Cheshbon Nefesh and Nechama - Va'etchanan
נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי יֹאמַר אֱ-לֹקֵיכֶם (ישעיהו מ, א)
In many of my shiurim, I try to tie the parsha in with current events, and attempt (based on sources) to suggest tikkunim for the many ills that afflict our beloved nation, all the while trying to prevent, or at least minimize, offending or shaming anyone. For this reason, I usually adopt the approaches of רֶמֶז or מָשָׁל, in the hope that most will understand and draw the appropriate conclusions.
We live in a very complicated and confusing time and amidst the pervading fog of propaganda and misdirection there is a dire need for clarity. In this shiur I am uncharacteristically going to digress from my normal modus operandi. In the spirit of sefer Devarim, which is to a large extent rebuke, in this shiur I will spell things out without mincing words and try to be as clear and plain as possible. This is therefore a little longer than my regular shiurim, but is required reading nonetheless.
Who am I to "rebuke" anyone in Am Yisrael? I am a nobody! However, some things need to be said and to do so takes courage, even at the risk of arousing everyone's ire. This was one of the primary failings in the episode of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, that the Chachamim, R' Zecharia ben Avkulas, was afraid to speak out against the influential people of his generation and prevent the spread of sinat chinam. It is very unlikely that anyone will come away from reading this, without being offended to some extent and that is OK. Nobody is squeaky clean in all of this, we ALL have cheshbon nefesh to do, including yours truly.
We are in the midst of a war, both without and within, but it is not crystal-clear what kind of war it is. Some say it is a religious war, a clash of "religions". The exterior war, an epic clash between the religions of Islam vs. Judaism. The internal war, a self-destructive battle between the religious/traditional and secular/liberal Jews. To classify it as purely a religious war though, is inaccurate. To be sure, certain aspects of this war are religion related, however the honest truth is that it is not a clash of "religions" per se, but rather a power struggle, weaponizing "religion" and brainwashing the masses, as a means to obtain power and control.
The Rambam (הלכות עבודה זרה וחוקות הגויים א, ב), describing how avodah zara originated, explains that it started with a misconception, but ended up as a means by which power-hungry people manipulated the masses to achieve power. This is as relevant today as it was then.
I have decided to structure this discussion by addressing the different groups in turn, beginning with those - outside Am Yisrael and ending with those - within Am Yisrael.
The Arabs
Muhammad was a false prophet who "cut and pasted" segments of the preceding religions (Judaism, Christianity) to create a new hotchpotch of a "religion" called Islam. Muhammad thought the entire world would follow him – the Jews because of the Jewish parts and the Christians because of the Christian parts.
When neither obliged, and their reaction was ridicule rather than applause, Muhammad did an about-face and turned Islam into a "religion" of hate against those who ridiculed him, both the Jews and the Christians, who are to this day defined as "infidels". Muhammad and his successors could not have been less interested in religion or serving G-d. It always was and remains, a doctrine totally focused on power, imperialism and world domination.
There is a misconception and a well propagandized lie that Jews in the Diaspora were well treated by the Muslims and prospered in their lands for thousands of years. This is historically false. This assertion is primarily comparative, that the Jews, during their centuries of exile, were better treated by the Muslims than by the Christians, which in some instances was the case.
However, even then, the treatment of the Jews by the Arabs was abysmal (albeit sometimes less abysmal than that of the Christians). Jews in the Arab ghettos and mellahs were perpetually exposed to the whim of the Arabs who frequently robbed, raped and murdered them.
This misconception is more prevalent amongst Ashkenazi Jews than Sephardi Jews. The Sefardi Jews who lived in the Arab countries know the truth only too well, from personal experience. They and their present-day descendants in Israel, understand the truth about the Arab "religion" and mentality better than anyone.
It is therefore not surprising that political parties consisting of large percentages of Sefardi Jews, like the Likkud, are right wing and do not trust the Arabs at all.
It is possible to make peaceful alliances with Arab nations who do not seek our destruction, but it must be clarified that the purpose of the alliance is truly for peace and not used as a temporary springboard to pursue hostile intentions against us.
Radical Jihadist Islam – Amalek
Most of the Muslims in the world are not radical Jihadists. Most of them, living in Muslim countries and worldwide, are normative people, interested in living their lives as best as they can, raising their children and prospering. They bear no love for the Jews, quite the opposite - their religion indoctrinates them, from birth, to hate and kill the Jew, but this is not translated into action. They will not mix socially with Jews, they will not invite them to their children's weddings, etc. but they will not pull out an axe one day and go next door and slaughter their Jewish neighbor.
Radical Jihadist Islam on the other hand is dedicated to translating the hateful teachings of the Quran into action. To seek out the infidel, the Jew (and Christian) and to actively kill them, violently, the more the better.
It is not that the Jews pose an immediate territorial threat to them, their lands do not border with Jewish lands. However, they will travel great lengths to infiltrate foreign lands with large populations of Jews and Christians (or lands that border on large populations of Jews and Christians) and sow terror and death, directly or by proxy.
This is the definition of Amalek in the Torah. Amalek was a nation who the Israelites posed no military threat to when they left Egypt. Amalek travelled great distances to attack Am Yisrael, purely out of indoctrinated hate.
A modern example of this is the Ayatollah radical jihadist regime in Iran, who are hell bent on one solitary purpose. Developing nuclear capability so that they can destroy Israel. Israel has never expressed or has any intention of attacking Iran for imperialist purposes - to conquer Iran and settle their territory. If Iran would not continually threaten Israel's very existence, Israel would bear no animosity toward them.
Despite this, the Ayatollah regime in Iran is prepared to go to great lengths to destroy Israel, even at the cost of destroying Iran itself. Their hate is such that the world is not large enough to accommodate both them and the Jews. This is the definition of Amalek. It is "them or us", there is no middle ground either way and for this reason the Torah commands us to eradicate them, before they eradicate us. Eradicating them is not genocide, it is self-defense.
Iran purposely infiltrates countries/regions that border on Israel, like Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Gaza, who then serve as military proxies for their homicidal agenda.
The international court of "justice" in the Hague accuses Israel of regarding all Gazans as Amalek. Hamas, Iran's military proxy in Gaza, is, like Iran, by biblical definition – Amalek. As for the non-military civilians in Gaza - those who support Hamas are like Hamas.
Those who do not support and assist Hamas, are not Amalek, they are simply Arabs. Israel will not purposely target a non-military area in Gaza. However, if Hamas/Amalek cynically use their own civilians as human shields in the hope that Israel will not defend itself against them, the death of those Arab civilians is the responsibility of Hamas, not Israel. Israel will not commit suicide because Hamas are hiding behind their own human, civilian shields.
The radical jihadists, the Ayatollahs and their proxies, could not care less for religion or G-d (see Rambam above). All they are interested in is power and money (they are all multi billionaires). They are simply weaponizing Islam to destroy Am Yisrael by recruiting and brainwashing the masses.
The Christians
A cornerstone of the Christian doctrine is that G-d had forsaken Am Yisrael when He destroyed the 2nd Temple, after we sinned, and the new "chosen people" are now the Christians.
This doctrine held water until Jews returned to their ancestral homeland and established a Jewish state in 1948. Prior to that, the Jews around the world were downtrodden and oppressed, which seemed like the fulfilment of the Christian "prophecy".
However, when the Jewish State was reestablished in 1948 and visibly flourished for all to see – the agriculture, the infrastructure, the economy, the military, the learning, etc., this put a serious spanner in the works for the Christian doctrine. The Christian world is now grappling with and trying to explain this reversal and negation of their raison d'etre.
Part of the Christian world remains steadfast in their hate for the Jews, who they claim killed their "messiah". This is the reason stated, but it is actually weaponization of a religious doctrine to mask the real reason they hate us – jealousy. Most often this hate is subdued, but sometimes explodes for all to see, as is happening now all over the world.
Another part of the Christian world has curtailed the animosity and adopted a welcoming hand of friendship and tolerance toward Jews. The latter may very well be more destructive for Am Yisrael than the former. More Jewish souls have been lost to assimilation than to persecution.
As with the Arabs, it is permissible to make peaceful alliances with the Christian nations provided that the purpose of such is not to surreptitiously destroy Am Yisrael by assimilation.
Radical Christian White Supremacy Groups – Amalek
Like the Radical Islamic Jihadists, these neo-nazi groups fall into the same category as Amalek, it is them or us.
I will now discuss the various groups within Am Yisrael. There is no group amongst us that is cheshbon nefesh free. If we are to move forward as a nation, it is imperative that we first recognize the flaws within ourselves and work to correct them.
The intolerable present status of Am Yisrael is seemingly indicative of a "religious" war. It appears to be a monumental battle between two life philosophies.
The first regards Am Yisrael as a separatist nation with a destiny inexorably linked to our historical heritage - HKB"H and the Torah. To stand apart from the goyim הֶן עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן (במדבר כג, ט) and serve as a beacon of light to the rest of the world.
The second seeks to make Am Yisrael a nation like all other Western democratic nations. A safe haven for Jews after millennia of persecution with separation of religion and state, a democratic state for all its citizens regardless of race, creed, color and religion.
The Charedi Sector
Of all the sectors, no sector is more devout to the Torah than the Charedi sector – it is their flag. The Gedolei HaDor in Am Yisrael primarily emerge from this sector. As a result, their flaws are to be most harshly judged - הקב"ה מְדַקְדֵּק עִם צַדִּיקִים כְּחוּט הַשְּׂעָרָה.
The purist Charedi philosophy is one of separatism. It takes the premise of הֶן עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן one (mistaken, catastrophic) step further and in addition to separating from the goyim, it also separates from the other factions within Am Yisrael that do not meet their level of devoutness to HKB"H.
It is a defensive shita based on the teachings of the Chatam Sofer who says that in a sea of darkness it is imperative to preserve one flawless, untainted gem. This shita originated in galut and was a defensive response to Reform and secularization.
The flaw in this premise is that - if the Charedi shita represents perfection in avodat Hashem, there should be no insecurity. If the Charedim are so secure in their conviction that their shita is the ultimate shita, then they should not be afraid to put it to the test. However, this is not the case, the Charedim are noticeably and continually insecure about their integrity.
Of the entire Charedi community, the only noticeable segment that is fully secure in their shita is Lubavitch. They are the only segment that see themselves as part of Klal Yisrael, with a responsibility to Klal Yisrael. Unlike the remainder of the Charedi world, Lubavitch have a mission to shine light outwards, not only inward, amongst themselves.
The rest of the Charedi world lacks a well-developed sense of כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲרֵבִים זֶה לָזֶה. It must be said, however, that there are numerous individuals within the Charedi world, beside Lubavitch, who believe in outreach and helping Klal Yisrael - entrepreneurs who founded organizations like Yad Sarah, Zaka, Yedidim, Daf Yomi, etc. However, by and large, the Charedi leaders and doctrine remain separatist.
This phenomenon has again been highlighted recently with the issue of conscription of the Charedim into the army. The current state of the army at this point in time - is unfit for Charedi conscription. The Charedi fears that the army will actively try to "convert" them from their religious upbringing are not unfounded. The current leaders of the IDF still have a "melting pot" agenda.
Without getting into "old history" of the Charedi world not grasping the enormity of the moment and getting on board prior to and when the State of Israel was established, perhaps thus preventing the loss of millions of lives in the Holocaust, I prefer to concentrate on the present.
The Charedi world is once again reaching a crossroads. Due to their disproportionate population increase (2-5 times that of the rest of the Jewish population), the demographics in the Jewish world are changing. The Charedim are sharply increasing, the secular/liberal Jews are sharply decreasing (due to "woke" philosophies and assimilation), while the National Religious segment are also increasing (but not as fast as the Charedim). At this rate we will soon approach a point when the Charedi sector is the most populous in Am Yisrael.
To not grasp the enormity of this event (a second time, like back in the 1800's) would be nothing less than criminal, bordering on evil. The Charedi sector needs to address their new role in Am Yisrael and it cannot continue to be separatist. It needs to take more responsibility for Klal Yisrael, to shine the light of Torah outwards to the entire Am Yisrael and not only inwards within their sector.
A large chunk of the blame why the majority of Klal Yisrael today is not Torah observant, is the failure of the Charedi sector to expose the beauty of the Torah in a way that it will attract the rest of Am Yisrael.
The Charedi sector needs to become intensely preoccupied – not with avoiding conscription at all costs – but rather with becoming a leading partner in the system and active in restructuring the IDF, so that it will truly be a צְבָא ה'. And this is but a small example in a much larger mosaic, applying their influence wisely, to positively direct Am Yisrael in the direction of the Geulah.
One cannot escape the feeling that many in the Charedi world are weaponizing the Torah as a means to grasp more and more power and control for their own sector, at the exclusion of others. Not all in the Charedi world are the flawless, untainted gems the Chatam Sofer foresaw, although undoubtedly many are.
As the Charedi sector increases in size, we are seeing growing numbers in the younger generation Charedim who will no longer accept separatism, who want to be more part of Klal Yisrael, without compromising their values.
As for the radical, extreme part of the Charedi sector, the Neturei Karta and such like, who unashamedly participate in demonstrations with Hamas and meet with Iranian leaders, bad mouthing Am Yisrael, delusionally thinking that in doing so they are being mekarev the Geulah – they literally have blood on their hands, no less! By their evil actions they are causing more innocent Jews in Am Yisrael to die by the hands of Amalek. They must be shunned entirely by Am Yisrael.
(continued)
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