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