Tishrei 17, 5768, 9/29/2007
'They Want That There Will Be No More Jews Here'
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
A Saturday night entry by my fellow Arutz Sheva blogger Tzvi Fishman reminded me of the wisdom of children who receive an authentic Jewish education - and the idiocy of the adults who have taken leave of their own education and common sense.
In his latest blog entry, Fishman describes a meeting he had with the late Torah giant Rabbi Avraham Elkana Kahane Shapira. He asked Rabbi Shapira if it was permissible to relinquish parts of the Land of Israel to non-Jewish sovereignty. Fishman reports that the rabbi answered him by saying, "Why do you ask me such a question? Ask any six-year old in heder. He'll tell you the answer. You don't have to ask me."
Well, I happen to have a six-year-old child. She is not in heder, exactly, but she just started first grade in a religious public school. I didn't ask her to render a decision on the legality of concessions over the Land of Israel, but I did have an experience that led me to wonder if the country would not be better off run by Jewish six-year-olds.
Back before Rosh Hashanah, on September 11 actually, the President of the State of Israel, former Prime Minister, veteran of many Israeli governments, and a member of the nation's founding generation, Shimon Peres, made the following statement during a toast with foreign ambassadors to Israel. Referring to recent Palestinian Authority rocket attacks on Israeli towns in the Negev, Peres said:
"It makes no sense why they would continue to shoot at us despite the fact that we disengaged from the Gaza Strip."
Peres - internationally recognized statesman, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Israeli icon - just can't figure out why the Arabs in the PA continue to attack us after we concede to them land they claim they want from us for an Arab state. (This drove at least one frequent Arutz Sheva contributing columnist, Isaac Kohn, into a rage. You might want to read his take on our esteemed president after finishing up here.)
Well, it so happens that I was privileged to consult an authentic expert on Israel-Arab relations - my daughter. Did I mention that she is six years old?
She knew about the expulsion from Gush Katif and northern Samaria from previous conversations we had after she'd seen some pictures of Israeli soldiers throwing other Israelis out of their homes. Those were some tough questions for someone raised to love and honor "our boys in uniform." I told her as diplomatically as possible that some people believe that taking Jews out of parts of the Land of Israel and handing it to the Arabs will make the Arabs stop trying to harm us and would hopefully bring peace.
However, living in Israel, it is almost impossible for her not to know that rockets continue to fall on our brethren in the south.
So, when I asked her why she thought the Arabs were still firing rockets on Jewish towns even after we "disengaged" from Gaza and northern Samaria, my daughter had an answer. It was as follows (paying attention, Mr. Peres?):
"Maybe they don't really want the Land of Israel, but they want that there will be no more Jews here."
Double bull's-eye, honey.
Rabbi Shapira, if there is an Internet connection (wireless, I bet) in your new celestial yeshiva and you happen to glance at Arutz Sheva, then I hope you see this post and smile.
