Wednesday, June 07, 2006

If we only had that yearning for Torah and Mitzvoth...

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I feel that a lack of yearning for Eretz Yisroel from Hamonei Am, from each and every Jew be it in Israel or in the Diaspora, is the true cause for the expulsion of Gush Katif. This cause must be rectified or else future expulsions that are in the making may G-d forbid actualize. Sharon and the Palestinians were simply Hashem's messengers but not the root cause of the expulsion. Our lack of yearning for the Mitzvoth of Eretz Yisroel is the root cause.

Hashem is waiting for all of us, each and every Jew whether in Israel or in the Diaspora to express the yearning to be in Eretz Yisroel and to keep the Mitzvoth. Giving away the Land makes it impossible to keep actual Mitzvoth. For example, farmers in Yishuv Itamar in the Shomron near Shchem, can now do Leket, Shikcha, Peah and Shemittah to name a few Mitzvoth. These are hands on Mitzvoth. Just like you need a hand to do Tefillin one needs the property of Land to keep these Mitzvoth. If there was a true yearning among the Gedoilim Batorah, and among those that learn and believe in the Torah, there would be a Kol Korei in Hamodia and Yated saying that giving away the Land of Israel is not an option for Am Yisroel. How can any other entity, even the most friendly democratic State, actualize the ultimate purpose of Am Yisroel and Eretz Yisroel which is only through the performance of Mitzvoth.

What a Chillul Hashem to give the Land of Israel to an entity that actually wishes to erase any vestige of Torah and Mitzvoth and holiness and whose platform openly wishes to destroy anything holy and destroy the Nation that is divinely entrusted to bring that holiness into this world.

Gedoilim Batorah can influence hundreds of thousands of ehrlich Yidden to voice a protest against the Roadmap and against the Convergence plan and express their yearning for Eretz Yisroel and a yearning to keep the Mitzvoth of Eretz Yisroel. Hashem is waiting for us to speak up for the Torah and for Hashem's Bris with our Forefathers, Avraham, Yitchok and Yaakov. If we only proclaim G-d's sovereignty of the Land (Ki LI Kol Haaretz) and recognize our own obligations of keeping the Mitzvoth, we would eliminate the cause of our pain and suffering. No matter where a Jew lives, Eretz Yisroel has been promised to us as a gift and we in turn are obligated to guard it and keep it by not only learning Torah but also by doing the actual Mitzvoth that can only be done on a piece of property within the boundaries of Eretz Yisroel. Those boundaries are spelled out very explicitly in the Torah. When we perform the Mitzvoth,(See Torah Reading of Shabbat Shevuoth Aser Taaser) Hashem then promises us much blessings, security and peace and the entire world will be blessed as well.

Rav Kanievsky, Rav Shteinman, Rav Eliashiv and the Gerer Rebbe. Please end the Silence. Your voices will be echoed by hundreds of thousands. Bush will pay attention. Please just try it. Put a Kol Korei in Hamodia and the Yated and the Jewish Press about Bris Avos, Hashem's Covenant with our forefathers. Humanitarian issues and Security concerns are not the reasons to support our Brethren ruthlessly expelled from our Land. They are simply the consequences of not speaking out for the Torah thereby creating a chillul Hashem. If you are truly our Leaders and Gedoilim Batorah then you will rise to occasion and speak out. Your voices will bring a new spirit to Am Yisroel and blessings for the world. In that zechus may Hashem bring blessings upon you and yours, may you be blessed with Arichus Yamim with health, happiness and much Nachas from your families and from Klal Yisroel.


Please forward to Rabbi Rebibo editor of Hamodia and to Rabbi Lipshutz editor of Yated and Rabbi Klass of the Jewish Press. I would hope that Rabbi Rebibo and Rav Lipshutz and Rabbi Klass would then forward this to the Gedoilim Batorah begging them to please come out with a Kol Korei in their paper that the Land of Israel is promised to Am Yisroel and that only Am Yisroel is obligated in keeping Mitzvoth that will bring blessings to the entire world. The Roadmap and Convergence Plan are in direct contradiction to the Torah since boundaries of the "other" State are within the recognized boundaries of the piece of property that has been given as a gift exclusively to the People of Israel. It is a Mitzva to voice protest to the Roadmap Plan and to the Convergence Plan and this will be a true Kiddush Hashem. Our Nation is waiting for our Gedoilim Batorah to take a unified Lead. This will make our generation worthy of the coming of Moshiach.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Creative suggestions to the people of Gush Katif for survival based on Shemittah

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The people of Gush Katif do have alternatives to putting all their hopes and energies on the gov't to come through with their "compensation packages". Jews all over the world must help them start anew, help them once again settle the Land.

Here are some very innovative suggestions that have its origin from my Shemittah year experience. For this suggestion to work to its fullest I will lay down some givens.

Givens:

1. Jews in the Diaspora have the same obligation to settle the Land and keep the Mitzvoth of the Land as one who is a citizen of Israel. We are collectively bound by one Torah

2. The Land is a gift from G-d to the people of Israel.

Each Jew has the obligation to express their desire and yearning for the Land in a practical way even if he is unable to physically live on the Land. Anything that a Jew does that helps build up the Land and helps to settle the Land, whether they are in the Land physically or not, is showing their recognition of G-ds gift to them and the responsibilities inherent in that gift.

Suggestions for survival to the people from Gush Katif that are derived from the Commandment of Shemitas Kesafim.

Shemitas Kesafim takes place at the end of the Shemittah year. The Lender forgives the loan to the Borrower. The Lender may not hound the borrower and the borrower is not obligated to repay the Lender:

Shemitas Kesafim works hand in hand with Shemitas Karkaot. In the Shemitta year, practically, the farmer is not working and is generating no income. He will ask his friend for a loan. His friend is commanded to open his hands generously to provide for the needs of his friend. The farmer has no pressure to pay back the loan though he may very well wish to, since he is under no obligation to pay back the loan.

Preceding the disengagement there was a campaign called Maamin Vezorea. This campaign called upon all Jews to lend the people of Gush Katif money so that they could continue to plant. Banks were refusing to allow farmers to borrow. Lenders were taking an obvious risk as were those that were planting.

Now again the time has come to reinact the Maamin Vezorea campaign. Everyone can participate. The main purpose is to get the people from Gush Katif back on their feet without putting the burden of paying back loans on their shoulders.

Suggestions to the expelees of Gush Katif:

1. Go to groceries, restaurants etc., and ask the proprietor to please allow you to buy on credit. Tell the proprietor that you are from Gush Katif, and broke and unemployed or whatever is the truth. Tell the proprietor that you can not guarantee that you will repay him but you very much hope that one day you will be back on your feet and will remember with kindness the act of kindness on his/her part and try to repay him/her in kind. There is an understanding that the proprietor is willing to forego the loan if necessary. And there is no obligation on your part to repay back the loan.

2. Don't hesitate to live on overdraft especially if you've never done so in your life. You might find it to be a positive and exciting experience. Be Israeli.

3. Don't rely on compensation from the gov't and make sure above all that you eat well. Anyone that wishes to feed/clothes/buy things you need and it's appetizing/appealing don't be embarrassed. Remember their kindness for the future. At the Shemittah year in 1987 I remember visiting my Satmar aunt who insisted that I eat everything each time I visited. Without having a job I gained 30 pounds that year.

Enjoy the kindnesses of others! They are benefitting from it perhaps even more than you. Keep your chin up. G-d is great! Don't worry. Be realistic. Don't expect compensation from those that expelled you without aggravation. Don't depend on the gov't.

Suggestion for those who wish to do something but don't have money, to do as follows:

1. Lobby the gov't of Israel to take over the mortgages of the houses they destroyed and compensate the owners the full value of the house and possessions minus the mortgage.

To everyone else besides the people of Gush Katif: (We should be the ones worrying about our brethren. To those from Gush Katif simple trust in Hashem but don't worry.)

Open up your hand generously. Forego all loans. Apply pressure at the gov't to take over the mortgages of all apts/houses they destroyed. Let the families be free of all debt. Of course the gov't should pay the families the full amount that the people paid towards the house/business including cost of living increase. The gov't should pay an equitable amount for destroying a business, loss of income etc.

The following was reported on Orange Bulletin:

Knesset Lobby for the GK families.


Last week was held in the Knesset the first session of the new established lobby for the evacuated families of GK which was formed by MK Uri Ariel, Mk Zeev Elkin from Kadima and the Gush Katif Committee

More than 20 MK from a vast array of political parties (Kadima, labor, Likud, National Unity/ Mafdal, Shas, Yahadut Atorah) joined MK Uri Ariel in this initiative when the sole goal of this lobby is the full rehabilitation of the families.

During this first meeting, the MK's listened to the representatives of the different communities, when they exposed the situation in their particular location. Following this first meeting and after realizing the extent of the problems faced by each community, the MK decided to visit the different communities in order to meet with the residents and see from close the issues to be dealt with.

Last Friday they visited the caravilla site of Ein Tzurim, where 130 families from Neve Dekalim and Gadid have finally, after 9 months in hotels and guest houses, integrated their temporary houses. The community of Netzer Hazani is still waiting for their caravillas to be ready.

Later on they continued to Yad Binyamin, Nitzan and to the tent city of Yad Mordechai.

After the State Comptroller's report two months ago, this is the first time that our representatives acknowledge the incompetence of the government and its various agencies in restructuring the lives of 10,000 citizens who were uprooted from their homes and communities last summer. They took upon themselves to work in small task committees in order to try to solve the most pressing problems: the lack of employment, the incapacity of the farmers and small businesses to restore their lifework, the permanent housing solutions, the flaws of the compensation law that do not allow for the families financial autonomy , the bureaucracy and more.

In Yad Binyamin one of the social workers who follows the expellees and provides guidance and counseling since last summer showed and exhibit of children's art works depicting their feelings after the expulsion, their pain and longing for a real home.

In Ein Tzurim, the MK were outraged to see that despite the fact that the site is unfit as proper housing solution, many families were forced in, in order to vacate the rooms in the guest houses.

They are living in despicable conditions: uncovered electric wires, open pits, uncompleted infrastructure, and the lack of community structures such as day care center, youth center, and synagogue. The impression is more of a construction site with hazardous security conditions, bulldozers still working, huge trucks driving back and forth, than a normal village.

In Nitzan the farmers and industrial plant managers explained the injustice of the law that not only does not give compensation but do not cover the nominal value of the assets. The former agreements between the Ministry of Agriculture and farmers who reinvested in their farms are not kept and the farmers did not receive the promised grants.

The Lobby for the Gush Katif evacuees promised to start working together with the Gush Katif Committee and the representatives of the communities in order to draw out the needed amendments in order to be able to present them to the Knesset Committees. In these days lawyers and economists are working together to bring amendments to the law so in less then a month so we will be able to present it to the Knesset .

Sunday, May 21, 2006

This past week's Haftara--amazing timing--a must-read!

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Please read this article on last week's Haftorah about Shemittah Parshas Behar-Bechukosai Yirmiyahu 16:19

by Rabbi Dovid Siegel
Kollel Toras Chaim
Kiryat Sefer, Israel

The author is Rosh Kollel (Dean) of Kollel Toras Chaim,
Kiryat Sefer, Israel.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Post Election thoughts - Why we lost.

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Why did the Right lose so badly? The only answer is that we did not speak up for the Covenant.

Everything comes down to the Bible. The Covenant with our forefathers is our source to our right to the Land. Nothing else. We in turn must keep the Commandments.

Yet such talk is considered "extremism", "religious fanaticism", "not politically correct", "paramount to creating a civil war".

All talk about religious freedom and the right to practice our religion in the Land that we consider is ours, and to practice the commandments in the Land that has been promised to us, is ok in theory but when it comes to application, well that's another matter.

There even isn't any brainstorming or talk allowed about what it would be like to have a gov't that is based on Torah. The gov't uses it's heavy hand against the Kahana internet cafe. Shabak does it's secret operations on individuals who talk about a Sanhedrin and Har Habayis. They do their best to intimidate these individuals from speaking and from allowing these ideas to blossom and develop form.

The Torah is not only a legitimate constitution for a gov't and for a political system, it is the only one that is appropriate for the Nation of Israel and the Land of Israel. True it is revolutionary and not put into practice for over 2,000 years.

Torah Jews believe as I do. They perhaps feel that the time is not ripe. Our survival depends on keeping the Torah, standing up for the Covenant and the Mitzvoth of the Torah.

But the process to reach this conclusion can be with pain and suffering or alternatively it could be with fear of the unknown, living like the Jews in the Desert in uncharted territory, working hard to uphold the Mitzvoth of the Torah, standing firm to our right to Eretz Yisroel and keepng the commandments, and above all with strong Emunah and putting our total trust in Hashem. Neither path is easy. The way we are choosing is coming with much tears and pain and sorrow. We choose rather to be expelled then to stand proud and strong and say we wish to live a life of Torah in the Land of Israel. We will do what we must to defend this right. Will this cause a civil war as many predict? In my opinion the opposite will cause a civil war. By allowing evil to win, and experiencing the consequences of allowing evil to prevail we will eventually have good reason to fight our brothers. By standing up strong for the Torah and for G-ds commandments and with strong Emunah, and much prayer, we will be zocheh to much joy at witnessing G-d's salvation coming to us directly. We will be one with our brothers who will clearly see that the Torah and the Mizvoth bring blessings to the entire world and it will surely be said Am Chacham Venavon! We will sing songs of praise and joy at the new found security and in Hashem's blessings as He has promised us in His Torah.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Letter to SHAS AND UTJ continued....

To Shas and UTJ Leadership in response to your decision to perhaps join KADIMA:

"Yes, expellees need your money desperately and you indeed have set up Pesach funds to "ease" the Pain, but your Torah is lip service and by your actions show that Torah is not relevant to today's reality. You have not come out for the Covenant and you are actually willing to be accomplice to those who have impoverished us and wish to do so to 70,000-100,000 others as well. Why have you aligned yourself with evil? What do you gain? Any money from the gov't for Torah education or to support large Torah families is blood money. It is worth speaking out against your willingness to join with a gov't whose actions model after Sodom and Gemorrah at the risk of losing your contributions. I would hope and expect that you too take that risk to speak out against this evil gov't and for the Covenant and for the Mitzvoth of the Torah, many of which can only be practiced on the Land of Israel. If you truly yearned to keep these Mitzvoth there is no way you could even think of giving Eretz Yisroel to any other governing authority that has no obligation, no desire, and no inclination to make this a Land of Kedushah . If you truly felt a yearning for Eretz Yisroel, you wouldn't even consider giving the Land to even a friendly democratic Palestinian State. Because such a secular State can never realize G-d's intention as is clearly expressed in the Torah countless times. UTJ, you are clearly unwilling to rise up to your purpose on this earth, our purpose as the Nation of Israel, to be a Mamlechet Kohanim Vegoy Kadosh for the betterment of all mankind. In fact you have the audacity to even show a willingness to hand it over to those whose actions, education and rhetoric clearly show that they hate the State of Israel, the people of Israel and wish to destroy whatever the people of Israel have built up over the years with their love and toil, sweat and tears for the Land.

Can't you see that your actions are not only hurting Am Yisroel but is detrimental to the entire world. The heavens and earth are the witnesses to the Covenant. They can either be on our side or against us. If we keep the Mitzvoth they can spit out our enemies like from the Yam Suf or Nachal Kishon with the heavens doing their part as well. If we don't keep the Mitzvoth, and how in the world can you keep the Mitvoth like Terumah, Maaser, Leqet SHickcha, Peah, Shemittah etc., if you are willing to give up the Land?

Read carefully the Mitzvoth the Nasi reads at Hakhel which promises security in the Land. Are the Rabbanim at all focusing on these Mitzvoth? Read SHirat Devorah in Shoftim Perek 5. Once Bnei Yisroel fight off the enemies the roads are once again safe. That alone is reason to sing Shira. When Bnei Yisroel chose other G-d's they couldn't even draw water without arrows being shot at them. They felt unprotected in unwalled cities. That is the exact situation today. Kassam rockets, building circuitous roads, building walls. All because Bnei Yisroel did not keep the word of Hashem. Devorah Haniviah gives credit to the The Torah Lawgivers. They were the ones that saved Am Yisroel. I ask you. WHERE ARE the TORAH LAWGIVERS of Today? Devorah Hanivia blasts Shevet Reuvein for their indecision and cowardliness by their wait and see attitude on whether to join the battle against the Canaanim. If the other shevattim would be winning, only then they'd join. Devorah Hanivieh calls for an investigation of their actions. She spares no words for those that picked up their valuables and left the scene of the battle. Her praises are for Shevet Naphtali and Zevulun, Binyamin and others that helped.

And if you don't see any connection with the security situation of today, surrounded by Hamas, Hizbollah, Al Quaieda, Kassam rockets within close proximity to the nuclear plant in Ashkelon area and even the threat of missionaries as not related to our own spiritual decline and alienation from the Torah and the MItzvoth in the Torah, please look again. There is no way you can disconnect from Eretz Yisroel and keep Torah in Galus without serious repercussions. Don't fool yourselves.

All we can say is SHAME ON YOU! SHAME ON YOU!