MOSES: FANATIC AND EXTREMIST 1988

Kahane on the Parsha

Rabbi Meir Kahane- Parshat Bo

MOSES: FANATIC AND EXTREMIST

Nine plagues have descended upon Egypt. Pharaoh, reeling under pressure from his noblemen and servants, capitulates. He tells Moses: "Go, worship the L-rd; only let your flocks and your herds stay behind" (Exodus 10:24).

Consider, dear Jew. After 210 years of slavery, the Hebrews have been told that they can leave! FREEDOM, AT LAST! Pharaoh has capitulated! All he gives is one small condition, so unimportant in view of the fact that he has agreed to Jewish freedom. Go, he has told the Hebrews; all I ask is that you leave your flocks and your herds.

The Hebrew, bursting with joy and anticipation, wait for the "official" acceptance by Moses, the sage and stable leader, his agreement that will open the door to freedom. And Moses? He replies: "You must also give into our hands sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may offer them to the L-rd, our G-d. And our livestock, as well, will go with us; there shall not be a hoof left behind" (Exodus 10:25-26).

Picture the Hebrews! Picture the Jewish leaders of TODAY, had they been there! "Moses! Have you LOST YOUR MIND??? We have been slaves for 210 years and now we can go free! Give him the animals! Agree to his unimportant condition. Make the insignificant compromise so that we can enjoy freedom and peace. Moses, what is this extremism and fanaticism? Freedom now, peace now! Give him the flocks!"

But, no. Moses, the greatest of Jewish leaders, refuses. There will be no compromise. There cannot be a compromise, for we are not speaking here about mere "freedom." The Jewish people is not a nation like all others with nationalistic strivings for independence and freedom. The liberation of the Jew was not a nationalist struggle for secular freedom. The entire breaking of the Egyptian yoke of bondage was a RELIGIOUS struggle, the war of the L-rd, G-d of Israel, against Pharaoh who mocked Him and refused to recognize Him as the one and only G-d.

From the first moment that Moses came into the palace and told the Egyptian emperor, ruler over the mightiest of all the empires of his time, "Thus says the L-rd, G-d of Israel: Let My people go..." and Pharaoh replied, "Who is the L-rd that I should obey His voice...? I know not the L-rd, and I will not let Israel go!" (Exodus 5:2), the battle was joined. The battle against Chillul Hashem; the battle against the arrogance of the nations who dare to proclaim, "I know not the L-rd"; the battle for Kiddush Hashem, the recognition and acceptance of the L-rd, G-d of Israel, as the one G-d, as the G-d of the universe.

Kiddush Hashem! That is what the story of the Exodus is about! And Kiddush Hashem brooks NO COMPROMISE, NOT THE SLIGHTEST!!! There MUST BE TOTAL SURRENDER, TOTAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE L-RD AND HIS PEOPLE'S SOVEREIGNTY AND POWER.

There is more.

The tenth and final plague now strikes Egypt. In every home, the firstborn dies; there is not a house in which there is no dead. It is midnight but Pharaoh rushes through the streets and cries out to Moses: "Rise up and leave from the midst of my people, both you and the Children of Israel, and go serve the L-rd as you have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, AND BE GONE!" (Exodus 12:31-32). AT LAST, TOTAL CAPITULATION! Unconditional surrender! But leave NOW, immediately, in the middle of the night!

Dear Jew, surely the moment has come. What could even the worst fanatic and extremist want after this surrender?

Listen:

Moses says to Pharaoh: "Are we then thieves that we should leave in the night? We will not leave except with a mighty arm before the eyes of all of Egypt!" (Tanchuma, Bo 7).

Ah, the fanatic and extremist...He lays down yet another rule of Kiddush Hashem. Sanctification and the proclamation of G-d's omnipotence and sovereignty CANNOT BE A HIDDEN, SILENT, DISCREET THING. It MUST be done OPENLY, with a proclamation before the nations, with trumpets and drums. NO FEAR, NO ATTEMPT TO KEEP A LOW PROFILE, NO EFFORT TO "AVOID ANTAGONIZING THE NATIONS." Openly, loudly, with a public majesty that proclaims the majesty and kingship of the L-rd, G-d of Israel, who is one!

If Moses were alive today and were he to lay down these iron rules of Kiddush Hashem, what would the gentilized Hebrews of Israel and the Hellenists of the Establishment in the Exile say?

The lesson is clear: Their gentilized thoughts are not those of the G-d of Israel. What to them is a "fanatic" and "extremist," in Torah eyes and to authentic Judaism is principle and the iron rule of Judaism. Those who believe in nothing but themselves will always be "flexible"- except when their own interests are threatened. Those who believe in nothing will always be ready to "compromise," since they stand on no principle that is stable and untouchable. Parshat Bo teaches us about the greatest of all Jewish concepts, Kiddush Hashem, and the greatest of Jewish leaders, Moses-

.The Fanatic and Extremist.
The Jewish Press, 1988

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DEMOCRACY?

  

Beyond Words

Volume 6 (excerpts from pages 548-571)

DEMOCRACY?

“Power. That is what always obsessed them and that is what obsesses them today, both Labor and Likud. Not “democracy” and not “law” and not “justice” but power. Their power. And in order to keep that power, they are not above killing Jews.

 

They murdered a religious Jew, Jacob de Haan, in 1934, because he was an anti-Zionist. (Indeed, the leaders of the group that ordered the murder were Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, later to be the President of Israel, and his wife, a famous poetess — both of the hierarchy of the Labor movement.) They murdered a 17-year-old youth named Yedidya Segal, on suspicion of belonging to the Irgun. He was tortured by a Haganah kidnap gang and died. The Mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek, was a key figure in the kidnap­ping and torturing of Irgun members and supporters.

Worst, the most horrifying of the examples, is the deliberate blowing up of the Irgun ship, Altalena, off the beach of Tel Aviv in June 1948. Along with the murder of 16 Jews who were aboard.

 

It was a terrible time for the fledgling Jewish state, established barely a month earlier. The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Leba­non and Iraq had invaded the country. A severe defeat, with heavy casualties, had been suffered by the new Israeli army at Latrun, in the center of the country. Egyptian troops were now only 20 miles from Ashdod, on the road to Tel Aviv. The Etzion bloc had fallen to the Jordanian forces and Arab troops were at the southern end of Jerusalem, with the Old City already in their hands. The most serious problem of all was the overwhelming superiority of the Ar­abs in materiel. They far surpassed the Jews in artillery, armor and planes. Worse, Ben-Gurion explained the terrible defeat at Latrun by revealing that the entire Jewish force there had only 1,300 rifles. (Later it was learned that hundreds of newly arrived Jewish immi­grants were taken off the ships at Haifa and dispatched to the Latrun front, with only sticks as weapons. They were slaughtered.) The very existence of the Jewish state was in the balance and Jew­ish leaders desperately sought ways to get arms and ammunition.

And suddenly, as if some prayer Divinely-granted — there it was. A veritable arsenal of ammunition, loaded on the ship, Altalena. The product of years of fund-raising efforts by Irgun sup­porters in the United States, it carried five thousand Lee-Enfield ri­fles, one million rounds of ammunition, one thousand grenades, three hundred Bren guns, fifty cannons, four thousand aerial bombs, nine tanks, fifty anti-tank guns, large quantities of medical equipment, as well as 920 trained combat soldiers. The French government agreed to allow the ship to be loaded and to sail for Israel from the port of Marseilles.

Painstaking discussions with the new Israeli government led to an agreement with Ben-Gurion that the ship could land. It was agreed that the spot would be Kfar Vitkin, a Labor settlement on the coast. When the ship arrived, however, the authorities suddenly told the Irgun that it would not be allowed to land, and it was fired upon from the shore and from two corvettes of the Israeli Navy. With Menachem Begin aboard, the Altalena now set off for Tel Aviv, where she was grounded opposite Frishman Street. There she was again attacked by heavy fire from the beach and the best account is that of the commander of the Altalena, a U.S. Navy veteran named Monroe Fein:

 

The ship continued to receive heavy firing from the shore for a period of about one-and-a-half hours. Some of the heavy machine guns ashore were using armor-piercing ammunition which passed right through the steel bulkheads of the ship. This fact began to cause numerous casualties. We had no doctor on board and some of our casualties were very seriously wounded. We contacted, through Irgun headquarters ashore, the army commander and requested a cease-fire in order to allow us to remove the wounded men from the ship. We arranged that we would use our own landing vessel for this purpose. Cease-fire was agreed to almost at once and all firing on both the shore and ship had stopped within a few minutes. From this point on there was not a single round of ammunition fired from the ship for the remainder of the afternoon.

 

Immediately after the cease-fire order we attempted to contact the landing vessel which had remained on the beach to the north of the ship. How­ever, we discovered that we were unable to reach them as apparently their radio set had gone dead. Jack Baron, the Chief Officer, volunteered to swim to the boat to tell the crew of the arrangement that had been made. As soon as he was in the water, he was fired upon many times from the shore. He succeeded in reaching the shore, only to be captured by army men. He was not allowed to walk up to the boat. When we saw there was no possibility of communicating with our own boat, we immediately made this fact known to the Palmach commander and asked that a government boat be sent from the harbor to take off the wounded. This was immediately promised us. We then settled down to wait for the appearance of this boat, mean­while caring for the wounded as best we could.

 

During this time one of them died. One hour and a half later, and after repeated requests there was still no sign of any boat. We had also tried to signal to the two corvettes to make the same request, but they gave no indication that they even saw our signal. At this time, we were suddenly taken under fire by a large gun which was located on the coast to the north of the city. This gun fired three shots all of which passed over the ship and exploded in the water beyond. We immedi­ately got on the radio and asked whether or not the cease-fire still was in effect and if so, what was the rea­son for the renewed gun-fire. A reply was made that the cease-fire order was still in effect and that the gun would be silenced immediately. Following this there was a period of about fifteen minutes in which no more gunshots were made. During this time I conferred with the Commander-in-Chief of the Irgun and told him that if the gunfire should hit the ship, the ship, the cargo and possibly a good many lives would be lost and that he should at all costs maintain the cease-fire order until there could be further negotiations. This he agreed to do but as he himself came up to talk on the radio to the headquarters ashore, the heavy gun resumed firing.

As soon as the gun started a second time, I struck the flag as a sign of surrender. We again inquired of the Palmach commander whether the cease-fire order was in effect and the reply came that the cease-fire order was in effect but that he had been “unable to

contact all fronts.” Within a few seconds after this message was received, there was a direct hit on the ship which started a large fire in the cargo hold. The ship’s crew made immediate and valiant efforts to put out this fire, but because of the nature of the cargo it proved beyond our capacity and I ordered all men aboard to prepare to abandon the ship.

 

The first thought all of us had was to remove the wounded men. There was no panic. Everyone behaved in an extremely calm and heroic manner. As the men began jumping off the ship and swimming towards the shore, those of us still on board saw that they were being shot at continuously from rifles and machine-guns on the beach. I rushed to the bridge and began waving a white flag and shouting to stop the fire on the men who were swimming for their lives. At the same time another man hoisted a large piece of white canvas on the halyard, but these efforts were of little avail, as the firing continued.

 

At least 16 Jews died in the waters off Tel Aviv that day. Jews murdered by other Jews, under orders of the Jewish authority that saw the Irgun as a threat to its power. The commander of the forces that murdered the Jews was Yitzhak Rabin, later to become Prime Minister and later yet, Defense Minister during the intifada, where he showed far greater concern for “morality” towards Arabs than to the Jews he murdered in 1948.

 

And the man who gave the order, the Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, in discussing the murder of Jews by Jews in the Land of Israel, told the provisional State Council (acting Parliament) on June 23, 1948:

  ----

“Blessed be the cannon that blew up the ship. It should be enshrined in the Third Temple of the Jews.”

Appropriate and emblematic of Ben-Gurion and of those who were the authority in the State of Israel. Hard, cruel autocrats who used “the people” for their own political ends. When, for example, he was asked to allow the remains of Jabotinsky to be buried in Israel (he died in 1940 in New York), Ben-Gurion stated:

“Israel does not need dead Jews but living Jews, and I see no blessing in multiplying graves in Israel.” (letter to Judge Joseph Lamm of the Tel Aviv District Court, Vice President of the B’nai B’rith in Israel, May 7, 1958)”

 

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Levi Chazen Speaks

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THE SHECHEM MASSACRE RAV BINYAMIN ZE'EV KAHANE 1992

 

Kahane on the Parsha

Rabbi Binyamin Ze’evKahane HY”D- Parshat VaYechi
THE SHECHEM MASSACRE

Jacob's curse of Shimon and Levi in our parsha raises the perennial question: Were they correct in wiping out Shechem's male population or not?

One who reads Parshat VaYechi can easily reach the conclusion that the question is answered by Jacob when he says, "Cursed be their anger for it is fierce..." (Genesis 49:7). These words refer to the massacre of Shechem, and they certainly seem to put the deed in a negative light. Indeed, this is how many love to interpret Jacob's curse, condemning Shimon and Levi for their actions in Shechem.
But numerous observations

 challenge this simplistic understanding. First, whoever reads Parshat VaYishlach will notice that the Torah concludes the story with Shimon and Levi having the upper hand. For in response to Jacob's argument- "You have brought trouble on me to make odious among the inhabitants of the land"- Shimon and Levi promptly answer, "Shall he make of our sister a harlot?" And thus the story ends, without a peep from Jacob, with the brothers clearly putting the matter to rest.

More than that, pay attention to the argument of Jacob. he does not censure them for MORAL reasons. He does not criticize them for wiping out an entire city unjustly. NO! This is NOT his argument. His is a PRACTICAL one- that all the surrounding nations will attack him now.

And if the reader is not yet convinced, know what it says in the Midrash (Bamidbar Rabba 2:7)- that on the flag of Shimon was nothing other than an illustration of the city of Shechem! Now ask yourself: Would Shimon place an illustration of something on his flag that recalled a sin? Clearly, then, the act of Shimon and Levi was proper.

And the fact is, none of the Jewish commentators condemn the act. The Rambam, for one, explains that Shimon and Levi were justified because the people of Shechem did not put Shechem ben Chamor on trial for raping Dina, making them liable to death under the 7 Noahide laws. The Maharal disagrees, arguing that one can't expect a people to put their prince, whom they fear, on trial. He therefore suggests that the Children of Israel behaved as is customary in all wars, exacting collective punishment.

If Shimon and Levi acted properly, though, why does Jacob curse them in Parshat VaYechi?
The answer lies in their motive. Jacob realized that their impulse in wiping out Shechem wasn't entirely pure. When did Jacob conclude this? When it became clear that the major culprits in the selling of Joseph were the very same Shimon and Levi, as the Rabbis tell us (Tanchuma, VaYechi 9).

In other words, the brothers' plot to kill Joseph- headed by Shimon and Levi- shed light on their actions in Shechem. It indicated that their deed was not purely l'sheim shamayim but, rather, stemmed in part from anger. And so Jacob cursed "their anger for it is fierce." Jacob did not curse THEM, but rather their ANGER.
Interestingly enough, we find that the tribe of Levi took Jacob's curse to heart and improved itself. The tribe continued acting zealously- it was the Levites who slew their brethren for the sin of the Golden Calf and it was Pinchas who stood up for G-d's honor by killing Zimri- but the motivation was now purely l'sheim shamayim. Levi's zealotry was no longer tainted by anger.

The tribe of Shimon, in contrast, never succeeded in purifying itself. Whom did Pinchas kill? Zimri, from the tribe of Shimon- a Jewish leader who brazenly and impetuously committed the same type of sin for which his ancestor once wiped out an entire city.
Darka Shel Torah, 1992
Shabbat Shalom!

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

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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!

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 or Rabbi Binyamin 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

 

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Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

Otzma Yehudit for Anglos