The greatest threat to an armed force that is under intense attack is that some of its members may break ranks. That is the way not only to certain defeat, but often to annihilation. Israel, the nation and the people, must realize this. And all the Jews in the Diaspora must realize that the situation of the Jews in Eretz Israel has a major effect on that of Jews everywhere in the world. So must all those who appreciate what Israel and Judaism mean to the world.
Israel has long been under assault from the 'mountains' of the world, the foreign ministries of all the great powers; it has long been under assault from "the tents of Kedar," the followers of "the insane one," as the Rambam termed him. The measure of their insanity is that they always are for war against Jews, especially when we speak peace. Now, the assault (for in every generation they rise up against us, to destroy us) comes from the inside, too.
Indeed, for the past 75 years, this has been the most lethal assault within Israel. Check the history of the Arlosoroff affair of the early 1930s. Study how the leftists hijacked the Haganah from Ze'ev Jabotinsky and enforced the policy of Jewish havlaga ("restraint") when Arabs attacked Jews. Read about the deal with the Vatican and the United Nations (see Ben Hecht's Perfidy). Throughout, a major enemy of the Jewish people and of a truly Jewish state has been Hellenist Jews of various stripes. The attack on the Altalena was among the most vivid of these acts, but there have been many in its mould, costing Israel and the world very dearly in lives and in opportunity to redeem all our customs, lives and purposes toward sanity and joy.
Today, despite the intense hostility and multi-faceted economic and military schemes of the Gentiles, the main danger to Israel, Jews and Judaism is from the internal enemy. It is they who for decades have done everything they can to weaken, confuse, dishearten and abandon Jews, making their blood cheap and punishing in myriad ways every act, and even thought, of Jewish pride and vigorous defense of Jewish life and land.
Don't break ranks! Jews: the more intense the pressure becomes to divide those who are holding on to our land and morasha, the more they must stand together, literally, physically, and in word and spirit. The greater the pressure and violence of the police and the "gang of law", the more physical achdut there must be, and the more we must all increase our conversations and teaching about what is being done, about the rights and requirements of our heritage.
Don't break ranks, lest enemies fracture the land and intensify massacres leading to massive emigration. The old Roman dream and method has returned, to empty Israel, change its name and bury its memory. So, speak truth to power in every feasible way: let a thousand flowers bloom; honor the heroes; remember those who have fallen because of the policies of surrender and corruption. And in remembering, let the intense pain of loss strengthen the struggle and the urgent goal that the loss not be in vain. The losses are too many and too terrible to allow them to lead anywhere but to redemption.
What pain to observe, what terrible pain to be, a young Jewish man whose family made aliyah, who loves the Jewish people and Israel, and who serves in the army and hears the unbelievable command from a Jewish officer to drag Jews from their homes and land. Such orders are given to shock the soul and break the heart and spirit of all like him. This is the Hellenists' goal: they are the ultimate ghetto Jews, who, beyond their various ambitions and greed, have a demonic inner craving to see Jews continue to be weak, despised and self-defeating. And if every Jew does not stand strong against them, they will push through to this defeat.
Don't break ranks, do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Do not be broken before them.HaShem will answer the faithful "mishmai Kadsho, b'gevurot yesha y'mino...."
No people have given more goodness to the world than the Jewish people. No people ever has shown a greater devotion to its land under more daunting odds, or a more powerful devotion to its life-affirming customs and statutes. In a world drunk with forgetting, lusting for power and crazed with terrors of every stripe, no people more than the Jewish people, the Children of Israel, have demonstrated a greater ability for, or identified themselves more fully with, memory, honor and gracious order for joy in life.
All those who struggle against the evil decrees and lying lips of the present are great soldiers of Israel. Their efforts are needed now more than ever before and they must not break ranks. The darker it gets, the more we must hold together.
Israel has long been under assault from the 'mountains' of the world, the foreign ministries of all the great powers; it has long been under assault from "the tents of Kedar," the followers of "the insane one," as the Rambam termed him. The measure of their insanity is that they always are for war against Jews, especially when we speak peace. Now, the assault (for in every generation they rise up against us, to destroy us) comes from the inside, too.
Indeed, for the past 75 years, this has been the most lethal assault within Israel. Check the history of the Arlosoroff affair of the early 1930s. Study how the leftists hijacked the Haganah from Ze'ev Jabotinsky and enforced the policy of Jewish havlaga ("restraint") when Arabs attacked Jews. Read about the deal with the Vatican and the United Nations (see Ben Hecht's Perfidy). Throughout, a major enemy of the Jewish people and of a truly Jewish state has been Hellenist Jews of various stripes. The attack on the Altalena was among the most vivid of these acts, but there have been many in its mould, costing Israel and the world very dearly in lives and in opportunity to redeem all our customs, lives and purposes toward sanity and joy.
Today, despite the intense hostility and multi-faceted economic and military schemes of the Gentiles, the main danger to Israel, Jews and Judaism is from the internal enemy. It is they who for decades have done everything they can to weaken, confuse, dishearten and abandon Jews, making their blood cheap and punishing in myriad ways every act, and even thought, of Jewish pride and vigorous defense of Jewish life and land.
Don't break ranks! Jews: the more intense the pressure becomes to divide those who are holding on to our land and morasha, the more they must stand together, literally, physically, and in word and spirit. The greater the pressure and violence of the police and the "gang of law", the more physical achdut there must be, and the more we must all increase our conversations and teaching about what is being done, about the rights and requirements of our heritage.
Don't break ranks, lest enemies fracture the land and intensify massacres leading to massive emigration. The old Roman dream and method has returned, to empty Israel, change its name and bury its memory. So, speak truth to power in every feasible way: let a thousand flowers bloom; honor the heroes; remember those who have fallen because of the policies of surrender and corruption. And in remembering, let the intense pain of loss strengthen the struggle and the urgent goal that the loss not be in vain. The losses are too many and too terrible to allow them to lead anywhere but to redemption.
What pain to observe, what terrible pain to be, a young Jewish man whose family made aliyah, who loves the Jewish people and Israel, and who serves in the army and hears the unbelievable command from a Jewish officer to drag Jews from their homes and land. Such orders are given to shock the soul and break the heart and spirit of all like him. This is the Hellenists' goal: they are the ultimate ghetto Jews, who, beyond their various ambitions and greed, have a demonic inner craving to see Jews continue to be weak, despised and self-defeating. And if every Jew does not stand strong against them, they will push through to this defeat.
Don't break ranks, do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Do not be broken before them.HaShem will answer the faithful "mishmai Kadsho, b'gevurot yesha y'mino...."
No people have given more goodness to the world than the Jewish people. No people ever has shown a greater devotion to its land under more daunting odds, or a more powerful devotion to its life-affirming customs and statutes. In a world drunk with forgetting, lusting for power and crazed with terrors of every stripe, no people more than the Jewish people, the Children of Israel, have demonstrated a greater ability for, or identified themselves more fully with, memory, honor and gracious order for joy in life.
All those who struggle against the evil decrees and lying lips of the present are great soldiers of Israel. Their efforts are needed now more than ever before and they must not break ranks. The darker it gets, the more we must hold together.