Scenario at Amona was sickening. Were we forewarned?

bs"d

Are you aware that there was sexual abuse in Amona? Read Arutz7 for starters. Look for postings from February 5th and 6th, 2006. I was sickened.

Tuesday, February 7, 2006 More on the Police Violence in Amona, My Students Told Me...
 http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2006/02/more-on-police-violence-in_113930001706872039.html

Thursday, March 2, 2006 Vicious
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2006/03/vicious.html

The following is a letter I wrote to David Wilder spokesperson of Hebron during the Gush Katif expulsion and his response to me.

Stop writing such hogwash - rather than give strength and encouragement, you only weaken - the faith of these people is beyond belief - let them make their own decisions - they don't need such 'advice' from New York!

On 8/14/2005 1:57:26 PM, faigerayzel@aol.com wrote:
bs"d

To my dear friends of Gush Katif, amv'sh

In this weeks Parsha, at the end of the Parsha, the tribes of Reuvein and Gad and Shevet Menashe said they will send their men to fight and the women and children will stay home.

I know that you do not wish to fight. Irregardless, the other side has plans and they are not as peaceful as yours Please don't be naive and risk putting the women and children in a place they don't belong. The women and children will weaken your resolve if nothing else because they might be hungry, thirsty, scared, crying etc. I assume you are worried that such an action will make it appear like a civil war. Even in the case of a real war, if one side attacks should the other side simply act as if it's not a war and go on as business as usual? One is required to defend oneself and not to care about public opinion Are you afraid that the gov't will show pictures of violence of the settlers against the police. They may even stage such a scenario and you won't be able to prevent it. This has been their motus operendez. At this point forget about public image. Announce that women and children are leaving because it's too dangerous. That is the truth. However, mention that all men that are able to be with you at this time should come and help

---------

Nissan editor of Israel National News responded to another letter I wrote to him immediately after the expulsion from Gush Katif. The pain was too raw for him to relate to what I wrote. He responded as follows:

Thanks for writing. I would not have taken a personal approach. But, now that you have done so, allow me to also reply personally.

Of course we all can bring Mashiach, but unless I am mistaken, neither you nor anyone else I know has a direct line to HaShem to declare positively that Shmitta, or Ahavat Yisrael, or Shabbat, or Torah study or anything else is "the" cause of this or that tragedy.

And unless I was extremely learned in Torah, I would be hesitant to challenge the position of Heiter Mechira, decided upon by true scholars of our holy laws.

Finally, Arutz-7 is a news network, not a seminary or an organization for penitents or Torah scholarship. Give us real news about Shmitta and we'll print it.

Maybe you are "shying" from "your individual responsibility" to not be immodest in assuming you have "the" answer, in critizing others for what you perceive to be their sins, and in taking it upon yourself to lambaste an entire populace for not believing as you do? Is that not a bit possible, too?

Thanks again,
Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Opinion Editor
www.IsraelNationalNews.com
Arutz 7

----- Original Message -----
From: FaigeRayzel@aol.com
To: nissan@IsraelNationalNews.com ; opinion@israelnationalnews.com
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 6:56 PM
Subject: Letter to Nissan - You too can bring Moshiach


bs"d

A letter to Nissan Ratzlav-Katz editor of Arutz7 as kids and Rabbanim are being thrown out of shuls in Kfar Dorom.

Dear Nissan, amv"sh

You have a personal responsibility since Arutz7 is the place people are looking for answers as well. Not only reports of destruction and sadness.

Does G-d really want this expulsion to happen? All He wants is for us to do the commandments in the Torah and we are promised blessings. The Torah specifically cites the Mitzva of Shmita as the one that will cause us to live securely in our Land and if we don't, the Torah says we will be kicked out and the Land will get the rest it deserves.

The year of Shmita is one of Meein Olam Haba. A year of collective living and good will. And that is the key for our security. I don't know how the Jews in Gush Katif observed Shmita but I read that in the time of the second Beis Hamikdash it wasn't sanctified by the Rabbanim so that the people were not obligated to keep Shmita. In our present day, if people did observe Shmita, it was never used as a way to beseech G-d to keep us on our Land, as Hashem has promised that if we observe His commandments we would live securely in the Land.

Please publicize the Mitzva of Shmita. I don't need or want any credit but my year's experience in Shmita 5747 will prove helpful. The people of Gush Katif are the cream of the crop. Their love for Eretz Yisroel is unequaled. Yet they were forced out. It will be helpful for them to have some sort of explanation. Perhaps there was something they could have done and didn't.

I can think of two things. The first is not focusing on the Mitzva of Shmita. The second is recognizing that it is not enough for them to have the love for Eretz Yisroel. That love must be shared by all of Am Yisroel whether they live in Israel or in the Diaspora. People of Gush Katif were especially effective with Panim el Panim with the non religious and expressed an outpouring of love to them. There was a hesitancy to focus on Panim el Panim with the chareidi Torah observant community regarding love for Eretz Yisroel and the yearning to keep the Mitzvoth of the Land.

The State was established with a Zionist dream with Torah missing from the picture. The religious especially chareidi groups resented this. They chose to focus primarily on Torah. Eretz Yisroel has insignificant relevance in their daily religious observance. There is constant daily references to Eretz Yisroel in davening and continuous references in the Torah. These references apparently were not relevant enough to make a clear statement about the Covenant between G-d and Am Yisroel. Eretz Yisroel is promised to Avraham Yitzchok and Yaakov and to their seed as an eternal inheritance. A simple statement like this would be sufficient to counteract the Roadmap plan of President Bush. A Statement by the Rabbanim that the roadmap plan of President Bush goes against the Bible can still have tremendous impact.

All of us that love the Torah, Eretz Yisroel and Am Yisroel must do Panim el Panim emphasizing the mutual dependency of Torah, Eretz Yisroel and Am Yisroel and together these three elements comprise One entity. Each element is truly incomplete without the others.

The goal is to bring each and every member of Am Yisroel to love the Torah and Eretz Yisroel and foster desire to keep the Mitzvoth in the Torah including the Mitzvoth of Eretz Yisroel. If the desire and yearning to keep Shmita existed, the expulsion would never have taken place.

Nissan, please don't shy from your individual responsibility. Each and every person can bring the Moshiach and you just have to believe it!