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21 June 2017

The Parable of the Fox and the Fish

Parable of the Fox and the Fish

“There is a hidden agenda here to try to change what the Jewish community believes in, forcing them to change their religion and culture.”

“Since 1948, when the government was founded, they understood that there is such a thing as [Yeshiva] students who are studying and they are exempt of military services,” [. . .] “But for the past few years [Israeli politicians] have been trying to tighten the screw, and basically forcefully recruiting and forcefully bringing them in for military service, to which they object.” 20,000 Protest Draft Law

Atzeres Held In Antwerp Against Drafting Yeshiva Bochrim In Israel
Atzeres – Against Drafing Yeshiva Bochrim in Israel




When the Romans decreed that anyone learning Torah would be put to death, Rabbi Akiva defied the ban and continued to publicly teach Torah. Papus ben Yehuda criticized him for endangering himself and his students by thus ignoring the power of the Roman rulers to punish them.

“I will give you a parable,” replied the great Sage. “A fox was once walking alongside a river in which fish were frantically scurrying from one place to another. When he asked them for the cause of their flight they explained that they were escaping fishermen who were trying to catch and kill them. The fox suggested that they would be safe from danger if they joined him and all other animal life on dry land. To which the fish replied that the fox, reputed to be the cleverest of animals, was speaking utter foolishness. If they were so endangered in their natural habitat, they argued, what chance would they have for survival outside the water?”

We Jews, concluded Rabbi Akiva, face the same situation for Torah is to us what water is to the fish. If while we are learning Torah, of which it is written “It is your life and length of days” we are in danger, what chance do we have for survival if we abandon it?


[Rabbi Akiva and Papus ben Yehuda
Gemora: Brochos 61,b]


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ABOUT THE VIDEO:  Foxes have an age-old reputation for cunning and intelligence, and if this video is any proof, those claims are well deserved. One Lithuanian cameraman managed to capture footage of a fox attempting to pull in a huge catfish by rope. It doesn't take long for the fox to realize that the fish is attached to the rope, and results is a strange tug-of-war between the two animals. While the odds are stacked against it, the sly creature isn't keen on giving up. Will the fox succeed in pulling in its fishy buffet? 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

EFRAIM V.
the hidden agenda of the past is an open war of the corrupted liberal ruling elite against the Torah and the kedushah in every aspect of the society. If the only reason for the haredi opposition for the draft , is the change of the status qvo , the motive is obviously wrong and very sort minded. The fight has to be on the point., Is the fight for Jewish survival, fight for kiddush Hashem, fight for the holiness , the Torah and the mitzvot, to protect the youths from the toevah of the homos and the arayiot, to protect the soldiers from the corrupted generals, to protect the holy Land of Israel. NOBODY (not only the Haredim) NEEDS AN ARMY WITH A MISSION TO IMPOSE ON THE JEWS, THE VALUES AND THE POLITICS OF THE GOIM.

TORAH…Torah…TORAH!

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