Daniel
08-18-2005, 08:01 AM
(Please take into account the fact that I'm not all that advanced in my level of study, so if I'm completely wrong somewhere, feel free to correct. I'm not a rabbi and not even close to it. My level is pretty basic.)
Devarim 1:42
HASHEM said to me, "Tell them, 'Do not ascend and do not do battle, for I am not among you; then you will not be struck down before your enemies.'"
(Yayomer HASHEM elai, emor lahem lo ta'alu velo tilchamu ki eineni bekirbechem velo tinagfu lifei oyeveichem.)
Rashi:
DO NOT ASCEND (lo ta'alu)
It shall not be ascent for you, but descent. (Lo aliyah tehei lachem, ela yeridah.)
Elucidation (Artscroll Sapirstein edition of Rashi):
[Rashi's source is] Tanchuma Yashan, Hosafah, Shelach 20. The Israelites wished to ascend the mountain for no other reason but to do battle. G-d could have commanded only "do not do battle," and there would have been no need for "do not ascend." It was stated to be interpreted as "you shall not ascend."; G-d wished to discourage the Israelites from prematurely going into battle by informing them that they were doomed to defeat (Be'er Mayim Chaim).
(See Rashi to Bamidbar 16:12, s.v. lo na'aleh, where he interprets a similar phrase in this manner.)
Me
This supports the position held by the Satmar Rebbe and many other gedolei Yisrael regarding the Three Oaths. The words used here and there are almost similar as is the intended meaning the pasuk conveys, which we find when we look at Devarim 1:44-45 or Netzach Yisrael 24 by the Maharal. The Maharal says that if Yisrael violates the Three Oaths, it will be annihalated, while Devarim 1:44-45 says that the Amorites killed Yisrael like bees, and that HASHEM closed his ears to our desperate prayers.
Similarly, nowadays, the Zionists are ascending the mountain. The mountain the Torah speaks of can be interpreted as meaning Eretz Yisrael as a whole, since Eretz Yisrael is elevated above all other places in the world due to the kedushah inherent even in its soil and the air. They, too, are ascending against HASHEM's wish and will find themselves without Divine aid when they need it. And this time has come, with the disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank currently under implementation. Apparently, all the demonstrations, days of fasting, recitals of Tehilim and other types of resistance have not been able to prevent the disengagement plan from being implemented.
Thus, we may conclude that HASHEM has indeed abandoned the Religious-Zionists; the fact that He never was with them in first place is not even relevant to this discussion. For even if at some point the Religious-Zionists might have had the chance to bring about the aschalta d'geulah, which I strongly deny, this chance is certainly not present any more, and with that, the whole essence of Religious Zionism has been destroyed. Didn't their rabbonim loudly publize the fact that HASHEM would prevent the disengagement from being implemented? So far, their predictions have proved to be false, and it looks like not much will be changed. The disengagement is proceeding at a good pace and nothing seems to lie in the way of the succesful turning over of the areas under evacuation to the Palestinian Authority.
With this, we see, once again, that the answer to every earthly question can be found in the Torah, supplemented by its foremost elucidator, Rabbeinu Shlomo Yitzchaki zt'l, and the Gemora. Torah is eternal; our Torah is a toras chaim, a Torah of life, a living Torah. In all times, all questions, and their answers, are to be found in it.
Devarim 1:42
HASHEM said to me, "Tell them, 'Do not ascend and do not do battle, for I am not among you; then you will not be struck down before your enemies.'"
(Yayomer HASHEM elai, emor lahem lo ta'alu velo tilchamu ki eineni bekirbechem velo tinagfu lifei oyeveichem.)
Rashi:
DO NOT ASCEND (lo ta'alu)
It shall not be ascent for you, but descent. (Lo aliyah tehei lachem, ela yeridah.)
Elucidation (Artscroll Sapirstein edition of Rashi):
[Rashi's source is] Tanchuma Yashan, Hosafah, Shelach 20. The Israelites wished to ascend the mountain for no other reason but to do battle. G-d could have commanded only "do not do battle," and there would have been no need for "do not ascend." It was stated to be interpreted as "you shall not ascend."; G-d wished to discourage the Israelites from prematurely going into battle by informing them that they were doomed to defeat (Be'er Mayim Chaim).
(See Rashi to Bamidbar 16:12, s.v. lo na'aleh, where he interprets a similar phrase in this manner.)
Me
This supports the position held by the Satmar Rebbe and many other gedolei Yisrael regarding the Three Oaths. The words used here and there are almost similar as is the intended meaning the pasuk conveys, which we find when we look at Devarim 1:44-45 or Netzach Yisrael 24 by the Maharal. The Maharal says that if Yisrael violates the Three Oaths, it will be annihalated, while Devarim 1:44-45 says that the Amorites killed Yisrael like bees, and that HASHEM closed his ears to our desperate prayers.
Similarly, nowadays, the Zionists are ascending the mountain. The mountain the Torah speaks of can be interpreted as meaning Eretz Yisrael as a whole, since Eretz Yisrael is elevated above all other places in the world due to the kedushah inherent even in its soil and the air. They, too, are ascending against HASHEM's wish and will find themselves without Divine aid when they need it. And this time has come, with the disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank currently under implementation. Apparently, all the demonstrations, days of fasting, recitals of Tehilim and other types of resistance have not been able to prevent the disengagement plan from being implemented.
Thus, we may conclude that HASHEM has indeed abandoned the Religious-Zionists; the fact that He never was with them in first place is not even relevant to this discussion. For even if at some point the Religious-Zionists might have had the chance to bring about the aschalta d'geulah, which I strongly deny, this chance is certainly not present any more, and with that, the whole essence of Religious Zionism has been destroyed. Didn't their rabbonim loudly publize the fact that HASHEM would prevent the disengagement from being implemented? So far, their predictions have proved to be false, and it looks like not much will be changed. The disengagement is proceeding at a good pace and nothing seems to lie in the way of the succesful turning over of the areas under evacuation to the Palestinian Authority.
With this, we see, once again, that the answer to every earthly question can be found in the Torah, supplemented by its foremost elucidator, Rabbeinu Shlomo Yitzchaki zt'l, and the Gemora. Torah is eternal; our Torah is a toras chaim, a Torah of life, a living Torah. In all times, all questions, and their answers, are to be found in it.