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Lichvod Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Smith and Rabbi Shimon Chyrek, Shlita
Thank you for all that you do and have done on behalf of Am Yisroel.
I read the week's roundup
Week's Roundup - How to understand high intensity conflicts and the Marxist phony dialectics they serve - Case Study - Israeli Judicial Reform
listened to the video regarding justice reform.
Case study - Judicial Reform in Israel: How Marxist Phony Dialectics Divert us from G-d & our fellow
I hear the argument that evil forces, (Rabbi Smith calls it Marxist Communism phony dialectic), controls both sides.
I agree that the leftist anti judicial reform comes from a desire to control Israel.
I agree that Netanyahu is compromised and his agenda is not searching for Truth and Justice but rather simply to keep himself in power. He has lied to both sides. He too is a puppet.
I would suggest to continue your work namely that fighting for Truth and Justice based on Torah and yearning for Malchut Shamayim, and working to educate the world regarding observing the Sheva Mitzvoth Bnei Noach and Universal morality, is the way to move forward.
Rabbi Smith In the past, spoke out powerfully against getting bogged down with all the scary news out there such as dangers facing humanity via scientifically genetically modifying humans etc...
Rabbi Smith said that Marxist Communist phony dialectics infiltrates both sides to create disunity and war.
Let us do a Paradigm shift.
Hashem has empowered both the leftists and Netanyahu.
Rabbi Smith suggested in the past, not to take either side and not to fear all the terrible news that points to either side under the influence of the side of evil.
I remember writing back that indeed we need to acknowledge their great power to do evil but at the same time say Ein Od Milvado.
The same with the 2 political forces fighting for and against Judicial Reform.
Bh for Torah. Torah will dissipate the evil.
I would like to see a G-dly force of people seeking Truth and justice as defined by Torah and Halacha. We need leaders like yourself to lead and focus on Truth and Justice and the Sheva Mitzvoth. Torah is the only answer and the only true Justice Reform that could exist untainted by external evil forces.
Powerful political forces have infiltrated the IDF military and private companies in Israel and Israeli government and educational institutions etc....and they are rebelling against Hashem. We need to fight back.
This unfortunately probably will backlash big time as we see in the case with the media and courts and IDF and Police and prosecution framing Settler hilltop youth with slander and blood libels attempting to destroy them them with character assassination in the media painting a false narrative of "Jewish terrorism".
From their perspective, Torah fighting Jews are the most dangerous people out there. Especially the ones that demand courts based on Torah.
The creme de la creme, idealistic Hilltop Youth bh can not be easily bought. Of course evil forces try their best to infiltrate and since that doesn't work that well have resorted to framing, provoking, torture, blood libels and slander.
Let us collectively stand up against their immoral blood libels and Administrative Detention and unlawful incarceration. Let us not be afraid to base our arguments on Torah for Jew and Non Jew. Let us somehow educate the world to emulate Almighty G-d and His Attributes and that Torah is looking for Truth and Justice and mercy and Righteousness not only for Jews but for non Jews alike..
Both Jews and non Jews need real evidence of wrongdoing before locking anyone up under the pretext they are dangerous and ticking time bombs based on the say so of enemies from within or without who have no case to speak of...
Torturing Arabs to extract confession is not permissible.
Moshiach will usher an era of Peace and Prosperity. Wasn't the Sanhedrin stationed in the Bais HaMikdash on Temple Mount in the H-ly Temple itself? Didn't Yisro suggest a court of righteous judges and discouraged Moshe Rabbeinu from judging alone?
Is Moshiach a pre requisite for the Sanhedrin or is the yearning for Hoshiva Shofteinu a prerequisite for Moshiach?
Regarding the IDF and Sheirut Leumi a similar situation. Let us teach what a kosher Jewish army is about. How must a Jewish soldier act?
The Jews were counted in the Midbar according to Yotzei Tzava. 20-60.
Surely then Hashem supports a Jewish Army. Countless examples in Tanach. Shevet Gad and Reuvein, Shirat Devora all called for the entire nation to participate in the conquering of the land. What about the Mitzvoth DOrayta incumbent on a Jewish soldier. Surely there wouldn't be any such mitzvoth if a Jewish army is a bad thing ?
True the IDF has been infiltrated. But we still need a jewish army. We cant throw out the baby with the bathwater. We need to educate re Torah and Halacha when it comes to fighting our enemies.
Let us not be afraid to speak out for a Torah units in the IDF that do not brainwash its soldiers and for a prototype Torah State in Judea and Samaria run by Torah Law with militias and the ability to successfully defend ourselves from enemy attackers.
The present situation has deteriorated placing the Jews living in Judea and Samaria in real danger, in Hebrew, Sakonas nefoshos.
Being cruel to the merciful, namely cruel toward innocent hilltop settlers, and merciful to the cruel, namely attacking Arabs, for political brownie points, is against Torah and also against common sense and standard military protocol.
Hashem Oz leAmo Yiten.
I think you will appreciate this
Essay by Rabbi YY Jacobson
Why Israel Must Reclaim Its Soul Now
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Robin Ticker <faigerayzel@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Feb 15, 2015, 8:42 AM
Subject: Protecting Our Girls by Jonathan Rosenblum Motzei Shem Ra on Sheirut Leumi?
To: info@mishpacha.com <info@mishpacha.com>, ....
From: Robin Ticker <faigerayzel@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Feb 15, 2015, 8:42 AM
Subject: Protecting Our Girls by Jonathan Rosenblum Motzei Shem Ra on Sheirut Leumi?
To: info@mishpacha.com <info@mishpacha.com>, ....
bs"d
Rabbi Rosenblum writes: Mishpacha 22 Shevat 5775/February 11, 2015 page 27
"No issue was fought more passionately by Israel's chareidi community in the 1950s than the national service for women. The gedolim of Eretz Yisrael ruled that attempts to enlist women of draft age even in nonmilitary, national service frameworks, created a prohibition of yehareg v'al yaavor - one must give up his life rather than transgress.
Prime Minister Golda Meir once asked Rav Yaakov Kamentesky why the gedolim so strongly forbade the national service option for women. Rab Yaakov replied that no unmarried, young woman may ever be subject to the authority of someone other than her father, and especially not someone who is not shomer mitzvos.
I'm pretty confident that Golda Meir found that particular explanation more than a little implausible, old-fashioned and unduly suspicious of the behavior of the IDF commanders.
My friend and mentor Rabbi Shmuel Kuperwasser pointed out to me last week more confirmation - not that any was needed - that the old rabbis were not naive. In the past year, seven high-ranking police commanders have resigned amidst scandal - four in bribery scandals and three in cases involving harassment of female employees often many such employees - under their command. A fourth district commander is also under investigation on harassment charges.
Inspector General Yohanan Danino admits that "the police department is in need of root canal work." And indeed the series of scandals has badly shaken public trust in the police. But at least it should have reinforced public trust in the rabbanim."
Dear Editor and Mr. Rosenblum,
Were these Sheirut Leumi girls?
This is my first hand knowledge of Sheirut Leumi. '
I lived in Kiryat Arbain the 1980s and the Kindergartens, schools, Matnas and Medrasha depended on Sheirut Leumi for their operation for the benefit of the community. It would have been very difficult to pay for these much needed services otherwise. Are you implying that working in schools, kindergartens, Medrasha, Matnas etc. can be dangerous to our girls?
On a very personal level, my daughter had a very positive Sheirut Leumi experience working for L''Maan Achai in Beit Shemesh servicing also the Chareidi community helping out in a Moadon for young girls ages 7-12 who came from disadvantaged homes. Twice a week she cooked lunch and the rest of the time she was a big sister to some of these girls and other times worked in the after school Moadon. Her co worker supervisor was a marriedChareidi Breslov women with a large family, a wonderful role model and friend for my daughter. My daughter also became close to many of the office staff (female) who befriended her etc. I am sure she also came in contact with males, who ran the program, like a sweet elderly volunteer gentleman of L'Maan Achai who always sampled her meals and complemented her on them or perhaps those who advised on how to handle finances in a responsible manner as he advised the clients of L'maan Achai.
My daughter also helped with distribution of Mishloach Manot and Kimche D'Pischa.
I'm not quite sure how this environment is any different than any Chareidi charitable organization and I am very upset that you are portraying Sheirut Leumi in a blanket negative light.
Do you have any evidence whatsoever that the girls involved in the police scandal were indeed from Sheirut Leumi?????
In addition, Motzei Shem Ra seemed to be the case also with the Chareidi Draft.
According to Rav Yisachar Shiomo Teichtal, a Torah giant, the Holocaust, to which he himself fell victim, was very much a consequence of the failure of Europe's orthodox Jewish leaders to heed the teachings of the Prophets and the Sages to redeem Eretz Yisrael when even Gentiles—recall the Balfour Declaration and the League of Nations—supported the return of the Jews to their ancient homeland. He blames rabbis who, by denouncing secular Zionism and opposing immigration to Israel—aliya—discouraged Jews from fulfilling their sacred obligation to return to and rebuild the Land of Israel and thereby sanctify God's Name.
Fleeing from the Nazis, and writing in 1943 without books and while Jews were perishing around him, Rav Teichtal composed an extraordinary work entitled Eim Habanim Semeichah (A Joyous Mother of Children)2 There he cites an incredible number of Torah, Talmudic, and post-Talmudic sources showing that "the purpose of our afflictions is to arouse us to return to Eretz Yisrael." These sources all speak of the crucial importance of the Holy Land. They show that the redemption of the Jewish people can only take place in the Land of Israel.
Rav Teichtal goes further. Contrary to what he had learned from contemporary rabbis and had himself believed prior to the Holocaust, he shows that the secular Zionists were deserving of great praise; for even though they denied the Torah, they were fulfilling the commandment to return to and rebuild the Land of Israel. What is more, further research on his part revealed that many of the great halachic authorities—experts in Jewish law— predicted that secularists would restore the Holy Land! How is it possible, therefore, that learned orthodox rabbis failed to heed the teachings of Torah masters—Rav Teichtal cites Maimonides (the Rambam) and Nachmanides (the Ramban)—regarding the mitzvah of settling in and rebuilding Eretz Yisrael?
To begin with, let us be fair and recall that, in the closing years of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth, the venerable beliefs and customs of the Jewish people had come under the ideological assault of the Socialist and Communist movements along with that of secular Zionism. The defections from tradition, especially in urban areas, were massive. On the surface, therefore, orthodox rabbis had good reasons to oppose the shallow secular Zionism initiated by Theodore Herzl's The Jewish State. They saw in this Zionism the denial of the Sinai Covenant and the chosenness of the Jewish People. Secular Zionists, influenced by the egalitarianism of the Enlightenment, regarded all nations as equal. They rejected the idea that the Jews were "a nation apart." And yet, had not Jews lived and died for their apartness? Did not the deepest instincts of the Jews call for difference and distance? In contrast, the Zionists envisioned a state in which the Jews would become a "normal" people. No longer would they suffer the scourge of anti- Semitism, of pogroms and humiliation. The dignity of the despised Chosen. People would be restored—note the paradox—and at last they would live in peace and security.
To become a "normal" people, however, the Torah, which had sustained and inspired the Jews for thousands of years, would have to be relegated to the home and the synagogue. Jews would then have a new national identity. Judaism would be divorced from public law, would cease to be an all- comprehensive way of life. This was anathema to the rabbis. Besides, they believed that a Zionist state based on non-Torah law could not possibly succeed or endure.
Now it so happens that, three decades before Herzl's pioneering work, certain rabbis did in fact encourage aliya. In 1864, Rabbi Tzvi Kalischer published a book, Derishat Tzion, which was praised by various halachic authorities for its proposed "Organization for the Settlement of Eretz Yisrael." Mention should also be made of the Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaCohen, one of the greatest Torah scholars of modem times. (His unparalleled halachic work, the Mishnah Berura, is the definitive compendium of Jewish law.) Even in the aftermath of the 1929 Hebron massacre, the Chofetz Chaim encouraged aliya. He held that "there is no Torah like the Torah of Eretz Yisrael, and there is no wisdom like the wisdom of Eretz Yisrael" (Bereisheet Rabbah, Numbers 16:7). Nevertheless, when Rav Teichtal wrote Eim Habanim Semeichah, so prevalent was anti-Zionism among European rabbis that he was compelled to cite the halachic authorities that had endorsed Kalischer's work in the hope of persuading other rabbis to encourage aliya and thereby save as many Jews as possible from the Nazi inferno.
Without wishing to malign these rabbis and thereby arm the wicked, Rav Teichtal nonetheless compared them to the Ten Spies, about whom it says in Psalms 106:24-25: "They murmured in their tents... They despised the desirable Land" and thus discouraged the Children of Israel from entering the Land promised to the Patriarchs. Although the spies were princes of Israel, Rav Teichtal cites various sources that explain their behavior as motivated by self-interest: they were afraid that in Eretz Yisrael they would lose the positions of leadership they held in the desert! (See the Zohar 3:158a.) "The same holds true in our times," says Rav Teichtal "even of rabbis, rebbes, and chassidim. This one has a good rabbinical position; this one is an established Admor [a prominent Torah master]; and this one has a profitable business or factory or a prestigious job which provides great satisfaction. They are afraid that their status will decline if they go to Eretz Yisrael. People of this sort [though otherwise meritorious] are influenced by their deep-rooted, selfish motives to such an extent that they themselves do not realize that their prejudice speaks on their behalf."
Rav Teichtal quotes numerous sources that extol the great merit of Eretz Yisrael. The Talmud: "He who dwells in Eretz Yisrael is like one who has a God, and he who dwells outside the Land is like one who does not have a God" (Ketuvot llOb). The Midrash: "It is preferable to dwell in the deserts of Eretz Yisrael than the palaces of Chutz LaAretz" (Bereisheet Rabbah, Genesis 39:8). The Zohar. "I will return in peace to my father's home, for there lays the Holy Land, there I will be perfected . . ." (l:150b).
Does it not say in Genesis 15:7: "I am the Lord who brought you [Abraham] out of Ur-Kasdim to give you this Land to inherit it"? The Talmud expresses this as follows: "The Land of Israel is an inheritance from our forefathers" (Avodah Zara 53b). Therein is the basis of the Jewish claim to Eretz Yisrael. Now, if Rav Teichtal, a man of extraordinary learning, courage, and love of the Jewish people, could question the motives of prominent rabbis who denounced secular Zionism and thereby discouraged Jews from leaving the fleshpots of Europe for Eretz Yisrael, what shall we say of the descendants of those who established the State of Israel and who now wish to abandon Judea and Samaria, the heartland of the Jewish people? Are their motives any purer?
