BaltimoreJewishLife.com | Parshas Breishis

A few years ago, I wrote an article in the wake of the kidnapping and murdering of three Israeli soldiers. As I often do, I proposed real world answers to this unspeakable act. It largely rested on the necessity to expel the non Israeli citizens from our land and fortify our borders. As is often the case when anyone weighs in on something so politically charged, the most you can hope for is that only 45% of the readers vilify you and your ideas. It's very difficult to take a position on a highly charged issue and win approval from more than 55% of the people. I did so again when discussing the idea of the loss of moral clarity when Eli Weisel passed a way a number of years ago. Perhaps it made an impression on some people. Then about a year ago, as we all watched as Russia invaded Ukraine and we all believed they had the will and the ability to lay siege to Kiev and starve millions of people to death, we watched. Sure, there were some appeals for money etc. and the work of some extraordinary individuals and organization to help some of the Jews escape, but largely we watched. We, the Jewish people who wondered how the world could stand by during the holocaust and do nothing. Surely, the world didn't really know what was going on or they would have acted. Really? That's exactly what we did in Ukraine last year. We. Hashem's ambassadors in this world. We were going to let it happen.

We wonder how there are voices now criticizing Israel after thousands of their citizens were injured, killed and some mutilated or worse by Hammas terrorists. We bare some responsibility. It is not enough to raise money. It's a good start but it's not enough. We must stand up for morality. Did any of our organizations organize protests in front of the Russian embassy when they invaded Ukraine? Moreover, an overwhelming amount of the Jewish people are what would be described as “liberal” or progressive”. (Here's where the vilification kicks in again) Who are the people criticizing Israel today after they suffered this brutal attack? The liberals and the progressives. Yes, the Black Lives Matter folks, the Defund the Police folks, the Green New Deal folks, the abortion on demand folks, the Trans folks, the university elites in their ivory towers. Coincidence? I think not. My father taught me many years ago that “morality” is rooted in a recognition of Hashem. Without a belief in Hashem, there is no basic morality. Indeed that is why certain scientific intellectuals desperately cling to ideas like Darwin and evolution. Their desperate need to get Hashem out of the picture so they can do whatever they want. The Torah is not a doctrine of liberalism and is to a large extent incompatible with it. Does it contain Mitzvos of compassion such as charity, care for your fellow man and compassion for the widow etc. Certainly, But it also contains explicit restrictions on certain types behavior – precisely the type of behavior embraced and promoted by the modern liberals.

Let's not even get started on COVID and the lefts moral superiority in forcing everyone to follow their doctrines, despite the lack of scientific evidence suggesting any of it would work. The left largely ignored the definitive Johns Hopkins study done in April of 2023 which concluded that none of the quarantines or lock downs or masks made any measurable difference. In fact the study pointed out the collateral deaths caused by these measures including heightened dementia and death among the elderly (who knew that its not good for an 85 year old to stare at the walls by themselves for months at a time?) , dramatic increase in teen suicide (kids need friends?) and a serious falling behind in reading and writing by elementary school student which will likely cripple them for years to come. No, the morality of the left was neatly wrapped in the blanket of “If we can save a single life”. Where were they when Russia invaded Ukraine? Where are they now. Indeed, every court including the United States Supreme Court held that all these actions violated the United States Constitution. The Constitution has saved more lives than liberalism ever has. The left is a perverse group with basically no morals who try and find a cause to justify their wanton behavior. I'm sorry. I know I just offended some of you. But it's time to disassociate your selves from this morally bankrupt group – even if you share a few of their ideals. In 2012 there was a local non-orthodox synagogue which rented out its facility to a church on Sundays. That year a controversial for the time proposition was on the election ballot – “Question 6”. Question 6 called for legalizing and recognizing same sex marriage in Maryland. The synagogue and its overwhelmingly liberal membership strongly supported Question 6. The black church goers and their pastor picked up and left rather than be associated with a group which endorsed biblically immoral behavior. We have to learn morality from a black church. We have an obligation to not only act morally but to show the world what that means. If we can't, we have no right to wonder why they have no morals.

I am attaching these prior articles below. Maybe today they can garner a passing grade.

Our Three Sons

It has been seven years since the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers near the Gush. Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frenkel were kidnapped and murdered for one great unforgivable infraction. They were Jews. I wrote the piece below five years ago and shared it with very few people. On this occasion I reread the words and with the passage of time I now see that the words were correct then and maybe more correct now, harsh as they are. Since the writing, we have seen Israel caught up in some very difficult cycles of violence. Hammas receives arms into Gaza. Upon rearming, missiles are launched into Israel. After enough missiles are launched, Israel responds with airstrikes. With further provocation, a “limited” ground assault is eventually conducted into Gaza by Israeli soldiers. A few soldiers are killed in the process but with major gains against Hammas weapons centers the mission is declared a “success” and the troops withdraw. During the following year of relative “quiet”, Hammas rearms with new and improved missiles, with greater range. Ben Gurion airport is forced to close for several days when a missile comes dangerously close and is shot down by the iron dome. Once again, a ground assault is necessary. A few more Israeli soldiers are killed but “calm“ is restored and the troops are withdrawn.

By now it has become “normal” for air raid sirens to be heard in Ashdod and Ashkelon, AND NOW EVEN Yerushalayim And Tel Aviv as the Hammas missiles get more and more sophisticated. Yet, we plod along sacrificing “a few” soldiers every couple years to temporarily quiet the missile attacks. We are politically afraid to do what must be done. What will the world say? So we make the conscious decision to sacrifice more civilians to missile attacks and more soldiers to restore temporary order. That is immoral. It is relatively easy to make such decisions when you don’t have to look in the eyes of a mother who is going to lose her son in the next attack. Could any of us tell her “it is worth it”? Of course not but since we don’t know which mothers that will be, somehow the decision is easier, though still immoral. Do we really need to wait for iron dome to miss or to be overwhelmed by one to many missiles fired into a major population center to act. Wouldn’t it be better to prevent the next round of deaths? Haven’t we seen that accepting missile being shot into Sderot has only led to them being fired into larger more central cities?

Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frenkel. We remember you. We remember why you were kidnapped and murdered. We have learned something from it. Your deaths were not in vain. Can we speak those words? We are under attack again. Must we do the same thing? If we knew that these people were the ones to die at the time of the last attack, would we not have done everything to prevent it. We just shut down an entire world from education, recreation, going to shul and learning Torah in the hopes of preventing a single unidentified death from Covid 19. Doesn’t the same rational dictate what we must do now? In memory of our sons and they Korbonos certain to come if we do not change our approach, please read the ideas below.

There is so much to say. How we all cry and how we all feel. Much time will appropriately be spent on these subjects over the coming weeks. And then, it will fade. We will be lulled into accepting the kidnapping and murder of our children – just as we have been lulled into accepting bombs being lobbed into our cities and terrorists blowing up our people on buses and supermarkets. The world will call for “restraint” and in an irrational[1] attempt to placate those who we believe are our friends, we will listen. We may drop some bombs of our own, we may arrest a few hundred conspirators (only to be exchanged for a future kidnapping victim), we may even build more settlements, but in the end we will accept it.

Perhaps because we understand that killing a thousand people will not bring these 3 back, perhaps because we are created B'zelem Elokim and we fundamentally understand that killing is wrong, perhaps because it is just what we have become accustomed to doing. Friends, WE HAVE LOST OUR WAY AND OUR MINDS!!!!! Dating back to Avraham Aveenu we have fought wars and killed people because it was necessary to do so. Yes, sometimes it is necessary. Indeed, there is a Mitzvah in our Torah to kill out Amalek because of the particular brand of evil that they represent.

The United States killed millions when it dropped H bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – in response to attacks exclusively on military targets. It is only with the IQ cleansing of the present day left that those decisions have recently been called into question. Nevertheless, I myself would find it impossible to kill thousands in “retaliation”. First, because I do not understand the word. We have learned all too painfully over time that our responses to not deter others. There are too many willing to take their place. And retaliation demeans the event that has occurred. Three young boys will never go home again. They will never hug their parents, they will never marry, they will never have children. They have been cut off. Please, allow that to sink in for a moment. Dropping bombs on Hammas headquarters or arresting militants cannot change the gravity of the tragedy.

Rather, I offer what I believe is the only rational conclusion. I do not for one second expect my suggestion to come to fruition – after all I have written articles on how to solve the shidduch crisis, the tuition crisis, the teen crisis and many more all so that our leaders can largely scoff and shrug them off while paying no more than lip service to the problem. Nevertheless, as a Rabbi, an attorney and an historian, I do believe in the “power of the pen.” I won't lie either – I find the writing somewhat therapeutic in dealing with my own grief and sorrow.

First, we should proclaim a three-day National period of mourning to be observed by all of Israel and indeed all Jews around the world. Our three children deserve no less. These three days should be spent with extra Torah learning and acts of Chesed. Next, a proclamation should be issued that Israel is annexing all lands captured in 1967 and expelling all Arabs from them who are not Israeli citizens.[2] During the three days of mourning, All Egged and Dan buses will be singularly devoted to offering free transport to a choice of four bordering Arab States – Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Occupants may gather as much as they can during the three days of mourning and gain transport on the bus of their choice. At the end of the three days, all Arab villages and neighborhoods will be plowed over.[3] Period. When the neighboring countries refuse to let them in, then the U.N and the United States and all the other do gooders can bring in food, shelter and whatever humanitarian relief they feel is appropriate to the border sites. WE CAN DEFEND OUR BORDERS FROM HATE AND CONDEMNATION. WE CAN NOT DEFEND OURSELVES WHEN OUR ENEMIES LIVE WITH US AT EVERY STREET CORNER, JUNCTION AND NEIGHBERHOOD.

Aside from the obvious strategic benefits, it prevents us from becoming what Golda Meir warned years ago. It prevents us from acting like our enemies. We will not kill. WE WILL EXPELL TO PRODUCE DEFENDABLE BORDERS. It is the only way. Will we be condemned? Surely. We were condemned by the U.N. after saving our hijacked citizens in Entebbe for violating Ugandan sovereignty. Wake up people. We cannot conduct foreign policy because we want to be loved. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN. Rather, we must act with the oath that every Israeli soldier takes when they are sworn in....to protect the lives of Jews anywhere in the world. It is the only way.

Chukas

As Bnei Yisroel continue through the midbar on their way to Eretz Yisroel, we are shown in vivid clarity, the face of evil. Moshe requests permission from Edom to pass through their land (Chukas, 20:14) He pleads, recalling how they had just come out from the suffering of Mitzrayim, but the king of Edom refuses them passage. (20:18) Moshe then promises to be paying customers for any water or vines they would consume along the way. The King reiterates his contempt by responding to this pledge with a threat to wage war if Bnei Yisroel dare tread on his land. Such hatred that they would not even sell us food and water nor let us traverse the boundary highway. Not only do we not want you in our land, we don’t want your commerce, we don’t want your trade. Eisav Soneh es Yaakov.

In January of 2015, dozens of World leaders gathered in Paris for a March of Solidarity in the face of a terrorist attack carried out by Muslim extremists. The march was very effective in that it was a whole year later when the same group claimed credit for blowing up the airport in Brussels and then the airport in Turkey. Within a few more months, Muslim extremists mowed down people in Germany and carried out repeated deadly attacks in England. How did these democracies find themselves at the mercy of evil?

Consider before, during and after these attacks, the State of Israel was subjugated to multiple attacks of terrorism. Cars being driven into bus stops, a little girl butchered in her bed while she slept, teenage boys kidnapped and executed. The list goes on and on. The reaction – silence. Indeed, the world was silent for 50 years while Israel suffered regular attacks on its civilian population with nary a word from the “civilized” world. Airplane highjacking was instituted by the PLO and targeted Israel. The response - the installation of metal detectors at airports to protect us, with little protest about the highjacking of Israel’s planes. Instead, the head of this terrorist organization was invited to speak to the United Nations and did so with a firearm in his belt. The world would not identify, let alone confront this evil, because it principally targeted Jews. The world could tolerate evil against Jews.

Dozens of Isareli’s are hurt in missile attacks from Gaza and the media cannot be less concerned. Christians in Syria are targeted by ISIS and the world cries outrage!! The world brought this evil upon itself by not calling it evil when it was only targeting Jews. Evil does not discriminate. Today it may target your enemy, but its existence is not only a threat to all of Earth’s inhabitance, it is incumbent on us to recognize it for what it is and do everything to combat it – even if for a time it is only targeting Jews. Most mepharshim agree that is what is behind the Mitzvah of wiping out Amalek. For whatever reason, Amelek came to personify evil in our world. Evil is supposed to be eradicated. Period.

Evil and Eisav Soneh es Yaakov. In 2015, the bastion of morality known as the European Union, voted to label Israeli products which were grown in Judea and Samaria. Not only won’t we sell you food, we won’t buy yours either. The State of Israel is always the first country on the scene with mobile hospitals and relief for Sunami’s, earthquakes and other disasters. Well almost always. In 2003 when Iran was rocked by a devastating earthquake, Iran’s leaders said unequivocally that “the Zionist regime is not welcome to assist”. Not only do we want to kill you, we will not allow your filth to save us.

For the past 75 years, the world had a moral conscience who routinely called upon leaders, the media and anyone who would listen to confront evil. With the passing of Elie Wiesel, who stands in his place? Typically, when an icon passes, there is another to carry the torch. Martin Luther King was followed by Jesse Jackson, Lenin was followed by Stalin, Bach was followed by Beethoven. Who follows Elie Wiesel? Imagine in 75 years, no one was the “up and coming or junior” Elie Wiesel. There simply is no one else on the world stage who has devoted every breath to combatting evil.

The FBI has documented that numerous senior and elected officials lied repeatedly to everyone regarding the IRS and email investigations, including multiple times under oath to Congress. And no one cares. Sure, there will be some colorful hearings, but little in the way of repercussions or accountability. Fully 60% of the population disapproved of the candidate they voted for in the last election, - from both parties!! Richard Nixon was forced from office for being involved in a cover up. Today, that would probably be considered a prerequisite for running for office. As Rashi stated in Mesechta Sanhedrin, the 2nd time we do an Aveira, Naaseh Lo Keheter and the 3rd, Naaseh K’Mitzvah.[1]

There is a cost for not calling evil out when we see it. There is a cost when we see deceitfulness and excuse it. There is a cost for not standing up for what’s right. After World War I, for the first time in world history, the world’s strongest nation and power stood for morality and freedom. Our first 5,000 years included despots such as Ginghas Khan, Atilla the Hun, Pol Pot, Ivan the Terrible, Idi Amin, Eichman, Hitler, Stalin and others. For millennia, the most powerful rulers used their might to brutalize humanity, until the United States. For the very first time, the world’s superpower was not in the business of brutalization. Consider, most veterans who enlisted to fight in World War II were 30 years old or more. They left their families and jobs to confront evil. Thousands gave up their lives to stand up for freedom and morality. No wonder they were called “the greatest generation”. Without their willingness to confront evil and destroy it, in all likelihood we would all be speaking German today or we would be dead.[2]

After Vietnam, the United States lost its willingness to police the world. Indeed, the idea that “we could not be the world’s policeman”, became a very catchy political phrase and military motto. In fact, though, we could. And we did for 60 years. Those 60 years were so peaceful and prosperous by comparison to the 5000 previous years that most do gooders turned their attention away from feeding the hungry and curing disease to saving the animals and the environment. Good causes for sure, but until the United States acted as the world’s policeman, humanity did not have the luxury of crusading on behalf of any causes other than survival.

As our nation began the systematic eradication of morals and the deletion of G-d from its lexicon, the affects are there for everyone to see. With no one to police the world, we have reverted back to the days when leaders like Vladimir Putin, Bashar Assad and Kim Jong-un are left unchecked to brutalize and butcher people. Without a moral superpower there is no one to keep these people in check. Without a moral voice, there is no one to spur on the mantle of a moral United States. Without a moral society, we produce no moral voices.

The world is getting a sneak preview of what they have allowed to happen over the last 50 years. By not calling out evil, they allowed it to grow. By not caring when evil only targeted Jews, they legitimized terrorist tactics for any cause. And here we are. Today, the poisoned distorted “morality” of the left questions whether we should profile the type of people who are responsible for 99.7% of world terrorism. Some are even equating it to the discrimination against Jews during World War II. Were the Jews in 1940 blowing up buses? Were the Jews in 1940 targeting civilians with guns and bombs? Were the Jews in 1940 calling for the destruction of any other nation? Were the Jews in 1940 beheading people who did not share their ideology? Such comparisons show how the flower mentality of the 60’s destroyed our moral compass. It’s not that hard to identify evil. We must identify it and call it what it is. It is not “workplace violence”, extremists, radicals, lone wolves or crazed people. And it’s not due the accessibility of guns.[3] It is evil. And we must slam the door on it, fight it and crush it with everything at our disposal.

At the end of our parsha when Sichon duplicated the evil of Edom and refused passage to Bnei Yisroel, even with the promise of consuming no goods, Bnei Yisroel waged war and defeated the evil. And later when Og Melech Habashan waged war against them, Hashem commanded them to “not be afraid, you will do to him what you did to Sichon”. (21:34)

Evil must be identified and confronted. Doing so requires morality and clarity of thought. Is there any left?

[1] Sanhedrin 103b

Parshas Breishis - Moral Clarity