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“Beyond Words” is a
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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Words Kahane.
Beyond Words
Selected Writings of
Rabbi Meir Kahane,
1960-1990
Volume 6
Shchem
– Where Is Shimon? Where Is Levi?
“Shall he make of our sister a
harlot?”
(Genesis 34: 31)
Some
3,500 years ago, an abomination was done to a Jew in Shchem. Dinah,
daughter of Jacob, was raped by Shchem, the son of Chamor. Upon
hearing of the obscenity, Dinah’s brothers – Shimon and Levi – went into the
town and slew every male.
Last
month, an abomination was done to a Jew in Shchem. A Jewish soldier was
murdered when an Arab dropped a huge rock on his head from a
rooftop. Upon hearing of the obscenity, Dinah’s brothers – Chief of
Staff Dan Shomron and the general in charge of the Central command,
Amram Mitzna – toured the scene of the murder, swore that the Arabs would pay
“a high price” ( the exact words of Shomron were: “There is no doubt that we
will react in this area in a way that will make it not worthwhile for local
people to throw stones and the price will be heavy. Every reaction
is possible. You will see this in the days to come”) – and then
proceeded to blow up the upper roof of the building from which the rock was
dropped and brick up windows overlooking the alley.
As
they did so, Arabs in adjacent buildings whistled and shouted, “Allahu
Akhbar, Allah is great,” and former Mayor Hafez Touquan said: “This
has no deterrent effect whatsoever.”
The
shame of Israel, the Hillul Hashem – desecration of the Name – lies in the fact
that today there is no Shimon, there is no Levi. There is only Dan
Shomron who – as Chief of Staff, to our dishonor, and thus committed to
crushing the intifada whose aim is to wipe out Israel – instead tells the news
media that “the intifada cannot be defeated since it comes from nationalist
roots.” There is only Amram Mitzna, the disgrace of a soldier who,
in the middle of the Lebanese war and following the Sabra and Satilla massacres
of Arabs by Arabs, condemned the Israeli Defense Minister before a press
conference in Beirut and then left his post and went home to his kibbutz, Ein
Gav.
What
a “high price” the Arabs of Shchem have paid. A roof, two houses
blown up and windows bricked up and an area sealed – and the Arabs laughing and
happily shouting Allah is great! “High price.” What a
fraud, what a lie. And how it typifies the entire government of deceit. They
have no policy, they have no answers.
Where
is Shimon? Where is Levi? Where is the Jewish knowledge
that an abomination against a Jew has been done here and it must be dealt with
in the only way that the Jew-haters understand? When Jacob heard of
the act of Shimon and Levi he protested – not because it was immoral, as
so many foolish Jews say, but – for practical reasons: He feared the
retribution of the people of the land, saying, “You have brought trouble on
me to make me odious among the inhabitants of the land … and I being few in
number, they will gather themselves together against me, and slay me” (Genesis
34:30). No, not a moral argument, for there was nothing immoral
about the act of Shimon and Levi. Jacob was simply afraid of the
reaction of the gentiles around him.
And
the reply of Shimon and Levi resounds throughout the ages: “Shall he
make of our sister a harlot?” And Jacob is silent. There is
no answer. For his sons are right . . .
Hillul
Hashem! To defile a Jewess and treat her as a whore! Such
a thing cannot be even if there is danger, because in the case of national
Hillul Hashem, danger is set aside. And this was even when the Jews
were a small minority in the midst of many gentiles. Even then, the
demand to wipe out Hillul Hashem transcended danger. How much more
so, when there is a State of Israel and an army that controls the city of
Shchem! And how much greater is the Hillul Hashem that we bring
on ourselves by our humiliating refusal to do that which we should – wipe out
the terror by killing the murderers and driving out all the rest.
And
the Or HaChaim in his commentary goes further: “To the contrary, there
will be danger for them among the nations; when the latter will see that one
low person ruled over Jacob and did as his pleasure, then the Jews would not be
able to survive among the nations. And it is through this [the
killing of the people of Shchem] that fear of the Jews will
be on the nations and they will tremble before them.”
Of
course. It is only true punishment and a heavy hand of Jewish terror that is
the way to terrify the nations who would otherwise wipe out
Israel. It is the way of Shimon and Levi that not only leads to the
natural terror of the gentile but also to G-d’s approval: “And the
terror of G-d was on the cities that were round about them and they did not
pursue the sons of Jacob” (Genesis 35:5).
What
the pathetic and humiliating policy of Shomron and Mitzna and their employers –
Rabin and Shamir and Arens – has done has been to lift terror from the Arabs
and give them confidence and contempt for the Jews. By this deadly
and terrible policy, so couched in gentilized and Hellenized concepts of
“morality” that is, in fact, repulsive murder, we guarantee the future blood of
Jews. Because there is no Shimon and Levi, the Arab is unafraid and
he thus will murder more Jews tomorrow, secure in the knowledge that the
pathetic kibbutznikim of the army and the Hellenized political leaders of Likud
and Labor will speak loudly and then do nothing to crush the Arab. It
is the Arab who threw the rock that murdered the soldier but it is Shamir and
Arens and Rabin and Shomron and Mitzna who are the
accomplices. Their Jewish hands are red and filthy with Jewish
blood.
And
finally, a comprehensive understanding of Shimon and Levi for those who claim
that they sinned when they killed the people of Shchem and were therefore
cursed by their father.
The
fact is that their father (as mentioned above) never castigated them on moral
grounds but only out of practical fear of the nations. The fact is
that they replied to him and he was silent, accepting their cry that no gentile
could make of their sister a harlot. The fact is that G-d did not
punish them but, to the contrary brought terror on the gentiles around them.
And
the fact is that when G-d commanded the tribes to choose special and
distinctive flags that they would fly proudly as they camped and traveled in
the desert, the Rabbis tell us (Bamidbar Rabbah 2): “Shimon [the tribe of
Shimon] had a flag whose color was green and had drawn on it the city of
Shchem.”
The
city of Shchem? This was the flag of Shimon as commanded by
G-d? This was what the ALL Mighty wished Shimon to wave on high for
all to see? No, hardly a sin, but rather, as in the commentary of
the Maharzu: “Because of their bravery and self-sacrifice in
Shchem. And even though Levi was with him Shimon was the older and
the main one. And this [flag] is his praise for his zealousness
against the abomination of immorality.”
And
Maimonides explains the actions of Shimon and Levi (Hilchot Mlachim 9:14), and
his words are brought down in the Ramban (Breishit 34:13): “The
sons of Noah are commanded to uphold laws . . . and because of this all the
people of Shchem were worthy of death since Shchem stole [Dinah] and they saw
it and knew of it and did not try him.”
And
the Ramban gives his own reason as follows: For the sons of Jacob,
since the people of Shchem were wicked people and blood for them was as water,
wished to avenge themselves on them with an avenging sword. And they
killed the king and all his servants who were obedient to him.”
In
any event, since it is clear that Shimon and Levi not only did not sin but,
indeed, followed G-d’s law, why then did Jacob apparently, curse
them when he said: “Instruments of violence are their swords. Let
my soul not come into their council . . . for in their anger they slew men, and
in their self-will they uprooted an ox” (Genesis 49:6)
The
answer is that, again, their actions against the people of Shchem, who had
acquiesced in the abomination against Dinah, were totally
justified. And that is why Jacob, after first protesting and then
hearing their reply, was silent and agreed. But later, after
learning that the same two sons had also intended to kill Joseph, and Shimon
threw him into a pit that was teeming with snakes and scorpions (see Breishit
Rabbah 84, and Rashi on Genesis 49:6. Who explains the words “And in their
self-will they uprooted an ox.” As referring to Joseph who was
symbolized as an ox in Deuteronomy 33:17. “The firstling of his herd
grandeur is his, and his horns are like the horns of a wild ox”), he
then realized that their motivation in all that they did was violence
and anger for its own sake. That is why they sinned – not
because of the act itself but because their motivation was
violent anger and this was manifested even against their own
brother. And so he cursed, not them but their anger
and their self-will.
No,
those who dare raise their hand in abomination against Israel, whether through
rape of Dinah or murder of a soldier, have raised their hands against the
people of G-d. Hence against the ALL Mighty Himself. It is a Hillul
Hashem that demands vengeance and punishment. Shimon and Levi
destroyed the desecrators, and forever did the flag of Shimon eternalize the
act.
But
there is no Shimon and Levi today. There is only Shomron and Mitzna
and Shamir and Arens – small people, unworthy to carry the flag of
Sanctification. Their pitiful reaction is worse than
nothing. It adds to the humiliation, to the Hillul
Hashem. It spits in the grave of the murdered soldier and guarantees
that others will follow him
The
casbah where the soldier was murdered should have been razed to the ground and
all the inhabitants of the city told that blood is on their heads and to flee
before the sword of Shimon and Levi returns. Out! Out of
the land! Shall our sister be as a harlot? Shall our
brother the soldier be as one whose blood is cheap? We need a Shimon
and Levi today. We need a government in Israel that understands that
this is precisely its role
Written
1989
Shabbat Shalom Stay Safe
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