While the indescribably sadistic barbarism of the Simchat Torah Pogrom will be seared into our collective consciousness for generations to come, we are, nevertheless, already beginning to taste the first fruits of this war that has been forced upon us.
Let us consider three major differences in the world before and after Simchat Torah.
Jewish Unity: Before the Simchat Torah Pogrom, we Jews were ripping ourselves apart. In Israel, the socialist, anti-religious oligarchs were attempting nothing less than a coup d’etat against a legitimately constituted government. Mass demonstrations, street riots and violence, tires burning on the highways were the new normal. In the diaspora, Jews were so deeply divided on social and political policies that it was becoming almost impossible to engage in civil dialogue with those holding opposing views.
The Simchat Torah Pogrom galvanized the Jewish People (not counting the Israeli mainstream media) together in a way that hasn’t been seen in half a century or more. Jews of all stripes – secular, Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox, Chareidi, socialists, pro-Bibiniks, anti-Bibiniks, all speak now with one voice. Even strident anti-Zionist Chassidic grand rabbis are urging their chasidim to pray for Israel and her inhabitants.
One of the enduring messages of Megillat Esther is that when the Jewish People are unified, Heaven showers miracles upon us. When Haman persuades the king to allow him to wipe out the Jewish People, he characterizes us as ‘scattered and dispersed among the 127 provinces of the empire.’ The antidote? Esther commands to ‘go and gather all the Jews together.’ “He unifies their hearts and understands all their deeds.” (Psalm 33)
The Veil Falls: Since Oslo and before, the world has evinced boundless sympathy for the hapless “Palestinians.” Since Operation Swords of Iron began, the whining has become a howl of indignation.
Forgive me, but where is the Dunkirk-esque flotilla of European transport ships to carry the “innocent” Gazan Arabs – the mothers and children, the elderly – to a safe refuge, away from the battlefield?
Where are the UN hospital ships to care for the Arab wounded?
Where is the airlift of transport planes to carry the innocents out of the war zone?
If they believe so ardently in the Palestinian Arab cause, where are the international volunteers flooding into Gaza to take up arms with their beleaguered Hamas brethren? Thousands of people from all over the world went to Spain to aid the Republican cause in 1936.
They don’t exist. The Western horizon of the Mediterranean is stunningly empty of rescue ships. The skies are empty of transport planes. Egypt won’t lift a finger. Jordan has turned its back on her own people (the worst kept secret in the Middle East is that Jordan is Palestine.)
The most these protectors of the “Palestinians” can do is sputter, fume and howl, or send some small amount of humanitarian aid which they are fully aware will be commandeered by Hamas. Protests in New York and London are easy, but ultimately have very limited enduring effect - other than making the protesters feel good about themselves. That their crocodile tears don’t translate into concrete action is eloquent proof of their mendacity.
Know thine enemy, know thyself: There is an old saying: ‘tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.’ But the opposite is also true: our enemies define us as well.
The International Community, with the United Nations at the fore, are trying desperately to preserve Hamas intact. They are desperately trying to negotiate a cease fire to prevent the collapse of Hamas. Why? The international community needs Hamas. They know that the overwhelming majority of Gaza Arabs, as well as the Arabs in Judea and Samaria support Hamas, its worldview and its methods. They are also aware that it is just a matter of time – weeks? months? – until Abu Mazen achieves room temperature and Hamas consolidates its power over all those areas. Then Palestinian Nationalism will finally achieve its original, intended purpose: to serve as a lever, a cudgel, a battering ram to finish off both the Jewish People and the Jewish State.
We have progressed not at all from the 1930s, when the consensus of informed and genteel opinion was that on balance, the world would be a better place without Jews in it. We Jews naively thought that the Holocaust revealed the ugly side of state-sponsored Jew-hatred; we were wrong. The enduring lesson the Nations took away from the Holocaust was that Jews should be killed in dribs and drabs – onesies and twosies. A Daniella Shefi here, a Dolphinarium there is fine. But no more mass executions of Jews, because it upends the delicate balance of moral relativism. Jewish blood can run in the gutters, but lest one harm a hair on a Palestinian Arab head…
When we were kids in Hebrew day school, at the height of the campaign for Soviet Jewry, we used to make note of the fact that ‘Russia’ in English means ‘evildoer’ in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for China is ‘Sin’. In Hebrew, the word ‘Korea’ means to tear, rend or destroy. Iran was known for thousands of years as Persia, but the country changed its name to ‘Iran’ during World War II, a Farsi bastardization of ‘Aryan.” Hamas is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, which means Islamic Resistance Movement in English. But every Hebrew speaker knows that Hamas means ‘destruction.’
We are on the brink of a HUGE Yeshuat Hashem – a Divine Salvation is in the offing that has not been seen in modern times and which will leave the enemies of G-d scattered from before Him.
The Wall Street Journal headline tells the story: “Global War on Jews.” Or the Yahoo.com headline: “A War Unlike Any Other.”
The battle lines are drawn:
Evil, Sin, Destruction & Aryans are arrayed against the Servants of the One True G-d.
This is the time for all those who worship and revere the G-d of Israel - by whatever name you choose to call Him – to come together, stand behind Israel and the Jewish People, and help us in eradicating this evil from the face of the Earth. All people of goodwill, not just Jews, must ask themselves: what am I willing fight for?
As Moses said: Mi Hashem Aylay! All those who are for G-d – stand by me!
Rabbi Mizrachi is the author Holistic Judaism: A Radical Rethinking of Our Service to Gcd and our Fellow Man in the Messianic Age. Available on Amazon.com and Kindle. He can be reached at [email protected]