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