That night, watching ‘palestinian television’ he viewed, again and again, the incitement spewed by their propaganda machine. Then next morning he told his ‘friend,’ “After watching that all night, if I was a palestinian, today I would go out and perpetrate a suicide attack.’ He didn’t relate to the pictures screened on the television as incitement. Rather, they were factual evidence of the brutality of the Israeli occupation , after all, 'pictures don't lie.’ He voiced his opinion that much of P.A. television cannot be defined as incitement.
Such views, coming from Israelis, relating to enemies who want nothing less than to destroy the State of Israel and don’t care if they kill all of us in the process, well, it makes me sick.
Not everyone spoke such subversive nonsense. An example of integrity was presented by a journalist from the Ma’ariv newspaper, Ben-Dror Yemini. He first spoke of his relationship with David Bar-Illan, and stressed that despite deep political differences, he had a tremendous respect for the late Bar-Illan. That respect, it seems, was mutual.
Yemini’s subject, under the category of journalistic ethics, was ‘what reporters do not cover’ or, in other words, what they hide. One example he presented concerned the case of MK Zahava Galon, one of the leaders of the far-left Meretz party. Galon was investigated by police for criminal actions. Following the investigation, the police recommended that she be indicted and tried. Both the investigation and the police recommendations were ignored by the press, clearly due to the fact that Galon was ‘on their side,’ and was therefore, untouchable. Of course, other MKs and public figures, whose opinions are more to the right, are expendable and therefore not only targeted, but bombarded by media blasphemy if and when investigated by police.
Ben-Dror’s last comment is also worth noting. He mentioned a previous speaker, Mr. Shlomo Ben-Tzvi, who is, among other things, Chairman of the channel 10 board of directors. “When Ben-Tzvi received the position , he had to sign a statement promising not to interfere with any of the channel’s substantive policy. (Ben-Tzvi is religious and lives in Efrat.) Do you think, if Ben-Tzvi was secular, without a kippah on his head, and lived in Tel-Aviv, that he would have been made to sign such a statement?”
That having been said, I must mention Shlomo Ben-Tzvi, the conference’s keynote speaker, who was introduced by former Defense minister Moshe Arens. Ben-Tzvi, a dynamic young entrepreneur, speaks English with a British accent, and Hebrew like an Israeli with a Ph.D in language. He is the founder and chairman of Techelet, a religious television network, owner and chairman of the Israeli right-wing weekly Makor Rishon newspaper, as well as chairman of the board of Channel 10 television.
The topic of his speech was ‘Our self image an a virtual world,’ and if I had a copy of the text in English, I would definitely post it on our web site and send, at least part of it out on the email list. The gist his message can be summed up with two words: Jewish identity. Know who you are, act who you are, be who you are. Media is a reflection of who we are, or who we think we are. If we want to correct media images, we must first correct ourselves. The rest will come automatically.
Of course, Ben-Tzvi’s discourse was much more articulate, but abbreviated into a few short sentences, this is what he said. And how right he is.
I’d like to relate one story that Shlomo Ben-Tzvi told, characterizing our problem. It very well sums up the modern ‘Jewish way’ of doing things. He told of a young Jew who managed to get out of Poland, and made his way to England. The man quicky adopted English customs and habits, including their dress.
After much work, he had enough money to bring his father too to England. Waiting joyfully for him by the docks, he was suddenly jolted at the first sight of his parent. He looked like a Polish Jews, with a long black jacket, a long beard, and sidelocks. Hugging his father as they left the ship, he exclaimed, ‘father, we must do something for you, and fast.’
He took his father first to a tailor, where his long black coat and hat were replaced by a three-piece suit and tie. The father said not a word.
The next stop was a barber. First, the barber cut off the long beard. Again, the father was silent. Then the barber took hold of one of the sidelocks and snipped off a piece. No reaction. He then chopped off the entire sidelock. The father didn’t say a word.
As the barber began cutting off the father’s second sidelock, his son noticed a tear forming in his eye. “Father, what are you upset about?” he pleaded.
Sitting in the barber’s chair with tears in his eyes, the father looked at his son and said, “I’m so sorry we gave back India.”
Need more be said?
With blessings from Hebron.
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