Rectifying the sin of the spies

Mountains around Jerusalem

This post is my own commentary on some of the passages brought in Rav Kook Torah on the Parsha, a weekly teaching assembled and translated by Rabbi Chanan Morrison.

In 1908, Rav Kook wrote that we still suffer from the sin of the spies today, and that in our hands lies the opportunity to rectify the spies' error and enter the land of Israel with all our gusto. 

The glory of the land of Israel can be hidden at times; it is our job to clear away the clutter and announce to ourselves and others the boundless light that lies in Eretz Yisrael's beauty and holiness. A hidden paradise on earth has been bequeathed to us, each generation since 1948 more than the one before it, b"H. Rav Kook emphasized not only the physical beauty apparent in the Land, but also the unique air of Israel (avira d'eretz yisrael) that from time immemorial was the raw material of prophecy:

The quality of delightful holiness that Torah scholars seeking the holy may find in the Land of Israel does not exist at all outside the Land. I myself can attest to this unique quality, to a degree commensurate with my small worth. (Igrot HaRe'iyah, vol. I, pp. 112-113)

How many of us deliberate (including myself) the pros and cons of living in Israel, as if a decision pertaining to the most delicate levels of the soul can be approached like a business deal? Well, you get a year of aliyah payments, free tuition, free health care and a discount on property tax. On the other hand, you have to buy all new furniture, deal with heap-loads of bureaucracy, lower your standards for your first job or two, and get through an August. But can you really approach the question of aliyah like this (I ask myself)? Can you really approach love like this? How silly would it sound if you overheard a conversation weighing marriage over such considerations? How humiliating to a heart testifying to true love! 

The truth is, love is a creative force - the love of the Jewish people for Israel is an integral part of the land's holiness. According to Rabbi Judah HaLevi, the Jewish people, the commandments, the land of Israel, the building of the Temple and the Hebrew language are all parts of a well-oiled machine which when assembled properly over millenia of Jewish history, produces prophecy - prophecy in the sense of the return of the living, Divine presence to the hearts and minds of the Jewish people, through their writings, their art, their blogs and their prayers, their Torah and their love for one another. Without any one of these components, the machine cannot work. The land is barren without its people, and the people are homeless without their land. 

It is told that once a Jewish tourist shared with the Rav his calculation of the albeit very real pros and cons of moving to Israel, concluding in the end that it was not worthwhile. In his characteristic non-confrontational but bold and thought-provoking response, the Rav responded:

Before the Israelites entered the Land in the time of Moses, they first needed to kill Sichon, the king of Heshbon. This teaches us that one should come to the Land of Israel bli heshbon - without making calculations.

An from where does our love for Eretz Yisrael spring? It is irreducible to explanation, because explanation is based on things that you can define and limit, and the holiness of Eretz Yisrael originates in the place from where the limits themselves originate...And yet even so, how can such love be expressed, to others, and to the object of affection? Through action. The secret of teshuva, expressed most extensively in the writings of the first Chabad Rebbe, Reb Schenur Zalman of Liadi, is that physical acts - in the form of mitzvot - involving the body and objects and senses of the physical world - can be vessels for the most sublime of sensitivities of the human soul and of the supernal realms - those that evade our mental thought processes and linguistic capacities. Those who come to Israel and can do nothing but let their knees fall in thanksgiving and adoration for the land upon which the soles of their feet can step, know how such a process of rectification begins:

The Talmud records that Rabbi Abba would demonstrate his great love for the Land of Israel by kissing the rocks of Acre (Ketubot 112a) as he returned to the Land. What was so special about these rocks that Rabbi Abba would kiss them?

Rav Kook explained that if Rabbi Abba had kissed the soil of Eretz Yisrael, we would understand that his love for the Land was due to the special mitzvot that are fulfilled with its fruit - tithes, first fruits, the sabbatical year, and so on. The soil, which produces fruit, signifies the importance and holiness of the Land through the mitzvot ha-teluyot ba'aretz.

But Rabbi Abba's love for the Land was not dependent on any external factors - not even its special mitzvot (see Avot 5:16; Orot p. 9). Rabbi Abba cherished the intrinsic holiness of Eretz Yisrael. He recognized that the special qualities of the Land – such as its receptivity to prophecy and enlightenment - go far beyond the holiness of those mitzvot connected to agriculture. Therefore, he made a point of kissing its barren rocks and stones. 

May each and every soul and body of the Jewish people be rounded up speedily to reunite and congregate in the land that is our inheritance from our holy fathers and mothers, and may we soon sing a new song in Jerusalem to the living God, whose love and justice will be apparent for all to see and contemplate like water fills the seas!

Vilnai: Israel must be prepared for a nearing confrontation with its enemies

Matan Vilnai, Israel's Minister for Home Front Defense, made the following remarks at a Memorial Day service in Be'er Sheva this evening (my translation from Arutz Sheva):

In the face of vast transitions and political instability taking hold of our region, it is only our fortitude and willingness to sacrifice that which is most precious to us that enables the continued existence of the State of Israel. Throughout the years, we have extended a hand of peace to our neighbors, but in most cases we returned empty-handed. We must try to pursue the path of peace, but at the same time we must be prepared for an nearing confrontation with our enemies.

May we soon see the day when Israel can dwell in peace among the nations.

Confronting Heaven on the Harshest of Decrees: A Brief History

Photo of the Baal Shem Tov's handwritten siddur (open to Amidah, Matzmiach
Keren Yeshuah through Modim), with his students' names in the margins
to help him remember them in his prayers (Agudas Chabad Library/Wikipedia)

The brutal murders in Itamar were a din kashe - a harsh judgment of the highest degree from the Almighty, whose ways are worlds beyond us. Hashem is the true judge and Heaven only knows what is coming.

In the Roman conquest of Jerusalem at the turn of the first millenia, ten of the great rabbis of the generation were brutally slaughtered by the enemy. The generation was aghast -- what on earth or in heaven could explain the brutal murder of not one, but 10 holy souls, all at once, each tortured in a different way, and even beyond the individual level of suffering -- the elimination of not one, not two, but the ten pillars of the yidden's leadership, the knockout of the heart of Torah learning and guidance? In a dire search for answers, with the future of yiddishkeit at stake, the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) Rabbi Yishmael ascended to heaven to ask after the origin of the decree.

In heaven, Rabbi Yishmael was told that the 10 righteous souls of his generation were taken to atone for sin of the 10 brothers who sold their brother Joseph, the Tzaddik of the generation, into destitution, slavery and despair. Out of jealousy and concern for themselves rather than the future of the Jewish people, the brothers attempted to scuffle the subtle voice of truth in their midst, taking the future into their own hands and raising their own hands against God's plan.

The state of leadership of the Jewish people today is painful, to say the least. We have very few true leaders who would truly sacrifice themselves for the wellbeing of each soul of Am Yisrael. Politics, selfishness, interests and agendas have infiltrated even the most sublime of messages and campaigns. And yet, is this enough to explain the pain of the 12-year old girl who is now faced with pictures of her slaughtered family in her mind that even the world cannot bear to see, and the pain of her 8-year-old brother who is crying and asking "Where is Daddy!?"

Enter the second aliyat neshama - ascent of the soul - of Jewish history. In the 1740's, the Jews of Zaslav, Siytovka and Dunevich were brought under the rotten influence of Sabbateanism that was creeping across Eastern Europe Jewry. Certain members of the normative rabbinical establishment were distraught at the influence of Sabbateanism on the purity of Jewish minds and souls, and collaborated with Christian leaders to convert groups of Sabbatean Jews to Christianity -- at least that way they would not taint their Jewish souls or influence others in the community. Yet after the Jews converted to Christianity, they were slaughtered en masse by Christian authorities.

The holy Ba'al Shem Tov, founder of Chassidus, the teacher of Kabbalah to the people, was appalled by the rabbis of his generation behind such schemes. He made dire efforts on earth and in heaven to stop the conversion of Sabbatean-influenced Jews, arguing that a Jew can always do teshuva, but that once a Jew converts, he is cut off forever. He urged his contemporaries to see the Sabbatean Jews first of all as Jews and to never give up on them. And yet this time he was too late, and before his eyes groups of Sabbatean Jews were killed as a result of the rabbinical establishment's policies.

On Rosh Hashama of 1746 (5507), the Ba'al Shem Tov ascended to heaven again, like Rabbi Yishmael, to confront the heavenly court about the harsh decrees on the Jews of his generation. In response to his deep love for his people, the Besht was brought into the chamber of the Mashiach, in which he had the following conversation, as he recorded in a letter to his brother-in-law, Rabbi Gershon of Kitov:

I went higher until I actually entered the palace of the King Messiah, and I saw face to face that which I had never before seen from the day I reached maturity until now. And what was revealed to me is not for you. Also revealed to me were wondrous and fearful things regarding the depths of Torah which I have not seen and heard and no ear has heard in many years. And it occurred to me to ask him - perhaps all this delight and rejoicing is in preparation for his good coming.

And when will the Master come?

And his lofty reply is not to be revealed. But in this way will you know of it: when your teaching becomes famous and manifest in the world, and your wellsprings pour outwards,  that which I have taught you and you have comprehended, and they [others] will also be capable of performing unifica­tions and having [soul] ascents as you do. Then will all the kelippot (shells) be consumed, and it will be a time of grace and salvation.

And I was astonished and I had a great sorrow about the extent of time involved, and when such a thing might be possible.

The answer to the divine decree behind the tragedy of Rosh Hashana 1746 was kept secret from us, but in the footsteps of the tragedy, we learn that the Besht had a face-to-face conversation with the Mashiach, his only equal in love for the Jewish people down to the core. This interaction has guided the spread of the teachings of Chassidus around the world since the Besht until today, with every letter spoken or written containing the deep anticipation of Mashiach.

Many tragedies faced the Jewish people during the time of the Besht; Chassidus - the inner dimension of Torah, and the teachings that prepare the world for Mashiach - was not born out of peaceful monks meditating by a river, but out of a time of decrees on the Jewish people from left and right, much like today.

Some decrees the Besht was able to intercede, but others he there only to comfort the victims and their loved ones, and keep the spirit of Am Yisrael burning, no matter what. As a story told in the Yizkor Book of  my family's village in Tarnobrzeg (Dzikov) tells, when the community sent messengers to the Ba'al Shem Tov in response to a Polish decree to execute eight Jews on false charges, they were told it was too late; that the decree in heaven was already signed.

Sometimes, the prayer of one Jew who feels the pain of his generation can skip through all the worlds and change something which even the greatest of tzaddikim cannot reach. The following story is recounted about the true secret of the Baal Shem Tov's power of prayer:

The saintly prayers of the Baal Shem Tov and his close circle were unable to lift a harsh Heavenly decree they perceived one Rosh Hashanah (New Year). After extending the prayers beyond their time, the danger remained. An unlettered shepherd boy entered and was deeply envious of those who could read the holy day's prayers. He said to God "I don't know how to pray, but I can make the noises of the animals of the field." With great feeling, he cried out, "Cock-a-doodle-do. God have mercy!"

Immediately, joy overcame the Baal Shem Tov, and he hurried to finish the day's prayers. Afterwards, he explained that the heartfelt prayer of the shepherd boy opened the Gates of Heaven, and the decree was lifted.

At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with the 12-year old girl, Tamar Fogel, who found her family slaughtered on Friday night. At 13:30 on Sunday Israel time, Tamar, her brothers who survived the attack and grandparents will gather to bury their loved ones.

And so we stand, a generation deprived of true leadership, desparate for guidance, belching with pain from harsh decrees, who will stand for us in this generation? We need Mashiach now!! And to hasten his arrival, we heed the lesson of the shepherd boy who saved his generation from the harshest of decrees: I am but a yid at the end of history...all I know how to do is cry/beg/scream...God have mercy!

Never underestimate the power of the love of one Jew for another

MIN HASHAMAYIM TERACHAMU
From Heaven may you be Comforted! 

New proposal: 80% of settlers can stay in exchange for land swaps

Ma'arat HaMachpela, the Cave of the Patriarchs, minutes from
Kiryat Arba, from which said proposal anticipates Israel's withdrawal

According to JTA, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a pro-Israel U.S. think tank with close ties to the Obama and Bibi administrations, has released proposals for a two-state solution that would allow up to 80% of Jews in Judea and Samaria to stay in place in exchange for land adjacent to Gaza, Sinai and other parts of the West Bank. 

The maps thus propose a contiguous Palestinian state with Israeli "fingers" into the northern West Bank.

On the one hand, this proposal makes a crucial point: the "settlers" are not the obstacle to peace; with land swaps, most could stay in place, without endangering the continuity of a Palestinian state.

On the other hand, the proposal is seriously misguided. First, it rests on the faulty notion that giving away the land of Eretz Yisrael will magically bring about security. The recent pullout from Gaza demonstrated clearly the backwards logic underlying this assumption; as soon as Israel pulled out, Gaza Palestinians elected Hamas and have not stopped firing rockets on Israel since.

But even if we were to consider land swaps, the said proposal contains at least a serious error. It anticipates the necessity of Israel withdrawing from Kiryat Arba, currently home to 10,000 Israelis. Kiryat Arba, founded in 1968, lies 5 minutes from the Cave of the Patriarchs, and is a common place for Jews around the world to stay for Shabbat and holidays when visiting the Cave. If Israel were to withdraw from Kiryat Arba, it would ultimately be abandoning Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah, not to mention Adam and Eve, who according to tradition are buried in the cave as well.

In November, when Netanyahu was mulling over the continuation of a building freeze in Judea and Samaria, the rabbi of Kiryat Arba, Rav Dov Lior, wrote the following:

In this difficult hour for the State of Israel, which is facing harsh pressure from the nations of the world, and especially from the 'western power,' to give up our right to our historic homeland, I am taking the step of wishing you 'chazak ve'ematz' (be strong and firm) from the heights of the Judean Mountains, the birthplace of the Kingdom of Israel, the place where our holy Forefathers rest, and the location in which Israel's greatest leaders lived and acted in the past.

Chazak Ve'ematz, indeed!

The Dark Legacy of the Shephard Hotel

The Shepherd Hotel in Jerusalem, 2010

The world should be celebrating the transformation of a Nazi collaborator's home to a synagogue; instead, it is attempting to cast a legal sale of land as Israeli aggression. Pitiful.

The dilapidated hotel was once home to the Nazi collaborator and Muslim leader Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini (y"s). In 1985, the hotel and surrounding area was legally purchased for $1 million by US Jewish philanthropist Irving Moskowitz. In the building plans, the untried Nazi's collaborator's home will be renovated into a synagogue in memorial of Holocaust victims.

Yet rather than atone for its past in protecting Al-Husseini, the world is decrying the delapidated building's transformation into a place of Jewish worship.

During WWII, Al-Husseini broadcast propaganda for the Axis Powers with the aim of influencing Arab public opinion. In 1941, he participated in efforts to convince Bosnian Muslim leaders that a Muslim S.S. division would be in the interest of Islam, and helped recruit Bosnian Muslims into SS units, one of which committed atrocities against Christian Serbs during operations in the Balkans in 1944.

Al-Husseini on Radio Berlin, March 1, 1944: 'Arabs, rise as one man and fight for your sacred rights. Kill the Jews wherever you find them. This pleases God, history, and religion. This saves your honor. God is with you.'

So Al-Husseini was a nut, but Europe must have condemned him after the war, right? Wrong. Europe's condemnation of Israel's renovation of this testament to crimes of humanity is hardly new. After WWII Al-Husseini fled to Switzerland, but was detained and sent back to Germany, where he was arrested by French troops in May 1945. Ah, the French. They'll put him to justice, right?

Wrong. Discussions with Mufti post-arrest were put in the hands of Henri Ponsot, a former ambassador of France in Syria. France sought status in the Arab world through Al-Husseini's wide connections, and ended up handing him benefits, priveleges, special detention conditions, and constant concern for the well-being of him and his entourage. Despite British requests for his extradition, and his presence on the list of names of war criminals, France considered him a political prisoner and denied British requests.

In September 1945, realizing they were holding a hot potato, France organized the transfer of Al-Husseini to Egypt. On May 29th, al-Husayni left France on a TWA flight for Cairo using a fake Syrian passport. Once in Egypt, the British could no longer arrest him.

In August 1947, Al-Husseini thanked French Foreign Minister Georges Bidault in a letter and suggested France continue its policy to increase prestige in the Muslim world. One month later, an Arab Higher Committee delegation proposed to Paris an neutral Arab position on North Africa in exchange of France's support in the Palestinian question. 

Catherine Ashton, British Labor Politiciana and EU Foreign Policy Chief, 2011, in today's statement: "I strongly condemn this morning's demolition of the Shepherd Hotel and the planned construction of a new illegal settlement. I reiterate that settlements are illegal under international law, undermine trust between the parties and constitute an obstacle to peace. Furthermore, we recall that East Jerusalem is part of occupied Palestinian territory."

Sources:
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni 
Tsilla Hershco, Le grand mufti de Jérusalem en France : Histoire d'une évasion, Revue Controverses, n°1, mars 2006

Today in Jewish History: Esther Made Queen

"And Esther was taken to King Achashverosh, to his palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tevet, in the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won his favor and kindness more than all the virgins; he placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in Vashti's stead" (Book of Esther 2:16-17). This set the stage for the miracle of Purim six years later, on the 13th and 14th of Adar of the year 3405 from creation (356 BCE).

(from Chabad.org)