To Whom It May Concern in the Hesder Yeshivot, amv"sh
I feel that the recent unanimous declaration not to protest the IDF shows weakness http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135115 . This becomes especially true in light of the leaked military plan to enforce the construction freeze as a military operation against the Jews of Judea and Samaria as if they are the enemy. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135124
The time has come to institute Civil Law in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. Taxes should go directly to the local municipalities which will pay the salaries of the municipalities as well as Hesder Yeshivot in Judea and Samaria. A militia of soldiers to defend Judea and Samaria should be established as per the encouragement of the Yeshivot Hesder to defend our rights to settle in Judea and Samaria and to defend Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria If funding for the Yeshivoth came from a source other than the State of Israel, then surely this statement against protesting the IDF would be far from unanimous.
The IDF with orders from Barak to expel Jews from the heartland of Israel has lost its moral compass and has reneged on our Covenant that Hashem made with our Forefathers Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov. Sometimes, a child can see that the Emperor is not wearing clothes while all the grownups are blinded with considerations. The State of Israel is wearing no clothes of Torah.
The Hesder Yeshivoth should be making unanimous statements against the delivery of terrorists to the enemy and against the construction freeze in Judea and Samaria. The loss of funding to the Hesder Yeshiva in Har Bracha amounts to 800,000 NIS as per the number of students. ובלי להפסיד תקציב של 800 אלף שקלים לשנה (לפי מספר התלמידים). This is not small change. Obviously w/o this funding the Yeshivah can not continue to operate in the same way or perhaps not at all.
It's time for the masses, companies and individuals in business throughout Israel put their taxes in escrow and with pride insist that the government either allow construction, building and growth in Judea and Samaria or else the tax money will go to the local municipalities in Judea and Samaria. Perhaps it's time to sell Judean Bonds rather than Israel Bonds. This revenue from taxes and outside foreign sources can then support the Hesder Yeshivot as well as all the services the Yesha communities require for its safekeeping and development.
Will this cause a civil war and divisiveness?
The government of Israel is clearly implementing intolerable acts. This is clearly a situation of taxation w/o representation and many feel, including Knesset members, that it is a declaration of War against the communities in Judea and Samaria. The communities in Judea and Samaria have no alternative. Meek expressions of protests serve no purpose unless accompanied with some muscle. If the government of Israel understand that their actions will result with a loss of tax revenue coupled with a decision of the Yesha communities to operate under local civil law rather than under military law of the State of Israel and form an independent militia to protect the communities in Judea and Samaria from Kassam and Yassam then perhaps they will forego this military plan. Surely a Judean Authority will be a much better neighbor to Israel than a Palestinian Authority. Israel should welcome a Judean Authority with open arms. They are relieved of their duties to protect this population and in return gain a loving neighbor who has no intention of sending Kassam rockets their way.
If the State chooses to proceed with their military plan then we are assured of divisiveness, justified anger, resentment, and a potential civil war between Jews (if not immediate, then as the children grow up).
Dear Robin, Great letter only even in the first paragraph there is a probematic nuance where it says "by using soldiers for police actions to expel Jews from their homes". This is a very common hasbara mistake because it engrains in the readers mind, or listeners mind the idea that expelling jews from their home is conceivable in a way. I don't think the settlers of Neve Dekalim would have felt any better if they were carried out by a policeman (as opposed to a soldier). the idea of expeling jews shouldn;t even be mentioned because it becomes a norm in our minds when we discuss these things. Helen is obviosly for Eretz Yisrael hashelayma as well as many many activists that "fall into the pach" when they say things like this (policemen as opposed to soldiers doing dirty work). NO-ONE should have to do dirty work and the dirty work should never be mentioned. The word settler was also misused. When I represent my yishuv I ALWAYS say community. Settlement has become the misconstrued word meaning- radical place. No, we are just regular la dee da communities. The expeling of jews from their homes isn't on a priority list for who has to, or will do it. First mistake.Anyway, thank you so so much for your constant care and may we be consoled with the stories of Yosef and know that he who laughs last, laughs best! Love, leah----- Original Message -----From: Robin TickerTo: do4israelSent: Sunday, December 20, 2009 11:51 AMSubject: Activism in support of Rabbi Melamed of Har Bracha vs. Barak anddecision to oust them from Hesder -AFSI, Hesder Rabbanim Petition, Mattot Arimbs"d
1751 Second Ave, New York, NY 10128
Tel: 212-828-2424; Fax: 212-828-1717; afsi@rcn.com; www.afsi.org
Contact: Helen Freedman, Executive Director
Dec. 18, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
AFSI APPLAUDS HESDER YESHIVA RABBIS
"Defense Minister Ehud Barak made a serious mistake when he "punished" Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, Head of the Har Bracha Hesder Yeshiva, by removing the yeshiva from the military program for the alleged offense of suggesting that soldiers disobey expulsion orders," asserts Helen Freedman, Executive Director of Americans for a Safe Israel/AFSI. She quotes former Defense Minister Prof. Moshe Arens who says, "The government is wrong for involving the army in politics by using soldiers for police actions to expel Jews from their homes."
Freedman continues, "There is obviously a great struggle here between the authority of the IDF and Torah law. A preliminary petition, signed by 23 Hesder Yeshiva rabbis, which is expected to have many more names added to it, speaks about the "establishment of the State and a Jewish defense force, the IDF, as a great sanctification of G-d's name." Consistent with this ideology, the rabbis reject the use of the army for purposes that desecrate His name – such as using the IDF to expel Jews from their homes. In this spirit, the rabbis have stated clearly that "loyalty to Hashem stands above all other loyalties, to the government or to the army."
AFSI sympathizes with the soldiers who are put in the extremely difficult position of having to decide whether or not to follow orders of expulsion from their military commanders, or to follow Torah Law and refuse to expel their fellow Jews from their homes. Many of the soldiers in the Hesder program come from communities slated for removal, as was the case in the expulsion from Gush Katif in August, 2005.
AFSI, which supports a whole Israel, Yisrael Shlayma, denounces the give-away of any of the Land of Israel and deplores any actions of expulsion or discrimination against Jews. The worst manifestation of this anti-Jewish bias is in asking loyal Jewish citizens to use physical violence against their own brethren. We call for support for the Hesder rabbis in their brave denunciation of the use of the IDF to violate Israel's Jews.
From Mattot Arim:
Please contact other Hesder Yeshiva Rabbis on this subject
Here's an example letter (feel free to write your own):
Dear Hesder Yeshiva Rabbis, re: Freedom of religion for combat soldiers.
Please express your support of Rabbi Melamed. His positions rejecting military orders to dismantle Jewish settlement coincide with those of certain senior authorities on Jewish halacha -- such as at least 2 former Chief Rabbis of the State of Israel -- Former Chief Rabbis Goren and Shapira. Therefore, Rabbi Melamed's positions are crucial because they pertain to freedom of religion for Israel's Jewish combat soldiers. Since Israel's vegan and vegetarian soldiers are not forced to wear regulation army leather shoes, it should certainly be the case that Israel's practicing Jewish soldiers not be forced to dismantle Jewish settlement which is contrary to well established Jewish beliefs. After all -- Israel is a Jewish state, not a vegan state. Thanks very much in advance, Rabbi, for speaking out thus demonstrating your devotion to "our boys in uniform". Sincerely (name, location, profession, academic title, etc.)
yptleora@gmail.com;karo-of@actcom.co.il;nir_rahel@walla.com; yeshivakg@gmail.com;yeshiva@yk8.org
b-torah@zahav.net.il;yeshiva2@gmail.com; lapid@goldmail.net.il;yeshilo@netvision.net.il;aryey@shaalvim.co.il;yeshtkoa@netvision.net.il;ormeofir@oretzion.com;
oretzion@netvision.net.il;orotaviv@gmail.com;office@orashk.org;shulil@mor.ac.il;yayeleth@zahav.net.il;239704@gmail.com; bmoriah1@012.net.il;ayelet@beitorot.org;
y.h.b.shean@gmail.com;hesder.di@gmail.com;derechchaim@walla.com;mira_rat@netvision.net.il;
hesder@gmail.com;office@yhb.org.il;shosh@haretzion.or.il;harshalom1@gmail.com;
drukman@gmail.com;rettig1@walla.co.il;gershons@shaalvim.co.il;yesholon@neto.net.il;orvi@zahav.net.il;netivtfahot@bezeqint.net; yeshivatyafo@gmail.com;office@yhy.co.il;misrad@hakotel.org.il;yhm10@macam.ac.il;mazkirut@kby.org.il;yadid55@gmail.com;sima@rehovot.macam98.ac.il;
*For email addresses of all Hesder Yeshiva rabbis -- -- you can just "scoop up" all those email addresses with your mouse and copy-paste them into the to-field of your email. However, there are 60 Hesder email addresses above, so if your Internet Service entitles you to send to only 50 persons at a time, you will need to send 2 separate emails using about half of the above addresses for each. Thanks for helping from -- Mattot Arim
בבלוג מטות ערים: http://mattotarim1.blogspot.com/
* CONTRIBUTE TO SUPPORT: "YESHIVAT HAR BRACHAH", D.N. Lev HaShomron 44835
OR by phone: 02-997-4836, OR by email office@yhb.org.il
To purchase books of the Yeshiva & the Rabbi: 02-970-9588, sefer@yhb.org.il , http://www.yeshiva.org.il
To register as a student in the Yeshiva: 0525-665-735
Petition of Hesder Yeshiva Educators in Support of R. Melamed
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(IsraelNN.com) Support for Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, Head of Har Bracha Yeshiva, is growing. A petition supporting Rabbi Melamed in his ideological showdown with the Minister of Defense, signed by rabbis and educators countrywide, has reached Arutz Sheva.
The letter reads as follows:
An open letter
From rabbis/educators in the Hesder yeshivas
To the yeshiva students, and youth awaiting conscriptionDear students and youths!
We turn to you at a time in which many in the country are discussing the relationship between Torah commandments and the authority of the military commander.
As educators who send their students to serve in the IDF, we are committed to answer this question in a clear and precise way, as we were taught by our greatest rabbis: Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren of blessed memory, Chief Rabbi Avraham Elkana Shapira of blessed memory, Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli of blessed memory and Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Neria of blessed memory.
We have therefore written the following before you:
May you only be strong!
By the grace of G-d we have been given the gift of living in a time of redemption. A time of ingathering of exiles, of establishment of the State and a Jewish defense force, the Israel Defense Force or IDF. All these constitute a great sanctification of G-d's name and are steps toward the complete redemption.
To our sorrow, for some time now, the army is also being used for purposes that have nothing to do with defending Israel, and are contrary to the will of Hashem, as it appears in the holy Torah. This situation throws the soldiers of the IDF into a reality in which there is a contradiction between the commandments of G-d and the orders of the military commander.Therefore, we must teach ourselves and all of Israel, that our belief in Hashem the G-d of Israel and the acceptance of the yoke of His Kingdom, are the source of our devotion in the war to assist Israel. We need to make it clear to everyone that this loyalty to Hashem stands above all other loyalties, to the government or to the army.
Through this very trouble shall we be delivered.
We will make it clear that while it is true that the army has one commander – he, too, must be loyal to the G-d of Israel. This clarification will uplift our army to loyalty to Hashem our G-d, a loyalty through which the true Israeli military consciousness shall be clarified. It is not "my power and the might of my hand that hath gotten me this wealth, but the Lord your God... gives you power to get wealth" (Deuteronomy 8).
The Gemara in Sanhedrin Tractate teaches us that it is a mistake to declare loyalty to a flesh and blood king without noting that our primary loyalty is to the Word of Hashem!
The Yad Ramah [a 12th century Jewish sage from Spain – ed.] explains the passage by saying that any declaration of loyalty must be carried out in the fashion of the sons of Gad and Reuven, who told Joshua: "As we obeyed everything that Moses told us so shall we obey you, only let the Lord your G-d be with you as He was with Moses; Every man who goes against your orders will be put to death, may you only be strong."
They declared loyalty and then lessened it, in case they would be ordered to transgress against the Torah and its commandments.
We teach our students, the Hesder Yeshiva students, to be loyal soldiers out of a commitment to to the Word of Hashem. We are certain that the Name of the Lord which we bear is what strikes fear into the hearts of our enemies, and it is what awards us with salvation and the glory of victory.
Signed,
Rabbi Yigal Abutbul, Rishon LeTzion Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Ben Tzon Elgazi, Kerem BeYavneh Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Shmuel Eckstein, Afikei Daat Hesder Yeshiva in Sderot
Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai, Kiryat Arba Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Shlomo Binyamin, Lev LaDaat Hesder Yeshiva in Sderot
Rabbi Ariel Bareli, Afikei Daat Hesder Yeshiva in Sderot
Rabbi Ohad Baruchi, Tverya Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Eyal Gefen, Rishon LeTzion Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Chaim Gross, Mitzpeh Eshtamoa Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Amir Garti, Shavei Shomron Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Erez Vatik, Shavei Shomron Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Shiloh Tovi, Afikei Daat Hesder Yeshiva, Sderot
Rabbi Elisha Yinon, Beit Shean Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Yaakov Yehudah Yakir, Beir Orot Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Yitzchak Levi, Kerem BeYavneh Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Yishai Lange, Beit Orot Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Yair Frank, Shiloh Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Nachum Tzafri, Elon Moreh Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Noam Konigsberg, Shaalabim Hesder Yeshiva
Rabi Eliyahu Shachor, Elon Moreh Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Aryeh Stern, Kerem BeYavneh Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Shalom Shmidt, Ramat Gan Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Yedidya Shimon, Rishon LeTzion Hesder Yeshiva
The organizers said that the list is a preliminary one.
Background:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/134849
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1260447431284&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1260894118149&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The Full text in Hebrew of the Hero Rabbi Eliezer Melamed (H) http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/197918
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