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