Lubavitcher Rebbe: Protest falls squarely on the shoulders of the Rabbis

BS"D

I am not the typical Lubavitcher. Yet, I sometimes feel like I am conducting a single women campaign, helped by Shmuel Koenig activist and encouraged or discouraged by fellow activists to entreat the Rabbinic Leaders, and the major religious Jewish Organizations and their media to be more proactive in the fight for Judea and Samaria.  What does amaze me is that their responses or rationalizations of not protesting or taking action was foreseen by the Lubavitch Rebbe and he is the one that is providing answers to them.  It is for this reason I ask that the Print and Radio media create a discussion whereby it is politically correct to question the Silence of our Leaders regarding our entitlement to Judea and Samaria and against a PA/Hamas State.     

When we asked Rav Perlow and Rav Shmuel Kamentsky to be more proactive they replied and "Perhaps what we say won't make a difference"  The Rebbe answers that in any case we must protest (see point # 7).  When we asked Yechiel Kalish from Agudah he replied we need first to wait for direction of MKs Litzman in the Agudah party of UTJ.  The Rebbe answers that in point #5. When in 2005 we spoke to Avi Shafran, he said that the Rabbanim feel that it is permissible to give away parts of Eretz Yisroel because of Pikuach Nefesh, the Rebbe answers that in point #2. When we asked Agudah for a meeting with David HaIvri they were busy with Dinners and wanted to push it off.  The Rebbe addresses pushing it off in point #3. When Shmuel Koenig calls the Agudah office this past week and there is a Global March to Jerusalem scheduled for this Friday and Migron is slated to be bulldozed he is told to call back at a later date. Again see point #2 and #3. The Rebbe clearly says that one is not allowed to push off matters related to Pikuach Nefesh. Who am I to argue with them but clearly everyone will agree that the Lubavitch Rebbe zt"l was a Gadol Hador, great in Nigle and Nistar, the revealed Torah and the hidden Torah,  and his words should be taken seriously.

These are points of the Lubavitch Rebbe, zt"l

The current situation in Israel is such that the duty to protest falls squarely on the shoulders of the Rabbis. This obligation falls upon all Rabbis who arbitrate practical matters of Jewish law, and especially those Rabbis who have at one time expressed an opinion on this issue, no matter where they are — whether in Israel or in the Diaspora. The ruling must be explicit and definitive, being the result of exhaustive consultation withpresent military authorities who have actual firsthand knowledge about these issues, and who express their opinions through purely security-oriented considerations, and not political ones. In order to save the Rabbis the trouble of researching the issues which are required for a ruling, the Rebbe informs us that he has already investigated the matter, and the conclusions are: Those involved in military affairs say that surrendering any portion of the West Bank and Gaza, places untold numbers of Jews in danger, G-d forbid. The past is well known (e.g., Golda Meir not listening to the Israeli Military Intelligence prior to Yom Kippur War). A ruling must be issued quickly, and a Rabbi must not wait until he is asked about the matter. Rather, he must see to it that the law is publicized everywhere — to the extent that "there will not be a single individual who has not heard of this ruling." This is because regarding these matters, "he who asks (rather than acts) is a spiller of blood, and the one who waits to be asked is contemptible" for not having publicized his opinion.[35] Similarly, one should publicize the decision of the "Great Assembly" of 1937 [36] which states that "it is forbidden to cede to a non-Jew, even a tiny strip of the Land of Israel." This should be publicised until the entire Jewish people are aware of this ruling. Every Jew, regardless of where he lives, is connected with every other Jews in the rest of the world. Therefore, according to Jewish law, he must protest any action taken by another Jew which is not in accordance with Jewish Law. Protest is required even if the forbidden action took place a great distance from him — because he is still obligated by the command, "Thou shalt not stand idly by thy brother's blood." At times the situation is such that there is nothing left to do but to protest. This is a precise indication that our task in this situation is to protest. The claim that protest will not affect the situation does not absolve any of the Rabbis, no matter where they are, from their obligation to publicize a clear ruling because: Who knows where we would be if no one were to speak up. Regarding the mitzvah to admonish one's fellow man, the Talmud says, "even one hundred times," meaning, if one unsuccessfully gave rebuke ninety-nine times, one is bound by Jewish law to engage in rebuke a hundredth time, for it could well be that the hundredth time will be decisive. The Rabbi must do his job and protest without fear, and without considering the reaction which may follow his ruling (such as being ignored); especially because this is an ongoing matter, which concerns saving Jewish lives. The obligation not to stand idly by while your brother's blood is being spilled, applies in every situation, even when one is uncertain that his protest will have any effect. Even if the chance that protest will assist is only one thousandth of a chance, or a fraction of that, one is obligated to protest, because this is the law in the Code of Jewish Law. Even if the majority remain silent, and those protesting are in the minority, nevertheless, the minority is taken into consideration. The Rabbis who remain silent cause the greatest damage. This is analagous to the Talmudic law concerning seventy Rabbinic judges who rule for or against a certain side, with one judge "abstaining." In such a case, Jewish Law requires the entire trial to be rendered null and void. The Rebbe's opinion is that were there to be a sustained protest, carried out with the greatest intensity — as the present situation clearly demands — it would eventually succeed, in the near future.

Thank you Izzy Kaplan zt"l for forwarding the material of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 2007.  

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Sincerely,

Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list  are 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.

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