By Shai Gefen
Those who depend on more pragmatic leaders to replace Arafat in order to do
the dirty work for us are putting us in a death trap once again. For years the
Left tried to sell us on the idea that Arafat would do the work, but we all see
the results.
Please don’t repeat it!
Silence Equals
Complicity
The big question today is where are the rabbanim and
askanim who should be shaking heavens and earth about the pikuach
nefashos of the entire Jewish nation. The Arabs have intensified their
terrorist acts, yet the rabbanim are silent. They should be quoting the
Shulchan Aruch, which says, "Go out against them with weapons...lest the
land be open before them...," a very practical halacha for our times.
44 Jews were murdered in the last two weeks; 44 Jews were
sacrificed with cruel and unusual deaths. There are hundreds of wounded children
and women, yet there is apathy as though nothing is going on.
When Chazal talk about one of the key factors which
led to the churban, they say, "The rabbanim were quiet; from this
could be inferred that they agreed," and the Rebbe MH"M adds some very serious
remarks about rabbanim who keep quiet and don’t publicize the psak
halacha on this topic from Shulchan Aruch, siman 329.
Regarding piskei din that are not publicized, the
Rebbe once told a story about the Rogatchover Gaon, a resident of Leningrad. The
tax authorities sent him a notice stating that he owed two types of taxes. The
gaon examined the documents and quickly concluded that al pi din Torah
he only had to pay the first tax. Indeed, the next day he received a notice that
there had been an error and he only had to pay the first tax.
The Rebbe concludes that the psak din of a rav,
which is made according to Torah, affects the world.
If this is so for the Bolsheviks, all the more in our times.
The Rebbe concludes that rabbanim who won’t let their voices be heard (or
who say the psak din in the privacy of their room), are, r’l,
responsible for the continued danger to Jewish life. "When a rav declares
a halacha, he changes the very nature of the world. Those who are quiet
and don’t want to get involved must know that silence won’t help. Silence will
increase the danger, r’l..." (sicha Motzaei Shabbos B’Reishis
5740).
THE SECURITY BUDGET
The terrorist attack in Emanuel raised the painful question
believing Jews must ask: Why did Hashem do this to a yishuv like Emanuel,
a yishuv based on a life of observance of Torah and mitzvos?
Let it be stated clearly: There is no difference in blood
between the blood of an observant Jew and the blood of one who is not observant.
Pikuach nefashos applies to every Jew.
For a year and three months the country has been shaking.
Nearly 250 Jews have been murdered, thousands wounded, families shattered, yet
those who represent the chareidi tzibbur are quiet. The chairman of the
financial committee is busy saving the yeshivos’ budgets. He wages a war
of attrition against the treasury. In the meantime, the ministers fight over a
rotation system to see who gets the right to okay a peace agreement.
The national order of the day of the chareidi
representatives in the Knesset is the budget. The representatives threaten to
leave the government if, chalila, they tamper with the law pertaining to
large families. We certainly don’t disdain this important law, but apparently
the lives of Jews is not an interest of this group, which busies itself solely
with money. Scandalous!
We can never know the reason for such a terrible tragedy, but
perhaps the attack on Emanuel can be a signal to those who supposedly represent
the chareidi populace. Palestinian terror doesn’t differentiate between
blood. If you don’t stop terrorism and don’t act according to Shulchan Aruch,
the terror could reach (may it not happen!) Beitar Ilit, Kiryat Sefer, Elad,
Bnei Brak, Lud, Shuafat, Kfar Chabad, etc. This is what the Rebbe said.
In one of his sichos, the Rebbe enumerates some of the
cities that would be attacked if they don’t do what halacha says. Nobody
is immune.
Now we need to make a cheshbon ha’nefesh: When the
Rebbe fought so there would not be a Peres government (we see how dangerous
Peres is, how even when everything collapses around him, he continues to live in
his nightmarish fantasy world), there were rabbanim who said they don’t
understand security matters, but apartments for young marrieds, they said, that
was in the category of pikuach nefesh... Now all those rabbanim
standing on the sidelines who didn’t lift a finger to stop the downward security
spiral and were willing to concede everything in exchange for apartments for
young marrieds, have to make a cheshbon ha’nefesh.
Perhaps they did solve some yeshiva budget problems,
but this money is saturated with Jewish blood. The Rebbe said: "Not only can you
not build yeshivos and educate children to yiras Shamayim with
this money, but the Gemara says that even a bathroom can’t be built with this
money" (Sicha D’varim 5739). But these rabbanim didn’t solve the
pikuach nefesh problem hovering over the heads of five million Jews living
in Eretz Yisroel – including their own heads.
We’ve all seen the headlines this past month about the
chareidi Knesset members waging a bitter war in the finance committee for
money for yeshivos. It’s worth thinking again about what the Rebbe said
about those askanim, for whom the security issue doesn’t even come into
the picture. Apparently even when the land is burning, what interests them is
obtaining more funding...
STAB IN THE BACK
Beilin is the only politician continuing to agitate for the
Oslo Accords. He still thinks Arafat is the partner to talk to. For eight years
this man has succeeded in leading the entire country into the abyss, bringing
tragedy upon us. In front of the whole world stands this hallucinatory battling
on behalf of Arafat, even when it sounds and looks ludicrous.
We can’t expect to see the day Beilin admits his mistake. As
soon as he says he erred, he simultaneously concedes to the tragedy we are
living. The same is true for Peres. Only a few years ago, the two of them
competed over who was going to get the credit for Oslo. Each of them published
books giving the credit to themselves.
As always, Beilin continues to do everything behind our backs
to destroy whatever remains to be destroyed. He doesn’t mind being the fifth
column of the Palestinians and the terrorists. It’s quite possible that the
anti-Israeli and anti-Sharon sentiments in Europe emanate from Beilin… at least
footprints seem to lead to him ...
In any case, two things that Beilin said last week caught my
eye. In those ideas he is right. The visionary said: "The concept of ‘a strong
Palestinian police’ was learned from Begin at Camp David. I don’t think Begin
was at fault. Begin was right. Today too, if there were an agreement between the
government of the Right led by Sharon and the P.A., the last thing Sharon would
consider would be taking weapons away from the P.A. and preventing it from being
able to carry out this agreement."
Unfortunately, Beilin is right. The seed of this tragedy
began with the unfortunate Camp David agreement that Begin signed. Even then,
not everyone on the Right realized what a tragedy it was, and some even openly
supported the agreement. They didn’t understand why the Lubavitcher Rebbe was
stubbornly opposed to it. But the leader of the generation warned what would
happen to us and where things would lead. With his ruach ha’kodesh, he
saw the seed of tragedy planted and what would grow from it. Whatever we have
today was planted back then – those seeds have grown into rotten fruits.
Take notice of the tagline: "Sharon wouldn’t collect the
weapons from the Palestinians." He’s right. That’s precisely our problem. Nobody
is talking about collecting weapons from the P.A. There are huge stockpiles of
ammunition and weapons in the P.A. and we all know about it, but we do nothing.
They prefer the strategy they call "focused prevention" – not to make light of
that, but it’s not going to bring any real change in the region.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Everyone speaks about getting rid of Arafat, about the
teetering P.A. and a change of leadership. The leadership on the Right speaks
about the young Palestinian leadership that will replace Arafat so that we can
have someone with whom to talk. The question is: what is there to talk about?
About the establishment of a Palestinian state? About continuing to fortify a
strong Palestinian police?
Even those who talk about getting rid of Arafat aren’t
focused on the right point: annulling all agreements! Nullification would mean
that Israel is the one who rules the region, notwithstanding Leftist screams
about ruling over a foreign nation. Nullifying agreements means collecting all
weapons from the P.A. and going back to the way it used to be. All those who
rely on "more pragmatic leaders" to replace Arafat in order to do the dirty work
for us are putting us in the same death trap. For years the Left tried to sell
us on the idea that Arafat would do the work, but we all see the results.
Please, don’t repeat it!
Only standing strong and proudly on behalf of absolute Jewish
sovereignty with no autonomy whatsoever will bring peace and quiet.
THERE IS STILL HOPE FOR TEKUMA
One of the factions comprising the Ichud Leumi is Tekuma,
which has two Knesset members. Both new Knesset Member Uri Ariel and Tzvi Hendel
have come to the realization that in the present situation they have no reason
to remain in Sharon’s government. On Motzaei Shabbos they decided to leave the
government, an obvious decision in line with a party that presented a clear
platform.
What is still not clear is whether the entire Ichud Leumi
will leave or not; but we are here to strengthen and support Uri Ariel and Tzvi
Hendel in their decision, and call upon them not to continue to be part of a
government responsible for terrible bloodshed. Ariel said there are two
possibilities: Either Arafat will fall or Sharon will fall. If Arafat won’t
fall, Sharon will. The Yesha Council is preparing for a giant demonstration in
Kikar Rabin against the government’s policies, and they will call for an end to
the Sharon government.
* * *
RABBI MEIR GUTNICK’S SCATHING LETTER
TO THE LEADERS OF THE ICHUD LEUMI
Immediately after the attack in Emanuel in which ten Jews
were murdered and dozens more injured, Rabbi Gutnick wrote a letter to two of
the leaders of the Ichud Leumi, Minister Benny Elon and Knesset member Tzvi
Hendel, asking them to leave the government immediately.
In a conversation with Beis Moshiach, R’ Gutnick said
that the Ichud Leumi party could not possibly remain in the Sharon government
when this government continues to announce that it will not dismantle the P.A.,
and while it still will not do everything it can to bring security to the Jews
of Eretz Yisroel. R’ Gutnick said that he plans to intensify his work in the
struggle on behalf of Israel’s security and proudly convey the Rebbe’s message:
Only by standing strong without compromise and without talking about giving up
land can we ensure security.
The following are excerpts from R’ Gutnick’s letter:
"The Jewish nation and the entire world sees the horrific
scenes taking place in the Holy Land. Since you’ve taken part in Sharon’s
government, there have been more attacks and murders of Jews. Over 150 Jews (may
Hashem avenge their blood) were murdered by the Palestinian enemy who is backed
by Arafat; thousands of Jews have been wounded. Talk concerning a Palestinian
state has become official by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres. Never before has there been a Foreign Minister announcing from the
U.N. that the majority of Israelis are in favor of a Palestinian state. Mr.
Sharon himself clearly stated that he is working towards a Palestinian state.
If that weren’t enough, even after the terrible attacks that
took place recently in Yerushalayim, Chaifa, and Emanuel, when dozens of Jews
were murdered and hundreds were wounded in one day, and the entire world,
including the U.S. and the European Union, gave you the green light and
sanctioned getting rid of Arafat, the Israeli government still looks at him as a
partner and takes no serious action to wipe out terrorism.
Exactly two weeks ago Rechavam Ze’evi left the government
following talk about a Palestinian state and because of the security situation.
Even before [Ze’evi] did so, Mr. Benny Elon resigned from the leadership of the
Ichud HaLeumi and from the coalition board. We all understood that the Prime
Minister was going to, r’l, establish a Palestinian state. Then, suddenly
after Ze’evi was assassinated, you went back to the government despite the fact
that no real change had taken place in the government.
In such a situation, when the entire Jewish nation is,
r’l, in great danger, and when the Lubavitcher Rebbe says that every
discussion about giving away more land and the establishment of a Palestinian
state poses a danger to five million people, there is no reason for you to stay
in a government whose plans are known. It can’t be that representatives chosen
by those loyal to Eretz Yisroel should lend a hand, even in a roundabout manner,
to the horrors being perpetrated in Eretz Yisroel because of the government’s
confused policies. And there is also the freezing of construction in large parts
of Yesha...
Mr. Benny Elon, you are presently in the U.S. in order to ask
Jews to make aliya to Eretz Yisroel. Instead of working on getting
Jews to go to Eretz Yisroel, you should be worrying about the security
and peace of those living there right now, and not be a partner, r’l, to
what the government is doing.
I call on you on behalf of tens of thousands of chassidei
Chabad who supported you to immediately leave the government so as not to be
accomplices, r’l, to those things taking place in the government. I have
no doubt that your influence from outside the government will be far more
effective than being within it.