A BRIEF HISTORY OF MORALITY

The first time the Tora refers to clothing, using the most generic word Kutonet, is in the context of creation. After tasting the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve, the first humans, experienced a “reset” of their minds. Until then, their neshama, ruach memalelah, or verbal intelligence endowed them with the ability to think linguistically–with words–which allowed them to possess a supernatural ability: freedom of choice. While animals “perceive” reality in images (or smells or sounds) and react instinctively to them, human beings process reality with words—that is, they “think.” Humans can see, hear, and then calculate, speculate, contemplate, anticipate, obey, and disobey. By rebelling against the first (and only) Divine order, man, paraphrasing Maimonides, activated the power of his “imagination,” making it an integral part of his thought process. The consequences of this could be potentially disastrous. Now, human supernatural powers, “words” are not used to serve God but to justify disobedience.  Human beings can now “see” the advantages of their abilities for personal benefit. Power can be used to help or do good to others—as the Creator does—and to subdue or oppress others. Sexuality, beyond its two explicit purposes—1. To intimately unite husband and wife, 2. To imitate the Creator in recreating another life—can also be channeled toward abuse, infidelity, rape, etc. By covering his nakedness and differentiating himself from animals, man reminds himself that he must employ his powers for the purpose for which the Creator conceived them.

YOSEF AND THE BURDEN OF REPRESENTATION

The second time kutonet appears in the Tora is when Jacob gives his son a special robe: colored clothing that functions as a uniform and represents the authority granted by his father to supervise the tasks of his brothers and inform them about their behavior. As we already know, the consequences of Jacob’s decision and the humbleness not exercised by Yosef, were crucial in our history. This colored uniform, or kutonet, led us to Egypt and then into slavery. In our Parasha, Tetzave, the kutonet appears for the third and last time in the Tora when describing the Cohen Gadol’s uniform. The Cohen’s clothing, more than a garment to cover nudity, is a uniform that conveys a representative position, and his wearer carries the weight of the responsibility of representation.

THE DOUBLE REPRESENTATION

On the one hand, the Cohen represents the ideal of a Jew: the consecration of one’s life to achieve closeness to (by serving) the Creator. The Cohen Gadol also represented the Jewish people before God. And this was manifested in the twelve stones that he wore on his breastplate, with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. The Cohanim knew very well that their privileged position implied greater responsibility. And the Tora commands them to be aware that, even involuntarily, one can get carried away by the splendor of his uniform, feeling as if it were an honor displayed to the person and not his office. The consequences can be disastrous. A police uniform, for example, should inspire honesty, trustworthiness, and service. If a police officer were to use the power of his or her uniform for personal gain or abuse of power, he or she would be misrepresenting the uniform, the office, and by extension, dishonoring the entire Police Department.

I remember, as a teenager asking one of my teachers about the benefits and risks of wearing a Jewish uniform while traveling on buses and trains and interacting with non-Jews. I asked my teacher if wearing a cap or a Kippa on the street would be more appropriate. My teacher replied, “It all depends on how you behave.” The Kippa is a catalyst that clearly identifies you as a Jew, unlike a more generic baseball cap or hat. If I behave properly, I will likely fulfill the great Mitzva of Qiddush HaShem, which means elevating God’s name and enhancing the reputation of the Tora and its Divine Author. However, if I behave badly and let myself be carried away by my impulses and imagination more than by my reason and by the Tora among gentiles, I would be transgressing the most serious of all sins in the Tora: Chillul HaShem, affecting negatively the reputation of the Creator.

My teacher added a memorable reflection: “Never forget that to wear the Kippa, you must first have a head!”

As a general rule, I tend to steer clear of political issues, but today I’m making an exception. The reason is simple: what’s happening in Israel right now has historical significance that could positively impact the strengthening of the Jewish and democratic character of the State of Israel. And, as a Jew, I feel compelled to weigh in.

The new government of Israel recently announced plans to undertake a comprehensive reform of the country’s judicial system in the coming months, with a particular focus on the Supreme Court of Justice, known as  BAGATZ ( בית דין גבוה לצדק). Led by Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, the reform aims to address a number of conflicting points in the current system. Today I want to focus on one in particular.

Currently, Israel is the only democratic country in the world where judges are not confirmed by the people or their representatives in Congress. In the United States, for example, judges are confirmed by the Senate, and in most European countries, they are either confirmed by political representatives or elected directly by the people. Only in Israel do Supreme Court judges participate in the election of other Supreme Court judges and have the power to veto candidates.

The system works like this: there’s a special commission to elect judges  (הוועדה למינוי שופטים)   that includes three judges from the Supreme Court, two representatives from the Keneset (Israel’s parliament), two representatives from the Ministry of Justice, and two representatives from the country’s Lawyers Association. For a new judge to be confirmed, he or she must receive the votes of seven out of the nine commission members. The problem is that the three representatives of the Supreme Court, all appointed by the President of the Court, always vote as a bloc. This has led to a Supreme Court that perpetuates itself in power by “cloning” itself every time a new judge is elected.

This system has caused a number of problems, one of the most severe being nepotism. Nepotism in the Israeli judicial system is endemic and unlike anything seen in any other country in the world. Why? Because the Supreme Court doesn’t even try to hide it, it’s an open and verifiable operation. The former President of the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice, Aharon Barak, who was responsible for establishing this disturbing system in 1992, has explicitly declared: “The Supreme Court of Justice of Israel is a family, someone who does not belong to that family cannot be allowed to enter it” (see minute 1.10 of the video below). And to make clear that Barak was not “metaphorically” speaking about a family, one can verify the jobs held in the judiciary by Barak’s friends, children, and especially his wife, as you can see in the video below. To identify and begin to understand the endemic nepotism of the judicial system with names and last names, please watch this video made by “The Movement For Governability And Democracy” (https://meshilut.org/en/) a non-profit organization that believes that nepotism and democracy should not go hand in hand.

The State of Israel is a melting pot of Jewish ethnic diversity, religious observance, and ideologies, making it one of the most diverse countries in the world. Sephardic, Ashkenazi; left, right, center; secular, religious, traditionalists, etc. However, this diversity is not reflected in the composition of the country’s highest court, the Supreme Court of Justice. With 15 judges, the court maintains diversity in only one aspect, gender. In every other aspect, especially in terms of ethnicity and religion, the court is anything but diverse. There is a lack of representation from religious or right-wing or Sephardic population segments, despite these groups being the ethnic, religious, and ideological profile of most Israeli citizens, as was demonstrated in the last election this past November. The court is mainly composed of secular and progressive individuals, mostly Ashkenazi Jews, making it a virtual extension of the left-wing political party MERETZ, which has recently lost its representation in the Keneset and represents a tiny percentage of Israel’s population.

The proposed judicial reform aims to change this elitist system by removing the power of the Supreme Court judges to veto the appointment of new judges and giving the power to the people’s representatives in the Keneset. This reform is not an attack on democracy, as some media outlets may suggest, but rather an effort to restore democracy in Israel by making the court more diverse and representative of all sectors of society. This can only happen if judges are democratically elected, as is the case in every civilized democracy in the world.

Another crucial aspect of the proposed judicial reform in Israel is the need to address the overreach and ideological activism of the Supreme Court of Justice. One particularly concerning issue is the concept of “ilat hasbirut” or “the monopoly of commonsense” in my free translation. This non-precedent clause allows the court to make decisions based on their own interpretation of common sense rather than following established legal precedents. This undermines the separation of powers and can lead to the Court making decisions based on their own personal beliefs and ideologies rather than on the letter of the law. This is a crucial and complex issue that needs to be addressed, and I will delve deeper into it in a future article.

The Supreme Court’s nepotism has led to a lack of diversity in the court. The judges are mostly from the same socio-economic background, with similar ideological leanings, and often have personal connections to one another. This lack of diversity has led to a lack of checks and balances, allowing the court to become a tool for advancing a specific agenda rather than serving as an impartial arbiter of justice.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israels-judicial-reform-will-strengthen-its-democracy-opinion/ar-AA167Wch

It is disheartening to see the lack of serious and in-depth coverage of the proposed judicial reform in Israel, particularly in English. To truly understand the significance of this reform and why it is necessary for a democratic Israel to avoid a judicial dictatorship, I highly recommend that Hebrew speakers take the time to watch this video: https://youtu.be/aMStvnDwbKc. It provides a comprehensive overview of the problem and solution. For those who may not have the time or patience to watch the full video, I recommend this shorter presentation by Professor Talia Einhorn, an expert in comparative international law, which illustrates the excess power attributed to the Supreme Court: https://youtu.be/IkhdmZOdmcQ. Additionally, for those who read Hebrew, I recommend these articles for a more detailed understanding of the issue. One explains how the judicial veto works: https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001435502, and the other describes the problem of lack of diversity in the Supreme Court: https://www.inn.co.il/news/435824. It is crucial that we educate ourselves on the proposed reform and its implications for the democratic and representative nature of Israel’s judiciary.

THE WARNINGS OF JEREMIAS

The fast of the 10th of Tebet reminds us of the siege to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), the first step that led to the destruction of our Temple, the Bet haMiqdash.

At the beginning of the 6th century BCE, and for several years, the prophet Yirmiyahu warned the people about their corruption: practicing idolatry, desecrating Shabbat, and abandoning the Tora. Yirmiyahu warned the Jews that if they would not change and improve their behavior, “the Bet haMiqdash would be destroyed” by the King of Babylon, Nebukhadnetsar.

When Yirmiyahu announced this in the Bet haMiqdash, the corrupt religious and political leaders got furious since, indirectly, Yirmiyahu was challenging their power and authority. They did not care much about anything else. Thus, far from hearing the prophet’s voice, the Jewish priests and leaders try to execute him. Cynically, they accused him of “blasphemy”. How dare a man that calls himself a prophet imply that HaShem, our Almighty God, would allow His House to be destroyed?

Miraculously Yirmiyahu was saved. And the political leaders, knowing that the army of Nebukhadnetsar was approaching, persuaded the people that their solid military alliance with Egypt, the second superpower in those times, would save them from the Babylonians. Thus, instead of trusting in HaShem and doing Teshuba (repentance), as Jeremiah was begging them to do, they placed their trust in the corrupt leaders, priests and false prophets.

On the 10th of Tebet of 589 BCE, Nebukhadnetsar began to besiege Yerushalayim with his powerful army. The situation was dire because the lack of food, the first natural consequence of the siege, was aggravated by a tremendous drought. The desperate people inside the walled city ate dry grass infested with worms, which brought plagues and fatal diseases.

THE PEOPLE WOKE UP

At that moment of despair, King Tsidquiyahu and the Jewish leaders finally, miraculously, woke up from denial and decided to do something about it. Remembering the words of Jeremiah, the Jewish leaders met at the Bet haMiqdash and proposed a renewed covenant with God. They said: “We are going to free our slaves, and You, please, free us from the army of Babylon.” The slaves they were referring to were Jewish slaves: poor individuals who had become indentured servants to the wealthy landlords of Yerushalayim because they could not pay their debts. Now they and their children were repaying their debts through slavery. According to the Tora, regardless of whether the debt was or was not paid in full, the Hebrew slaves must be released in the seventh year. But these slave-owners did not care to comply with this Mitsva. And to avoid losing the money that was “owed to them”, they enslaved the poor permanently, as other nations did with their slaves. But now, finally, they had reconsidered and repented their wrong actions. And now they declared their slaves free. They prayed to HaShem that for the merit of doing so, He would also deliver them from Nebukhadnetsar’s army.  

AND THE MIRACLE HAPPENED!!!

And miraculously, the Babylonian army left. Yirmiyahu gives us his testimony of this great miracle: he wrote in chapter 37, Pasuq 5. “And Pharaoh’s army departed from Egypt [to Jerusalem], and when the Babylonians, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard that [the Egyptian army was coming], they lifted the siege of Jerusalem [and went to fight against the Egyptians]. Yerushalayim celebrated one of its happiest days! The great miracle had finally happened! The enemy army “disappeared”, and the “pessimistic” prophecies of Yirmiyahu had not been fulfilled. Yerushalayim was safe again!

A STUBBORN NATION

What took place next is discouraging and hard to believe, and we should consider this tragic episode as the main reason for the fast of the Asara beTebet.

When the enslavers saw that the army of Nebukhadnetsar left Jerusalem, they took their slaves back, betraying the covenant they had made with HaShem just a few days before. I imagine they must have said to themselves: “Oh! Now that the enemy has left, we don’t need God’s help anymore”. As if they were completely ignoring God’s intervention and thinking that the enemy left them on their own. 

THE OPPOSITE OF TESHUBA

This terrible “mistake” of our ancestors is narrated in Jeremiah, chapter 34, and is presented as the straw that broke the camel’s back, and precipitated the destruction of Jerusalem.

The prophet says in the name of God: 34:15 “[a short time ago], you repented, and you did the right thing in My sight: each of you proclaimed freedom to your enslaved brothers, and you even made a covenant with Me, in the house that bears My name [the Bet haMiqdash]. 34:16 “But now, you have “repented” [=broke your word with Me!] and you have profaned My Name: each one of you has recaptured the … men and women who were liberated … and forced them to become slaves again. 34:17 “Therefore, says HaShem: You have betrayed Me, you have not granted freedom to your brothers, and now the sword, the plagues, and the famine will be free [to pursue you and reach you] again… 

Meanwhile, the battle in the Negeb between the Egyptian army and the Babylonian army was still undecided. But in the end, the Egyptians were defeated. And Nebukhadnetsar returned to Yerushalayim with his army and surrounded the city for the second time. Hunger, plagues, and death seized Yerushalayim again. After months of futile resistance, the Babylonian army broke the walls, killed, exiled, or enslaved the survivors, and destroyed the city and the Temple.

In times of despair, our ancestors repented for their wrongdoing. But as soon as trouble ended, as soon as the Babylonians disappeared, “they regretted their repentance” and betrayed not only the words of the Tora but also the recent covenant they had made with God.

And this is why we fast on the 10th of Tebet. 

One of the events that we remember on the day of Asara beTebet is the passing of Ezra haSofer. Seventy years after the destruction of the Bet haMiqdash, in approximately 516 BC, the Persian Emperor Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Erets Israel. A total of 42,360 Yehudim came to Israel from Babylon led by Zerubabel (see the book of Ezra 2:64). Years later, more Jews made Aliya inspired by Ezra and Nehemia. Nehemia was the political leader who persuaded the Persian Emperor Artachshasta (Artaxerxes) to allow the walls of Jerusalem to be rebuilt in order to protect the city’s Jewish population and ensure the safety of the Bet haMiqdash (see Nehemia, chapter 1-2). And Ezra bore the enormous responsibility of re-educating the Jews who had come to Israel after living for three or more generations in exile in Babylon, without schools, without synagogues, and in the midst of the local pagan population.

Many Jews had forgotten the Torah, its laws, and its language and adopted the local culture’s values. Once in Yerushalayim, Ezra established the Anshe Kenesset haGedollah, the first Jewish parliament composed of 120 members: sages and prophets. With them, Ezra made a vast number of resolutions to revive the study and observance of the Tora and re-educate the Jewish people. Among other things, Ezra increased the days of the public reading of the Torah; he composed the text of the Amida (main prayer) because people had forgotten how to pray correctly; he modified the typeface (the “fonts”) of the biblical text (ketab Ashuri) to facilitate the study of the Torah by the masses; he established that at the time of the public reading of the Torah it was translated into Aramaic, etc.

Ezra also had to make very dramatic decisions, such as the exclusion of the Samaritans, a mixed semi-pagan population that had lived in Israel since the time of the exile of the ten tribes (722 B.C.E.) and who claimed to be accepted as part of the Jewish people. Ezra also had to deal with the issue of the intermarriage of many of the Yehudim who came from Babylon with their non-Jewish wives. This last dramatic event is narrated in chapters 9 and 10 of the book of Ezra.

Thanks to Ezra’s wisdom, courage, and non-negotiable principles, the Jewish people could survive and re-establish themselves in Israel as HaShem’s nation. Our rabbis considered Ezra as the historical link between the written Torah and the oral Torah. The oral Torah, the tradition that establishes how to observe biblical precepts, had been forgotten in the long Babylonian captivity and was recovered thanks to the efforts of Ezra haSofer. Together with Nehemia, he completed the construction of the second Temple or Bet haMiqdash; They built the protective walls around the city and helped the Jews to re-establish themselves in the land of Israel. Ezra died on a day like today, a 9 of Tebet. Our rabbis considered him the second most important leader of the Jewish people after Moshe Rabbenu.

TAQANOT EZRA HASOFER

The sages of the Talmud mention 10 Taqanot, or rabbinic decrees that Ezra established for the people of Israel who had returned to Israel after a long captivity of two or more generations.

We will now see a few examples.

√ The public reading of the Torah on Monday and Thursday, as well as on Mincha of Shabbat. Monday and Thursday, Tora’s reading is intended to prevent Jewish communities from being for three consecutive days without reading the Tora. And the reading on Mincha of Shabbat is designed for those who cannot attend the Torah reading on weekdays.

√ The establishment of rabbinical courts on Mondays and Thursdays were market days when people gathered in the cities to buy and sell their merchandise.

√ Washing clothes to be used on Shabbat on Thursday (or earlier) so that Friday is free for other Shabbat preparations.

√ A housewife should get up earlier on Friday mornings to bake bread so that there is bread available at home for the poor.

√ Women should wash and detangle their hair before using the Mikve.

√ Street vendors were allowed to go from city to city and sell jewelry, cosmetics, and perfumes to women so that they look their best (this regulation would avoid the monopoly of local merchants, that without competition, might raise the prices of these non-essential items).

WHO IS EXEMPT FROM FASTING ?

√ Minors: boys under 13 years old and girls under 12 years old are entirely exempt from this fast.

√ Pregnant women are exempt from this fast. Lactating women.

√ In many Sephardic communities, the tradition is that after giving birth, women are exempted from fasting for the next 24 months, even when they are no longer breastfeeding their baby. In other Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities, it is only excused from fasting mothers for 24 months while they continue to breastfeed their babies. Check with the rabbi of your community regarding the custom to follow.

√ A person who feels unwell, for example, with flu symptoms or fever, or a person with a chronic illness, such as diabetes, should not fast. Elders should check with their doctors to determine if fasting will affect their health. In which case they are exempt from fasting.

Please ignore this article if you are not following Qatar’s World Cup.

BEING A MESS-ANIC JEW 

As an Argentinean rabbi,  I am thrilled –euphoric!– that Argentina made it to the final. And Im very happy that the final match, the last World Cup for the national hero, Lionel Messi,  is played on a Sunday and not on a Shabbat, as happened with several previous games. But what leads me to write these lines is not my national affiliation but my indignation as a Jew for a specific issue that takes place in the World Cup and my fear that antisemitism gets normalized for the 3 or 4 billion people in the world that are watching these games.

At first, I was happy that Morocco won impossible games. It is also kind of personal. Moroccan blood runs through my veins because my paternal grandparents, z”l were born in Tetouan, Morocco. But after the initial charm, I started to get disappointed and feel very uncomfortable with Morocco. Why?

Because of this 

What you see above is NOT the Moroccan flag. This is the Morrocan flag.

Incredibly, the Moroccan national team players are not celebrating their victories with their own flag but with the Palestinian one! 

So that no naive person has any doubts: in the Arab world, this flag or the slogan FREE PALESTINE does not represent an innocent gesture of empathy with another country or oppressed people but a declaration against the existence of the Jewish state. As Israeli journalists in Qatar were told over and over again. “You are not welcome here… There is only Palestine. Not Israel.”   In other words: empathy with Palestinians is not about territorial claims or advocating for territories in exchange for eternal and lasting peace between the state of Israel and its neighbors. FREE PALESTINE is a euphemism to express that “Israel should not exist”, and that it must disappear from the map. And the Jews: throw themselves into the sea.  The FREE PALESTINE flag means FREE PALESTINE (all Israeli territory!) OF JEWS.  So, does this flag means that Morrocans (or Muslims?) hate Jews more than they love their country ??

If it were Iran or Lebanon’s national teams, I would have understood a little more about their antagonism to Israel because, after all,  those countries are “officially” enemies of Israel. But it hurts so much because it is MOROCCO: one of the few Arab countries that made peace with Israel and has open diplomatic relations with Israel. What’s going on there? 

THE DOUBLE STANDARD OF QATAR

And then, of course, there is the cynicism of Qatar. This government has silenced by decree all political demonstrations in this World Cup. No Ukrainian flags have been seen, for example. Qatar has banned dissident Iranians from speaking out against its repressive government. They also opposed any demonstration against human rights violations in Qatar. And they suppressed any complaints about the deaths of between 500 and 6,500 (depending on who you ask) foreign workers who lost their lives in accidents due to the hasty construction of the lavish stadiums for the World Cup (see here). Qatar claims it does not want politics in its World Cup. And for this reason, Roi Ben Shlush, an Israeli man who wanted to take a selfie with the Israeli flag in Qatar stadium, was immediately approached by four policemen who told him “that displaying the Israeli flag in Qatar is a crime. That Israelis are not welcome. That the Israeli flag is not welcome.” They threw us in the trash, Roi explains in this video (minute 1:18). Any political demonstration in Qatar is prohibited because “You must not mix politics with sports!”. But there are always exceptions. Or better said, one exception: the Jews. In Qatar, protesting against the existence of the Jewish state has been completely normalized. In the most watched event in the world these days, anti-Semitism has been Kosherized and turned into the pathetic cause that unites all the Arab countries of the world, even Sunnis and Shiites!

Do you understand now why I don’t want Morocco to win? Because beyond sports, if Morocco wins, it will be an antisemitic circus, a party of hate towards the Jewish state.

WHY DO ARABS HATE ISRAEL?

Arab antisemitism is not circumstantial. It’s cultural. My friend Professor Mordechai Kedar explains that delegitimizing Israel is a religious duty for Muslims. Why? Because for Islam, political and military superiority reflects religious superiority. That is to say, the true religion is the one that wins, controls, and governs the other religion. This reasoning, which may seem strange to us, explains the paradox many people naively mention. “The Arabs treated the Jews very well in the Arab countries where they lived.” This may be true, but something needs to be clarified: in Arab countries, Jews were “dhimmis”, that is, second-class citizens living under the authority and wings of Islam and with limited rights. Muslim accept Jews or Christians as long as they are “subjected”, or surrendered  (this is the real meaning of the word “islam” = surrendering )  to Muslim rule. But the case of the State of Israel is different. Accepting that the Jews govern the Arabs is heresy for the Arabs, as the founding charter of Hamas explicitly clarifies (see below). Accepting a Jewish State, regardless of its size, in arab land would be equal to believing that Islam is inferior to Judaism!

If this explanation is true, then I’m not sure it will ever be possible to be a lasting, “normal” peace between Israel and the Arab countries (I heard this week in a class from Bar-Ilan Professor David Pasig that the peace deal between Israel and Egypt is NOT really a “peace” agreement: Egypt’s Islamic authorities, says Pasig, only allowed Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to sign “a truce” with Israel).

If this explanation is real, if the Arab’s rejection of Israel is based on religious considerations, the Arab-Israeli conflict and hatred will never end. Furthermore: not recognizing this sad reality can be very dangerous for the Jewish state. Why? Because if I try to find the Western Mentality logic to the Palestinian or pan-Arab anti-Semitism and I assume, for example,  that they won’t hate us anymore if we cede some territory to them, or if I assume that “sincere dialogue will bring peace”, as many secular Jews who understand nothing of religion believe, I can cause irreparable damage to Israel.

WHAT CAN ISRAEL DO?

The Moroccan national team is known as the “Lions of the Atlas” (a mountain range in Morocco). So I’ll use this motif to explain a very depressing idea about the nature of this specific form of antisemitism. Imagine a man, lost in the Atlas Mountains, encounters a lion. Lions in that area of the world are reputed to be the most aggressive cats. The lion approaches and the man tries to explain to the lion why he should not attack him. He tells the lion: “I belong to the lion’s protection society. I fight against lions extinction. I am here looking for a protected area where you lions can live in peace, without fearing the hunters”.  But as valid as this man’s arguments are, the lion, who obviously doesn’t understand human language, keeps getting dangerously close to the man with murderous eyes and a hungry face. What is the only thing this man can do to stop the lion? What in the world can dissuade the lion from eating this guy alive? The only thing this man can do is to “transform himself into an elephant,” into an animal bigger and more powerful than the lion, into a creature that the lion is afraid to attack. An elephant will force the lion to reassess his chances of winning the battle, activate his survival instincts, reconsider and return to his pride.

If Arab hatred of Israel is cultural, visceral, and religious, the only thing that Israel can do to preserve the “peace” (or a truce) with its neighbors is to understand that the Middle East is a jungle. And only the strongest survive in the jungle.

UNDERSTANDING FREE PALESTINE

I present here some abstracts from the founding Charter of Hamas. Hamas is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization that rules Qatar.  Unlike other Palestinian organizations, Hamas does not hide its true intentions. 

​

Article 2 of Hamas’ Charter defines Hamas as a “universal movement” and “one of the branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine”.^{[1][21][28][29]}

Article 6 Hamas is uniquely Palestinian,^[1] and “strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned.” It claims that the world will descend into chaos and war without Islam, quoting Muhammad Iqbal.^[1][21]

Article 7 describes Hamas as “one of the links in the chain of the struggle against the Zionist invaders” and claims continuity with the followers of the religious and nationalist hero Izz ad-Din al-Qassam from the Great Arab Revolt as well as the Palestinian combatants of the First Arab-Israeli War. It adds a hadith claiming that at the Day of Judgment all Jews will be killed.^[1][29]

Article 8 The Hamas document reiterates the Muslim Brotherhood’s slogan of “Allah is its goal, the Prophet is the model, the Qur’an its constitution, jihad its path, and death for the sake of Allah its most sublime belief.”^[1][21]

Article 9 adapts Muslim Brotherhood’s vision to connect the Palestinian crisis with the Islamic solution and advocates “fighting against the false, defeating it and vanquishing it so that justice could prevail”.^[1]

Article 11 Palestine is sacred (waqf) for all Muslims for all time, and it cannot be relinquished by anyone.^[1]

Article 12 affirms that “Nationalism, from the point of view of the Islamic Resistance Movement, is part of the religious creed”.^[1]

Article 13 There is no negotiated settlement possible. Jihad is the only answer.^[1]

Article 14 The liberation of Palestine is the personal duty of every Palestinian.^[1]

Article 15 “The day that enemies usurp part of Muslim land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Muslim”. It states the history of the Crusades into Muslim lands and says the “Palestinian problem is a religious problem.”^[1]

Article 18 Defines the role of women as homemakers and child-rearers, providing education and moral guidance to men.^[1]

Article 20 Calls for action “by the people as a single body” against “a vicious enemy which acts in a way similar to Nazism, making no differentiation between man and woman, between children and old people”.^[1]

Article 22 Makes sweeping claims about Jewish influence and power.^[1][30] It specifically claims that the Jews were responsible for instigating multiple revolutions and wars, including the French Revolution, World War I, and the Russian Revolution. It also claims that Jews control the United Nations, and that they are supported by “the imperialistic forces in the Capitalist West and Communist East.”^[1]

Article 27 Praises the PLO but condemns its secularism.^[1]

Article 28 Conspiracy charges against Israel and the whole of the Jewish people: “Israel, Judaism and Jews”.^[1][30] It claims that “Zionist organizations” aim to destroy society through moral corruption and eliminating Islam, and are responsible for drug trafficking and alcoholism.^[1]

Article 31 Describes Hamas as “a humanistic movement”, which “takes care of human rights and is guided by Islamic tolerance when dealing with the followers of other religions”. “Under the wing of Islam”, it is possible for Islam, Christianity and Judaism “to coexist in peace and quiet with each other” provided that members of other religions do not dispute the sovereignty of Islam in the region (dhimmis).^[1]

Article 33 calls upon Muslims worldwide to work for the liberation of Palestine.^[1]

If you need more information, please, read this excellent detailed article :  https://www.camera.org/article/hamas-charter/

After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, the Greek empire set out to impose its Hellenic culture on all conquered peoples. They did this in a peaceful and persuasive manner, rather than through force as other empires had done in the past. They were so successful that they caused the disappearance of all other religions in the world. This process of universal acculturation is known as Hellenization. The diffusion of Greek cultural and religious ideas also affected the Jews. Those who lived outside of Israel, in Alexandria for example, were the ones who assimilated the quickest. And they began to practice what some historians describe as a “Hellenic Judaism,” a combination of some “humanistic” Jewish ideas stripped of religious rituals and elements of Hellenic culture. This new form of Judaism became the new religion of many Jews in the diaspora. However, the Jews of Israel remained faithful to their traditions. But the coming to power of the new emperor Antiochus (Antiochus) Epiphanes in 215 BCE worsened the situation of these Jews. Antiochus was much more aggressive than his predecessors in his campaign of Hellenic proselytism. And the pressure was so great that many Jews fully assimilated to Hellenism, and others practiced a “light” Judaism adapted to the values of Greek society. As has happened many times in the history of our people, religious assimilation did not come from a theological place but from a social one: assimilated Jews were desperate to be fully accepted by the Greeks, whom they looked at with admiration. And religious rituals were a barrier to social integration into the attractive Greek culture, which was as influential as Hollywood culture in the United States and the world.

Let’s look at some illustrations. Kashrut (kosher), which is the strict Jewish religious diet, created many obstacles and social barriers, limiting the integration of Jews with Greek citizens. If the table could not be shared with Gentile neighbors, Gentiles could not be expected to accept Jews as their equals. And probably, Gentiles would not be willing to marry their daughters to Jewish boys. The practice of Kashrut, then, began to decline. It was shown as something primitive. And negative. Because in the new Hellenic world, the separations between peoples did not look good. Assimilated Jews justified their abandonment of Judaism by stating that “in order to survive, Judaism had to modernize.” With this slogan, also Shabbat and circumcision had to be eliminated because they were considered obsolete. They were rituals that caused division. At this point, there is something important that must be clarified. This assimilation process occurred mainly in the cities, especially in mixed urban areas where Jews and non-Jews lived. The poorer Jews, the peasants residing in towns and villages, were insulated from the influence and social pressures of Gentile society and remained faithful to the Torah.

THE REFORMS OF JASON AND MENELAUS

Knowing that some Jews were still reluctant to abandon their religious practices, Antiochus Epiphanes set out to forcibly Hellenize them. Why? It was a matter of principle. Few and discreet though they were, the Jews who still observed the Torah were, practically speaking, “the only citizens of the Greek empire who openly rejected Hellenism.” Antiojus sought allies among the Jews themselves, those who had already voluntarily Hellenized. And he appointed as High Priest of the Temple of Jerusalem, that is, as the maximum representative of the Jewish religion, an assimilated and easily corruptible Jew: Jason (175 B.C.E.). Later, he replaced him with another priest who was even more corrupt: Menelaus (171 BCE). These new “priests” who were in charge of the Jerusalem Temple were leading the reformation of Judaism. Jason, for example, led a delegation of assimilated Jews who, instead of attending the Bet haMiqdash service on Shabbat, went to the Olympic stadium to watch and participate in the games and competitions. It was not just Jewish ritual practice that was being reformed. Also religious principles and beliefs were subject to reform by these false priests. Jewish monotheism was no exception. The reformers wanted to adapt the most basic Jewish principle, monotheism, and they formulated more flexible and, as we say today, more inclusive religious rules, which would recognize the Greek gods, and then accept that everyone, Jews and non-Jews alike, would offer sacrifices to their gods. gods in the Great Temple of Jerusalem. The corrupt priests argued that monotheistic “fanaticism” was a thing of the ancient Jews, and that if it was not reformed it would hurt the sensibilities of the Greeks. The Jews, the assimilationists argued, should also be more “tolerant” and offer sacrifices to the God of Israel in a slightly more Greek way. For example, also sacrifice animals that were used in Greek rites. This led Menelaus, in the name of the new multiculturalism, to desecrate the Jewish altar in an extreme way: in 170 BCE this “Jewish priest” offered a pig as a sacrifice at the Bet haMiqdash.

HOW TO CAUSE THE JEWISH REBELLION?

Although many Jews remained loyal to their faith, more and more Jews, due to tremendous social pressures, were adopting the path of the Greeks. But in the year 169 B.C.E. a providential event took place, a miracle, which would change the course of Jewish history. Antiojus Epiphanes lost patience. He lashed out at the few Jews who still refused assimilation, and decided it was time to stop being nice, gentle, and persuasive to those “stubborn peasants” who resisted change, and officially decreed a ban on the Jewish practice. . And he ordered his armies to enforce these laws by imposing the death penalty for those who practiced Judaism. However, Antiojus’s attitude had an effect contrary to what he wanted to achieve. This assimilation by decree aroused Jewish pride, even in those who, perhaps unconsciously, were inadvertently assimilating. Unintentionally, Antiochus provoked what was later known as the armed rebellion of the Chashmonayim, who fought not only against the Greeks but also against the Jews who had led the assimilationist movement. If Antiochus Epiphanes had not lost his patience, the assimilation of the Jews would have continued without resistance. The rebellion against the Greek empire would never have happened, and the Jewish people ח”ו might never have recovered from assimilation. It could have disappeared forever, being integrated into the empire, as it happened with all the other religions and civilizations of antiquity. “The impatience of Antiojus” was absolutely providential and should be considered one of the Chanukah miracles.

1. Jacob, also known as Ya’aqob, settles in Israel and has a favorite son named Yosef. Jacob gives Yosef a special tunic with many colors to show his favoritism. Yosef’s brothers envied him, and their hatred toward him grows when he tells them about his dreams of grandeur.

2. When Jacob sends Yosef to visit his brothers while they are tending their father’s flock, the brothers plan to kill him. Reuben suggests throwing him into a pit, but they ultimately sell him as a slave to some merchants traveling to Egypt. They take Yosef’s tunic and show it to their heartbroken father, who assumes a wild animal attacked Yosef. Jacob begins a 22-year mourning period for his beloved son.

3. Yehuda, one of Yosef’s brothers, marries the daughter of a local merchant and has three children. His first son, Er, marries a woman named Tamar but dies before having children. Yehuda gives his second son Onan to Tamar, but he also dies childless. Yehuda does not give his third child to Tamar, so she tricks him by dressing up as an indecent woman and becomes pregnant after he is with her. Tamar gives birth to twins Zerach and Perets.

4. Yosef is sold as a slave to Potiphar, an important officer of Pharaoh. Because God blesses him, Yosef is successful in everything he does and is also known for his good looks. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Yosef, but he politely declines. Out of frustration, she falsely accuses Yosef of sexual assault and he is sent to prison.

5. In prison, Yosef meets two of Pharaoh’s officers with pending sentences. They both have strange dreams and Yosef interprets them, predicting that one of the officers will be found innocent and return to his job while the other will be executed. Yosef begs the innocent officer to remember him and help him get out of jail when he returns to his position. The officer is found innocent and returns to his job but forgets about Yosef.

YOSEF, THE MANAGER

Yosef was sold by his brothers and transported to the slave market in Egypt, where he was acquired by Potiphar, a minister in Pharaos court. In Potiphar’s house, Yosef stands out. His master realizes that the slave he had bought for manual labor was a genius at administration. And he also inspired trust. Potiphar leaves all his assets and household, probably hundreds of people, in the hands of Yosef. Seemingly, Yosef had found his final destination; even though he was away from his family, at least he was in a privileged position. Being promoted to “manager” was the ultimate dream, the utopia, of any slave.  However, got worse for Yosef. Potifar’s wife provokes him. But Yosef does not succumb, and he rejects her advances with great subtlety but firmness. He tried to reason with the woman and explained to her that what she wanted to do would be a great sin against her husband and, above all, against God. “How could I do something so wrong and sin against God” (Gen. 39:9). But Potiphar’s wife did not take Yosef’s rejection well: she felt offended that a man, a slave under her command! rejected her. And she falsely accused Yosef of abuse. Potiphar, I think,  did not believe his wife – if he had, he would have killed Yosef on the spot – but he could not ignore her and had to save his family’s honor, so he sent Yosef to a dungeon.

YOSEF IN AND OUT OF PRISON

Yosef’s situation is now desperate. His sentence is for life. Yosef goes from being a successful manager with privileges to the lowest level a human being could reach in Egypt: a slave sentenced to prison. In Egypt, the value of a slave’s life was probably less than that of a horse or a dog.  What can be said then about the insignificant value of a slave in prison? However, thanks to his personality and hardworking character, Yosef also wins the trust of the head of the prison, who, like Potifar, leaves the administration in the hands of Yosef.

Yosef takes care of two VIP prisoners, Pharaoh’s ministers. Both had very strange dreams. And Yosef, who knew a lot about dreams,  tells one of the two ministers, the one in charge of Pharaoh’s beverages (making sure that the drinks were not poisoned), that he was going to be released and restored to court. And Yosef takes advantage of this fortuitous circumstance and asks the minister to remember him, and as payback for interpreting his dream positively, he begs him to tell Pharaoh, through one of his officers,  to release Yosef from prison, since he is innocent!

A HAPPY END 

But as the days or weeks go by, Yosef realizes his hope is a fantasy. Pharaoh’s minister forgot Yosef and consciously erased him from his memory. Because, naturally, the last thing the minister would have wanted was something to remind his boss — who had given him a second chance — of his days in jail! One day, however, Pharaoh has a disturbing dream, and no one can interpret it. At that moment, the minister –knowing that now he was not “asking” but “doing” Pharaoh a favor– informs him that there is a young Hebrew man in jail who knows how to interpret dreams. Yosef is brought into the palace and then, as we all know, becomes Pharaoh’s right-hand man, which allows him to identify his brothers and eventually reconcile with them.

WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF…?

One of the great life lessons that Yosef’s story teaches us is that we often desperately want something to happen NOW. We pray and beg HaShem and do everything we can to achieve it… and in the end, it might NOT happen. But after a while, we might be looking at our lives and realize that THANKS TO WHAT WE WANTED TO HAPPEN AND DID NOT HAPPEN,  we now have a better opportunity, or we are now in a better position!
Yosef desperately wanted Pharaoh’s minister to exert all his influence to get out of prison. I suppose that Yosef must have waited impatiently day and night for someone to come and get him out of jail on behalf of Pharao’s minister. But imagine for a second if that had happened: Yosef would be now out of jail, with no money, no family, and with the record of an ex-convict slave. He could not have gotten very far…. He would have been sold as a slave a second time. And in the best of cases scenario, he would have ended his life being a good slave manager in someone’s household. The same would have happened if Potiphar’s wife would not have accused Yosef of improper behavior.

PATIENCE AS A FORM OF FAITH

Yosef learns and teaches us that patience is a form of Emuna, faith. Because many times, things that happen or are not happening to us are eventually for our own good. All the negative experiences that Yosef lived at first made him get lower and lower, to the point of despair. But when Yosef hits rock bottom unexpectedly, and without Yosef ever dreaming of such a scenario, Yosef’s life improves meteorically.

Not all of us have the same privilege as Yosef. It is not always possible to see an excellent final resolution for all our problems in life. However, this lesson is so important. I hear virtually every day of someone who did not get the job he so much wanted or someone who failed in a potential shidduch date or in a business deal. We might feel then that God has abandoned us. But then, I hear many people saying, “thanks to the fact that what I so much wanted didn’t happen, HaShem helped me to get something better. Or, “, Now I realized that God protected me from a terrible business/job/shidduch, etc.” 

This is a critical attitude to cultivate in life. Knowing that (or even: strategically acting as if... ) when what I pray for is not happening, ultimately, something better might be waiting for me around the corner. 

SHABBAT SHALOM