"On A Hill Near Shchem" and other short arctcles

 “Beyond Words” is a newly-published seven volume collection of Rabbi Meir Kahane’s writings from 1960 – 1990 that originally appeared in The Jewish Press, other serial publications, and his privately-published works.

“Beyond Words” also includes a number of extra features:

Chronology of Rabbi Kahane's life.

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Beyond Words

Selected Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane,
1960-1990  
Volume 3

 

An Interview with Rabbi Meir Kahane,

Kahane Magazine,  April 1978, p.22

There is a truth, a Jewish truth that no one speaks today.  The Jewish Idea has been corrupted and silenced.  There must be one person who is prepared to speak the entire truth in the truthful way.  No one else speaks about the holocaust that must grip the Galut; no one else speaks about the need to remove the Arabs from Eretz Yisroel; no one else says that to depend on the Americans will not bring salvation but rather Divine punishment; no one else ways that if the government of Israel will not annex the lands, Divine Punishment will again strike us; no one else says that we must defy the government if it defies Jewish law; no one else speaks as a Jew, and with the Jewish Idea.  That is my obligation.  If I have support and if I have followers, well and good.  If I am able to build an organization, so much the better.  But if I have to be alone and shout out the lonely truth in that way – that will be my role.

 “On A Hill Near Shchem,”

Jewish Press, October 13, 1978

Conversation between Rabbi Kahane and the soldiers of Israel 

 “Why do you have to give us such a hard time?” asked one soldier.  “I am not the only one who gives you a hard time,” I replied, “you are the ones who are

breaking the law.  The law says that a Jew must live in Eretz Yisroel and settle everywhere, and you prevent it.”  “The only law that we have is the government, and you are violating it.  Besides, we want peace and you are destroying the chances for peace.”    “And you really believe that by giving up Sinai and giving the Arabs Judea and Samaria, you will have peace?  Don’t you remember how they went to war when they had the Sinai and Judea-Samaria?”  The soldiers had now gathered around me and one said:  “But things are different today!”  “How do you know?” I shot back, “Why do you risk the state by trusting an enemy that started four wars?”  “We have to gamble!  It is impossible to keep on fighting.  I am willing to take the risk.”  It was clear that this was the view of most of the soldiers, almost all of whom were irreligious.

 “I’ll tell you,” I said.  “If you really want to gamble, trust me – not the Arabs.  I tell you that if you will all put on tefillin for a month, the Messiah will come.  And if you gamble on tefillin and the Messiah does not come, what have you lost?”

 

. . .  Tomorrow would be Friday, Begin was coming home.  At the airport he would be greeted by thousands of cheering Israelis and he would cry out to them: “I have brought you peace!”  Voices.  Voices. Voices. From yet another airport; from yet another Prime Minister; to yet another cheering crowd.  “I have brought you peace in our time . . .” It was Chamberlain coming home from Munich.  The bus started up and the settlement had come to an end.  This time there was no singing.

 “The Second Revolution,”

Jewish Press, October 20, 1978

While no other Prime Minister used the name of G-d, Begin mouths it and then gives away Jewish rights because Jimmy Carter, in his eyes, is more real.  Fear of being isolate?  Trembling at the fact that no newspapers supported Israel?  Worry over the loss of allies? The redemption of the Jewish people will come with the greatest grandeur precisely when Israel is isolated!   And these are the words of the Prophet Isaiah as he envisioned the final redemption, words we read in the synagogue on the week before Rosh Hashanah; words that were mouthed without listening to them or understanding them.  The Prophet speaks of the anger and vengeance of G-d against Israel’s enemies:

 

“I have trodden in the winepress ALONE, and of the nations THERE WAS NONE WITH ME. . . For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redemption is come.  And I looked and there was none to help . . .  therefore has My own arm brought salvation . . .” (Isaiah 63:3-5)

Not through Jimmy Carter are we saved, and not through allies and gentile salvation.  Begin, who gave into pressure, is no better than all the others whom he so bitterly criticized when he was in opposition.  Fear of the gentile has taken precedence over the awe of G-d.  That is the heart of the problem. That is why Begin brought home, not peace, but war.  For peace will only come when He who creates and grants peace will agree.  That agreement can never come in response to violation of Torah and to Hillul Hashem.

Perhaps a final note.  All that I have written would have been bad enough.  But there might have been some mitigation had Begin, at least stood before the people gravely, sadly, in sorrow and said:  “This is a black day for us.  But we had no choice.”  I would have differed with him then, too, and been angry.  But at least we would have been spared the sight of a huge and happy welcome at the airport – so strikingly similar to the return of Chamberlain.  At least, Begin might not have pretended that he had brought us good tidings and peace. At least, he would have been honest.

The above articles appeared in 1978 quotes, volume 3.

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