War and Peace

Rabbi Meir Kahane – The Jewish Idea (Or Hara’ayon) WAR AND PEACE (Excerpts) “I will grant peace in the land” (Lev.26.6): Perhaps you will say, “Well, there is food and there is drink, but if there is no peace then all this is nothing!” Scripture therefore states, “I will grant peace in the land” This teaches that peace counterbalances everything. Its likewise says (Isaiah 45.7), “I will make peace and create evil.” This teaches that peace counterbalances everything. (See Bamidar Rabbah, 11:5-6) Since peace is limited to its own time, it follows that in wartime all traits associated with love, kindness and mercy are redefined. It is then kind and merciful to go to war against the wicked. Our sages teach (Kohelet Rabbah, 3:[8]1): There is “a time to kill” – during war; “and a time to heal” – during peace. There is “a time to break down” – during war; “and a time to build up” – during peace – There is “a time to seek” – during peace; “and a time to lose” – during war. There is “a time to rend” – during war “ and a time to sew” – during peace…There is “a time to love”- during peace; “ and a time to hate” – during war. There is “a time for war” – during war; “and a time for peace” – during peace. The word of the Living G-d! And how relevant they are to our day: there is a time for war – during war; and a time for peace during peace. We might ask why Scriptures must tell us that there is a time for war. Might anyone think otherwise? Our sages were teaching that, in fact, some might really think so, especially with the insane, alien culture holding portions of our people captive in its sullied hands. Above I quoted Tanchuma, Shoftim15: “When you go forth to battle against your enemies (Deut.20:1)… What is meant by “against your enemies”? G-d said, “Confront them as enemies. Just as they show you no mercy, so should you not show them any mercy.” We have to realize that the non-Jew who goes to war against Israel is our enemy and not our friend. How unaware people are nowadays of this simple yet profound principle! Our sages also said (Sifri Shoftim 192): You are going to war against your enemies and not against your brethren. It is not Judah against Simeon or Simeon against Judah such that if you fall captive they will have mercy on you…It is against your enemies that you are waging war. If you fall into their hands, they will show you no mercy. Indeed, a timely war is a mitzvah, a duty, a kindness and an everlasting act of righteousness. Ex.34:6, which enumerates G-d’s attributes, ends by mentioning “truth”: The L-rd, the L-rd, Omnipotent, merciful and kind, slow to anger, with tremendous resources of love and truth.” I have already explained that there cannot be “mercy, kindness and tremendous resources of love,” without “truth.” We often find the combination of “kindness and truth,” to teach us that that same Deity who is “merciful, kind and loving,” is above all else a G-d of truth. Likewise, G-d is described as follows (Ex.15:3): “The L-rd is the Master of war, ‘Hashem’ is His name.” Despite His name being “Hashem,” a name indicating mercy, He is still “Master of war.” That same Hashem of mercy is also a Master of war against the wicked. All this is the plain truth. There is a time for war and cruelty and a time for mercy, kindness and clemency. It all depends on G-d’s laws, the laws of war by the Master of war. Our sages said (Mechilta,Ibid): “The L-rd is the Master of war, Hashem is His name: Our sages teach us a great lesson here regarding love for one’s fellow Jew and the duty one bears to him: It is not enough for a Jew not to murder. Surely, “Turn away from evil” (Ps.34:15) applies here, but a much weightier duty applies too: he must do all he can to save his fellow Jew from danger, to eradicate every danger and mishap, to defeat every foe who imperils the Jewish People before he can harm them. A non-Jew who tries to attack or kill a Jew must be punished, and if that non-Jew flees to save himself from punishment, it clearly is not just permissible but a mitzvah and duty to shoot to kill him. Whoever opposes this and orders that the enemy be allowed to flee, thereby enabling him to return later and kill Jews, will never be able to rise up and proclaim, “My hands have not spilled this blood.” He is aiding a rodef, is allied to murderers of Jews, and should be treated like a criminal (Moreover, such non-Jews not only fail to accept upon themselves taxes, slave status, and G-d’s and Israel’s sovereignty over the Land, but they declare war on the Jews, attacking and murdering us. We are duty-bound to wage a milchemet mitzvah against them, a compulsory war, and they deserve death, as I shall write below.) King David said (Ps 9:17), “The L-rd has made Himself known. He has executed judgment.” That is, the nations will know G-d and His glory only when he executes judgment in His war against them. He also said (Ps 24:8), “Who is the King of glory? The L-rd strong and mighty, He is mighty in battle.” The wars Israel was commanded to wage were not meant to satisfy any selfish urge on their part, any craving for land or desire for personal glory, but to sanctify G-d’s name and cast down the wicked, who plunder and afflict the upright. Just as every part of Israel’s life must be holy, so must be their wars. Due to our sins, the reason we were exiled from our land, the laws of war, have been so corrupted and confused by so many fine students that ignorance on this matter has surpassed all limits. Some have no understanding whatsoever of what a milchemet mitzvah is, and in their blindness ask whether the war between us and the Arabs today is such a war. Woe, to the ears that hear this! Rambam writes (Hilchot Melachim 5:1) In a milchemet mitzvah, the king need not obtain permission of the court. Rather, he may go forth himself at any time and compel the people to follow. With milchemet reshut, howoever, he may only compel the people through a court of seventy-one. Here is the law before us. Clearly, no king is needed either. After all, the judges who preceded Saul were not kings nor were the Hasmoneans when they rose up against the Greeks. How long can our disgraceful ignorance of these laws go on?- Holiness and knowledge of G-d elevate a person from bestiality, fear and confinement to trust in G-d. Kiddush Hashem brings the redemption “speedily Shabbat Shalom Barbara 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 /Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com Barbara Ginsberg: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

SEEK NO ALLIES!!!! 1989

Kahane on the Parasha Rabbi Meir Kahane- Parashat BalakSEEK NO ALLIES!!! To be alone is the destiny of the Jew ever since it was decreed "Hen, am l'vadad yishkon," "Lo, itis a people that shall dwell alone" (Numbers 23:9). But the word"hen," which is generally translated as a poetical "lo," ismuch more than that, since the Torah isn't primarily a book of poetry. So theRabbis, noting that the Hebrew word "hen" is composed of the lettershei and nun, state: "Take all the letters andyou will find [that if one wishes to add two of them together to get the sum of10] each letter has a partner, but hei [the number 5] and nun [the number 50]have no partners. [For example, the letter aleph (one) and tet (nine) add up to10; bet (two) and chet (eight) add up to 10; gimel (three) and zayin (seven)add up to 10; daled (four) and vav (six) add up to 10. Only hei (five) has nopartner [except for a second hei. Similarly the letter nun (50) has no partnerother than another nun to get the sum of 100]" (Yalkut, Balak 23). This remarkable Midrashemphasizes more than anything the halachic injunction of isolation. Not only must the Jew not be afraid of being isolated, he is commanded to chooseisolation. THAT IS WHY ALL JEWS MUST LIVE IN ERETZ YISRAEL- SO AS TO BE ISOLATED FROM THE NATIONS AND THEIR CULTURES!!! In the words of the Rabbis:"separated from the nations of the world and their abominations"(Mechilta, Yitro, Bachodesh Hashlishi 2:3). But there is another lesson to belearned from the requirement of isolation, and that is that the Jew is NOTALLOWED to seek allies- that the very act of seeking allies is one offaithlessness to G-d. Thus, we find the prophet Isaiah condemning the Jews ofhis time for turning to Egypt for aid against the Assyrians who werethreatening them: "Woe to the rebellious children, says the L-rd, who takecounsel, but not from Me; and who prepare a plan, but not of My spirit, inorder to add sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt but did not inquire of MyMouth, to seek strength in Pharaoh's stronghold and to take shelter in theshade of Egypt!" (Isaiah 30: 1-2). And again: "Woe to those whogo down to Egypt for help and who rely on horses; they trust in chariotsbecause they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but theylook not to the Holy One of Israel, neither do they seek the L-rd" (Ibid.31:1). Consider the words of theprophet, and the context in which they were said. Assyria, the mightiest empireof its time, the empire that had vanquished nation after nation, is descendingon Israel. Is it not normal to seek allies? What would religious Jews andrabbis say today about seeking help from the United States? Surely they wouldall cry out the need for "practicality." But the prophet does not. Hecondemns it. And the great Biblicalcommentator, the Radak, explains: "It is not enough that they have sinnedand erred, but they add the sin of asking besides me help from someone elsewithout My permission? And this is a great rebellion of the servant against hismaster, as he places his trust in someone else besides him" (commentary onIsaiah 30:1). The fear of man, of human fleshand blood, rather than trust in the Almighty, has ever been the cause oftragedy for the Jewish people! Let's consider the national tragedy that befellthe Jewish people when its kingdom was split into two after the death ofSolomon. Why did this occur? Because Solomon sinned by marrying Pharaoh'sdaughter who turned his heart from G-d, as it says (1 Kings 11:11), "Andthe L-rd said to Solomon, 'Since...you have not kept My covenant and My statueswhich I commanded upon you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and willgive it to your servant.'"But why such a harsh punishmentfor marrying Pharaoh's daughter? It hardly, at first glance, seems to fit thecrime. The Seder Olam writes that theoriginal decree was only to last 36 years "in line with the 36 years thatSolomon was married to Pharaoh's daughter...The Kingdom was due to have beenrestored in the reign of King Asa...but Asa ruined it by sending a bribe to theking of Aram [when he was attacked by Basha, King of Israel], not relying onthe Almighty but on the king of Aram." The Radak cites the Seder Olam andwrites similarly, "The decree was that the kingdom should be split for 36years corresponding to the 36 years that Solomon was the son-in-law ofPharaoh. "Consider the odd language of theRadak: "the son-in-law of Pharaoh." Why not say: "the husband ofPharaoh's daughter"? Because the real sin was that Solomon married thewoman in order to be the son-in-law of Pharaoh! Egypt was the most powerfulnation of its time and Solomon hoped to neutralize her and make her an ally bymarrying the monarch's daughter, a common method of diplomatic alliancethroughout history. Solomon feared man, not G-d, and sought through thismarriage to guarantee his kingdom. Therefore, the Almighty punished him withthe perfect and most fitting punishment: the splitting of his kingdom. And that is the reason for thefollowing remarkable statement in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 21b): "WhenSolomon married Pharaoh's daughter, Gabriel came down and struck a reed in thesea which gathered about it a sand-bank upon which was built the great city ofRome." The point made by the Rabbis is clear. On the day Solomon showedfear of man rather than faith in G-d and made an alliance with Pharaoh to savehis kingdom, the ultimate destruction of the Kingdom- Rome- was born. What aremarkable underlining of the foolishness and sin of trusting in humans whenall flesh is in the hands of G-d! What a remarkable example of how history iscreated and guided by G-d!"Lo, it is a people thatshall dwell alone." L'vadad! Alone! THAT IS THE JEWISH WAY! The Jewish Press, 1989 Shabbat Shalom Barbara Kahane on the Parsha can bepurchased at Amazon.com Anyone reading this Rabbi MeirKahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articleswritten by Rabbi Kahane / Rabbi Binyamin Kahane and would like to be, please contact me at barbaraandchaim@gmail.com  To view articles written by RabbiMeir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com   Facebook:Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

Want Peace? Expel The Enemy!!!

The Jewish Idea  WANT PEACE? EXPEL THE ENEMY!!! (Very appropriate for today when we do not expel the enemy, but take them into the coalition in the Knesset.   As MK's they can vote and speak and have dangerous positions to harm Israel.)bg "He will drive the enemy before you and He will proclaim, 'Destroy!' Israel will then dwell securely alone" (Deuteronomy 33: 27-28). On these verses, the Ohr HaChaim comments: " 'Israel will then dwell securely': When? When they are alone. The words 'Israel will then dwell' are a continuation of what precedes them, 'He will proclaim, "Destroy!" ' for G-d commanded Israel to annihilate every single one of the inhabitants in the Land of Canaan. By doing so 'Israel will then dwell securely alone.'" The plain truth lies here before us. The Torah commands us not to hesitate about annihilating the nations in the land lest they hate and seek revenge against us for taking land they view as their own. Not in vain are the words yerushah (inheritance) and horashah (driving out) so similar in Hebrew. G-d is telling us that unless we drive out the nations of the land, we will not inherit it. As the Sforno writes, "When you shall eliminate the inhabitants of the land, then you shall be privileged to inherit the land and pass it down to your children. But if you do not eliminate them, even though you will conquer the land, you will not be privileged to hand it down to your children." Shabbat Shalom  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   

Gedolim are not infallible

Kahane on the Parsha Rabbi Binyamin Kahane- Parshat Shelach GEDOLIM ARE NOT INFALLIBLE We never cease to be amazed when Parshat Shelach is read, exposing as it does the true colors of the nation's leaders. The very same people who were to lead the Jewish people into the Promised Land suddenly scorn it. They brazenly turn their backs on the Holy Land promised to them by G-d and, to our amazement, are even prepared to find a substitute for it. How could these Jewish leaders make such a total about-face? How could they ignore the destiny of the Jewish people? How could they reject the very land for which G-d redeemed them from Egypt? We will address these questions momentarily but first, the fact that such great leaders (see Rashi on Numbers 13:1) spurned heaven's plans for the Jewish people teaches us that we must ALWAYS examine the positions of our leaders -- no matter how righteous they may be. We must NOT be robots, blindly trusting that our leaders or 'gedolim' will "take care of everything" while we rest easy. Even the most reliable leader can, at one point or another, betray himself and his ideology as a result of normal human weakness. The Talmud (Berachot 29a) relates that even though Yochanan served as Kohen Gadol for 80 years, he embraced heresy at the end of his life. We must be especially wary of leaders who lead us around by the nose from one corner to the next. We must break off the shackles of such leadership and not hesitate to defy it. Particularly in this orphaned generation, in which a gadol isn't so 'gadol', and a leader isn't much of a leader, it is OBLIGATORY to go to all these heads of the people and ask them the difficult questions that need to be asked. And if they have no answers, let us recognize this fact and start searching for the honest truth the hard way. Why did the spies betray their destiny? The Rabbis offer several reasons, but they all boil down to one factor: lack of faith. After all, how can grasshoppers stand up to giants? Yes, the G-d of history who created heaven and earth made them a promise, but they didn't believe He was capable of making good on it. Without question, the leaders of that generation piously read the 13 principles of faith and gave shiurim in yeshivot on trusting in G-d. But when it came down to "practicalities," when they had to practice what they had been preaching every day, when their faith was put to the test -- "Who is stronger: G-d or Sichon and Og?" -- they selected Sichon and Og. As the Israeli government hands over the Land of Israel to the Arabs piece by piece, it is CRUCIAL that we study Parshat Shelach carefully. For the sin of the spies -- "and they despised the holy land" -- is repeating itself in grand fashion in our time. And once again, the basic problem is LACK OF FAITH! But our sin is worse than that of the spies. After all, unlike the spies, we are already IN the Land of Israel. We have already conquered it through great wonders and miracles. We don't need to muster such tremendous faith when G-d has already made HIs providence over this land crystal clear in Israel's wars. Trusting Him should not be that difficult for us. And yet, we insist on groveling to the Assads and Arafats of this world, continuing to perceive ourselves as grasshoppers instead of giants. May G-d give us the faith and mesirut nefesh to save ourselves from awesome punishment. Darka Shel Torah, 1993 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 Binyamin Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane /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