Pesach: Crossing The Sea of The Haggadah

Esteemed Rabbi Daniel Yaakov Glatstein

Eretz Yisrael Revolution ….

 the Land of our forefathers is coming alive with renewal, IY”H this should continue, as a sign of Techias Hameisim

Yisrael Ganz: There has not been such a revolution in Judea and Samaria since 1967

Defense Minister and Finance Minister visit Binyamin: "We will continue to prevent the Arab takeover of the heart of the country." According to the data, in the past year, there has been a 50% increase in demolitions of illegal Arab construction. The extent of land takeover has decreased by a third.

“[…] Ganz thanked the ministers and the government, stating, "As someone who has been closely involved in Judea and Samaria community development for the past decade and a half, I can say that both the Judea and Samaria community development movement and the entire country owe this government immense appreciation. Since 1967, there has not been such a revolution in Judea and Samaria. Thank you, to the Prime Minister and all the ministers. I ask that you continue this work—you are safeguarding the future of our country." 

“The tour focused on preserving open spaces and preventing the Arab takeover, which the Palestinian Authority is advancing in an effort to create a continuous Arab settlement presence, thereby choking Jewish communities and roads to establish facts on the ground and create a de facto state within the 1967 borders. […]

Full article https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/406267

Exclusive: Zionce Sees Devastation, Dedication and Even Beauty on Visits to Gaza

 

very nice Yid from Boro Park visits to take in Gaza for Ami

GAZA – (VINNews) What should have been a relatively routine trip to Israel to learn about the work of an organization that supports Israeli soldiers, the sick, and the needy, turned into a monumental experience for travel writer Shloime Zionce, who found himself unexpectedly making two visits to Gaza.

Zionce, who also serves as Ami Magazine’s White House correspondent, traveled to Israel shortly before Purim to get a firsthand look at the work of the Jerusalem-based Sa’ad U’Marpeh. Founded by Rabbi Moti Fried, a Belzer chosid, Sa’ad U’Marpeh has been a lifeline to soldiers since October 7th, providing them with care packages and freshly cooked meals on the front lines, among other services. 

Fried had invited Zionce to Israel on multiple occasions to see what Sa’ad U’Marpeh does, and when a trip was finally arranged, Fried casually mentioned that it could include a visit to Gaza.

“I didn’t actually believe he was going to follow through,” Zionce told VIN News. “I thought he was talking big, but it turned out that he was quite serious.”

Standing in front of the fence that separates Israel from Gaza

Fried took Zionce on two separate trips into Gaza. The pair brought Purim supplies to IDF soldiers at an outpost during an hour long stint in Gaza on their first day, and spent three hours visiting soldiers at outposts located near nearly nine mile long Philadephi Corridor that separates Egypt from Gaza on their second trip. Zionce donned a bulletproof vest and helmet for both excursions, making charitable donations through an online app before crossing the border into Gaza, and promising G-d that he would make even larger contributions upon his safe return.

Read more and see videos at https://vinnews.com/2025/04/01/zionce-sees-devastation-dedication-and-even-beauty-on-visits-to-gaza/

Rabbi Weissman: Dying 'al Chillul Hashem' Redux....Part II

Continued:  Dying al Chillul Hashem Part II

Originally published on November 13, 2024

One of the many fundamental Torah concepts that have been hijacked and distorted in recent times, with devastating consequences, is the concept of dying al Kiddush Hashem, for the sanctification of Hashem.

When Jewish soldiers are killed, irrespective of the circumstances, we are dutifully consoled that they died al Kiddush Hashem.

When Jewish civilians are murdered by terrorists, whether in Eretz Yisrael or in exile, we are told the same. The terrorists shouted “G–D is great” before committing their heinous act, and we agree that their success in the form of dead Jews somehow demonstrated that.

The young people who were slaughtered at a licentious music festival as they danced before an idolatrous statue, on one of the holiest days of the year, are often referred to as kedoshim, holy people, for having been slaughtered. Not because it put an end to idolatrous music festivals in Eretz Yisrael that desecrate Hashem (it didn't), but simply because they were killed for being Jews.

The traumatized and wounded survivors did not earn this most venerable distinction, for they survived. They are pitied for having suffered, but they are not reflexively referred to as kedoshim. It is death that has been sanctified. Especially death. Only death.

It is taken for granted that every Jew who was murdered during the Holocaust died al Kiddush Hashem. Six million kedoshim!

At what other time in history did we have so many kedoshim? Not even at Har Sinai itself did we have six million kedoshim. Was the Holocaust the holiest time in Jewish history? Did Hashem's name emerge from the Holocaust with greater sanctification than at any other time?

The public has been convinced that a Jew sanctifies Hashem's name in the most exalted of ways simply for being murdered. This entirely unwilling and undesirable sacrifice has been transformed into such a holy event, a Get Into the Next World Free card, that one wonders why Jews in danger of being murdered by their enemies even try to flee. Do they not realize what a great opportunity they are forfeiting? Do they not realize that being shot to death or blown to pieces more than makes up for a lifetime of sins?

No one refers to the survivors as having escaped death al Kiddush Hashem – certainly not with the same reverence. Surviving is heartwarming, but only death is holy. It is the dead who receive tributes and ceremonies, in gross disproportion to what they earned during their lives.

The survivors often feel guilt for having survived. Survivor's guilt, the medical experts call it. And why not? They didn't die al Kiddush Hashem. They aren't worthy of the highest honor.

Tanach relates many stories of Jews being killed in wars and otherwise being killed by their enemies. Not once is there an indication that their death sanctified Hashem's name. On the contrary, their deaths are portrayed strictly as a punishment for sins, a lowering of status for the Jewish people, and, as a direct result, a desecration of Hashem's name.

It is a desecration of Hashem's name when a Jew is killed for being a Jew. The enemies taunt us and say “Where is your G–D?”

Conversely, it is a sanctification of Hashem's name when a Jew kills the one who wishes to kill him for being a Jew.

The same is true throughout the Talmud. Chazal never refer to Jews who were killed during the churban as kedoshim. The churban was the greatest tragedy in Jewish history, marked by the extermination of countless Jews. The only sanctification of G–D's name that came from the churban was the fulfillment of the words of the prophets who warned the people, and the fact that G–D metes out punishment even to His special nation.

But the people who were killed were not holy for being killed, nor was G–D's name sanctified by the triumph of heathens over the Jewish people.

The concept of dying al Kiddush Hashem related specifically to people like Rabbi Akiva, or Chana's seven children. When Jews are faced with a choice between renouncing Hashem and His Torah or death, and they defiantly choose the latter, they sanctify Hashem's name. When Jews are willing to sacrifice everything, including their own lives, to hold steadfast to the Torah, they are fulfilling their purpose in the highest possible way.

Of course, it would have been an even greater kiddush Hashem if Rabbi Akiva's executioner was miraculously struck dead and he escaped. It is always a greater kiddush Hashem to triumph over our enemies and live than to have our blood spilled. But when Hashem does not see fit to perform such a miracle, we must be willing to die al Kiddush Hashem if necessary.

Being killed needlessly, absent a halachic obligation to be martyred, is a chillul Hashem.

Pinchas is famed for being a righteous zealot who killed Zimri, the head of a tribe, and Kozbi, a Midianite princess, in the midst of an immoral act. His heroic action stopped a plague that was ravaging the Jewish people.

There is a startling Midrash in Shemos Rabba 33:5. Rabbi Yossi teaches that Pinchas initially made the following deduction: “If a horse is willing to go into battle and sacrifice its life for the sake of its owner, how much more should I do so to sanctify Hashem's name!”

But then he sized up the situation and had second thoughts: “What can I do? I am unable. Two can overpower one, but can one overpower two?”

In other words, Pinchas knew that he was outnumbered by Zimri and Kozbi, not to mention Zimri's tribesmen who were guarding the tent. There was no realistic way Pinchas would be able to accomplish his mission, and he had no right to rely on open miracles.

The Midrash continues that Hashem attested that Pinchas had the ability to do it. In other words, he received a measure of divine inspiration that he could and would be successful. Only then did Pinchas proceed with what would otherwise have been a suicide mission.

The Maharif, Rav Yechezkel Feivel of Vilna, explains:

And if you are to ask, didn't he already learn from a logical deduction that he was obligated to sacrifice his life over the sanctification of Hashem? One can say in response that as long as Pinchas did not conclude in his mind that he had the ability to accomplish this, what benefit was there for him to sacrifice his life? For the main sanctification of Hashem was to kill and abolish from the world the one who was committing the licentious act [Zimri]. If the two might overpower the one, he would not come to the category of sanctifying Hashem at all. Thus it was not appropriate for him to sacrifice his life for this until a divine spirit entered him.

If Pinchas recklessly threw himself into a death trap and was slaughtered, neither his noble intentions nor his martyrdom would have constituted a kiddush Hashem. It would have been a waste of a precious Jewish life.

This would have been true even though the Jewish people were facing an existential crisis, even though Pinchas was right in principle, and even though a near-certain suicide mission would have demonstrated far greater courage and spirit than the alternative.

There is no mitzvah to enter death traps, there is nothing holy about being maimed and killed by following suicidal orders from people who have no business giving them, and nothing about this macabre death exercise glorifies Hashem's name.

It is not a kiddush Hashem when idealistic, beautiful Jews throw away their lives, even if they have the best of intentions.

It is a chillul Hashem.

[Note: I also spoke about this in a Torah class, which is available here.]

Also see these painfully relevant words from Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt”l:

Q&A from tape #259

Q: I’d like to quote for the Rav from some of the greatest roshei yeshiva and thinkers such as Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zatzal and the previous Vizhnitzer Rebbe zatzal, that the irreligious Israeli soldiers have one of the most honored places in the World to Come. And, yibadeil l’chaim tovim, Rav Moshe Feinstein, said that most of the irreligious world, ruba de’ruba, are considered tinok shenishba and only a small amount are considered reshaim. In light of this would you perhaps reconsider your strong statements that you made against the irreligious Jews who died in the wars in Israel?

A: As far as irreligious soldiers who died in the wars, I don’t recall any strong statements that I made. If I did, so they’re like any other irreligious Jews. Irreligious Jews, you have to know, are better than most gentiles. And we don’t need any authorities to back that up; it’s common sense. Even American irreligious Jews are generally better than gentiles – and certainly, the irreligious Jews whose parents came from Russia or from Hitler’s crematoria; usually they’re not yet doing all the sins of the gentiles, and they don’t yet have as much malice towards the Jews as the umos ha’olam. There’s no question about that – you don’t have to quote anybody about that. You can quote me because I said in my very first book that the worst Jews are better than most of the good Gentiles.

Q: But you specifically mentioned in one of the Thursday night lectures that an Israeli soldier who is an atheist has no share in the World-to-Come?

A: The share in the World-to-Come is something that Hakodosh Boruch Hu alone can know, that’s what I said then. Only, why should they be given a share just as a gift? Hakodosh Boruch Hu will give them if He wants, but we go by certain rules. And one of the rules is if a person is a kofer, if he’s an atheist, he’s not going to have a share in the World to Come. If a person doesn’t believe in Olam Habah he won’t have a share in the World to Come.

The gemara says in Sanhedrin (46b) that if a man says, “Don’t bury because I don’t want a kapara,” – when a person is buried so that’s a kapara for him – but if before this man dies he says, “Don’t bury me because I don’t want a kapara,” so the Gemara says there that he won’t have a kapara. If he doesn’t want a kapara, he won’t have it! If a person doesn’t believe in Olam Habah, there’s no Olam Habah for him. That’s one of the fundamentals: האומר אין תחית המתים מן התורה - If you say that there’s no Next World, the Gemara in Sanhedrin says that you won’t merit the Next World.

So what will it help if a gadol will give him a paper, an Olam Habah certificate – the question is: Does he believe in Olam Habah? You say he’s a tinok shenishba? I’ll quote Rav Chaim Brisker. Reb Chaim Brisker said, “Nebach an apikoris is still an apikoris.” It doesn’t excuse it! We’re not talking about blaming him – it’s not a question of blame. To merit Olam Habah you have to be ma’amin in Olam Habah. And if a person is not a ma’amin – it’s not a question of whose fault it is – he won’t get Olam Habah! All you can say in the name of Reb Moshe is not that he’s a ben Olam Habah; you can say maybe that he’s better than the umos ha’olam. But the umos ha’olam also have no chelek in Olam Habah so there’s no need to say this irreligious Jew should get any Olam Habah. (Rav Moshe Feinstein zatzal, in his Igros Moshe [Even Ha’ezer 1:82, anaf 11] actually says that a tinok she’nishba is לא עדיפי מעכו״ם and that he is אינו בכלל ישראל) Rav Chaim Brisker is also an authority and he speaks clearly on this subject. And he’s not talking merely about whether if they’re better than the Gentiles. And he said that – he said that they won’t get any Olam Habah!

Q: But Rav Aryeh Finkel of Mir quoted Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz as saying that soldiers killed in the wars are on the highest level?

A: Highest level? Where? In Gan Eden? Where does he say that? Highest level?! He means the highest level of the gentiles! Read to me the words aloud about Olam Habah. Not other words – just about Olam Habah. What does he say about Olam Habah?

Q: In the sefer Pirkei Geula from Rav Shachna Zohn who has haskomos from Rav Elya Lopian of Rav Yechezkel Levenstein and all the great –

A: I’ll tell you what you should do. Instead of telling me something from a translation that’s just a few words that’s clipped from here and there, show it to me inside that one of these authorities say that he’s the highest level in Olam Habah. To be on the highest level in Olam Habah, you have to be not like the Chofetz Chaim – you have to be like Rabbi Akiva! Rabbi Akiva is higher than the Chofetz Chaim. So, when you say this irreligious soldier is on a highest level, so you’re saying he’s higher than the Chofetz Chaim?! Or you’re saying he’s higher than Rav Chaim Brisker?! I’m not measuring who is higher, Reb Chaim Brisker or the Chofetz Chaim, but let’s take Rav Velvel Brisker. Rav Velvel will tell you he’s less than Reb Chaim, his father. So, if you say the highest level, so he’s at least with Reb Velvel then. And if not with Reb Velvel, at least, let’s say, with Reb Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld.

So now we’re becoming ridiculous! We’re saying ridiculous things! We’re saying that the people who were drafted into the army and they had no alternative; if it was up to them they’d be eating Yom Kippur in a Tel Aviv café. But now they’re drafted into the army and they got killed against their will! It’s ridiculous to put that soldier next door to the Chofetz Chaim in the Next World! Unless a person doesn’t believe in the Next World, then he can hand it out cheaply. But the Next World doesn’t come that cheap! So you have to show me some authority who says that they’re sitting – not in the highest level in the Next World; show me that they’re sitting in the Next World at all! That’s what I want to see! Bring me a proof that they’re in the Next World at all!

You have to understand that when you speak to the public, sometimes you have to say words that can be construed with double meanings. So “the highest level” means compared, let’s say, to Idi Amin (former president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979.) Idi Amin is on the lowest level; he’s going to be on the lowest level in Gehinnom, so these soldiers will be a little higher than he is.

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Rabbi Weissman: Dying 'al Chillul Hashem' Redux....Part I

Dying al Chillul Hashem Redux

The eerie similarity between religious Zionists and suicide bombers

Before we get to the extremely important article, Dying al Chillul Hashem (a repost from November), here is additional context.

A few recent headlines from the Israeli Pravda provide insight into the contempt the Erev Rav regime has for even its most loyal subjects, and the seemingly limitless devotion of these abused subjects. If this is not indicative of Stockholm Syndrome, battered woman syndrome, and a religious cult, then what is?

Exhibit #1 (images link to the complete articles cited):

Thank you, Captain Obvious, and bonus points for blaming the soldiers you set up to “fail”. You've successfully regained my trust. It will all be different now, and everyone should join the IDF. Well done.

Exhibit #2:

They will own nothing and be happy, while scapegoating haredim for all their problems.

Exhibit #3:

An IDF officer who lost his leg fighting Hamas in Gaza, is being told by the military that he must reimburse the IDF with roughly $16,500 and that his military pay is suspended until he does. The demand is made because of the time he was away, receiving life-changing medical treatment for his injuries, in the United States.

Lt. Yonatan Ben-Hamo, a D9 bulldozer team commander, was gravely wounded in early November 2023 when an RPG struck his vehicle in northern Gaza. After months of severe pain and limited mobility, he traveled to New York for specialized surgery and to be fitted with a high-tech prosthetic that he said dramatically improved his recovery. The trip lasted about two months and was financed with the help of Jewish-American supporters…

…“Why do I have to feel like a second-class citizen?” he asked relatives. “I want to keep serving despite my injury. I’ve spent a year chasing people in the IDF for basic help.”

…His family said no senior military official has visited him in the past year, and that frequent personnel changes have left them with no consistent point of contact. “There’s a willful blindness toward wounded soldiers once they’re no longer seen as useful to the system,” they said.

Following the report's publication, the IDF released a statement apologizing for the situation and adding that the funds will be returned to Ben-Hamo in the coming days.

What will it take for people to realize that all of this is not due to human error, intelligence failures, gaps in the system, foreign pressure, or other vague buzzwords to explain away reality, but a consistent pattern of deliberate neglect, abuse and outright contempt for the peasant class — especially if they are religious?

Why does someone who had his leg blown off under the delusion that he was fighting to defeat our enemies and keep the people of Israel safe, then treated with utter contempt by the IDF for the sin of surviving, want nothing more than to continue “serving”? Is this idealism, or insanity?

If you’ve ever wondered how so many intelligent people could be so stupid to fall for a cult and give up everything, maybe it’s time to look around you…perhaps even look in the mirror.

I’m going to say something that will seem outrageous, but I want you to calmly consider it.

Religious Zionist cheerleaders for the IDF, whose proudest moment in life is when they serve up their precious child to serve, who consider this act the highest calling of a Jew, who continue to offer up sacrifices no matter what, and who revile no one on earth more than those who refuse this religious rite, have a lot more in common with Muslim terrorists and suicide bombers than they would like to believe.

Hear me out.

Why does the terrorist risk being maimed and killed, and the suicide bomber being blown to bits?

1. He believes that if he dies he will go straight to heaven and enjoy 72 virgins, irrespective of how he lived his life to that point. This act of sacrifice earns him automatic entry to the ultimate heavenly reward as he understands it.
   
2. He has been heavily indoctrinated from the cradle to believe he is fighting for the greatest of causes: his land, his people, the honor of his religion. No matter how much his experiences demonstrate that those in power are cynically using him for their own profit and agenda, and he is nothing more than a disposable resource to them, he will cling to this belief.
   
3. It’s the clearest path out of poverty. If he survives, he will receive financial compensation and greater economic opportunities than his counterparts.
   
4. He faces extreme social pressure.
   

Why does the Religious Zionist risk being maimed and killed?

1. He believes that those who die are kedoshim, and will go straight to heaven, irrespective of how they lived their lives to that point. Getting killed in the IDF (not sudden unexplained deaths after taking shots, but specifically being killed by enemies) is the holiest of acts! It is even more holy than surviving, for survivors are not celebrated as kedoshim or guaranteed a free pass to heaven.
   This is the main reason why the Religious Zionists are not revolting, despite being shafted by the IDF for decades, and despite being maimed and killed over the last year in record numbers — all for the sake of lopsided hostage deals that could have been made on October 8 and the delusion that they were “keeping us safe”.
   No matter how many funerals they go to, their mourning will always be consoled by the belief that the slain are the holiest of holy, and are now in the best place in heaven, next to Moshe Rabbeinu. Their pent-up fury will be redirected away from those whose “negligence” got their precious children killed, and toward haredim, who they are conditioned to believe are the true existential threat to Israel and the absolute worst people on earth.
   
2. He too has been heavily indoctrinated from the cradle to believe he is fighting for the greatest of causes: his land, his people, the honor of his religion. No matter how much his experiences demonstrate that those in power are cynically using him for their own profit and agenda, and he is nothing more than a disposable resource to them, he will cling to this belief.
   
3. He believes he will be unable to get a good job and earn a living if he doesn’t join the IDF (ignoring how the reservists are being economically decimated). So he rolls the dice that he will make it out with his body and mind intact. Gotta get that degree and corporate position.
   So much for bitachon.
   
4. He faces extreme social pressure. Never underestimate the power of social pressure.
   

I shouldn’t have to explain that the Religious Zionists are not evil like Muslim terrorists (though their vicious side during Covid, their malice toward haredim that borders on bloodthirsty, and their general kefira hardly afford them moral superiority over their fellow Jews).

Nevertheless, their reasons for slavish devotion to the IDF are eerily similar to their Muslim counterparts who get maimed and killed for nothing, too.

With this in mind, here is the authentic Torah perspective:

See Part II

Esser Agaroth: שב״כ שלום! / Shabbak Shalom!

 שב״כ שלום! / Shabbak Shalom!
ג׳ לחודש הראשון תשפ״ה

כדאי לנו לזכור את זה.

What are the true objectives of Israel's Secret Police?

ראש השב״כ רונן בן, שר לביטחון לאומי איתמר בן-גביר, רה״מ בנימין נתניהו

PM Binyamin Netanyahu, Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Shabbak Chief Ronen Bar

Yeshiva World News: “Earthquake:” Shin Bet Led Secret Probe Of Ben-Gvir, Police
YWN Israel Desk, March 24, 2025

In recent months, the Shin Bet conducted a covert investigation against the police and the minister in charge of it, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, on suspicion of “undermining the foundations of government and the democratic regime,” Channel 12 News reported on Sunday evening.

According to the report, a secret document compiled by the Shin Bet stated: “We have marked the spread of Kahanism to law enforcement institutions as a dangerous phenomenon, the prevention of which is part of the Shin Bet’s mission. Given the involvement of the political echelon, this must be carried out with great care and caution.”

Bar’s people were instructed to gather information secretly and come up with some “findings,” with the document stating: “Continue to collect evidence and testimony of the political echelon’s involvement in the actions of the security echelon in the direction of using force in a manner contrary to the law, and come up with some findings.”

The Shin Bet initially confirmed the report, even claiming that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was informed of the investigation, but then retracted the statement and denied the existence of such a probe.

Ben-Gvir responded by saying: “This is an earthquake. Now it is even clearer why Ronen Bar must not be left as the head of the Shin Bet for even a minute. The head of a secret organization who initiates investigations and gathers materials against elected officials, while defining the goal in advance, ‘to collect evidence and testimony of the political echelon’s involvement’, is an immediate danger to democracy, who must be removed from any position immediately.”

According to reports, a stormy scene took place on Sunday evening when Ben-Gvir, who heard about the Shin Bet probe from his advisors, burst into a meeting of the cabinet and shouted at Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, saying: “Are you behind this?”

Bar responded: “A lie. I never ordered an investigation against you. They’re always telling lies about me.”

Ben Gvir then left and returned with the documents and presented them to the participants at the meeting, saying to Netanyahu: “This is a lying Shin Bet chief, a criminal whose place is in prison, a head of a secret service who spies on the political echelon, orders the collection of incriminating material on them, and tries to carry out a coup. It is simply unbelievable that a security organization in Israel is undermining the government and conducting a political investigation in order to carry out a political coup against the will of the people.”

Netanyahu’s office responded to the report on Sunday evening, stating: “The Prime Minister is not aware of this investigation and was not updated about it by the Shin Bet chief.”

His office published another harsh statement against Bar on Monday morning, stating: “The claim that the Prime Minister authorized Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to collect evidence against Minister Ben-Gvir is another lie that has been shattered.”

The statement added that “the document that was published – which shows an explicit directive from the Shin Bet chief to collect evidence against the political echelon – is reminiscent of dark regimes, undermines the foundations of democracy, and was aimed at overthrowing a right-wing government.”

“The Prime Minister was never updated by the Shin Bet chief that he intended to collect evidence on the political echelon behind his back, and did not authorize this. On the contrary, at a working meeting on June 19, 2024, when the Shin Bet chief raised a claim about the entry of Kahanist elements into the police, the Prime Minister unequivocally instructed the Shin Bet chief to present him with evidence to support this claim, to raise it directly and immediately before the Minister of National Security, and in no way to act behind the Minister’s back. The Shin Bet chief pledged to the Prime Minister to do so, but did not keep his commitment.”

On Monday morning, Ben-Gvir demanded that a criminal investigation be opened against Bar, writing on X: “Ronen Bar is a criminal and a liar, who is now trying to deny his attempt to conspire against elected officials in a democratic country, even after the documents were revealed to the public and the world. I will not be satisfied with his dismissal, he must face criminal charges for attempting a coup and attempting to overthrow democracy.”

Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har Melech stated: “Now it is clear where the Shin Bet was – instead of focusing on the war on terror and protecting the security of Israeli citizens, it invested resources in the political persecution of elected officials and the persecution of Jewish settlers.

“A Shin Bet chief who conducts a political investigation against the political echelon while setting a goal in advance – to provide evidence against the government – has crossed a dangerous red line. This is not national security – this is a governmental coup under the guise of a secret organization. Ronen Bar must end his term immediately.”

Esser Agaroth(2¢):
Moshe Feiglin tells of a time during the protests against the Oslo [Death] Accords. Feiglin knew that Shabbak agents (Israel's secret police) were listening to his conversations. Once, when he was speaking to a friend, a Shabbakagent suddenly interrupted them to say that he disagreed with what they were saying.

You read that right. The Shabbak agent not only made himself known during a phone tap, but began expressing his less than favorable opinion of the conversation. You simply cannot make up a story like that.

Was this some sort of strategy, say to intimidate? Or was this an example of its incompetence. It is not so clear.

When we have to ask ourselves questions like this, it seems that theShabbakhas accomplished one of its objectives, keeping the wool pulled over our eyes.

In 2001, I moved to the town of Ofra(Josh. 18:23; I Sam. 13:17), and learned of the popular manner in which to answer the phone, "Shabbak Shalom."

If this phone greeting did not originate, due to the infamous interruption by the Shabbak agent during Moshe Feiglin's phone conversation in the 1990s, then even residents of the mainstream, predominantly mamalakhti (diehard State loyalist) town of Ofra had been very much aware of the possibility that the Shabbak could be listening in on their phone calls.

According to the YWN report, the Shabbak is here to protect us from Jewish extremism.

What the YNET report in Hebrew includes above, and the YWN report does not, is a definition of "Kahaneism:"

Kahaneism is a political-religious ideology based on the teachings of Rabbi Meir Kahane [hy"d]. It advocates extreme Jewish nationalism and strives for the establishment of a halakhic state in the Land of Israel, while supporting complete separation between Jews and Arabs, opposing intermarriage, and calling for the transfer of the Arab population from Israel. Because of this, Kahane's "Kach" movement was disqualified from running for the Knesset in 1988. His ideas, as also noted in the Shabbak's response, continue to influence circles on the far right.

I do not entirely agree with the above definition of Kahaneism. But I also do not believe it to be so important. Instead, I suggest that whenever you see or hear the term "Kahaneism" bandied around, replace it with the word "Torah." This is what concerns the Shabbak, and the powers that be they answer to, Torah.

What the Shabbak sees as extremism, fully Torah-observant Jews see as the Torah touching all aspects of our lives, and not just Sabbath and dietary laws. It also instructs on how to run a truly, Jewish government, how run a truly, Jewish military, how to interact with non-Jews during peace, and during war, and many more aspects of our daily lives.

[Real] Settlers, Haredim (ultra-orthodox) envision a governance based on Torah for the 
future of the Land and People of Israel. Even religious mamalakhtim 
believe that the State will be radically revamped once Mashi'ah (the Messiah) arrives.

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