Thursday, June 16, 2011

In Honor of Parshat Shlach

bs"d
 
Dear Friends, amv"sh
 
Tikkun Chait HaMiraglim. Please email to your Rabbanim.  Our generation has the job to be MeTaken the Sin of the Miraglim to speak out for Jewish Sovereignty in all of Eretz Yisroel and to keep the Mitzvoth on the delineated boundaries of Eretz Yisroel.   -
 
 
Al Taamod Al Dam Reiacha!  The Chofetz Chaim says that one must speak out to prevent harm to our fellow Jew!
 
 
Buried Treasure - Yishai Fleisher - Eye on Zion. Video in response of murder of Yosef ben Livnat in Kever Yosef in Schem
 
 

B"H
PARSHAT SHLACH LECHA
(by Yehuda HaKohen)
As the Hebrew Nation mobilizes to liberate the Land of Israel from Canaanite rule, Moshe dispatches a team of twelve scholars (a leader from each tribe) to spy out the country in preparation for the assault. Ten of these spies return with a misleading report meant to demoralize the people and prevent the conquest from taking place. The other two, Yehoshua and Calev, courageously challenge the ten in an attempt to save Israel from sin. The masses, however, follow the opinion of the ten rabbis and in so doing bring about a national catastrophe.
The spies who brought their people a demoralizing report were ostensibly demonstrating a rationalist approach to the situation. They saw and were concerned over the difficulties their people would be forced to confront when fighting to conquer the Land of Israel.
"The people that dwells in the land are powerful, the cities are fortified and very great, and we also saw the giant's descendants there... We cannot ascend against those people for they are too strong for us (mimenu)." (BAMIDBAR 13:28, 31)
Because the word mimenu can be translated as either "us" or "him" Rashi comments that it was as though they were speaking about HaShem, claiming that those Canaanite nations were even stronger than G-D.
The result was that the ten rabbis weakened Israel's resolve, leading the people to come forth with such arguments as "Why is HaShem bringing us to this land to die by the sword? Our wives and young children will be taken captive! Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?" (BAMIDBAR 14:3)
Most of Israel sided with the defeatist spies and perished in the desert over a period of forty years. The conquest of Eretz Yisrael was delayed until a new generation could arise that would be psychologically capable of fighting for their homeland. It was ultimately Yehoshua and Calev – the minority rabbinic opinion – who emerged victorious a generation later, leading Israel in the liberation of their country from foreign rule.
The ten spies that led the Hebrew Nation to catastrophe were essentially putting forth two basic arguments. The first was that preserving life overrides the conquest of Eretz Yisrael and that if taking possession of the land appears to be dangerous, the people are not required to do so.
The second opinion expressed by these rabbis was that it is possible and permissible to live true Torah lives outside of our borders; that the Nation of Israel need not be in the Land of Israel to be loyal to HaShem or to observe His Torah. But this claim in itself negates Torah Law. The spies – giants of Israel and chiefs of the Sanhedrin – rebelled against HaShem in refusing His directive to conquer the Land of Israel. Their mutiny revealed a terrible lack of faith and was a transgression far worse than that of the golden calf. For the sin of the calf, only three thousand were punished but for the sin of the spies, all male adults aside from Yehoshua and Calev died in the desert before ascending to their homeland.
The Sages teach (in Tanchuma) that the sin of the spies took place on the ninth day of Av and was the foundation for the destructions of both the first and second Temples (both occurring on the same date in future years).
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto explains in Mesillat Yesharim (chapter 11) that the spies, who were the tribal chiefs and Torah giants of their generation "feared a lessening of their honor, lest, upon entering the land, they would no longer be princes of Israel, and others would be appointed in their place."
It is a regrettable truth that this transgression has repeated itself many times throughout our history. Spiritual leaders often refrain from educating their followers that living in, conquering and settling the entire Land of Israel are not merely commendable personal choices but actually an underlying basis for the entire Torah. But if this error has infected even great Torah scholars, we must question how so many otherwise righteous and learned leaders could miss something so vital to the Torah's full expression. The Gaon of Vilna offers an explanation in Kol HaTor (the Gaon's teachings on the process of Redemption):
"The Sin of the Spies... hovers over the Nation of Israel in every generation… How strong is the power of the Sitra Achra that it succeeds in hiding from the eyes of our holy fathers the dangers of the klipot; from the eyes of Avraham our father, the klipah of exile... and in the time of the Mashiach, the Sitra Achra attacks the guardians of Torah with blinders… Many of the sinners in this great sin of, `They despised the cherished land,' and also many of the guardians of Torah, will not know or understand that they are caught in the Sin of the Spies, that they have been sucked into the Sin of the Spies in many false ideas and empty claims, and they cover their ideas with the already proven fallacy that the mitzvah of the settlement of Israel no longer applies in our day, an opinion which has already been disproven by the giants of the world, the Rishonim and Achronim." (Kol HaTor chapter 5)
In his supplement to the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot, the Ramban teaches that it is a Torah commandment for every generation that the Nation of Israel take control of and inhabit the entire Land of Israel.
"This is what our Sages call Milchemet Mitzvah... And do not err and say that this precept is the commandment to vanquish the seven nations... this is not so... this land is not to be left in their hands or in the hands of any nation, in any generation whatsoever... behold we are commanded with conquest in every generation... if so this is a positive commandment, which applies in every time... and the proof that this is a commandment is this: `They were told to go up in the matter of the Spies: Go up and conquer as HaShem has said to you. Do not fear and do not be discouraged.' And it further says: `And when HaShem sent you from Kadesh Barnea saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you.' And when they did not go up, the Torah says: `And you rebelled against the Word of G-D, and you did not listen to this command.'" (Positive Commandment 4 of the Ramban's supplement to the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot)
The Ramban states irrefutably that the conquest and settlement of Eretz Yisrael is a mitzvah for Israel in every generation and that we are forbidden from allowing any part of our country to fall into – or remain under – gentile control. It is found in the Shulchan Aruch that all of the arbitrators of Torah Law (Rishonim and Achronim) agree with the Ramban concerning this issue.
"All of the Poskim, both Rishonim and Achronim, decide the Law in this fashion on the basis of the Ramban." (Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer section 75, Pitchei Tshuva 6)
As for the spies' erroneous claim that preserving Jewish life overrides the commandment of liberating the Land of Israel, it is clear that conquering territory from a foreign nation is naturally an act that involves physical danger. While the Torah commands Israel in most cases to preserve Hebrew life even at the expense of Torah Law, this cannot be applied to a Divine commandment that is, in its very essence, life threatening. Because the Torah obligates the Jewish Nation to fight for the liberation of Eretz Yisrael, the notion of Pikuach Nefesh (preserving life) is not considered. Rather, a war of liberation requires great Mesirut Nefesh (self-sacrifice).
"The mitzvot of the Torah are not based on the occurrence of miracles. The mitzvah to wage war is given to us despite the fact that in the natural course of events both sides suffer casualties in the heat of battle. Evidently the mitzvah applies even though there is inherent hazard…" (Minchat Chinuch commentary to Sefer HaChinuch 425)
The Gaon of Vilna writes in his introduction to Paat HaShulchan that "all of the wisdoms of the world are for the sake of the Torah and are included within It." As HaShem's national expression in this world, Israel must have an all encompassing vision of Torah that recognizes the Divine inner unity of everything in existence. The fragmented vision that caused the spies to feel like grasshoppers in comparison to the giants of Hevron is the same fragmented vision – dimmed by nearly two thousand years of humiliating exile – that causes many contemporary Jewish leaders to relate to the present as something isolated in history and to themselves as insignificant when compared to the leaders of foreign nations. This unhealthy perspective must be replaced by a higher understanding – one that views HaShem as the Source of all, guiding world history towards an ultimate goal of universal perfection. Israel must learn to see the world from the roots above and to view history in its entirety; to have an all encompassing vision of where Creation is being led and what this means for our people and for all of mankind. Only by attaining this greater vision and self awareness can Israel understand our true national mission and the purpose of Torah as the blueprint for Creation.
With Love of Israel,
-Yehuda HaKohen
Am Segula
 
Activists Arrested After Being Attacked By Arabs
by Gavriel Queenann
June 15, 2011
(Israelnationalnews.com) Women in Green head Nadia Matar was detained
Wednesday by Civil Administration oficials after a violent
confrontation initiated by Arabs near Netzer.
Matar's saga began Tuesday night when Women in Green planted several
large olive trees on state-owned land near Netzer on a hill connecting
the Jewish communities of Elazer and Alon Shvut to stop Arab
encroachment.
"Arabs had started planting vines there, squatting on state owned
land. Then they started fencing it in and we knew we had to step in.
We ordered a huge truck and came in the night. We planted many large
olive trees and hooked up irrigation pipes for them. Then we posted a
guard because, when we've done this in the past, the Arabs try to
uproot the trees," Matar told Israel National News.
Wednesday morning Matar said she received a phone call from the sentry
telling her local Arab farmers with saws were cutting the trees down.
Matar, her partner Yehudit Katzover, and their supporters rushed to
the scene where they were violently confronted by the Arabs.
"When we came we saw the Arabs cutting the trees with saws. They had
already uprooted the irrigation pipes. They threatened us, pushed and
attacked us," Matar related. "We started putting the irrigation pipes
back together and they started striking us. Of course we immediately
called for the army to come."
Shortly after the initial confrontation Civil Admininistration
officials, along with police and army officers, arrived to investigate
the incident and took Nadia and Yehudit into custody for questioning
after the Arabs accused them of being the aggressors.
"This is a time-honored tradition among the Arabs: to attack you and
then claim to be the vicitms. As soon as we called the Army one of the
Arab women there told her son to lie down and showed him how to
pretend he was hurt. The performance he put on would have won him an
award in any theater. He played the perfect victim. So the police
arrested us, Yehudit and I, as well as the Arabs," Matar said.
Matar and Katzover were held and interrogated by police until four in
the afternoon before being released. The two thanked lawyer Adi Keidar
of Honenu for his efforts on their behalf.
"The police held me for a very long time. They were very angry. They
yelled at me and demanded we name the other Jews who were present. I
refused. I told them I was there to complain about the Arabs planting
on state-owned land and attacking us and would talk about nothing
else," Matar related.
"I told them the other Jews did not want to be involved because they
know that whenerver a Jew files a complaint against an Arab they
become the accused. When my interrogator heard that, he threatened me
with obstruction charges. I told him he was proving my point. Finally,
when Yehudit was released, she was able to get me out," Matar related.
Matar, who cited the incident as a victory, said she and the Arabs
were issued a restraining order forbidding them from going to the
Netzer site for fifteen days while the Army investigated who owned the
land.
"If you call and complain Arabs are stealing state-owned land, nothing
happens. They will only intervene if their is a confrontation. So, by
doing this, we forced the army to come. Now they will review the maps
and be forced to make a decision on the land's status," Matar
explained.
"We always research first," Matar said. "We always have maps and
survey the areas we patrol. We know what the army will find. They say
no one will be allowed in until a decision is made, but we will
continue our patrols. Sometimes confrontation is the only way to force
the authorties to stand up for Jewish rights."
Matar was charged with obstruction and tresspassing before being
released on bail. Israel Police spokesperson Mickey Rosenthal said
Matar was obligated to cooperate with investigators.
"As the spokesperson I can't comment on the exact tone or what have
you of Ms. Matar's interview - we expect officers to be cool and
collected as there is normally no need for elevated emotions in an
interview - but she is obligated to cooperate and provide
investigators with any information relevant to their investigation.
Its her duty," Rosenthal said.
The IDF had not responded to queries for information by the time this
article was published.

--
Sincerely,

Robin Ticker
This email  is L'Ilui Nishmat  Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan)  a great activist and lover of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichrono Baruch.

This will be posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com

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