THE FIRST ISRAELI ARMY

Three thousand five hundred years ago, the first Israeli army was formed in the Sinai desert. It consisted of 603,550 soldiers aged 20 to 60. These individuals were born in captivity. Their ancestors were slaves in Egypt for four generations. They did not know how to fight or defend themselves. On the contrary, they had been “domesticated” and trained to be submissive to their attackers. On the 20th of Iyar, one year and one month after leaving Egypt, by Divine command, Moses organized them into an army with a mission: to conquer the land of Canaan from seven pagan and savage nations and transform it into a Jewish state.

The military camp had four columns, with three tribes on each side. In the middle was the Tabernacle — guarded by the tribe of Levi— representing that the Divine Presence is at the heart of their military strength. This was not a “normal” army but God’s army. The Creator accompanied them in their fight against the enemy and granted them victory. Our Parasha Beha’alotekha describes the first steps of this army of God toward the Promised Land. The signal to advance was that the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets of the law, was lifted by the Levites, and as it advanced, Moshe would proclaim loudly the Jewish war cry: קומה ה’ ויפוצו אויביך “Arise, O Lord, and let Your enemies [=the enemies of Israel] be scattered; and let those who hate You [and consequently hate Your people] flee from before You.”

But something went wrong. Initially supposed to take just a few days, the journey to Israel turned into a 40-year odyssey in the desert. As we will see in the coming weeks, paralyzing fear and slave mentality played their part. Despite witnessing numerous miracles, such as the manna falling from heaven daily, the Jews did not recognize His evident presence. The generation that left Egypt had to wander for 40 years until a generational change occurred, and only then did they go out to fight. It was the children of the slaves, a new generation not born or raised in captivity, who took the reins of the Jewish army and, under the leadership of Joshua, conquered the Promised Land.

THE NEW ARMY

The army of the modern State of Israel in 1948 was mainly composed of Jewish refugees from Europe, many of them Holocaust survivors. Miraculously and heroically, they managed to organize and defeat their enemies. God fought with them, although some were unaware of it. Many had escaped from communist countries and had not had the opportunity to receive a Jewish education. Or were influenced by the anti-religious spirit of the time. God was with them and granted them extraordinary victories, even though His presence was not openly recognized. In its infancy, the State of Israel experienced miracles that only a few leaders, like David Ben-Gurion, could appreciate.

The miracle becomes even more significant when you understand that Israel not only survives but also prospers in all areas: God continues to send His manna to His people in the most hostile geography on the planet!

THE RETURN OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE

After the terrible one-day Shoah that Israel suffered on October 7, the Israeli army embarked on an existential war against Hamas, a MILCHEMET MITSVA in Hebrew. In the days following the brutal attack, many thought Israel would react as it had in the past: with a few isolated incursions into Gaza to try to rescue hostages or eliminate terrorist leaders. But the Israeli government made a courageous and risky decision: to invade Gaza to destroy its military infrastructure: thousands of tunnels used to hide weapons and terrorists. The strategic goal of entering Gaza was to take control of all the borders of the strip, stationing troops there to prevent terrorists from rearming.

THANK GOD, this week was very good for the Israeli army. I do not fully understand why this extraordinary victory is not widely reported in the media. I will share a small story to show the magnitude of this victory.

On the 28th of Iyar, 1967, we recovered the Western Wall and the Temple Mount area after bloody battles against the Jordanian legions at Givat HaTachmoshet, which left hundreds dead. Finally, our capital, Jerusalem, returned to our hands after 1900 years of diaspora.

An iconic phrase is pronounced at that moment, remembered by every Israeli because it sounded like a dream: “HAR HABAYIT BEYADENU, HAR HABAYIT BEYADENU,” “The Temple Mount is in our hands.

THE MOST RECENT VICTORY

A few days ago, I saw a video on the Leumanut channel with the iconic title: “TSIR FILADELFI BEYADENU,” “The Philadelphia Corridor is in our hands.” (see video below).

The phrase “is in our hands” is neither casual nor arbitrary but reflects the enormous historical magnitude of Israel’s victory this week. The Jewish army has been fighting in Gaza for eight months in an unprecedented military operation, and a few days ago, it finally conquered this critical corridor completely, from Kerem Shalom to the Mediterranean Sea. By controlling the border between Gaza and Egypt, Israel achieved its first and most challenging mission: preventing terrorists from resupplying weapons or fighters via the dozens of passages or tunnels connecting Gaza to Egypt. Israel now controls ALL the borders of the Gaza Strip, from north to south and east to west. The conquest of the city of Rafah and the Philadelphia Corridor is a fundamental victory we should celebrate and thank the Creator for achieving.

This does not mean the military operation in the Gaza Strip is over. However, according to Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari, the dynamics of the war will now change. Israel no longer faces Hamas’s army, which has been dismantled. But there are still over 10,000 terrorists hiding among civilians or in undiscovered tunnels, and they are expected to continue operating as guerrillas. Israel, B” H, is prepared to face them.

It is our duty as Jews to recognize the merit of our brave soldiers and Israel’s political leaders and also thank the Creator for being with our army as He was with Joshua, King David, and King Solomon.

THE RETURN OF THE MISHKAN

It is also important to highlight that in this war, the Divine Presence has become more recognized in the Israeli army. A friend told me that in his combat unit, made up of Jews from all backgrounds and levels of observance, there is great harmony and unity, which, THANK GOD, does not reflect the usual differences that unfortunately separate us Jews outside the army. Per our Sages, unity among Jews is the prerequisite for the Divine Presence to accompany us. He also told me that no single soldier does not put on Tefillin every morning, something that was not so popular in 1948, 1967, or the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Even Druze soldiers ask to wear Tzitzit and carry a Tehillim book in their pockets. Everyone prays.

As it happened in the Sinai desert when an army unit knows that they have to camp in a particular place for a few days, then they build a temporary “Synagogue”, a Tabernacle of sorts, where they pray, study Torah, study Daf Yomi or read Tehilim. Like the Tabernacle in the desert, every one of these temporary Gaza Synagogues has a Sefer Tora, a Torah scroll provided by the military rabbinate, representing the content of the Ark of the Covenant that was in the midst of the first Israeli camp. These beautiful Mishkan that house Tora, Tefila, Tefillin, and Tzitzit are causing the name of HaShem to be heard more and louder among the Jewish soldiers ברוך שחידש ימינו כקדם.

THE NEXT CHALLENGE

We must thank Bore Olam, the Creator, for Israel’s impressive victories so far.

The Jewish State is preparing for a seemingly inevitable and imminent war with Hezbollah in the north. Let us pray that God continues to protect our brave soldiers and inspire our political leaders with the wisdom to make the best decisions.

SHABBAT SHALOM

ציונות = חזרתם של העם היהודי לארץ ישראל להקים שם מדינה יהודית.

בעוד שהמונח “ציונות” הוטבע על ידי נתן בירנבאום בשנת 1890, הרב יהודה ביבאס (1776-1852) צריך להיות מוכר כאחד ההוגים של הציונות המודרנית. הוא נולד בג’יברלטר. מצד אמו, הוא היה נכדו של הרב המפורסם ממרוקו, רבנו חיים בן עטר, אור החיים הקדוש (1696-1743). אביו השתייך למשפחת ביבאס היוקרתית של רבנים, דיינים ושוחטים בטיטואן, מרוקו הספרדית. במשך שנים רבות היה הרב של הקהילה היהודית הבולטת והעשירה של קורפו, אי יפהפה השייך כיום ליוון.

הרב ביבאס ראה הזדמנות נדירה לעם היהודי להקים מדינה משלו, משום שבאותן שנים (1820-1835) מרדו מדינות רבות באימפריות השולטות וזכו לעצמאותן. החיים בקורפו אפשרו לרב את הפרספקטיבה הייחודית להיות עד ישיר למהפכה של היוונים נגד האימפריה העות‘מאנית ולניצחון שהוביל ליצירת המדינה היוונית העצמאית. ישראל, שכונתה אז “פלשתינה“, הייתה גם היא תחת שלטון האימפריה העות‘מאנית. בשנת 1835, הרב ביבאס האמין כי, כמו היוונים, גם היהודים יכולים להשיג את עצמאותם, שכן האימפריה העות‘מאנית הייתה הולכת ונחלשת פוליטית וצבאית. לדעתו: “היהודים צריכים לכבוש את ארץ ישראל בכוח צבאי מהתורכים, כמו שהיוונים כבשו את ארצם מהתורכים.” הרב ביבאס נסע ברחבי אירופה וצפון אפריקה, ביקר בטורקיה, בבלקן, בוינה, בלונדון, בגרמניה, בהונגריה ובפראג, ובקהילות יהודיות רבות נוספות. המסר העיקרי שהטיף לכל היהודים בעולם היה “תשובה,” קריאה לאומית לחזור לארץ ישראל ולהקים מדינה יהודית.

הרב נתן למונח תשובה משמעות רחבה יותר. מילולית, “תשובה” פירושה “חזרה“. אך מעבר למשמעות הקונבנציונלית של חזרת היהודי היחיד לאלוקיו, בתורה אנו מוצאים את רעיון “התשובה / חזרה” בראש ובראשונה כחזרת העם היהודי לארץ ישראל. בספר דברים, פרק ל‘, פסוקים 1-11, מוזכר השורש  שו“ב  על כל בניניו שמונה פעמים,  כ“תשובה קולקטיבית,” ולאחר מכן כ“פיוס” לאומי עם ה‘. לאחר מכן, תשובה מגדירה את הדרך בה ה‘ יחזיר את העם היהודי לארצו. כמו שהגלות בפרק הקודם (דברים כ“ט) נבעה מנטישת היהודים את ה‘, חזרה לארץ ישראל מוצגת כתוצאה של הפיוס בין עם ישראל לה‘ אלוקינו. הרב ביבאס הסביר כי על ידי הישהות בתפוצות: “אנו מפנים את גבנו לה‘ :ההיפך מתשובה  שהיא ‘פניה‘ לה‘.   כפי שהסבירו רבותינו: יהודי החי מחוץ לישראל דומה למי שאין לו אלוקים. ומדוע אנו חיים בגלות? כדי לחפש את פרנסתנו? האם לא נאמר בתורה שארץ ישראל היא ארץ שעיני ה‘ תמיד   בה, שבה לא נאכל  לחם בעוני? האם לא נאמר שהיא ארץ שלא תחסר בה כלום? יום יום, כשאנו אוכלים את לחמנו, אנו מודים לה‘ על הארץ מבורכת, ישראל, שה‘ נתן לנו…”

הרב יהודה אלקלעי (1798-1878) הביא את רעיונותיו של הרב יהודה ביבאס לכתב. שלא כמו הרב ביבאס, שלא זכה לפרסם את רעיונותיו (או שספריו לא הגיעו אלינו), הרב אלקלעי היה כותב פורה. כמו הרב ביבאס, הרב אלקלעי לא ראה את חזרת העם היהודי לארץ ישראל רק כפתרון לבעיית האנטישמיות , אלא כדרך היחידה למימוש השאיפה ל“נורמליזציה היהודית“: כלומר, עם ישראל בארץ ישראל ע“פ תורת ישראל . שני הרבנים, ביבאס ואלקלעי, הבינו כי העם היהודי לא צריך לחכות באופן פסיבי לביאת המשיח כדי לממש שאיפה זו. אלא, על היהודים לפעול באופן אקטיבי לשוב ולהקים מדינה יהודית עצמאית בארץ אבותינו, כדרך לקדם ולהקל על בואו של המשיח.

בהשראת הרב ביבאס, הרב אלקלעי ניסח את תוכניותיו ורעיונותיו להחזרת היהודים לארץ ישראל בספרו “גורל לה‘”, שפורסם בוינה בשנת 1857. בספר זה הוא תכנן תוכנית מקיפה עם היסודות הדתיים והצעדים המעשיים להגשמת התשובה הלאומית: חזרת העם היהודי לארץ ישראל. הספר פורסם בשלוש מהדורות שונות ותורגם לשפות רבות, כולל אנגלית.

אני מציג כאן לקוראי “הלכה יומית” את ספרו של הרב יהודה אלקלעי, שבו תוכלו לראות שוב ושוב שהמילה המגדירה “ציונות” היא תשובה.

מרתק לקרוא את ההסכמות שהיו לספר זה מרבנים הבולטים באותה תקופה. אולם לדעתי, ההסכמה המעניינת ביותר, שנכבתה בברית רבנית זכה, היא של השר משה מונטיפיורי (1784-1885, נכתבה במקור בעברית), הפילנתרופ והמנהיג היהודי המפורסם ביותר במאה ה-19.

הרב יוסף י ביטון 

גרייט ניק, ניו יורק 

Kidnappings and taking captives are not a new story. It was a common practice in ancient times, so much so that the Tora legislation prohibited human trafficking no other than in the Ten Commandments. Yes! As you heard it. The eighth commandment, “Thou shalt not steal,” doesn’t mean to steal someone’s property but not to “steal people” or “not to kidnap,” which, by the way, the Tora condemns with the death penalty.

THE MITZVA OF RESCUING PRISONERS AND ITS EXCEPTIONS

The Talmud also emphasizes that a Jewish community must make all possible efforts to rescue a captive person. According to Jewish law (Maimonides, Hilchot Matanot Aniyim, 8), it is a fundamental precept to ransom captives—usually prisoners of war or refugees—(Pidyon Shevuyim), and it is considered the highest form of Tzedaka. The Gemara explains that if a Jewish community is collecting money for a synagogue, for example, and then they learn that there is a Jew kidnapped, the community must use those resources to free the captive. Furthermore, even if the money has already been invested in buying construction materials, these should be returned or resold to use that money to ransom the captive. The history of the efforts that Jews have made to rescue captives is exciting and very long. But I’ll leave those details for the future, and now I’ll refer to a caveat that the law of Pidyon Shevuyim records.

“One should not pay too much for the ransom of a captive.” One should not pay more than the “market price,” this is very difficult to understand in our time because we live in privileged historical times. Still, in the past, human trafficking, unfortunately, was typical. There were slave markets where prices for people were standardized. And why does the law discourage paying an excessive price for a Jewish captive? Because if a community is willing to pay that price, it would be encouraging traffickers to continue kidnapping Jews!

THE KIDNAPPED ONES FROM OCTOBER 7TH

Now that we understand this, let’s look at the dilemma experienced by the State of Israel at this time. The tragedy of October 7, 2023, left a horrible toll of close to 1300 Israelis massacred and about 250 kidnapped. In November, the Israeli government was able to release more than 100 hostages by interrupting the war against Hamas for ten days and releasing low-risk Palestinian prisoners. At this moment, there are about 135 hostages left. However, this number is that of people missing since October 7 who have not been able to verify whether they were kidnapped alive or dead. Negotiations with Hamas never included a list of survivors. Neither the Red Cross nor the United Nations has demanded that Hamas provide this information. Inexplicably, Israel has not demanded this information as a condition for delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Returning to the negotiations, Hamas’s two conditions for releasing the Jewish hostages are: 1. Israel releases hundreds of Palestinian terrorists, many of whom have Israeli blood in their hands. 2. The complete cessation of the war and the permanent withdrawal of Israel from Gaza.

Let’s analyze these two conditions one by one and see if the price demanded of Israel is within what is reasonable or excessive in terms of its consequences.

YOU DON’T NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS

The best illustration to understand the potential consequences of negotiating with terrorists is to remember what happened with Gilad Shalit, a young Israeli soldier Hamas kidnaped and held in captivity for five years between June 2006 and October 2011. Israel released more than 1000 terrorists to get Gilad Shalit back. But once free, 50% of these terrorists have returned to terrorism and have participated in murderous terror attacks that killed scores of Israelis. The most notorious of these terrorists released by Gilad Shalit is Yahia Sinwar, the actual head of Hamas and the number one responsible for the massacre of October 7.  

In other words, more than 1300 Jews so far have been directly or indirectly killed by the terrorists that Israel released in that terrible negotiation deal.

On October 17, 2011, prophetically, Purdue University professor Louis Rene Beres argued against Shalit’s release. In an opinion column in the Jerusalem Post, he wrote the following:

“No modern government has the legal right to release terrorists in exchange for its kidnapped citizens, military or civilian. According to current international law, each state has the primary obligation to protect its citizens. However, it seems that tomorrow, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will exchange Palestinian terrorists for the kidnapped soldier of the IDF, Gilad Shalit. Any exchange, no matter how humane it may be for Shalit and his family, would endanger thousands of other Israelis.”

Can Israel reiterate the mistakes of the past? 

Hamas has repeatedly said that as soon as it can, it will repeat the massacre of October 7. How many more Israelis will die if Israel releases Hamas’s dangerous terrorists?

STOP THE ATTACK ON RAFIAH (RAFAH)

The other condition that Hamas puts forward is that Israel end the war and withdraw from Gaza. This, of course, would mean a complete defeat for Israel, the meaningless death of the over 200 Israeli soldiers already killed in this conflict—without counting the thousands wounded—and would endanger Israel in front of its voracious enemies, as in the Middle East, weakness attracts terrorist attacks. Incredibly, the world is siding with Hamas and not with Israel at a very delicate moment: when Israel is about to enter the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Why is Rafah so important?

For those who do not know the geography of Gaza, it may be challenging to understand what Rafah means in this conflict. I will try to explain it as briefly as possible. Firstly, a quarter of Hamas terrorists are still alive in Rafiaj, including many who actively participated in the massacre of October 7. But beyond that, Rafiaj has fundamental geopolitical importance.

The Gaza Strip borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the north and east, and Egypt to the south. The border with Egypt is supposedly closed, but in reality, there are dozens—or hundreds—of tunnels that connect Gaza and Egypt. Through these tunnels, weapons, financial resources, and terrorists have been smuggled to and from Gaza. If Israel, theoretically, does not conquer Rafah, it could not declare victory over Hamas. If it leaves this border open, Hamas will continue to dominate Gaza, obtaining resources, money, weapons, fighters, etc., in short, it would allow Hamas to survive and eventually continue attacking Israel.

In the past, Israel attacked Gaza to defend itself against Hamas attacks and bring security to Israeli citizens. Still, it never went all the way, and the consequences were devastating. But this time, after the greatest attack on Jews since the Holocaust, I believe it has to be different. This time, Israel’s forces will enter Gaza and have already destroyed hundreds of war tunnels and are one step away from ending the terrorist organization and establishing itself militarily in Gaza to prevent future attacks.

AMERICA, GONE WITH THE WIND

To understand the strategic importance that conquering Rafahj represents for Israel, all one has to do is pay attention to the devastating and unprecedented international pressure that Israel is suffering at this moment from all the countries in the world, and unfortunately, with the U.S. at the forefront. All the antisemitic demonstrations in U.S. universities, even if they disguise themselves as other causes, aim to pressure the U.S. to pressure Israel not to ATTACK RAFIAH. At the time I am writing this article, Antony Blinken is in Israel trying to convince Netanyahu to make more concessions to reach an agreement with Hamas. Indeed, the U.S. will offer guarantees that if it gives in to Hamas’s demands, the U.S. will defend Israel. I wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of the Prime Minister of Israel, and I pray that he does not give in. Why? Because those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

Let me explain. Israel made three severe mistakes in the last 30 years: firstly, the Oslo Accords, which only brought more intifadas and death. Second, and as I just explained, releasing terrorists with blood on their hands to return Shalit. But I believe the worst mistake, the one that has cost us the most blood, was when Ariel Sharon withdrew the Israeli army from Gaza. According to Israeli journalist Amit Segal, one of the things that convinced Sharon was that President Bush told Sharon something like: “Don’t worry, if anything goes wrong, the U.S. will have your back. We will not allow the Palestinians to attack Israel.” What good were those promises from Israel’s main ally? Absolutely nothing. Israel cannot repeat the mistake, especially with an administration that has proven to be so lenient in dealing with Hamas terrorists. 

THE TORAH AND THE RESCUE OF JEWISH PRISONERS

This Tuesday morning, the last day of Pesach, I spoke in my synagogue about rescuing prisoners in the Tora, particularly in the book of Genesis, Bereshit.

When Lot was kidnapped from Sodom, Abraham gathered an army of more than 300 people, pursued and defeated those who had captured Lot, and freed him and all the prisoners of Sodom. There were no negotiations, only a military operation (Genesis 14:14-16).

When Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, was raped and then kidnapped, the sons of Jacob, Shimon, and Levi pretended negotiations to surprise the inhabitants of Shechem. Surprisingly, they attacked the city, killed all the men who resisted, forcibly rescued Dinah, and burned the city (Genesis 34). There were no negotiations with the kidnappers; they had no mercy on the terrorists or the citizens of Sodom, nor did they consider the disproportionality of their violent response. And indeed, this disproportionate reaction created a psychological terror that seized the neighboring peoples and deterred them from attempting aggression against the children of Israel.

ONE SHOULD NEVER NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS, AND THE MILITARY RESPONSE MUST BE DELIBERATELY DISPROPORTIONATE SO THAT THE ENEMY UNDERSTANDS THAT IT IS NOT IN THEIR INTEREST TO MESS WITH ISRAEL.

April 14th was a day of a historic victory for the state of Israel. To me, it was like the first day of the Six-Day War. That day,  Monday, June 5th, 1967, Israel attacked the Egyptian air forces and destroyed all their planes before they could take off. Within a few hours, Israel had won the war and demonstrated its offensive power to its enemies.

Yesterday, for the first time in history, Iran attacked Israel. Iran threatened Israel many times before but had never carried out those threats. Iran has its proxies: Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas, or the Houthis from Yemen. An Israeli commentator of Iranian origin once explained Iran’s tactic in its relentless (and inexplicable) struggle against Israel: What is the most critical piece of a chess game? The king. And the king is the one who moves the least. Iran is the king. Iran always attacked Israel through its disposable pawns. But Israel forced the king to move. And you don’t need to know much about chess to understand that when the king moves, the king is in trouble… It was a masterful check by Israel that forced Iran to act on its own.

And Iran failed.

While there were no fatalities, Iran attacked with everything it had.’ It fired 60 tons of explosives in hundreds of drones, 36 cruise missiles, and more than 120 ballistic missiles. Israel intercepted 99% of everything Iran sent. This same attack power, which Russia uses, for example, in Ukraine—with drones provided by Iran—has killed tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. A similar attack, although much less intense because it consisted of only 30 drones, occurred on September 14, 2019. That day, Iran attacked Saudi Arabia and destroyed 50% of its oil wells in the Aramco region. The results of that attack? ‘The biggest daily disruption of oil supply in history.’

See here (https://www.csis.org/analysis/attack-saudi-oil-infrastructure-we-may-have-dodged-bullet-least-now

The Israeli Air Force destroyed all the drones in the air, and most were intercepted outside Israeli territory by Israeli and American planes.

Israel also intercepted Iran’s most powerful weapon: the ballistic missiles. Unlike the drones, which take from 6 to 8 hours to reach Israel, these advanced missiles sent through the stratosphere can get from Iran to Israel in 10 minutes! General Abibi said today on the HAPATRIOTIM  ((https://youtu.be/_fA5aoz-Asc?si=ATklE2qI3KlMeQCN, see from minute 10:30 to 11:30) that these missiles were shot down directly by Israel ‘because no other country in the world can do so.’

Israel used its CHETZ system and demonstrated to its enemies—and the entire world—its military superiority. It was an impressive, overwhelming victory and a display of Israel’s power to her enemies and to her allies.

Today a friend told me a little bit concerned ‘that Israel paid a very high price for the Iranian attack’, since activating all these defense systems costs Israel billions of dollars. I’m not an economics expert, but my common sense tells me that Israel yesterday “invested billions in activating its defense systems and is now in a privileged position to make 100 times the profit from that. Why?  Because no country can afford not to have this fantastic defense system. All countries in the world, especially in Europe, will run to equip themselves with the Israeli defense systems that demonstrated its phenomenal effectiveness in a real war! 

It has been an incredible day for Israel on all fronts!

One last thought: allies apart, despite the amazing defense systems that Israel has, as we know, things can always go wrong in war… There are unpredictable elements, such as accidents, human errors, or countless failed missiles. On April 14th our main ally, BORE OLAM, showed us again that He is on our side.  In the past, I wrote that we should ‘update’ our visualization of the ‘anane kabod, ‘the clouds of glory’ that protected the people of Israel when we left Egypt. We must not understand—as they do in kindergarten—that those were like the ‘white clouds’ in the sky. We should visualize these ‘clouds’ (except for the seventh, which acted like a GPS) like virtual clouds or firewalls,  an invisible dome of Divine protection, which we remember every year through the festival of Sukkot and, in fact, every night when we bless HaShem for protecting us with His Sukat Rachamim Veshalom, “the invisible protection dome of compassion and peace”  with which HaShem surrounds us.

The survival of Am Israel depends on the intelligence, courage, and determination of the Jewish people and the invisible but omnipresent assistance of Bore Olam.

May God protect us from our enemies as He protected us when we left Egypt and grant Medinat Israel victory on all fronts. AMEN!

WHY TWO AGENCIES?

An international agency created by the United Nations is responsible for assisting all refugees in the world: the UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It was established in 1950, after the Second World War, to assist millions of refugees from all corners of the world fleeing war or persecution in their countries of origin. To date, this agency has assisted more than 108 million people. Currently, there are more than 30 million refugees in the world, with Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan being some of the countries with the highest numbers.

This agency’s primary mission is resettling these refugees in other countries worldwide. For example, Europe, the United States, and Canada have absorbed tens of millions of refugees from Africa, the Middle East, and South America in recent decades.

The mission of UNHCR culminates once these refugees are resettled in another country and acquire citizenship. Their refugee status ends there, as they no longer depend on UNHCR for assistance because the country that has absorbed them assumes responsibility.

There is only one exception to this simple rule of international refugees: the Palestinians.

THE GAME OF THE FIVE DIFFERENCES

Several key elements must be understood to grasp this difference.

Firstly, the Palestinians are the only refugees in the world who have an independent agency: it’s called UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.

UNRWA assists more than 5 million Palestinian refugees and has a budget of $220 per refugee, employing about 30,000 workers, meaning one social worker per 180 refugees.

How many refugees does UNHCR assist? The international refugee aid organization assists more than 30 million refugees from 134 countries worldwide.

How many workers does this organization employ?

16,000 workers. That is one social worker for every 4,213 refugees. The allocated budget is $121 per refugee, almost half of what Palestinian refugees receive.

RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT

Why do Palestinians have their independent agency? Why so many employees in UNRWA? Why are Palestinians the only refugees who enjoy these extra privileges?

Before answering this question, we must refer to another issue, perhaps the most important one.

The problem of Palestinian refugees arose in 1948 when around 700,000 Palestinians left their places of residence in Israel. The majority did so because the Arab countries, which decided to declare war on Israel when the Jewish state declared its independence, invited Palestinians living there to leave their homes temporarily until “they drove the Jews into the sea”. Now, how many “real” Palestinian refugees exist today? What is the approximate number of refugees who lived at that time, left their place of residence, and would be entitled to maintain their status? In 2018, an article in The Washington Post suggested that only 30 or 40 thousand refugees had survived from 1948.

But then, how is it that UNRWA assists 5 million Palestinian refugees?

The incredible, scandalous, and little-known reason is that the United Nations grants Palestinian refugees, and only Palestinian refugees, the right for their refugee status to be hereditary, meaning that the status of refugee passes to the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc., of those Palestinians who left their land in 1948!

Thanks to these incredible exceptions, there are more than 5 million Palestinian refugees, the majority of whom have never lived a single day there.

And as if that weren’t enough, the United Nations established another additional rule for these privileged human beings: Palestinian refugees, and only them, can maintain refugee status even when they obtain citizenship of another country and enjoy the legal and social benefits of those countries.

So UNRWA, unlike UNHCR, does not dedicate itself to resettling Palestinian refugees in other countries to free them from refugee status. UNRWA’s mission is to maintain and maximize the number of Palestinian refugees in the world “claiming the right to live in Palestine,” that is, Israel. UNRWA does not provide a solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees; it perpetuates and multiplies it

WHY?

Unfortunately, the world does not care about Palestinian refugees, and that is why we do not see any country offering at this moment to absorb the hundreds of thousands of refugees from Gaza. Not even their Egyptian Muslim brothers, who see from 50 meters away everything these refugees suffer in Rafah.

The Palestinians are “used against Israel” because they have the perfect enemy: the Jews. If Tibetan refugees conflicted with Israel, Tibetans would be the “celebrity” refugees of the world.

ARE WE ALONE?

What hurts the most is that the rest of the world knows all this very well. It knows very well that the privileges of these VIP refugees are a formula designed to promote the demographic destruction of Israel, pressing for “5 million made-up refugees” to claim to settle in Israel and thus try to prevent the viability and continuity of a Jewish state.

In my opinion, the case of Palestinian refugees is unmistakable evidence of global antisemitism represented by the United Nations.

Natan Sharansky said that modern antisemitism is defined by the 3 “D”s:

1. Demonization of Israel,
2. Delegitimization of Israel, and
3. The double standard against Israel is making laws and rules for Israel that do not apply to any other country on the planet.

Rabbi Yosef Bitton

Wars take their toll. One day we rejoice in our victories, and the next day we mourn the irreparable loss of precious Jewish souls. We wake up hearing the names of those young soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for all of us, and our hearts break. These emotional ups and downs are inevitable in any armed conflict. They are part of a package that, I trust, will ultimately yield a positive outcome, giving even more meaning to the sacrifice of these wonderful young IDF soldiers.

Wars also bring about profound changes in society. They either atomize or strengthen it. They reset its values and priorities. Israeli society is no exception, and there are many changes happening, most of which I believe are very positive. These changes will become evident in the coming years and decades when those currently fighting against an Amalekite enemy become the spokespeople and political leaders of Israel.

One change I’ve noticed is that Israeli society is becoming more respectful of religion and observant Jews. This is not a minor change. It’s part of a process of unity of our people.

THE DELICATE BALANCE

Israelis, and even secular Jews in the diaspora, seem to be more open to embracing Jewish tradition. This increased respect for the Torah doesn’t happen in a vacuum. I feel that the old anti-religious prejudice is dissipating more and more. The war has shown that the more observant Jews, the Hasidim, the Haredim, have a complete dedication to Israeli society, and in many areas, their contribution is essential: civil assistance of all kinds, financial aid, medical help, and more, including the thousands of cases of Haredi soldiers recently joining the army. The most fundamental change in this aspect is cultural. In the past, some Haredi sectors used to criticize the army and soldiers for not being religious enough. This, it seems to me, is disappearing. In times of crisis, eyes open. And no one can ignore that the army is protecting our lives and our religious observance in Eretz Israel. Suddenly, the front lines became sanctified. Even in the most orthodox sectors, there is a sentiment that the soldiers, even the less religious ones, are considered Kedoshim (holy) because they give their lives for Kiddush Hashem, the sanctification of God’s name, by protecting Am Israel.

This change is not widely discussed and may not be immediately noticeable because it’s not abrupt, but it’s there and growing. This change is also causing a significant part of Israeli society that used to demonize religious Jews in the past to change its view. Gradually, both religious and secular Israelis are moving closer to each other. They are gravitating toward the center. Suddenly, the focus is no longer on what separates us but on the most basic thing that unites us: survival in the land of Israel.

EXISTENTIAL EMUNA

Speaking of survival, the war has produced a new kind of Emuna, Jewish faith, a connection with God. In an interview a few days ago, former IDF commander Rafi Eitan commented profoundly on Channel 14 (www.now14.co.il) regarding a video that moved me to tears. In this video, a soldier surprises his family by returning home. The young mother sees him, obviously becomes emotional, and hugs him. Her son had been fighting in Gaza, and she hadn’t seen him for over 100 days. While hugging him, the mother prays aloud. She thanks Bore Olam (the Creator) for her son’s safety, reciting the Mizmor LeToda, the psalm of gratitude to God, by heart. The panelists on Channel 14 note that neither the mother nor the son appear to be religious. Eitan says, We are witnessing a new type of national connection with God: Emuna Kiyumit (אמונה קיומית), which I would translate as existential Emuna.

What did Rafi Eitan mean? He referred to the connection with God that becomes apparent, emerges, or intensifies when one experiences a traumatic existential event, a matter of life or death, such as illness or war. When one realizes the fragility of life, an approach to God begins, and an incomparable intimate relationship develops.

I think of the hundreds of thousands of mothers of Jewish soldiers in Gaza who spend the long nights of the war, literally without sleep. They constantly fear that someone will knock on the door in the middle of the night to deliver the worst news of their lives. These Jewish mothers, even the less observant ones, spend the nights with God. They overcome panic by praying and reciting Tehilim. And since they know Hebrew, they understand what King David wrote, strengthening their connection with God, praying, and filling themselves with hope, visualizing the reunion with their beloved children. They speak to God from the depths of their suffering. And they repeat in their hearts a thousand times the words of gratitude they promise to dedicate to the Creator when that sacred embrace finally arrives.

TELL ME HOW YOU SHOW YOURSELF, AND I’LL TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE

The religious uniform has taken a backseat in this war. There is a new phenomenon in Israel: even those who do not wear a kippah or do not dress modestly are also observant. They also practice their Emuna. I see this often on Channel 14 (which I still recommend watching). Most of the panelists do not wear kippahs, but they express a love for Judaism, the Torah, HaShem, and an admiration for the dedication of more observant Jews, which is wonderful. As one of my teachers used to say, what matters is not appearing more religious than you are, but being more religious than you appear.

The terrible war in Israel and irrational antisemitism elsewhere in the world is helping us understand that what makes our enemies hate us is also what unites us and what has made us Jewish for 3500 years.

Watch this video where you can see the mother reuniting with her son (min. 0.33) and then being interviewed. Her words are very spiritual, intelligent, and emotional. ירבו כמותם בישראל (May there be more like them in Israel).

Video Link

When I entered the synagogue on the morning of October 7th, I slowly learned what had happened in Israel on that fateful day of Simchat Tora. While the guys from security were explaining to me with tears in their eyes what was happening, I asked them a crucial question: “Where did the attack come from?” And they told me: From Gaza. I asked them: “Have you heard if there is any other open front? Is Israel also being attacked from the north or Judea and Samaria?” They told me “no”.

Previously, I had heard an interview with retired Israeli general Isaac Brick. His terrifying prediction about a possible multi-front war against Israel suddenly crossed my mind. I thought about this worst-case scenario and was terrified of what could happen in the coming days. As time went by, I realized that that terrible massacre of October 7th could have been much worse. And when I think about what happened in light of what could have happened, I believe we witnessed “a miracle”, somehow similar to Hanukka.

ANTIOCHUS’ IMPATIENCE

In the year 200 BCE, the Jewish people were on the brink of extinction. The Greek Empire had triumphed militarily and effectively spread its religion and culture throughout its territory, including the land of Israel. They did so not by force but through persuasion. The Greek strategy worked perfectly by opening the doors of their civilization to all. The wave of assimilation also affected the Jews. Those outside of Israel had already adopted Hellenism and were practicing a religion that was increasingly more Greek and less Jewish. In Israel, Jews living in the cities also willingly submitted to the imposing Greek culture and became Hellenized. There were a few loyal Jews in the fields and rural areas who resisted assimilation. But, according to historians, it was only a matter of time, one or two more generations, for these Jews to “normalize” assimilation and lose their Jewish identity by inertia, even without realizing it.

But then something happened that no one had planned for. In the year 170 BCE, ANTIOCHUS LOST HIS PATIENCE WITH THE JEWS FAITHFUL TO THE TORA. He abandoned his advisors’ plan (to leave the Jews alone so they could continue assimilating on their own) and imposed a ban on Jewish practice, sentencing all those who followed Tora to death. It was a terrible time of persecution, death, hopelessness, terror, and darkness. But in the end, with the help of Bore Olam and the extraordinary courage and ingenuity of Jewish soldiers, we fought and won. And today, over 2,000 years later, we celebrate this triumph.

The million-dollar question is: why didn’t Antiochus wait if he knew that assimilation would have occurred naturally in one or two generations?

No one knows precisely why. But everyone admits that Antiochus’s impatience caused an opposite effect. Antiochus unintentionally woke us up. He forced us to organize ourselves. He forced us to fight. And what’s more, he managed to bring many assimilated Jews back to embrace the Judaism they had left behind.

RABBI MELAMED’S HYPOTHESIS

A rabbi living in Israel, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, wrote an idea that deeply moved me a few years ago in his book Penine Halakha. He said the following: The assimilation of Jews into Hellenic culture was inevitable. The disappearance of Judaism through natural means was only a matter of time. But Antiochus wanted to accelerate this process. And it backfired on him: his decrees had the opposite effect. He reversed assimilation and, ironically, “saved us from self-destruction.” Antiochus’s impatience, Rabbi Melamed said, was the result of divine intervention. God hardened his heart, as He did in Egypt with Pharaoh, and thus, the Greek monarch – against all logic and advice – made a decision that, in the short term, was devastating for our people but, in the long run, saved us from something infinitely worse.

GREECE AND GAZA

Last October 7th, we Jews suffered a devastating terrorist attack of “Shoah” proportions. The number of Jews who died and the way they died has no other qualification. The Hamas murderers were worse than the Nazis, as seen by the sadism of filming themselves and the way they “enjoyed” torture, mutilation, and the shedding of Jewish blood.

But there is a part of the story of this attack that, for now, is less appreciated. No one ignores that Hamas is one of the executing arms of Iran, the new Amaleq. Iran is an octopus whose head is in Tehran, but its tentacles expand throughout the Middle East to achieve its primary objective: to destroy Israel.

According to retired Israeli general Isaac Brick (See here ), Iran has been preparing for 20 years a master plan to destroy Israel. Iran’s plan is a surprise simultaneous massive attack from five different fronts: from Lebanon in the north, through Hezbollah, which has more than 200,000 rockets in its possession. A bit further east, in Syria, with its pro-Iranian militias, which are stationed, awaiting the order to attack the Jewish State. Between Israel and Jordan is the third front: about two and a half million Arabs who live in Judea and Samaria, very close to the Jewish settlements with half a million Israelis. These Arabs are armed and mostly radicalized. The fourth front, from the south of Israel, is Hamas, which only has to cross the border, and we already know what it is capable of doing. The fifth front, and according to Brick, the most devastating, would be that of the Arabs who already live inside Israel, in Yafo, Haifa, Lod, Jerusalem, etc. , about two million Arabs, with about 400,000 weapons, and many of them (most?) radicalized who would voluntarily join a massive attack on Israel.

In that interview he gave on the Hidabberut channel on July 10th, 2023, that is: 3 MONTHS BEFORE OCTOBER 7th, Brick explains at length and agonizingly that this could be an apocalyptic scenario for Israel. The Jewish State is not militarily prepared to face some 3,000 rockets a day (sic.) coming from the north, attacking the entire Israeli territory, something that Israel has never experienced in the past. Israel is not prepared to face a massive invasion of hundreds of thousands of Arabs armed to the teeth and with the bloodlust that Hamas demonstrated. A surprise attack of this nature could mean a genocide, a second Shoah, in the land of Israel itself.

In this video, Brick explains Iran’s plan in detail (unfortunately, it is only in Hebrew and has no subtitles)

Was Brick right? Was he too alarmist?

The events of October 7th – the surprise attack by Hamas that was NOT detected or repelled by the Israeli army for about ten hours – proved Brick right. Israel WAS not prepared even for a single-front surprise attack! (The reason for this lack of preparation is a topic that would go beyond the limits of this article).

Now, Why did Hamas attack Israel alone, and why did its murderous leaders not wait for Iran to coordinate its attack with Hezbollah, the Iranian militias, and the Arabs of Israel?

THE ANGER OF IRAN

I want to make it clear that this lack of coordination between Hamas and Iran, this daring of Hamas to do things “solo”, perhaps hoping that its allies would join in later, made Iran very angry, and for that reason, explains professor Mordechai Kedar, Hezbollah and the pro-Iranian militias are attacking Israel “softly”, limiting themselves to a demonstration of solidarity with Hamas, but without getting fully involved in the war. Iran, says Kedar, is furious with Hamas, because Hamas “ruined its master plan”: the multi-front surprise attack that Israel’s enemies have been planning for so many years!

The million-dollar question is why Hamas didn’t wait in order to attack, knowing that they were ruining Iran’s plan.

Nobody knows precisely why.

There are many opinions. Some say that Hamas assassins could not resist the temptation to attack a concert attended by 4,000 – 5,000 young Israelis who were sitting ducks. Others say that Hamas saw that Israel was divided, that many Israelis had threatened to abandon the army in a time of war, etc.

But, in reality, none of these reasons can account for why Hamas chose to act independently rather than waiting for Iran’s initiative.

PHARAOH, ANTIOCHUS, AND SINWAR

If we look at this question from Rabbi Melamed’s perspective, HAMAS’ IMPATIENCE was providential and miraculous. The great tragedy that occurred on October 7th could have been infinitely worse. It’s hard to see it this way now, in the present. But remember that when the Maccabees fought against the Greeks in 165 BCE, they did not know they were writing a story with a happy ending. They saw thousands of their Jewish brothers murdered and tortured by the enemy just for being Jews, as in the case of Hanah and her seven children. Jews thought that the future that awaited them was dark, sad, and irreversibly lost. It took decades to understand that this suffering had led to triumph and celebration.

Going back to October 7th, having been attacked from a single front, the Israeli army—after a week or two of preparation and training, which it would not have had in the case of a simultaneous multi-front attack—was able to reorganize. The Jews of Israel woke up, recovered, became more robust, and united again. Maybe more than ever. The army of Israel, the Maccabees of the 21st century, is now ready to confront and defeat, with God’s help, our enemies on other fronts as well.

Hamas’s lone attack, in a way, prevented an apocalyptic scenario indescribably worse for the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

THIS POTENTIAL SHOAH, God forbid, WAS AVOIDED BY THE MIRACULOUS IMPATIENCE OF HAMAS.

We may need a few years to understand this better.

May God protect Medinat Israel.

May the Creator grant our heroic soldiers final victory.

May God grant our political leaders the wisdom, temperance, and courage to make the best possible decisions.

Rabbi Yosef Bitton