Passover-The Holiday of Vengeance

Rabbi Meir Kahane Writings Passover — the Holiday of Vengeance It is the night of the Seder, the eve of Passover. The Jewish family having been told by the child who attends the temple “religious school” that Jews celebrate the Passover with a festive meal, or perhaps having heard the temple rabbi or the local American Jewish committee ignoramus declaim the theme of Passover as being the national liberation struggle of all people and the brotherhood of Man (the love of the Gentiles and Jews), is gathered about the table. The room is filled with people, including gentile guests gushing over the fascinating Jewish holiday. The family ha equipped itself with Hagadas so as to do the “thing” properly. They have finished the meal and now the excited youngster (Scott, Brian, Kevin or some such Jewish name) excitedly says “It’s time to open the door to Elijah. He comes to every Jewish house.” The parents smile; the gentiles smile – how similar to Santa Claus. And, of course, they all rise as the child rushes to open the door. Jew and gentile alike, chant the words prescribed by the Hagada, the Biblical words of the Psalms, that proclaim: “Pour forth Your wrath upon the nations that do not recognize You and upon the kingdoms that do not invoke Your name. For they have devoured Jacob and destroyed his habitation. Pour forth Your fury upon them and let Your burning wrath overtake them. Pursue them with anger and destroy them from beneath the heavens of the L-rd.” My G-d! What to think! What do the gentiles in the room think?! What a litany of anger and, above all, vengeance! An open prayer and call for the Almighty to avenge Himself upon the nations, to destroy them for what they did to Israel! Is this Judaism? And did not the “rabbi”, the temple paragon of Jewish wisdom, the fount of Jewish knowledge admonish us that Jews oppose vengeance, that is not a “Jewish” concept? And that is why we are supposed to feel ashamed sometimes at the conduct of the Israeli army? And, above all, what will John and Kathy, the gentile neighbors think about the Jews? About us? Ah, poor Jews; sad little Jews. Conceived in ignorance and born in Jewish know-nothingness. Raised in Jeffersonian and Kennedyian and Jacksonian (Jesse?) Democracy and all the westernized, gentilized culture that is America, and lied to and deceived, and defrauded by secular Jewish ignoramuses-leaders, and Reform-Conservative-Reconstructionist ones; people whose ignorance is so awesome that only their fraud surpass it. The fraud that was created by the counterfeiters of Judaism is astonishingly awesome. They lied to the Jew because they could not bare to tell the truth to themselves. Vengeance, un-Jewish? If so, let us cast out the Bible and Talmud as “un-Jewish”. The L-rd is a G-d of vengeance; O G-d of vengeance, arise! (Psalms 94). And the rabbis say: Yes, when vengeance is needed, it is a great thing” (Brachot, 3a). Or let the high praises of G-d be in their throat and a two edged sword in their hand – to execute vengeance upon the nations…” (Psalms 58). Passover. A holiday that was created to commemorate the sanctity of vengeance; the punishment and the destruction of Pharaoh and Egypt that mocked and humiliated G-d by crying: “Who is the L-rd? I know not the L-rd…:”Vengeance sop that the world shall know the L-rd and cry, “Verily, there is a G-d that judgeth in the earth…” And: “The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth vengeance, he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.” (Psalms 58) And why? For it is only vengeance that proves that there is indeed a G-d in the world., that there is good and evil and punishment for that evil. When the wicked kill and injustice reigns, surely the wicked cry out: “There is no G-d, for if their was He would punish me.” And the victim in his agony, agrees. When there is no vengeance and punishment and the wicked reign, G-d is pushed from his throne; it is the greatest Hillul Hashem – desecration to G-d’s Name, it is“proof” that there is no G-d. And again, “The L-rd hath made Himself known through the judgement He executes.”(Psalms 9) And, of course, the Psalm that is read before the weekday Grace after meals, a Psalm that sends the gentilized Jews rushing from the table in horror: “O daughter of Babylon that art to be destroyed; Happy shall he be that repayeth thee as thou hast done to us. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock”. (Psalm 137). And the Jews of Ashkenaz who created a prayer of vengeance in memory of the Jews massacred during the Crusades, a prayer that we read each Sabbath and that says: “May He avenge the blood of His servants which has been shed, as it is written in the Torah of Moses, the man of G-d: “O nations, make His people joyful! He avenges the blood of His servants, renders retribution to His foes and atones for His land and His people…And in the holy writings it says: “Why should the nations say, Where is their G-d? And for the hapless and ignorantly hopeless who raise the half-a-cup of a Talmudic saying that G-d refused to allow the angels to rejoice over the downfall of the Egyptians. Let us forever torment the fraudulent by insisting on honesty and the complete text of the Talmudic saying: It is true that He does not rejoice but He causes others to rejoice”. Of course the Almighty, the totality of Compassion, the Father of all, grieves for his children – all of them. He does not sing. His angels, who are not of this world, do not sing. BUT THE JEWS SING – AND ARE COMMANDED TO DO SO. For the very same reason that the very same Almighty who does not sing, does destroy the work of His hands because they are evil. Yes, of course He grieves that those who were made in His image have so perverted and destroyed the greatness of that image. That those who were made in the image of good, were so evil. In His grief He does not have pity. He destroys them: He knows that evil and He cannot share the same world. And thus do the rabbis declare (Shmot Raba 23): “Then did Moses and the children of Israel sing,” this is what is meant by the verse (Psalms 9):“The L-rd is known by the judgment He executes. This speaks of Egypt who G-d smote at the Red Sea.” And Shmot Raba 23: “Then did Moses and the children of Israel sing. This is the meaning of the verse (Psalms 93): “Your throne was firm from then.” Even though You exist from time immemorial, Your throne was not made firm and You were not made known in the world until your children sang. When You stood at the sea and we sang before You with “az” (then), then were your kingdom and throne made firm. The incredible perversion of Judaism by confused and guilt-ridden Hellenists! Our rabbis tell us (Midrash Avchir): “And Israel saw the great hand of G-d’ – When the Almighty wished to drown the Egyptians, the Archangel of Egypt (Uza) said: Sovereign of the Universe! You are called just and righteous…why do you wish to drown the Egyptians? At that moment Gabriel rose and took a brick and said: Sovereign of the Universe! These who enslaved Your children such a terrible slavery as this, shall you have mercy on them? Immediately, the Almighty drowned them.” Passover – the holiday that decrees the death and destruction of wickedness and not coexistence with it. And that, dear Jew, is why the Torah record for posterity the song of Moses and Israel as the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea. Yes, collective punishment against the Egyptians, even the Egyptian maids and servants perished because they were happy with the oppression of the Jews. (What can be said of the Arab masses in Israel who danced on the roof tops as the Scuds form Saddam landed in Tel Aviv.) There is no help for it Passover is a holiday of sanctification of G-d’s name. Of vengeance against the wicked. If the temple rabbi is unhappy, let him stop templing. If the gentile neighbor will be embarrassed, do not invite him. If the Jew is troubled, let him tie himself to the House of Study, a genuine one, and learn real Judaism. Then he will celebrate Passover the proper way, the Jewish way. “Pour forth Your wrath…” Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles written by Rabbi Kahane and would like to be, please contact me at: barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg Telegram: Rav Kahane Divrei Torah, Viewpoints Pictures Link: https://t.me/RKDTVP

Whoever Strikes a Jew Strikes G-d

Kahane on the Parsha Rabbi Meir Kahane- Parshat Shemot WHOEVER STRIKES A JEW STRIKES G-D "And [Moses] saw an Egyptian man striking one of his fellow Hebrews; he looked this way and that, saw there was no one around, and struck the Egyptian and buried him in the sand" (Exodus 2:11-12). Moses could have walked away from the scene with any number of rationalizations. He could have said to himself: "Is it really worthwhile to endanger myself by killing this Egyptian? Wouldn't it be better to turn away? After all, I am a member of the royal family and in a position to help the Israelites in the future when the time is right." Moreover, Moses could have reasoned that killing the Egyptian was not "worth it" since the Jew was already dead, as the Midrash (Shemot Rabba 1:28) seems to indicate. What good, then, would killing the Egyptian do? Would it bring the Jew back to life? And if the Jew was dead, maybe it was forbidden for him to endanger himself by getting involved. Moses understood, however, that such rationalizations are improper. He understood that in a situation of Chillul Hashem, such arguments carry no weight. Danger to life is no excuse nor are deliberated considerations to the tune that "the time is not right" or "perhaps I can do better another way, another time, another place." Chillul Hashem BROOKS NO DELAY!!!!!! Seeing the Egyptian kill the Jew, Moses, with ANGER AND FURY, struck the Egyptian to avenge the Jew's blood and G-d's honor. For as Rabbi Chanina said, "Striking the jaw of a Jew is like striking the jaw of the Divine Presence" (Sanhedrin 58b). This is the Jewish response- NOT to let the gentile smite with impunity since every single blow represents a desecration of Israel and a desecration of G-d's Name. Anyone who smites a Jew MUST BE SMITTEN IN RETURN!!! Written in: Peirush HaMaccabee Shabbat Shalom Barbara If you are interested in reading more Divrei Torah from Rabbi Meir and Binyamin Kahane HY"D, you can purchase the book at both of the following two links: http://www.amazon.com/Kahane-Parsha-Meir/dp/098867680X http://brennbooks.com/ Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles written by Rabbi Kahane and would like to be, please contact me at barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Telegram: Rav Meir Kahane Dvrei Torah-Viewpoints

Sometimes It Is Good To Be Deaf 1997

Barbara Ginsberg’s Desktop Kahane on the Parsha Rabbi Binyamin Kahane- Parshat VaYechi SOMETIMES IT'S GOOD TO BE DEAF When Jacob died, his sons took his body to Canaan for burial in Me'arat HaMachpela. When they arrived, however, they found Esav waiting for them with some "news"- "The remaining burial plot in the cave belongs to me," he said. The stunned sons tried reminding Esav that he sold the spot to Jacob. Nothing doing. After an exchange of words (see Sotah 13a for details), they agreed that Naftali would run to Egypt and bring the document confirming that the burial plot was indeed sold to Jacob. In the meantime, they waited. One of those waiting was Chushim, son of Dan. Chushim was deaf and therefore did not hear the discussion between his uncles and Esav. At a certain point, he asked his uncles what was causing the delay. They replied that Esav was holding up the burial until Naftali returned from Egypt. Chushim was shocked: "Should my grandfather lie here in dishonor until Naftali returns?!" He immediately grabbed a stick, ran up to Esav, and killed him with a blow to the head. The Talmud relates that Esav's eyes fell out of their sockets and rested next to the legs of Jacob- an event memorialized by the verse, "The righteous one shall rejoice when he sees vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked" (Psalms 58:11). This story is very strange. Why was Chushim the only one present who was shocked at what was happening? Why was he the only one who rose up to put an end to the disgraceful situation? Didn't anyone else care about Jacob's honor? Where were the zealots Shimon and Levi? Where was the mighty Yehuda? The answer to these questions teaches us an awesome lesson. The difference between Chushim and the rest of Jacob's progeny was that Chushim was the only one not involved in the negotiations with Esav. Psychologically, the moment you hear out the other party and consider his point of view, even the most outrageous claim begins to be "understood." The very act of discussing it desensitizes you as you get accustomed to ideas which previously seemed absurd. Without a doubt, if someone had told Jacob's sons beforehand that Esav was waiting for them at Me'arat HaMachpela to prevent their father's burial, they would have boiled over with holy rage and made sure they knew how to handle the situation. But what happened was, the moment they arrived, Esav made his case: "It's mine." Sure, Jacob's sons were shocked and angry, but it is human nature not to want to leave an argument or claim unanswered. And so they reminded him that he had sold the birthright. Esav immediately countered, "I never sold my burial spot." At this point, the brothers knew Esav was wrong, but the fact is he had made an argument, and an argument demands some kind of answer. More importantly, at this stage Jacob's sons found themselves in the heat of a negotiation process. A neutral observer could easily get the impression that both sides were making reasonable claims. He would certainly have great difficulty realizing that before him stood a scoundrel whose entire goal was to disgrace Jacob. Chushim, meanwhile, did not hear any of the back and forth. He knew only one thing: "My grandfather is lying here in disgrace!" Jacob's sons certainly knew exactly the kind of derelict, cheater, and murderer Esav was. But since they had entered into negotiations with him, they began to think that he was perhaps being sincere this time, and said to themselves, "All we need to do is convince him that we are right and everything will be okay." But Chushim did not have the opportunity to become "convinced" of Esav's sincerity and did not understand how the brothers were allowing this low-life to delay, even for a moment, the burial of Jacob, the father of the nation. And so, he stood up and took action! Sometimes it is forbidden to negotiate. "What's wrong with it?" people ask. "After all, you're only talking?" But it's not so. When you hear out the other person- even if you know he is a liar with evil intentions- you will begin to "understand" him and think there might be something to what he is saying, after all. Unfortunately, for years now we have been exposed to the lies of our enemies. Recently, even those faithful to Eretz Yisrael have begun to "adjust to the reality." We have grown used to htings that would never have entered our minds only a few years ago. Heaven forbid it! Let us be zealous for truth, and not have inferiority complexes when facing false claims from the lowest of peoples. WE ARE RIGHT! IT IS OUR LAND, AND NO FOREIGN NATION SHALL DWELL IN IT! Darks Shel Torah, 1997 Shabbat Shalom Barbara If you are interested in reading more Divrei Torah from Rabbi Meir and Binyamin Kahane HY"D, you can purchase the book at both of the following two links: http://brennbooks.com/ http://www.amazon.com/Kahane-Parsha-Meir/dp/098867680X To receive weekly articles from Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to BarbaraandChaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

G-D'S WILL COMES FIRST 1977

Kahane on the Parsha Rabbi Meir Kahane- Parshat VaYigash G-D'S WILL COMES FIRST "And Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen...and he fell on his neck and wept" (Genesis 46:29). "But Jacob did not fall on Joseph's neck and did not kiss him, for our Rabbis said that he was saying the Shema..." (Rashi). Happiness is that which every man seeks. Indeed, in our times, it is happiness and the search for it- in material and physical terms- that have become the very purpose of life. Books are written about happiness and peace of mind and the masses devour them, searching for the Holy Grail in the shallowness that is fit only for McCall's or Cosmopolitan. The psychiatrists' couches groan beneath their weight; the airlines and drug peddlers both sell their trips; the race is on and non-stop, and not to the swift or the slow is the trophy awarded. The sadness is that happiness is not the essence of life, and how much did the Rabbis know when they said: It would have been better and more pleasant for man had he not been born, but since he was, let him search his deeds. Life is a series of difficulties and sadnesses, broken by occasional rays of light that pass. Happiness is a wonderful thing, and what a life it would be if we could abolish tears and fears, worries and tribulations. But not for this was a man made, and if he persists in making it his raison d'etre, he is guaranteed misery. Man is not an island unto himself nor is his entry into this world like some sudden underwater eruption that thrusts a piece of land into the wide ocean. His is a deliberate and planned and reasoned birth. He came into this world to do good. And that which is "good" is defined for him, not subject to the independent and anarchistic commentaries of his own mind or breed. For the Jew there is the Halacha that shapes, molds, guides, and drives him to sanctity and spiritual holiness. It is for him a guideline and a compass; it gives him ritual and gives him concepts, and DEFINES HIS EMOTIONS, TOO. Joseph was a boy of 17 when he left his father's home. For years Jacob thought he was dead, devoured by a wild beast. For years he mourned and refused to be comforted. "Nay, for I will go down to the grave mourning for my son" (Genesis 37:35). And suddenly he hears the incredible words: "Joseph is yet alive" and- wonder of wonders- "he is ruler over all the Land of Egypt!" (ibid. 45:26). Jacob cannot believe it; the joy is too much and he finally cries out: "It is enough! My son Joseph still lives! I will go and see him before I die!" (ibid. 45:28). And he does. He takes his family and goes down to Egypt. See the old man, the man grown aged and white from a life of sadness and tragedy. How he counts every moment; how he impatiently looks towards the south to see the first glimpse of the royal caravan! How he savors the moment when he can hold his son Joseph in his arms and kiss him! And then- at last- finally- the moment arrives, and Joseph rushes to his father's arms and embraces him and kisses him. and Jacob? "But Jacob did not fall on Joseph's neck and did not kiss him for he was saying the Shema..." What greatness lies in a man who can take his deepest-felt emotions and discipline them to the Halacha and say: Wait! Wait, though I burst from impatience; wait, though my every limb cries out for release. Wait: I am in the midst of accepting upon myself the yoke of heaven, of recognizing the L-rd as one, and this is why I was created. Wait, my Joseph, wait, for though I love you more than all, this is my G-d. Let us understand what happiness and rejoicing in the Law means to a Jew. To begin with, it is a COMMANDMENT. Can one command an emotion? Can one "say", be happy, rejoice, it is commanded? Apparently yes. Apparently, the purpose of Torah is to elevate man to holiness and sanctification that he can make his very emotions and feelings cry out: "Who is like You, my G-d!" Yes, the Torah can tell a Jew who has lost a beloved one not to mourn on the Sabbath, though his heart is breaking. It can tell a Jew to stand over the open grave of a parent or a son and say the words of the Kaddish: "May His great Name be exalted and magnified..." Yes, the Torah can tell a person who seeks joy: No, not now. There is no commandment to be sad. There is no law that declares that man must be miserable. This is not Judaism. But we are told that there is something greater than happiness and joy. It is the climb and the reaching up to holiness and sanctification, to beauty and dedication, the smashing of the ego and the greed and the selfishness and the "I." One should strive to be happy, of course. And if one can be both good and happy- how fortunate he is. But in the end, life is not a vessel for joy. It is a corridor in which one prepares his soul. Be happy with the Torah though your own soul is in agony. It is a command and, slowly, it proves to be a balm for the wounds that ache. The Jewish Press, 1977 Shabbat Shalom Barbara If you are interested in reading more Divrei Torah from Rabbi Meir and Binyamin Kahane HY"D, you can purchase the book at both of the following two links: http://brennbooks.com/ http://www.amazon.com/Kahane-Parsha-Meir/dp/098867680X Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles written by Rabbi Kahane or Rabbi Binyamin Kahane and would like to be, please contact me at barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

Like a Pauper at the Door Parshat Miketz

Kahane on the Parsha Rabbi Meir Kahane- Parshat Miketz LIKE A PAUPER AT THE DOOR "Pharaoh took his ring off his own hand and placed it on the hand of Joseph" (Genesis 41:42). What a divine revelation! What an open miracle! Mere minutes before, Joseph was a lowly prisoner. Now, in the blink of an eye, he had become Pharaoh's viceroy by whose command all food would be distributed in Egypt. This sudden turnabout was a devastating response to Joseph's lack of trust in G-d when he asked the chief steward to save him. The Midrash states, "Joseph really only deserved 10 years in prison...yet because he asked the chief steward, 'Remember that I was with you...say something about me to Pharaoh' (Genesis 40:14), two years were added [to his sentence]" (Shemot Rabba 7:1). A Jew who seeks help from a non-Jew out of despair and fear, lest G-d not help him, commits a grave sin. Had Joseph approached the steward with a DEMAND, because the steward OWED HIM A FAVOR, his act would not have been considered a sin. But instead he approached him with a REQUEST, indicating that he needed a favor from a non-Jew, and thus profaned G-d's Name by implying that he did not trust the Almighty, only flesh and blood. From here we derive a major principle regarding aid from non-Jews: If the non-Jew offers support as part of a MUTUAL aid agreement, or payment for what he owes the Jew- we may accept it. Otherwise, we must reject it. Approaching a non-Jew or a country with a REQUEST for support- like a pauper standing at the door- demonstrates lack of faith in G-d and constitutes the ultimate Chillul Hashem. The Jewish Idea Shabbat Shalom Chanukah Sameach Chodesh Tov – Tevet Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane /Rabbi Binyamin Ze’ev Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles and would like to be, please contact me at barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Ze’ev Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

Down With Chanukah 1972

DOWN WITH CHANUKAH – December 15, 1972 Rabbi Meir Kahane Writings (5732-33) (1971-73) If I were a Reform rabbi; if I were a leader of the Establishment whose money and prestige have succeeded in capturing for him the leadership and voice of American Jewry; if I were one of the members of the Israeli Government’s ruling group; if I were an enlightened sophisticated, modern Jewish intellectual, I would climb the barricades and join in battle against the most dangerous of all Jewish holidays – Chanukah. It is a measure of the total ignorance of the world Jewish community that there is no holiday that is more universally celebrated than the “Feast of Lights”, and it is an equal measure of the intellectual dishonesty and of Jewish leadership that it plays along with the lie. For if ever there was a holiday that stands for everything that the mass of world Jewry and their leadership has rejected – it is this one. If one would find an event that is truly rooted in everything that Jews of our times and their leaders have rejected and, indeed, attacked – it is this one. If there is any holiday that is more “unJewish” in the sense of our modern beliefs and practices – I do not know of it. The Chanukah that has erupted unto the world Jewish scene in all its childishness, asininity, shallowness, ignorance and fraud – is not the Chanukah of reality. The Chanukah that came into vogue because of Jewish parents – in their vapidness – needed something to counteract Christmas; that exploded in a show of “we-can-have-lights-just-as-our-goyish-neighbors” and in an effort to reward our spoiled children with eight gifts instead of the poor Christian one; the Chanukah that the Temple, under its captive rabbi, turned into a school pageant so that the beaming parents might think that the Religious School is really successful instead of the tragic joke and waste that it really is; the Chanukah that speaks of Jewish Patrick Henrys giving-me-liberty-or death and the pictures of Maccabees as great liberal saviors who fought so that the kibbutzim might continue to be free to preach their Marx and eat their ham, that the split-level dwellers of suburbia might be allowed to violate their Sabbath in perfect freedom and the Reform and Conservative Temples continue the fight for civil rights for Blacks, Puerto Ricans and Jane Fonda, is not remotely connected with reality. This is NOT the Chanukah of our ancestors, of the generations of Jews of Eastern Europe and Yemen and Morocco and the crusades and Spain and Babylon. It is surely not the Chanukah for which the Maccabees themselves died. Truly, could those whom we honor so munificently, return and see what Chanukah has become, they might very well begin a second Maccabean revolt. For the life that we Jews lead today was the very cause, the REAL reason for the revolt of the Jews “in those days in our times.” What happened in that era more than 2000 years ago? What led a handful of Jews to rise up in violence against the enemy? And precisely who WAS the enemy? What were they fighting FOR and who were they fighting AGAINST? For years, the people of Judea had been the vassals of Greece. True independence as a state had been unknown for all those decades and, yet, the Jews did not rise up in revolt. It was only when the Greek policy shifted from mere political control to one that attempted to suppress the Jewish religion that the revolt erupted in all its bloodiness. It was not mere liberty that led to the Maccabean uprising that we so passionately applaud. What we are really cheering is a brave group of Jews who fought and plunged Judea into a bloodbath for the right to observe the Sabbath, to follow the laws of kashruth, to obey the laws of the Torah. IN A WORD EVERYTHING ABOUT CHANUKAH THAT WE COMMEMORATE AND TEACH OUR CHILDREN TO COMMEMORATE ARE THINGS WE CONSIDER TO BE OUTMODED, MEDIEVAL AND CHILDISH! At best, then, those who fought and died for Chanukah were naïve and obscurantist. Had we lived in those days we would certainly not have done what they did for everyone knows that the laws of the Torah are not really Divine but only the products of evolution and men (do not the Reform, Reconstructionist and large parts of the Conservative movements write this daily?) Surely we would not have fought for that which we violate every day of our lives! No, at best Chanukah emerges as a needless holiday if not a foolish one. Poor Hannah and her seven children; poor Mattathias and Judah; poor well meaning chaps all but hopelessly backward and utterly unnecessary sacrifices. But there is more. Not only is Chanukah really a foolish and unnecessary holiday, it is also one that is dangerously fanatical and illiberal. The first act of rebellion, the first enemy who fell at the hands of the brave Jewish heroes whom our delightful children portray so cleverly in their Sunday and religious school pageants, was NOT a Greek. He was a Jew. When the enemy sent its troops into the town of Modin to set up an idol and demand its worship, it was a Jew who decided to exercise his freedom of pagan worship and who approached the altar to worship Zeus (after all, what business was it of anyone what this fellow worshipped?) And it was this Jew, this apostate, this religious traitor who was struck down by the brave, glorious, courageous (are these not the words all our Sunday schools use to describe him?) Mattathias, as he shouted: “Whoever is for G-d, follow me!” What have we here? What kind of religious intolerance and bigotry? What kind of a man is this for the anti-religious of Hashomer Hatzair, the graceful temples of suburbia, the sophisticated intellectuals, the liberal open-minded Jews and all the drones who have wearied us unto death with the concept of Judaism as a humanistic, open-minded, undogmatic, liberal, universalistic (if not Marxist) religion, to honor? What kind of nationalism is this for David-Ben-Gurion (he who rejects the Galut and speaks of the proud, free Jew of ancient Judea and Israel)? And to crush us even more (we who know that Judaism is a faith of peace which deplores violence), what kind of Jews were these who reacted to oppression with FORCE? Surely we who so properly have deplored Jewish violence as fascistic, immoral and (above all!) UN-JEWISH, stand in horror as we contemplate Jews who declined to picket the Syrian Greeks to death and who rejected quiet diplomacy for the sword, spear and arrow (had there been bombs in those days, who can tell what they might have done?) and “descended to the level of evil,” thus rejecting the ethical and moral concepts of Judaism. Is this the kind of a holiday we wish to propagate? Are these the kinds of men we want our moral and humanistic children to honor? Is this the kind of Judaism that we wish to observe and pass on to our children? Where shall we find the man of courage the one voice, in the wilderness to cry out against Chanukah and the Judaism that it represents-the Judaism of our grandparents and ancestors? Where shall we find the man of honesty and integrity to attack the Judaism of Medievalism and outdated foolishness; the Judaism of bigotry that strikes down Jews who refuse to observe the law; the Judaism of violence that calls for Jewish force and might against the enemy? When shall we find the courage to proudly eat our Chinese food and violate our Sabbaths and reject all the separateness, nationalism and religious maximalism that Chanukah so ignobly represents? …Down with Chanukah! It is a regressive holiday that merely symbolizes the Judaism that always was; the Judaism that was handed down to us from Sinai; the Judaism that made our ancestors ready to give their lives for the L-rd; the Judaism that young people instinctively know is true and great and real. Such Judaism is dangerous for us and our leaders. We must do all in our power to bury it. Shabbat Shalom Chanukah Sameach Barbara Anyone reading this Rav Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles written by Rav Kahane and would like to be, please contact me at: BarbaraAndChaim@gmail.com To view previously e-mailed Rabbi Kahane articles go to: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

WHERE IS SHIMON? WHERE IS LEVI? PARSHAT VASHALACH

“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. “Beyond Words” now can be bought at Amazon.com. On the search line, type… Beyond 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 Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane or Rabbi Binyamin Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles and would like to be, please contact me at: barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

Destructive Jewish Guilt 1988

DESTRUCTIVE JEWISH GUILT By Rabbi Meir Kahane (January, 1988) [ He knew the truth, wrote the truth, spoke the truth and was hated for the truth. But loved by so many for the truth. As we see today, he was “always right!!!!! “] There is a specter haunting Israel and its American Jewish supporters. It is called guilt. Guilt over the "repression of Palestinian human rights". Guilt over the refusal to remove "the main obstacle to peace in the Middle East - the occupation of the Arab land seized in 1967". Guilt over the unwillingness to give the "Palestinians" their own state in the "occupied lands". And now, guilt over the killing of "Palestinians" and innocent civilians in the "Occupied territories". It is a powerful weapon, this guilt; Jews have a difficult time coping with it. A people that has been the most debased of losers for 2,000 years finds it difficult to cope with victory. It finds it extraordinary difficult to remain normal. It inherits insecurities, complexes, guilt. It begins to believe its enemies' slanders. It loses its self-respect and longs for the love of a hating world. That is especially true for the Jewish liberal! It is important that those who have retained their self-esteem and sense of Jewish survival speak out against the disease of guilt and moral insecurity. No guilt. Are the lands of 1967, "occupied" by the Jews, the main obstacle to peace? Is the year 1967 the origin of the conflict? How peaceful it must have been in 1966 when Sinai and Gaza were in Egyptian hands and the Golan was possessed by the Syrians to shell, for 19 years, the Jewish settlements below, and when Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem were in the hands of the "moderate" King Hussein. Why did they go to war? What did they want then? When they had all the "occupied lands" before they were "occupied"? When one has East Jerusalem and attacks Israel, can it be that he desires West Jerusalem? And Tel Aviv? And can it be that that is what they really want again? Now? And why did the "innocent Palestinian women and children" take to the streets then, in 1967, when Jordan and Egypt ruled them to call for "Israel in the sea"? What "occupied lands" did they want back then? And could it be that that is what they want now? And what did they wish in 1947 when they rejected the "Palestine" state offered them by the United Nations and went to war, killing fully 1 % of the Jewish population? And what did they wish in the riots of 1936-38 when there was no country called Israel and they murdered more than 500 Jews? And in 1929 when no "Zionist occupation troops" were in Hebron, why did the "Palestinians" rise up to murder 67 Jews in one day? And why the pogroms in Jerusalem and Jaffa in 1920 and 1921? What troubles the Arabs is the very presence of large numbers of Jews in the land, and Israel of any size. Zionism. That is what troubles the Arabs. That is the obstacle to peace. Let us inscribe that on our hearts lest we open the doors to a repetition-on a grand scale-of that which the Arabs have done to Jews since 1920. A horror of slaughter by knives and axes. And the bearers of guilt would do just that. No guilt. There is one sublime reason why we should not give up a centimeter of land...it belongs to us. If we have no right to Judea and Samaria and Gaza, then we indeed have no right to Tel Aviv. Abraham did not walk on Dizengoff Street nor did our ancestors live in Israeli cities that were built in the 20th century. But Abraham, who lived in Hebron, and Jacob who lived in Shechem, now Nablus, and David in Bethlehem are the sole legitimate reasons that Jews can lay claim to a Tel Aviv and the kibbutzim of the guilt-ridden Left. The land belongs to us because the G-d of Israel, creator and Titleholder of all lands, gave it to us. No guilt. There is no such thing as a "Palestinian people". They are Arabs, part of the Arab nation, possessor of 21 lands. Let them live in peace in any or all of them. But there are no "Palestinians". It was the Roman emperor Hadrian who, after the Jewish revolt against the Romans, angrily erased the name of the state, Judea, and invented the name "Palestine" after the Philistines. In every normal case, an existing people gives its name to a land. The Franks named it France and the Angles, England, and the Germanics, Germany. Only in this ludicrous case does a Roman invent a name, give it to a land, and the arriving Arab trespassers become "Palestinians". One presumes that had Hadrian not changed the name, Israel today would be fighting Yasir Arafat and the Judean terrorists. There are no "Palestinians" and there is no "Palestine" in the land of Israel, Eretz Yisrael. No guilt. The "Palestinian" civilians in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Lebanon cheered and supported every P.L.O murder and terror of Jews. They are united in hatred of Israel. It would be nicer if they did not stone our soldiers and try to kill Jews. It would be nicer if they did not rise up in revolt in order to force us out of Judea, Samaria and Gaza as the first step to the elimination of the State of Israel. But since they do, let Jews not allow themselves to be destroyed by "Palestinian" women and children. And if the only way to survive is to take the lives of people who attack us we have no choice. I wonder how many Americans and British and French mourned and protested the killing of German civilians during World War II bombings of Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden? There is nothing ethical about dying or anything moral about another holocaust. There is nothing immoral about winning and nothing necessarily noble in a loser. Let us cast off the chains of guilt and reject the accusations of its bearers. The greatness of Judaism is its spirit, but no spirit can survive without a living body. If we do not want to kill Arabs--and we don't; and if we want to put an end to the nightly television pictures of violence; and if we do not want to see those pictures tomorrow inside Israel itself, with Israeli Arabs fighting soldiers; and if we do not want to see the threat of Arab demography destroying the Jewish State--then let us have the courage to take the one difficult but immutable step that will free us of all this and guarantee a Jewish State: Remove the Arabs from the land and let them live with their brothers and sisters in any of the 22 Arab states. Anything short of that will see the horrors of today escalated a hundred-fold tomorrow. And let us not fear the world. Those who stood by during the Holocaust and when Israel faced destruction in 1948 and 1967 have nothing to tell us. Faith in the G-d of Israel and a powerful Jewish army are the only guarantors of Jewish survival. Let us not fear the world. Far better a Jewish State that survives and is hated by the world, than an Auschwitz that brings us its love and sympathy. No guilt Rather faith in G-d and a return to authentic Torah laws; rather pride and strength, and the love of our people rather than the enemy that would destroy us. That is sanity; that is Judaism. Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles written by Rabbi Kahane or Rabbi Binyamin Ze’ev Kahane and would like to be, please contact me at barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

FIGHTING FOR G-D

Kahane on the Parsha Rabbi Meir Kahane- Parshat Lech Lecha FIGHTING FOR G-D "They took Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions....When Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive, he armed his trained men born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He hurried after the invaders...and he smote them" (Genesis 14:12-15). With Abraham facing almost certain death, one might think it would have been better for him to have stayed home and done nothing. It is hard to understand how he dared go to war, especially when he and his tiny group were the only ones in the world who bore the truth that the L-rd is the only G-d. Why did Abraham endanger himself when his death would have put an end to the only man and group on earth that stood on the side of truth? The answer is that it is a mitzvah to "assist Israel against an attacking foe" (Rambam, Hilchot Melachim 5:1). Since Abraham and his group were all of "Israel" at the time-- and Abraham was legally their prince and monarch--he knew that an obligatory war (milchemet mitzvah) was involved here, rooted in the sanctification of G-d's Name. For whenever a nation rises up against Israel, it is also rising up publicly against the G-d of Israel, and there is no greater profanation of G-d's Name than that. We are required to wage a milchemet mitzvah over this affront, and one cannot escape this duty because of danger to life. Our Rabbis taught (Bereishit Rabba 43:2): " 'He armed (vayarek) he trained men': R. Yehuda and R. Nechemia disagreed. R. Yehuda said, 'They turned green [with anger] (horiku panim), saying: If five kings could not overcome them, will we be able to do so?' R. Nechemia said, 'Abraham turned them green with fear, saying: I shall go and die for the sanctification of G-d's Name!' " In other words, Abraham said the circumstances called for a milchemet mitzvah; they called for saving Lot despite the danger involved since the sanctification of G-d's Name was at stake. Going to war was imperative; if G-d forbid he died in battle, so be it. In other words, when war is necessary, danger to one's life is irrelevant. Furthermore, we learn from this episode that one need not fear shedding blood in battle. How so? The Rabbis relate the following: "[After the battle] Abraham was afraid and said, 'Perhaps the population I killed possessed a righteous, G-d-fearing man.' Yet, it is like the person who passed the king's orchard and, seeing a bundle of thorns, went in and removed them. The king saw him, and he began to hide. The king asked him, 'Why are you hiding? How many workers would I have needed to gather those thorns? Now that you have done it, come and take your reward.' Just so, G-d said to Abraham, 'The population you killed were cut thorns'" (Bereishit Rabba 44:4). We learn a fundamental principle here- that is, we need not have misgivings about shedding the blood of evildoers. Quite the contrary, it is a mitzvah, for it "rids the garden of thorns". This is precisely what we learn about King David in Pesikta Rabbati 2: " 'A psalm, a song at the dedication of the house- to David' (Psalms 30:1). If Solomon built the Temple, why was it credited to David? "David was worthy to build it and had planned on doing so. The only reason he never did is because Nathan the Prophet told him G-d did not want him to because he had 'shed much blood upon the earth before Me' (1 Chronicles 22:8). Hearing this, David was afraid. He said, "I have been disqualified from building the Temple!' "R. Yehuda bar Ilai said: G-d said to David, 'Have no fear. As I live, the evildoers are to Me like a deer or gazelle [animals unfit for the Altar].'... Alternatively, G-d said to David, 'As I live, all the blood you spilled was to Me like sacrificial offerings...' "David asked G-d, 'Why, then, am I not building it?' and G-d responded, 'Because if you build it, it will endure, never to be destroyed.' David then asked, 'And is that bad?' G-d responded, 'It is revealed before Me that in the future Israel will sin, yet I will take out My anger on the Temple and destroy it, and Israel will be saved...'" Here we have a scathing response to the ignoramuses who twist G-d's words, arguing that David did not build the Temple because he sinned by shedding "much blood upon the earth." Even without the Rabbis' comments above, could anyone possibly think that David somehow sinned by fighting G-d's wars? The simple reason why G-d did not want David to build the Temple is because the Temple symbolizes the perfect, all-good world G-d wishes for this earth. In such a world, war doesn't exist because there is no evil or evildoers. Therefore, even though it is a great mitzvah to wage war against the wicked and shed their blood in the right time and place, doing so cannot be associated with the Temple This reason is in addition to our Rabbis' explanation in Pesikta Rabbati--that had David built the Temple, it would have endured forever. In any event, it is clear that David was an outstanding saint and that his wars were fought for the sake of G-d and the sanctification of His Name. The distorters' words are not to be taken the least bit seriously. Shabbat Shalom Barbara Kahane on the Parsha can be purchased at: Amazon.com Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles written by Rabbi Kahane and would like to be, please contact me at barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook Links: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

Stop Being Defensive Bereishit 1979

Kahane on the Parsha Rabbi Meir Kahane- Parshat Bereishit STOP BEING DEFENSIVE!!! The most famous of all the commentaries of the great Rashi is, undoubtedly, the very first one. Concerning the verse, "In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth..." (Genesis 1:1), Rashi quotes the Midrash that asks: Why did the Almighty begin the Torah with the story of creation? After all, the Torah is essentially a book of laws and statutes. Surely, it should have begun with the first mitzvah the Jews were commanded to keep. The well-known answer is, of course, that the Almighty wished to underline the fact that "He told His people the strength of His deeds in order to give them the inheritance of the nations" (Psalms 111:6). Meaning: Should the nations come to the people of Israel and complain, "You are THIEVES! You have STOLEN the land of the seven Canaanite nations!" the Jews can reply, "The land belongs to the Almighty who created it. By His will He originally gave it to the Canaanites, and by His will He took it from them and gave it to us." Thus the words of Rashi. Nevertheless, a look at the verse from Psalms that is cited gives rise to a question. If the verse is to be an answer to the nations, it should have read, "He told the nations the strength of His deeds," not "He told HIS PEOPLE the strength of His deeds." The answer is, however, that the most serious problem when it comes to the Jewish claim to Eretz Yisrael is not the fact that the nations do not recognize it. The nations are no problem for a Jewish people with faith in G-d. The real tragedy is the fact that so many of the Jewish people THEMSELVES do not believe or have grave doubts about the legitimacy of the Jewish claim to the land. In order to make the nations believe, it is the Jews themselves who must first be convince! And that is why the verse emphasizes, "He told His people the strength of His deeds." If the Jews believe it, they will have the strength and self-confidence to tell the nations. Yet another question is raised by the Siftei Chachamim. In Parshat Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:6), Rashi writes, "[The Canaanites] were capturing the land from the descendants of Shem since Noah had given it to Shem when he divided the land." If that is true, what claim do the nations have on Eretz Yisrael? How can they accuse the Jews of stealing the land? After all, if Noah originally gave the land to Shem and the Jews are his descendants, it is only right for them to retake the land from the Canaanites who stole it in the first place. It appears to me that the answer to this question contains an important lesson for today. Yes, the Jew ONCE lived in Eretz Yisrael and the land ONCE, originally, belonged to Shem, but the nations of the world can always say, "What does it matter what happened centuries ago? People come and people go. What matters is that now, TODAY, the Canaanites live here, and you cannot come after so many years claiming it's yours." Indeed, this is exactly what the Arabs say to the Jewish people today! How do we reply to this claim? The lesson of the first Rashi in the Torah is that, in the end, there are no "logical" or "political" answers to the world. The ultimate answer is only the one: The Almighty created the land. He is the owners and in Him vests all title. He decreed the Jewish people to be His inheritance, and the land to be theirs. Let us believe it and shout it forth joyously. The Jewish Press, 1979 Shabbat Shalom! “Kahane on the Parsha” can be bought at the following links on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kahane-Parsha-Meir/dp/098867680X , it's also available on website, www.BrennBooks.com Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane or Rabbi Binyamin Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles and would like to be, please contact me at: barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook Links: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

I AM NOT ASHAMED 1989

Kahane on the Parsha I Am Not Ashamed I am not ashamed to admit it. I am afraid. I am afraid that my people and my state are marching inexorably to a horror that can best be unimagined. And I am afraid, for the first time, that we are in the hands of people so blind and so mad and so un-Jewish that we may not be able, G-d forbid, to avert the catastrophe. Last week I was at the Western Wall. It was the Friday, after the Friday when the Moslems, standing on the Temple Mount – our Temple Mount – hurled rocks and stones on the Jews praying below. It was the Friday after the Friday when Jews, in the sovereign State of Israel, praying at the remains of the Holy Temple, fled in panic from the Moslems who cried “Allahu akbbar!” It was the Friday after the Friday in which Jews in the State of Israel fled in panic from Moslems who proclaimed their dream of destroying the Jewish state. I was at the Wall on the Friday after the Friday. No less than 3,000(!) security forces were there to protect the Jews in their own state from Moslems who once so trembled before the Jew. Three thousand(!) security forces to protect Jews – who were so frightened that they stayed away in droves. The proud State of Israel…. I am afraid. I am afraid that the Jews of insanity who run this land will destroy us, even as all the impossible Herut fools in the United States continue to write columns attacking the PLO. I am afraid. Last week, I was at the Hebron Jewish cemetery. I saw the swastikas and the Arab graffiti of hate on the walls. I saw the desecrated tombstones. I watched as the Jews held a memorial service. A memorial service! They murder us and they desecrate us and we react with memorial services! That day a rock smashed through the car window of a Jew traveling in Bethlehem, injuring him in the temple, cheek, and shoulder. That day, 600 apple and 50 olive trees were destroyed along with tens of thousands of commercial flowers at the settlement of Nvei Michael. But, I return to the cemetery. How many people, how many Jews, in the world heard of the Hebron cemetery outrage? No matter. How should they have heard of it when the prime minister of Israel, the president of Israel, in its Knesset, and its governmental leaders did not find it necessary to shout their indignation. A week of Chaillul Hashem, of desecration. And the men who run this State of Disorder sit by, hapless and impotent, silent partners to desecration. And I know that the Almighty’s rage will lash out at us for allowing His Name to be defiled. I am afraid for much more. Last week I watched as the insanity spread and reached new heights. The Border Police, the elite security forces, were sent to make arrests in the murderous village of Nahalin. They were attacked by hundreds of stone-throwing, Molotov cocktail-throwing Arabs. The Border Police, under a murderous barrage, fired and killed four Arabs. Only four Arabs. The Arabs shrieked in protest; the pathologically sick leftists joined them and demanded an “investigation”, the army command, led by two kibbutz members, chief of Staff Don Shomron and Central Command OC Amram Mitzna, so ordered. The Border Police were accused of “overreacting” and “indiscriminate shooting,” and two of their officers were suspended from duty. I am afraid. Yesterday they destroyed the army with their insane orders that gobbled the troops, causing them to fear to deal with the Arabs as normal soldier should. Today, the take the best of the security forces, the Border Police, and destroy them, too. And they must be stopped before they destroy the Jewish state – and the Jew. They protest over Nahalin? They investigate attacks on Nahalin? Do you know what Nahalin is? Do you know who the Arabs of Nahalin are? Of course not, so read. And learn. And grow angry and bitter – and do something. In 1948, the villagers of Nahalin participated in the massacre of 35 Jewish students coming to the rescue of Kfar Etzion. They murdered them in cold blood. In 1954, two Jews were murdered by Nahalin villagers leading to a reprisal raid on the village by Israel. At that time, the UN condemned the Jews. Today, the Jews do. When Israel liberated the land in 1967, the normal, sane thing to have done would have been to drive the scum out. But we are not normal. We are not sane. We allowed them to remain along with all the rest of them – the murderous Ishmalites who cannot live with Jews or themselves (and let us raise a toast to gloriously peaceful Beirut). And now we investigate and condemn our Border Police for having “fired indiscriminately” on the village that murdered Jews yesterday, that dreams of murdering them tomorrow, and that attacked the Border Police with hate and rocks and firebombs in their hands. We are insane. We are in the hands of leaders who are insane and who march us down the road to horror and destruction. I am afraid. I am afraid of a government that, instead of supporting the men whom they send into war (and this is a war!); instead of giving them accolades and medals for killing the Arab enemy (and they are the enemy – all of them) – investigates them, censures them, disciplines them. Insanity. And I am afraid. I am afraid. Last week I watched as the police indicted Rabbi Moshe Levinger for doing that which any normal human being would. Driving in the heart of Hebron, a nest of snakes and scorpions, a city of Arabs with Jewish blood on their hands from 1929 – his car was attacked and a stone smashed its window. He ran out shooting at the Jew-haters and killed one. A pity. One. He was indicted and I am afraid. For I fear that we may be lost. I see the leftists who control the state news media even as the pathetic Shamir government does nothing. I see that daily barrage of the state-sponsored self-hate and self-destruction aimed at destroying the morale of the security forces, while the tiny people who run this tiny government sit impotent. I see the defeatists who run the Likud-controlled Ministry of Justice indicting Jews who were attacked, even as the army does the same to its soldiers, and the government of Shamir sits in its perpetual transcendental silence. I watch Shamir and his Likud sell out Israel through the kind of deception we learned from Begin. He prepares elections that will seal the sovereignty of the “Palestinians” over the land, as it leads to the autonomy of Camp David that will whet the Arab appetite and increase the Jewish dementia and result in a “Palestinian” state that will be a dagger in Israel’s heart. I see all this and know that if we are to save the Jewish state and its three-and-a-half million Jews from terrible horrors, we must rise up and demand a fundamental change in the very system of government. We must throw out those who destroy us from within, and keep them out. I know that this present system of government that allows them to control our lives and lead us to destruction must be ended. I know that elections must be limited only to those who understand that the Arabs are the deadly enemy of the Jewish state, who would bring on us a slow Auschwitz – not with gas, but with knives and hatchets. I know that only groups which accept the following program should be allowed to run for office: To finish the Arab war against Israel with every means at our disposal and an end to the immoral and sick “pity” for them; to remove the Arabs from the land once and for all; to annex Judea-Samaria-Gaza and make them part of the Jewish state; to radically overhaul the bankrupt education of Israel by infusing our children with Judaism and true nationalism; and to cleanse Israel radio and television of the mad and dangerous leftists who, daily, destroy us from within. I know that unless the people rise up and demand such a national referendum, to dissolve the Knesset and vote on such a program, we are lost. And I am afraid. Written in The Jewish Press 1989 Succot Sameach Barbara Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles written by Rabbi Kahane / Rabbi Binyamin Kahane would like to be, please contact me at: barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com “Kahane on the Parsha” can be bought at the following links on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kahane-Parsha-Meir/dp/098867680X , it's also available on website, www.BrennBooks.com Facebook Links: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

Is The Holocaust Really Inexplicable? 1985

Kahane on the Parsha Parshat Nitzavim IS THE HOLOCAUST REALLY INEXPLICABLE? "But if you heart turns away so that you will not hear, but will be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you this day that you will surely perish..." (Deuteronomy 30:17-18). Whenever anyone asks how G-d could have allowed the Holocaust to take place, it is fashionable to reply, "There is no answer to this question." But our failure to grapple with this issue has caused us to be silent accomplices in the worst of all Jewish sins and crimes: chiruf v'giduf, blasphemy against the L-rd, open insult and attack on His Name, Chillul Hashem. We sit by quietly while Jewish ignoramuses and blasphemers speak of the "death of G-d." And our children turn down the path of apostasy and atheism because our only reply to the attacks of the blasphemers is: "No one can answer the question." But the Holocaust- like the slaughter during the destruction of the First and Second Temples, the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the Chmelnitzki Massacres- has an answer. It is one that we read twice yearly: "If you don't listen to the voice of the L-rd...then all these curses will come upon you" (ibid. 28:15). What is the origin of our dumbness and failure to understand? From where cometh this sudden stupor: "It is a question no one can answer..."? Of course we can answer it, but the irreligious Jew, the one who does not accept the divinity of the Torah, refuses to accept an answer which lays the blame upon HIM, upon the Jew who- knowing of the warning- ignored and disdained it. No, since it is impossible to accept the relationship between Jewish suffering and failure to obey the Law, one must blame G-d. One must ask how the modern G-d, a beaming Santa Claus who would never take seriously our desecration of mitzvot, could do such a thing. In truth, the Orthodox Jew is also to blame. He has created a picture of a saintly European Jewry that leads people to wonder how G-d could have punished such righteous people. This picture, though, is false. It is an image the yeshiva world gave us in its desire to negate the present materialistic, Western one. But by falsely idealizing Man, they have laid the groundwork for the desecration of G-d. By painting the East European Jew as a saint, they designed a G-d of cruelty and irrationality. That most terrible of sins must be ended. We must save G-d and sanctify His Name by telling the truth about European Jewry in the years preceding the Holocaust. Yes, as the nineteenth century passed into its third quarter, the Jew of Russia and Poland was, indeed, observant. But what else could he be? The overwhelming number of Jews lived in a Pale of Settlement where they were isolated from the gentile world and barred from participating in anything else except the society of the shtetl. And that society was religious, in toto...What Jew, even if he wanted to, was prepared to rebel against the society that laid down the religious rules of life? Who was prepared to accept the ostracism that would be his inevitable punishment if he dared throw off the halacha? And so, of course, the Jew was "religious." He had no other choice. But once that choice arrived, look at what happened!!!! The Enlightenment that began to arrive in Eastern Europe in the last third of the nineteenth century quickly swept away a society and structure that had been built up for centuries. Vilna- which had become a byword for piety and Torah learning- gave birth to the Bund, a bitterly anti-religious, anti-nationalist group that saw Jews, who just yesterday were "religious," flocking to its ranks to spout atheistic socialism. Poland and Russia and Lithuania and Galicia- the places that gave us the Rema and the Shach and Chassidim and the great yeshivas- OVERNIGHT gave birth to Jewish communism and socialism and secular Zionism and assimilation. The moment the barriers dropped, the Jew rebelled. This was the reality, and the fault, dear Jews, lies not in G-d but IN OURSELVES!!! And there was, of course, more. There was the terrible oppression of Jewish workers and proletariat by the wealthy Jews, the PARNASIM. Not for nothing did the Bund and communism succeed so easily in attracting poor Jewish workers to their ranks. The low wages and horrible working conditions in the factories owned by Jews are epitomized in the classic story told about the saintly Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev who once visited a matzah bakery on the eve of Passover. There, he saw women and little children working under terrible conditions from dawn to dusk. "Dear G-d," he said, lifting his eyes unto heaven, "what liars are the gentiles! They accuse us of using Christian blood in our matzah. It is not true. We use Jewish blood." And too few know the black chapter of the kidnapped Jewish children of Czarist Russia. When the czar decreed that Jewish children be drafted as "Cantonists" in the army for 25 years, the rabbis declared that the quota imposed on each community be filled by casting lots to see which child would be drafted. Tragically, the wealthy communal leaders would hire gentiles to kidnap the poor Jewish children, lock them up in the synagogue, and keep them to be turned over to the Czarists. The lack of ahavat Yisrael cried out to the heavens!!! Was this "RELIGION"??? Was this a saintly Jewish community that was cruelly and unjustly slaughtered by G-d? The lack of unity and love was epitomized, too, in the incredible number of bitter arguments and splits within the Jewish community. My father, of blessed memory, told me as a child about the split between the chassidim of Sanz and Rizhin, a hatred that reached its climax with chassidim going to the Western Wall to put the Sanzer Rebbe, the great Divrei Chaim, into CHEREM! And at a Shabbat Seuda Shlishit, a chasid attempted to stab the Divrei Chaim... Sinat Chiman ran through East European Jewry as a thread, and the classic example was the Munkatcher Rebbe declaring, concerning the Pressburg Yeshiva founded by the Chasam Sofer, "v'hivdilanu min hato'im- and He has separated us from those who err," even as the Pressburg Yeshiva refused entry to any student who was a member of Mizrachi... And this terrible hatred was, long ago, described by the Rabbis as an unpardonable sin with a terrible, and terribly clear and precise, warning: "How severe is machloket! The Court of Heaven does not punish until one is over the age of 20, and the court on earth does so from the age of 31, but in the dispute of Korach, children of one day old were burned and swallowed up by the earth..." (Tanchuma, Korach 3). And the Rabbis in Shabbat 33b: "When there are righteous in the generation, the righteous are caught for the sins of the generation. When there are no righteous, then little children are caught for the sins of the generation." Let each of us think long and carefully about this. Let us search our souls. And let us remember, on top of all the above-mentioned sins, the refusal to grasp the Land of Israel to our bosom. "And they despised the desirable land" (Psalms 106:24) is the Biblical condemnation of the generation of the desert and its great scholars and leaders who preferred to return to Egypt rather than go to the Land of Israel. Their actions led to the night of "weeping for generations," Tisha B'Av. What shall we say, then, about the rejection of Eretz Yisrael in the decades preceding the Holocaust by so many great religious leaders in Europe? It is time to put an end to the nonsense of "we cannot know the reasons." That answer guarantees the turning away of Jewish youth. It is time to bury the myth of an East European Jewry that was pious and saintly. That insures the creation of a Jewish G-d who is senselessly cruel. It is time to put an end to the indictment of G-d, to blasphemy against the L-rd. The Jewish press, 1985 Shabbat Shalom! May this New Year be a Sweet one with Happiness, Prosperity, Health, Safety and the destruction of our enemies. May the coronavirus leave as fast as it arrived. If you are interested in reading more divrei Torah from Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane you can purchase Kahane on the Parsha at Amazon.com Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane or Rabbi Binyamin Kahane article and is not on my list to receive the weekly articles and would like to be, please contact me at: barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook” Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

Cowering Before Flesh And Blood - 1981

Kahane on the Parsha Parshat Ki Tavo Rabbi Meir Kahane COWERING BEFORE FLESH AND BLOOD In the awesome Torah portion of admonition of the Jew (the tochacha)- regarding both the blessing and the curse- the Almighty declares: "And it shall overtake thee" (Deuteronomy 28:15). My father, of blessed memory, asked the obvious: One can understand the Jew fleeing from the curse so that it must pursue and overtake him. But why in the world does he flee the blessing so that it must chase and catch him? The answer, he said, is that the Jew does not understand what G-d's blessing is. He sees a blessing, thinks it is a curse, and flees from it... For the Jew, the worst of curses is to be isolated, without allies, alone in a hostile world. He flees from that as from the blackest of plagues. He sees in that, tragedy and destruction, and so he does all in order to hold fast to an ally- as some desperate unmarried single on a Saturday night rushing out to find some kind of companionship, ANY kind, willing to endure any humiliation, but above all: NOT TO BE ALONE. How sad that the Jew cannot comprehend that it is precisely his isolation from the gentiles, exactly his being cut off from their alliances and support, that is the greatest of all blessings. How sad that he cannot understand that the Jew may be isolated from Man, but he is never alone. What a sad commentary on the corruption and decline of Judaism in all its aspects that the Jew does not realize that it is precisely when he is cut off from the nations, isolated and alone from the gentiles, that the redemption will come. Weep at the Jew fleeing in panic and terror from the very blessing that will bring him the Messiah! The heart of Judaism is the deep and total faith of the Jew in the omnipotence of the L-rd. It is this which proves his real faith and belief in the L-rd. The feeling of need for human, gentile assistance in time of national crisis is the antithesis of faith in an omnipotent G-d. A G-d who cannot help His people without the assistance of a gentile power is NOT A GOD!! And a "chosen" people that proclaims G-d's omnipotence thrice daily and then collapses before Washington's humiliating demands lest the gentile cut its assistance is a theological fraud. Rabbeinu Bechaya, one of the giants of Spanish Torah scholars, put down the simple-complex, towering concept of faith in G-d in his masterpiece Kad HaKemach: "And the essence of faith and trust is that one should place his trust in the Almighty alone and remember Him in each particular action...for there are many people who trust in the Almighty in general but do not consider Him when it comes to the particular [acts]...And the essence of faith is not to trust in man at all...And there is doubt that one who fears the arm of flesh and blood is low of soul and he who fears man forgets the Almighty." Thus, Rabbeinu Bechaya... And how sublimely true are his words! The fear of man is indeed a stumbling block to the Jew, bringing nearer and guaranteeing his defeat. For the fear of man that causes the Jew to abandon his total trust in the Almighty is a humiliating slap in the divine face. The great Biblical commentator, the Radak, stated it simply: "For it is a mighty rebellion on the part of a servant against his master to hang his hopes on another master" (commentary to Isaiah 30:1) It is the height of rebellion and humiliation and the Almighty will not allow it. He repays the fearful Jew measure for measure. We saw it so clearly in the humiliating Begin collapse before Washington that led him to agree to a cease-fire with the PLO. The PLO- the very ESSENCE OF CHILLUL HASHEM because of its arrogant refusal to recognize the sovereignty of the people of the L-rd over His land- shells and murders Jews. The clear response is to strike and cut their heads off; to enter Lebanon and destroy the PLO root and branch; to declare the land liberated, part of Eretz Yisrael, as shown by the Biblical boundaries. Such an act is Kiddush Hashem; such an act is military logic; such an act saves present and future lives; such an act shows the gentile that this is a people of G-d that trembles before no mortal human. Begin, so blustering and thundering at election rallies, did nothing of the sort. As the loud and angry shouts of the gentile in Washington (abetted by the frightened timidities that pass for Jewish leaders in the United States) reached Jerusalem, the hawk turned into a cooing dove. Not only was the PLO- on the verge of military collapse, according to the Chief of Staff Raful- allowed to survive, but Begin became the first prime minister to make an agreement to which the PLO was a partner. It was precisely the Jewish fear of man that turned the PLO into an international partner for peace in the Mideast (as Secretary of State Haig so blithely said). It was precisely the Jewish terror of the gentile flesh and blood that convinced Reagan that pressure on the Jews does indeed succeed and which invited all the pressure of tomorrow. The collapse of Begin guarantees further collapse. Fear begets fear, retreat guarantees retreat. He who places his trust in man and humiliates his G-d is ensured that his ally will, in the end, destroy him. The Jewish Press, 1981 Shabbat Shalom Barbara and Chaim Kahane on the Parsha can be purchased at Amazon.com Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane or Rabbi Binyamin Kahane article and is not on my list to receive the weekly articles and would like to be, please contact me at: barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook” Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

THE FINAL REDEMPTION

RABBI MEIR KAHANE – OR HARA’AYON THE JEWISH IDEA Volume 2 THE FINAL REDEMPTION (Excerpts) Do the renaissance of the Jews’ land, its sovereignty, and the ingathering of the exiles not constitute the slightest fulfillment of G-d’s promise: “The L-rd your G-d will then bring back your remnants and have mercy on you. He will once again gather you from among the nations where He scattered you” (Deut. 30:3)? Do enormous, unbelievable miraculous victories which occurred in four days and in six days, in which we walked on the high places of our enemies who are as numerous as the sand by the sea, and who possess mighty weapons, not constitute signs unparalleled in their openness? Do our being raised up from the unparalleled lowliness of the Holocaust, the donning of raiment’s of the national glory, the destruction of the enemy who rose up to annihilate us and the liberation of our holy lands who return we never have dared hope for, have so little significance? All this we saw, open miracles and wonders, and not only did we not recognize the miracles but treated them with scorn. How could we have failed to prostrate ourselves in thanks, in acknowledgement and joy, in recognition and admiration, in praise and glory to our Maker? Could the end of days be any more obvious? We were smitten with blindness and did not absorb what our eyes saw. Our senses were blunted by the exile sickness, which saps the spirit and turns the Jewish People into the one of whom it was said, “You hear but you do not understand. You see, but you do not perceive” (Isaiah 6:9). G-d have mercy! Many fine people ask a question: How can we say that the events that have occurred in our day and the establishment of a Jewish state involve the hand of G-d, when those who established the state are wicked heretics? The answer is that indeed, most of them were wicked, spiteful renegades who banded together against G-d and Torah in an effort to cast off the yoke of Heaven; and they shall forever pay for their malicious sins, especially for murdering the souls of tens of thousands (and more) of innocent Jews who came up to the Land, their Torah with them. These are Jews who won out over the nations in the exile only to be vanquished by wicked Jews, an woe to those advocates of “groundless love” who try to cover up for these evildoers and their deeds. Even so, however, none of this has any connection to the establishment of the state, which is, indeed, the hand of G-d in accordance with all the principles of Kiddush Hashem enumerated previously: that G-d is crowned Supreme King of Kings only in accordance with His might and power appearing in the world; that the nations measure G-d’s power according to the strength or weakness of His people, Israel; and that despite Israel’s not deserving redemption and salvation, G-d still saves them in order to sanctify His name. The Jewish state came into being only to erase the scourge of Chilul Hashem: “When they came unto the nations…they profaned My holy name. Israel’s very presence in the exile, an uprooted minority scattered and homeless among the nations, exposed to the majority’s onslaughts, pursued and humiliated and murdered for being weak and cut off from their land, army and pride – all this is itself a Chilul Hashem. The redemption which began despite our sins in order to sanctify G-d’s name before the nations in might and splendor, has, in the hands of an “ungrateful, unwise nation” (Deut. 32:6), turned into a profanation and a blasphemy carried out precisely by those whom G-d thought to redeem. If the beginning of the redemption and the state served to sanctify G-d’s name, then the only way to move on to “hasty” redemption is to continue reinforcing the Kiddush Hashem through trusting in G-d and liquidating the Chilul Hashem without fear of the non-Jew, without fear of flesh and blood. Every retreat, every submission, every concession to the non-Jew, every hand raised against the Jew, every attack, let alone murder, of a Jew in the Land, every taunt and curse by a non-Jew in the Land, is a Chilul Hashem. If such Chilul Hashem exists, it is many times more severe than any other type, for it occurs within the state which arose exclusively to eradicate Chilul Hashem. Now, instead of continuing to reinforce the Kiddush Hashem process, the Jewish People retreat and profane G-d’s name. Whoever allows the non-Jew in Eretz Yisrael to rise up profanes G-d’s name with terrible contempt. If G-d gave s large portions of Eretz Yisrael as part of the start of redemption, in order to sanctify His name through the most remarkable, might victories, and someone is later ready to concede parts of the Holy Land and hand them over to the nations, he profanes G-d’s name with disgraceful blasphemy. Whoever does not allow Jews to live everywhere in the Land, whoever ties their hands and prevents their taking the revenge of G-d and Israel against the nations who curse and revile G-d and His Messiah, profanes G-d’s name and profanes the great miracle and the powerful dream realized by G-d at the start of the redemption. Whoever sees the rebirth of Eretz Yisrael and a Jewish state and understands that he can easily flee the defilement of the nations and the exile and move to the Holy Land; whoever knows that G-d has opened the last chapter of the existence of the world, which is approaching the end of the sixth thousand, and that G-d is beginning to sanctify His name, profaned among the nations, by returning Israel to their land, thereby preparing to blot out the exile, symbol of Chilul Hashem – whoever knows all this, yet remains among the nations and their defilements, loathing the delightful Land, profanes G-d’s name and His beloved land. And whoever remains there out of fear and dread of the nations, or out of doubts and uncertainties regarding his livelihood or the dangers of the Land, thereby demonstrates total lack of faith in Hashem as the G-d of Israel, Supreme, Omnipotent King of Kings; and there is no Chilul Hashem more degrading, for it borders on atheism. Yet, all attempts to flee the challenge and mission which G-d placed on our necks as a dear and gladdening yoke will be to no avail. The ledger is open, the hand is recording, and the last chapter of the world’s existence is being written. Redemption is drawing near, and the doorposts tremble at the resounding voice asking, “’in haste’ or ‘in its time’?” To receive weekly writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane H”YD write me at: Barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view previously sent articles written by the Rabbi go to; www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

ELUL - 1977

R A B B I M E I R K A H A N E ON JEWS AND JUDAISM 2 Elul 5737 - September 2, 1977 Elul The Jewish calendar is full of notations, red letter days that are meant to be both particular reminders as well as part of a uniform one: time is passing; the sands of life have run out just a bit more; the beard is a little grayer and the limbs just a touch heavier. Time. The Jewish calendar is a watchman of time, ram’s horn that blows not once a year but every time that a new time cycle begins. Every week is marked by a Sabbath that notes not only the end of the week passed but the beginning of a new one. It is both a reminder of seven full days passed out of our life – so soon! – as well as the opportunity to make the next period fuller, more meaningful, a reason for being. Every month is marked by a Rosh Chodesh, the consecration of the new beginning of yet another lunar cycle. The wheel of heaven has revolved yet another thirty days – so soon! – and we are that much older. The L-rd now gives us another month to prove that we are also that much wiser. It is not only another month, it is a new month. Above all, it is called Rosh Chodesh, the “head” of the month. Is there perhaps here a hint to see how much wisdom has filled our heads during the mistakes and sins of the past one…? And every year has its Rosh Hashana, that peculiarly Jewish day in which there are no parties and drinking and abandonment of restraint; in which there is no hilarious laughter and noise that is a frantic and frenetic attempt to convince all (and oneself) that he is happy; there is no frantic clutching at pleasure before it escapes and – worse - before I pass on; too soon, too soon. There is Rosh Hashana, the time past. Another year gone by – already? So soon! – and it is a time to see what the gray hairs and the added wrinkles and the slower reflexes have taught us. Rosh Hashana is one step closer to the gateway out of this world and into the next one. It is a time to rehearse the speech that we will make – all of us – some day, before the Supremes of Courts, as we attempt to explain the meaning of our lives below. Life is too short for fools. It is too long for those who know it was not given for happiness (if that comes, how wonderful, but how often does it appear, only in insignificant measures and at rare times, as drops of rain that fall on a parched desert leaving no impact, changing nothing so that the traveler never knows it fell). Life was given for holiness and sanctity, so that we might rise above ourselves; so that we might consecrate and hallow that animalism within us that threatens at every moment to escape and express itself in selfishness, ego and greed – sins that are themselves only the corridors to the crimes of cruelty and hurting others. Life is not a happy thing – it is a beautiful thing, and when one becomes the artist and artisan of that beauty that is called holiness, when one practices the supreme holiness that comes of loving and giving of oneself. “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li…” “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine…” the words of the greatest of love poems, Song of Songs; great because it is that purest of love, between the Almighty and the House of Israel. Consider them, for do they not contain the essence and the secret of true love? “I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine.” When I am my beloved’s, when I give to her and give of myself and live to do for her and make her happy – then I am guaranteed that she is mine for she will, in turn, be doing the same for me. The lovers who think of giving to each other must receive from each other. This is love, this desire to give, this desire to sacrifice and do for the other. Not for nothing was the Song of Songs called by the incomparable Rabbi Akiva, “the Holy of Holies” of all the books of the Bible. For the kind of love expressed in it IS holiness. Holiness is to escape from the selfishness and greed of the animal; it is to smash the passions and desires of the ego; it is to master the will that makes man seek only his own gratification. And is not love just that, in practice? Is not love exactly that, if it is true love? And not for no reason did the rabbis see in the Hebrew letters of the month of Elul the first letters of “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li – I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine.” Elul is the month of Tshuva, return and introspection. It is the month of scraping away the ego that has settled and crusted on our hearts and souls. If Passover calls for searching out he leaven in the home, Elul decrees removing it – the yeasty and bloated ego – from the soul. It is a time to note the calendar, the graying and aging, and to realize: Not for nonsense was I born and not with nonsense must they bury me. Be good. Love. Love selflessly; cease speaking evil, cease thinking evil; cease searching out evil in your fellow human beings. Cease seeking to grow at the expense of others. For one who climbs on top of the man he has just chopped down is not taller. He is the same dwarf standing on his victim’s height. Be wary lest you hurt the one you love. Think before you act towards the other person. Be good as a person, as an individual, and your part of the world will become holy. Then, if others emulate you, the world will suddenly and automatically turn beautiful and hallowed. It is Elul. Think of your beloved – all the people of the earth – and think of your particular beloved. Give of yourself and you will receive that which no amount of grasping and scheming can ever bring you: self-respect. Love the other and you will learn to like yourself. Be holy, for the One who made you is Holy and for this He placed you on this earth. It is another Elul, yet another one. How many more are left? May Elul bring all health and peace for Israel and Jews everywhere. Shabbat Shalom Barbara Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane or Rabbi Binyamin Kahane article and is not on my list to receive the weekly articles and would like to be, please contact me at: barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook” Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

Who Needs A Country? 1988

Kahane on the Parsha Rabbi Meir Kahane- Parshat Re'eh WHO NEEDS A COUNTRY? "And you shall drive them out and you shall dwell in their land" (Deuteronomy 12:29). The Rabbis (Sifri, Re'eh 80) say concerning this verse: "The mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisrael is equal to all the commandments of the Torah." Therefore, "A man should dwell in Eretz Yisrael, even in a city that is completely inhabited by gentiles, and not outside the land, though it be in a city that is completely Jewish" (Tosefta, Avoda Zara 5). The Rabbis add: "Whoever lives outside Eretz Yisrael is like one who has no G-d." The halacha is clear that a Jew must live in Eretz Yisrael and woe unto a generation that has lost sight of the clear truth. But dwelling in Eretz Yisrael is not just another halacha. It is an essential, fundamental one. Consider: When the Almighty freed the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, he did not give them a Torah there. He did not command them to keep His laws and live in Egypt or anywhere they wished to. The question is: Why? If the main purpose was to make the Jewish people a holy people, observing the laws of the Torah, why could this obligation not be placed upon the Jews without reference to where they lived? Just as a Catholic was never commanded to live only in Rome but can be a good son or daughter of the Catholic Church in Austria, Australia, or Brooklyn; and just as a good Moslem need not live in Mecca (he need only go there once in his lifetime on a pilgrimage)- why is it that the Almighty insisted that all the Jews leave Egypt and go to Eretz Yisrael rather than allowing them to settle as good and "frum" Jews in Goshen where they could set up their own yeshivas and shtiebels? Secondly, we find an amazing statement by the Rabbis in the Sifri (Ekev 43): "Even though I exile you, continue to be marked with mitzvot [i.e., continue to keep them] so that when you return to Eretz Yisrael they will not be new [i.e., unfamiliar] to you." Astounding! This is the reason for a Jew to put on tefillin and affix a mezuza in the Exile? Merely so that it should not be unfamiliar to him when he returns to Eretz Yisrael?! One would imagine that the reason that a Jew in Brooklyn or Los Angeles or Toronto should put on tefillin is that it is a mitzvah sh'begufo, a mitzvah that is personal to his body wherever he is, his place of residence being irrelevant. But the truth, the fundamental truth, the, alas, bitter truth to too many observant Jews, is that the Almighty wanted the Jews to live in Eretz Yisrael ONLY, and He gave the mitzvot to be PRACTICED ONLY in Eretz Yisrael. Over and over again, we find the Torah making statements like: "Behold, I have taught you decrees and ordinances...that you should do within the land that you go to possess" (Deuteronomy 4:5) The reason is succinctly stated by the Ibn Ezra (Deuteronomy 4:10): "For the L-rd knew that [the Jewish people] could not do His commandments properly as long as they were in the lands that ruled over them." And the Sforno (Deuteronomy 6:21) adds: "And since in our bondage we could not acquire the completeness directed from Him, He did wondrously to take us out and bring us to a land where we could acquire that completeness." There it is! The Almighty insisted and INSISTS that the Jew be removed from all other peoples, isolated ("lo, it is a people that dwells alone"- Numbers 23:9), because He knows the immutable, natural fact that the Jew living as a minority under a majority gentile culture cannot help but be influenced by that culture. Like gamma rays, the non-Jewish culture and ideas and concepts bombard the Jew so that he is subtly and not-so-subtly influenced by his gentilized environment. And, thus, the Torah that he practices is not practiced "properly" (to quote the Ibn Ezra), and is without completeness (to quote the Sforno). It becomes a system of ritual that is bereft of so much of the conceptual content because other concepts, majority concepts, majority non-Jewish concepts, influence us. That is why the Almighty, from the very beginning of Jewish national history in Egypt, demanded that the Jew live only in one country- HIS country- where he could be as isolated as much as humanly possible from conflicting cultures and concepts. That is why He still demands it today. And that is, indeed, the clear message of the Sifri quoted above. The mitzvot were never meant to be practiced outside Eretz Yisrael. They were always meant to be kept ONLY in Eretz Yisrael for the basic reason I have mentioned above. But since the Almighty knew that the Jews would be driven out of their land and live in the exile, He decreed that they should continue to observe mitzvot solely for the reason that they not be forgotten when they, the Jews, returned to Eretz Yisrael, the only place where the mitzvot were designed to be kept. The Jewish Press, 1988 Shabbat Shalom Barbara and Chaim Kahane on the Parsha can be bought at Amazon.com Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles written by Rabbi Kahane and would like to be, please contact me at barbaraandchaim@gmail.com To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Facebook: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg