Haftorah for Parshat Mishpatim – Torah portion of Mishpatim , (Exodus 21:1–24:18) and the Haftorah from Jeremiah 34:8-22; 33:25-26.

Bridging the spiritual and the physical as the greatest sanctification of G.d’s Name

Haftorah on Parshat Mishpatim

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And Moses and Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel ascended, and they perceived the G-d of Israel, and beneath His feet was like the forming of a sapphire brick and like the appearance of the heavens for clarity.. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand, and they perceived G-d, and they ate and drank. ( Exodus 24:9-11)

In the midst of this incredible vision,wheirin the finite mortal beings confront the infinite creator and then they “ate and drank” !?!

Some of our commentaters were disturbed by these actions and Rashi states that these elders were later punished for their “arrogant heart”.

The Malbim says that the text teaches us that “they saw the Divine, but they could still eat and drink” That is to say they continued their physical existence in spite of the great spiritual heights they had reached. The Zohar explains that the vision of the Ultimate Divinity nourished them in the same way that food and water would have

The Ramban simply declares “They saw what was appropriate for them…and the understanding of the words ‘and they drank’ that they made a happy and good day for so are we obligated to be happy at the receiving of the Torah…” In a similar vein Rav Shimshon Rephael Hirsch states that they felt the closeness of HaShem by eating from the sacrifices. That is they actually shared a meal with G-d

The deep impact of these latter views is predicated on the understanding that G-d does not want us to separate from the physicality of this world. He wants us to elevate it.
We are commanded then to take the world and its physicality and elevate them to their ultimate Divine purpose and role.This is the underlying theme of all our commandments.

We see this issue with the laws relating to the man making a Nazirite vow. Rashi explains:

“the Torah places the passage of the Sotah ( Numbers 5:12-31) next to the passage of man making the Nazirite vow ( ibid 6:1-21) because, ” he who sees the Sotah in her wantonness will desist from wine since it can lead to sin”

In spite of this we read that after a successful completion of the Nazirite period of abstinence he must bring certain sacrifices to the temple.

“and the Priest will make one as a sin offering, and one as a burnt offering and he will provide him atonement for having sinned regarding the soul, and he will sanctify his head on that day. ” (ibid: 11)

Here was a man who yearned to become more sanctified by separating himself from the things that could lead him away from G-d .Yet he brings a sin offering.

What was his sin?

Maimonides offers the view “that a person should not say to himself: “Since material desires lead a person to sin, I will avoid these physical pleasures ” and that a person should only withdraw from those things that the torah itself explicitly forbids .The sin-offering is brought because he has sinned by separating from the world and forbidding upon himself that which the torah has permitted.

When we sanctify the Shabbat, a festival or a wedding we make a blessing over wine as a way of Sanctifying G-d. Yet wine can lead us to sin and drunkenness. Would it not be more advisable to avoid the pitfalls of wine? Yet the greatest sanctififation of G-d’ s name is to actually take the thing that might move us away from G-d and seize it back towards G-d. That becvomes the ultimate sanctification of G-d..

How then are we to contend with these seemingly opposing forces represented by the physicality of the world? We do not want them to guide us away from G-d.
Yet we are bidden to seize exactly those things and bring them back up to G-d, like the wine libations on the altar.

It all depends on our starting point and on our purpose. It is all a function of how we approach the physicality of our existence. Is it a means or an end? It all depends on the direction and goal . If the goal is all about me and my desires then the physical becomes a trap. If the direction and goal is heavenly directed then it becomes a sanctification. This is what we saw during the sin of the golden calf, when Moshe did not come down when the people expected him to arrive.

“And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to be frivolous. ‘” (ibid 32:6)

We saw the same issue with Esav selling his spiritual future and birthright:

“And Ya’akov gave Esav bread and pottage of lentils, and he ate and drank and got up and left; and Esav despised the birthright.” (Bereshit 25:29-34)

On the other hand if our focus remains on the Divine and the physical becomes a means to that end then G-d’s name truly becomes sanctified. On Mount Sinai the focus was clearly upon beholding and experiencing the Presence of G-d .The eating and the drinking were simply a method to celebrate and enhance that encounter. As a result G-d’s name was glorified..

We are commanded then to take the world and its physicality and elevate them to their ultimate Divine purpose and role.

That is the way to truly repair this world.

moshe kempinski

image from (http://www.anti-cair-net.org/)

If you see something, don’t say anything

M. Zuhdi Jasser is a physician, a U.S. Navy veteran, an American patriot, and a Muslim who does not hold with those who preach that Islam commands its followers to take part in a war against unbelievers.

The Third Jihad, a documentary film that Jasser narrated, takes a hard look at those Muslims who are waging this war — both with bombs and by stealthier means. The film had been among the educational materials used to train New York City police officers dealing with terrorism. Then, last month, the New York Times went on what one might call a crusade against the movie, publishing a series of articles branding it a “hate-filled film about Muslims” and calling on Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to “apologize for the film . . . and make clear that his department does not tolerate such noxious and dangerous stereotyping.”

In the first of its stories, the Times charges that the film “casts a broad shadow over American Muslims.” That ignores the unambiguous statement with which the documentary opens: “This is not a film about Islam. It is about the threat of radical Islam. Only a small percentage of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims are radical.”

The story quotes Jasser as saying in the film: “This is the true agenda of Islam in America.” But what Jasser actually said in the film is that jihad is “the true agenda of much of the Muslim leadership here in America.”

Jasser has long argued — and he’s hardly alone in this — that the leaders of some of the wealthiest and most powerful organizations that claim to represent American Muslims are not as moderate as they’d have you believe. Prominent among such organizations is CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which appears to have been the driving force behind the coverage in the Times and in the Village Voice before that. The Times quotes CAIR spokesmen saying how outraged and offended they are by the film.

The Times chooses not to inform readers that CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism-financing trial in the U.S. to date, the 2007 U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation et al. The Times neglects to report that the FBI has broken all ties with CAIR. The Times also does not mention that last year CAIR’s national organization lost its status as a tax-deductible charity after it failed to file required annual reports detailing revenues for three consecutive years as required by law. (The Times has raised pointed questions about funding for The Third Jihad. Why no interest in where CAIR’s money comes from?)

The paper never bothered to interview Jasser. Nor did the Times quote Robert Jackson, the only Muslim on the New York City Council, who told other reporters that while he “initially thought from reading about [the film] that it cast a negative image on all Muslims . . . it does not. It focuses on the extreme Muslims that are trying to hurt other people.” The Times turned down an op-ed by former secretary of homeland security Tom Ridge and former CIA director (and current chairman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies) Jim Woolsey defending the film.

The Times’s stories present not a single factual error in the documentary. However, illustrating the first story was an image of the White House with a black Islamic flag flying above it. The Times called that “a doctored photograph,” leaving readers to infer that the filmmakers had done the doctoring. In fact, the filmmakers found that image on a jihadi website. (Such images are common on such websites, as any reporter working the terrorism beat should know.)

CAIR calls itself a Muslim “civil rights” organization, and most of the major media take it at its word. Jasser has pointed out that one of the main missions of such groups is to silence critics — to deprive them of their right to free speech. One of the ways this is done, Jasser says, is by making it appear that Muslim reformers are themselves extremists and, what is more, that they are “not part of the community (ummah), and so subject them to takfir (declaring them apostates). That is what the vicious distortions about this film do to my work and the work of so many others within the House of Islam who are trying to publicly take on the American Islamist establishment.”

Jasser adds: “Political Islam is the lifeblood of groups like CAIR; they will never publicly acknowledge its incompatibility with western liberalism and Americanism. Were Americans ever to finally become educated on the slippery slope between nonviolent Islamism (political Islam) and Islamist militancy, the legitimacy of these Muslim-Brotherhood-legacy groups would evaporate.”

The barriers to providing such education are growing. Mayor Bloomberg has denounced The Third Jihad. The NYPD has stopped showing it. CAIR is not at all satisfied. The organization has demanded that Commissioner Kelly resign and that the police department “offer a concrete plan to help counter the misinformation about Islam and Muslims provided to almost 1,500 officers through the screening of The Third Jihad.” That won’t be the end of it. Author Bruce Bawer noted in an op-ed this week: “Criticizing Islam is now a punishable offense in several European countries.” I happened to have read Bawer’s piece while waiting for a train in New York’s Penn Station. About the same time, I heard an announcement on the public address system: “If you see something, say something.” Zuhdi Jasser has seen something. CAIR wants him to shut up about it. And CAIR has friends in high places.

JewishWorldReview.com

“Moses awoke early in the morning and climbed Mount Sinai.” (Ex. 34:4)

The text emphasizes that Moses ascended the mountain at daybreak to receive the Torah. The Sages taught that Moses’ subsequent descent from Sinai to transmit the Torah to the people also took place at first light. “Just as his ascent was at daybreak, so, too, his descent was at daybreak” (Shabbat 86a). Why is the hour of these events so significant?

Crystal Clear

The quality of Moses’ prophecy was without equal. The Sages compared the unique clarity of his prophetic vision to an aspaklariah me’irah, a clear, transparent lens. This metaphor expresses the unique authenticity of the Divine revelation to Moses, to whom God spoke “face to face, in a vision and not in allegories” (Num. 12:8).

What made Moses’ vision so uniquely accurate? His prophesy was true to its original Divine source; it was not influenced by societal needs or political considerations. On the contrary, it is this pristine Divine revelation that dictates the proper path for society, the nation, and the entire world.

For this reason, the Torah stresses the hour of this historic event. Moses began his ascent to Sinai at first light — before the day’s social interactions — thus indicating that the revelation at Sinai was independent of all social, political, and practical accommodations. It is precisely due to the Torah’s absolute integrity that it has the power to vitiate life and renew creation, to refine humanity and uplift the world to the heights of purity and holines

Precise Transmission

The Sages added an important corollary to this insight. It was not just Moses’ original revelation that was free of worldly influences. The Torah’s transmission to the people also retained its original authenticity. “Just as his ascent was at daybreak, so, too, his descent was at daybreak.” The Torah’s laws do not reflect the influence of social and political necessities. The Torah is the light of the Creator, the Divine Will giving life to the world, propelling the universe to advance in all aspects, material and spiritual.

The Torah that Moses brought down to the people of Israel was the exact same Torah that he received on Sinai — a complete Torah of absolute truth, transcending the limitations of our flawed world. ‘His descent was at daybreak,’ unaffected by the day’s social interactions. The Torah remained pure, brought down to the world through the spiritual genius of the master prophet.

(Silver from the Land of Israel. Adapted from Ein Eyah vol. IV on Shabbat 86a (9:16).)

Copyright © 2010 by Chanan Morrison

Yet the majority of the nations in the world simply does not understand or accept this land and this people as a prophetic reality. On the other hand there is a smaller but increasing number of people that are growing in this understanding. What can explain such a diversity of vision and experience?

The commentator Ibn Ezra suggests that the placement of the story of Yitro ( Jethro) coming to join the people of Israel right after the story of the battle with Amalek is not a function of chronology. Rather it’s placement becomes a prototype for describing two opposing reactions to G-d’s involvement in this world and His involvement with the people of Israel.

We read in the beginning of this Parsha that ” Now Moshe’s’ father in law, Yitro , the chieftain of Midian, heard all that G-d had done for Moshe and for Israel, His people that HaShem had taken Israel out of Egypt.” ( Exodus 18:1) What exactly did he hear that moved him so that he would leave his kingdom of Midian and wander into the wilderness to meet this ragged group of freed slaves?

Rashi asks the same question and responds that ” he heard of the splitting of the Red Sea and the war against Amalek.

Yitro was not the only man who heard of these great events. We read earlier ” People heard, they trembled; a shudder seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chieftains of Edom were startled; the powerful men of Moab, trembling seized them; all the inhabitants of Canaan melted. May dread and fright fall upon them; with the arm of Your greatness may they become as still as a stone, until Your people cross over, O HaShem until this nation that You have acquired crosses over. “( Exodus 15: 14-16)

We also will read in the book of Joshua the following;
“And she said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt; ( Joshua 2:9-10)

Yet with all that miraculous activity the nations remained separate and distant. What did Yitro understand that the others did not?

Yitro had conceived of G-d as the “All High G-d ( Kel Elyon) ” that remained just out of touch with the real world. It was that same perception that led many of the nations into idolatry as they tried to fashion a god in their own image to replace He who could not be related to. Yet now, Yitro perceived how a nation of mortals were being asked to act in mortal ways and succeeded in stirring the heavens to respond. G-d tells Moshe at the edge of the Red Sea ” Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the children of Israel and let them move forwardl. ( Exodus 14:15 ) When Amalek attacks the Children of Israel at Rephidim we read “Moshe said to Joshua, Pick men for us, and go out and fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of G-d in my hand ( exodus 17:9). This was a new spiritual understanding.

The actions of human beings had the power to stir and release Divine intervention. This is what led Yitro to declare; “Blessed is HaShem, Who has rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, … Now I know that HaShem is greater than all the deities…” ( Exodus 18:10-11)

On the other hand we are witness to Amalek and its reaction to the same events. Despite the miraculous events in Egypt and the cataclysmic experience at the Red sea we read ” Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.”(Exodus 17:8 ). Regardless of all the “facts on the ground ”Amalek , the descendant of Esau could not countenance the success of Jacob’s descendants. Everything would be ignored on the altar of hatred for this people.

It is that exact unending passion of the descendants of Esav (Esau) to replace and destroy the descendants of Jacob that led to the divine declaration ” And he said, For there is a hand on the throne of the Eternal, and there shall be a war for HaShem against Amalek from generation to generation. (ibid 16) .

This is the reality we see unfolding before us in our days as well. There will be many of the nations in this world who will ignore the signs, dismiss the facts and hold on to their illusions. They will do all this in their passionate but futile urge to replace and destroy the people of Israel.

Yet we are also witness to a growing group of people who are being filled with the heart of Yitro and comprehend and see the destiny laden hand of G-d in our days. These are those in the nations who will stand firm with the people of Israel. The important issue is to develop the discerning eye to identify which is which.

Haftorah for Parshat Yitro – Torah portion of Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:23) and Haftorah from Isaiah 6,7:1-6,9:5-6. Focuses on Yitro (Jethro) and his importance in the destiny of the people of Israel. Faith in G-d’s choices means having faith in oneself and in one’s people.

Haftorah on Parshat Yitro

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The Song at the Sea is one of the great epiphanies of the Jewish experience and of human history. According to the Mechilta, “what a maidservant saw by the sea, Yechezkel Ben Buzi (the prophet Ezekiel) did not see in all his days.”. As a result of what they saw they broke into collective prophetic singing.

In tractate Sotah there is a discussion amongst the sages as to how that manifested itself. Did Moshe receive the vision and then teach the song to the others or not? “Rabbi Nehemiah said: It was like a schoolteacher who recites the Shema in the synagogue. He begins first and they continue after him.” (Sotah 30b) Rashi explains Rabbi Nehemiah’s view as saying that all the people were seized by divine inspiration and the same song and words came into their mouths at the same time.

Yet we read the following Midrash in the tractate Megilla;

When the children of Israel crossed the red sea the angels wanted to say Shira ( songs of praise ). Hashem said to them, “Ma-asai Ya-dai Tavu Ba-YAm Ve-Atem Omrim Shirah ?”,( my creations are drowning in the sea and you want to sing Shira?) (Megila 10b) . HaShem is telling His angels that this is not the opportune moment to be singing, even if those that have perished may have deserved their punishment

Why is one singing considered meritorious and the other is seen as inappropriate?

Angels are creatures without free choice. To better understand angels, it is better to see them as “the message” rather than as “the messenger”. They simply bear the word and purpose of G.d. The angels were simply responding instinctively to the destruction of evil. Their song would focus on the end of evil and on the beginning of the redemption. Yet their response did not come of what they themselves experienced .That experience was external to them. The midrash then was teaching the lesson we read in a verse from Proverbs : “When your enemy falls, be not glad, and when he stumbles let your heart be not joyous. Lest G.d see it and it displease Him, and He will turn His wrath from Him unto you” (Proverbs3:5)

Yet when the children of Israel experienced their own redemption and physical salvation their souls burst into song.”HaShem is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation
this is my G.d, and I will glorify Him; my father’s G.d, and I will exalt Him.”

Shira stands out as being one of the most spontaneous and prophetic of the ten forms of Praise ( described in tractate Pesachim 117a). “Shira” is unconditional praise.

The Midrash Tanchuma (on Beshalach 10.) describes ten examples of “Shira” in the history of Israel.All of these were examples of the souls simply bursting into song. Spontaneous expressions formed out of a deep mixture of deep yearning and thankfulness

The first of these examples of “ Shira “is the song sung on the night of the Exodus in Egypt,(Isaiah 30:29.). The second is Shirat Hayam ,the “Song at the Sea,”(Exodus 15:1-21.) . Then there is the “Song at the Well,”(Numbers 21:17-20.). The fourth is the song of Moshe at the end of his life (Deuteronomy 31-32.) . Then the song of Joshua when he asked HaShem to stop the sun,” ‘Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ayalon.’ (Joshua 10:12-13). Also the song of Devorah’(Judges 5) and King David’s song of praise after his salvation from the hands of his pursuer;(2 Samuel 22)are “Shira”. Another was sung during the dedication of the Holy Temple,(psalm 30 ) and the ninth example is King Solomon’s “Song of Songs”

The tenth song, says the Midrash, will be the shir chadash, the “new song” of the ultimate redemption; ( psalm 96)

In all these cases the songs are songs that came pouring forth after great redemption and release. They come out of souls that understood how close they could have come to oblivion or barren wilderness. They come out of real appreciation of the hand of G-d. as a result they were songs of yearning to be connected to the divine ,songs that glorify the Creator

In the final days of redemption all of mankind will truly understand how close they were to oblivion and failure and it is then that they will sing a new song. That song will be unconditional praise as well.

The words that introduce the song at the sea “Az Yashir” are written in the future tense. Our sages suggest that the Torah is not only relating to the song of that time, but it is also speaking of the End of days . That is to say that Moshe and his people will sing again just as they did at the Red sea.

In fact so will the whole world “Sing to HaShem a new song, sing to HaShem, all the earth ( Psalm 96:1)

Why was God in a hurry at the time of the Exodus?

“This is how you must eat [the Passover offering]: with your waist belted, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you must eat it in chipazon – in haste.” (Ex. 12:11)

The word chipazon is an unusual word; in the entire Bible it appears only three times. Twice it is used to describe the haste of the Israelites when leaving Egypt. Why did they need to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice?

According to the Midrash, there were in fact three parties who were in haste. The Egyptians, who were afraid that they would all die from the plagues, wanted the Israelite slaves to leave as quickly as possible. The Israelites were in a hurry, lest Pharaoh change his mind once again and refuse to let them leave.

But there was a third party in a rush. The Midrash also speaks of the chipazon of the Shechinah. Why was God in a hurry?

A Hasty Redemption

The redemption from Egypt needed to be fast, like the swift release of an arrow. Here was a group of slaves who had almost completely forgotten the greatness of their inner soul, a treasured gift from their forefathers, holy princes in the land. With a sudden push of God’s hand, a great people full of courage and nobility of spirit, unlike any nation the world had ever seen, was born. This was the dramatic birth “of a nation from the midst of another nation” on the stage of human history.

The meteoric exodus from Egypt with wonders and miracles was critical, to protect this new nation from the dark confusion of world-wide paganism. The Jewish people needed to be decisively extracted from the idolatrous Egyptian milieu in which they had lived for centuries, so that they would be free to raise the banner of pure faith and enlightenment.

The Future Redemption

The word chipazon appears a third time in the Bible – in Isaiah’s beautiful description of the future redemption. Unlike the Exodus from Egypt,

“You will not leave with haste – chipazon – or go in flight; for the Eternal will go before you, and your rear guard will be the God of Israel.” (52:12)

Unlike the miraculous upheaval that brought about the sudden birth of the Jewish people, the future redemption is a gradual process, advancing with slow, progressive steps.

Why will the future redemption be so different from the redemption from Egypt?

In Egypt, the Hebrew slaves were little different from their idolatrous neighbors. Their redemption required a supernatural intervention, a Divine rescue from above. But the future redemption will take place within the laws of nature. It emanates from the stirring of the human heart, itre’uta de-letata – an awakening from below. The Jewish people rises from its exilic slumber, returns to its homeland, regains its independence, rebuilds its forests and cities, defends itself from enemies who would destroy it, recreates its centers of Torah, and so on. Step by step, without overriding the laws of nature, so that even the ba’al ha-ness, the beneficiary of the miracle, is unaware of the miracle.

Unlike the dramatic exodus from Egypt, the future redemption is not an escape from the world and its influences. Over the centuries, we have succeeded in illuminating many aspects that were full of darkness. Our influence has refined the world on many levels. The impact of our Torah and lifestyle, which we guarded with dedication and self-sacrifice throughout the generations, have served as bright stars of enlightenment for many nations.

The goals of the future redemption are twofold. First – to complete the enterprise of spreading our light throughout the world. This light needs to be projected in its pure, pristine form, cleansed from the dregs that have accumulated from centuries of negative influences. The second goal is to purify ourselves from those foreign tendencies that we have absorbed through our contact with the nations during our lengthy exile.

When we will stand once again, strong and independent on the majestic heights of our land, ready to reach our spiritual potential – only then will the nations be able to see our light.

But we must draw upon the heritage of our redemption from Egypt and miraculous birth as the people of Israel. Then our future redemption that will be not in haste, but will grow steadily, kim’a kim’a, like the ever-spreading light of the morning sun.

(Adapted from Ma’amarei HaRe’iyah vol. I. p. 164. Sent to Arutz Sheva by Rabbi Chanan Morrison of Mitzpeh Yericho, author of “Gold From the Land of Israel”. His website, ravkooktorah.org, is dedicated to presenting the Torah commentary of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook)

Haftorah for Parshat BeShalach – Studying the haftara of the torah portion of BeShalach (Exodus 13:17–17:16).
The power of the voyage and the song. The direction of a song elevates the singer.

Haftorah on Parshat BeShalach

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There is a substitute for Judaism that is the new faith in much of non-Orthodox American Jewry. It is called “tikun olam”.

What differentiates Judaism from other faiths is that it is not only a religion. It is also a family and a people. Judaism is at one and the same time a religion for a particular people and a universal value system for all humankind.

The sense of particularism which permeates Judaism and Jewish thought and history is essential for any true understanding of its tenets and worldview. Within Jewish law there is always a progression – priorities – in dealing with the world and its needs. It is not selfless and self sacrificing. Rabbi Akiva stated that “your life comes first” and so it does. This in no way diminishes the value of another’s life. It merely sets the necessary priorities for Jewish existence and survival.

The concept of peoplehood, that Jews are responsible one for the other, transcended all of the countless divisions that have always existed in the Jewish world. Concern for other Jews and a determination that the Jewish people will survive no matter how great the obstacles was always the first concern and goal of Jews.

Coupled with that primary idea and goal was the Jewish value of living cooperatively and peacefully with the non-Jewish society, healing their sick, helping their poor and attempting to create a better and more cohesive and prosperous society for all. However this universal goal could only be achieved if the focus of the Jewish people remained on its own self preservation and well being.

Dead Jews, impoverished Jews, persecuted Jews could be of little value to the betterment of the general society.

There is a substitute for Judaism that is the new faith in much of non-Orthodox American Jewry. It is called “tikun olam” – literally meaning improving and correcting the ills of the world. It has a very liberal, if not even leftist, agenda on how to accomplish this. And in its do-good perspective it has begun to abandon completely the concept of Jewish peoplehood.

These people are no longer primarily Jews – a particularism that they find abhorrent – but are rather human beings of the world at large. Thus, everything has moral equivalence in their view. Arab terrorists and murderers of sleeping children are the same as Israeli settlers, Arafat and Abbas are entitled to support over and above Netanyahu. Hizbullah and Hamas are legitimate political organizations, while the Israeli Knesset is racist and Israel itself is an apartheid state.

This wondrous upside-down view of the real world is fueled by the pious notion of fixing the world and the delusional self-righteousness of the fixers themselves. These groups of Jews do not identify Jewish interests as being very important – climate control trumps Israeli survival, same sex marriages and free abortions trump Jewish tradition on these matters and concern for the survival of a vital and influential Judaism and the Jewish people as a whole is not really a primary concern of the world’s fixers.

Having abandoned Jewish tradition, observance or even a rudimentary knowledge of the Jewish faith and its value system, it is completely understandable how these Jews have now abandoned the concept and principle of Jewish peoplehood in favor of an imaginary membership in the general world society. Eventually this trend morphs into self hatred and viciousness against their own people and the adherents to Jewish beliefs and practices.

In an article published in the June 2011 issue of Commentary magazine, Daniel Gordis thoughtfully examines the trend in the non-Orthodox rabbinate to turn on Israel as a villain in the Middle East contretempts. He asks the question: “Can Israel and Judaism survive when many of their new leaders no longer believe that their primary responsibility is to protect and defend their own?”

This problem is becoming ever more acute as the older generation of clergy retire from the scene and are replaced by younger rabbis whose beliefs have been shaped by the “tikun olam “ theology and feel under no obligation to protect the Jewish people’s vital interests. As Gordis points out: “Engagement [with Israel’s enemies] is a value free endeavor. It means setting instinctive dispositions aside. And that is what this emerging generation of Jewish leaders believes it ought to do.”

The universalist, tikun olam view of humankind cannot admit that there are enemies that wish to kill us and are occasionally successful at so doing. To do so undermines their entire peace at all costs, feel good, pie in the sky theology. So if the Palestinians and the Arab world are not really our enemies and we must somehow “engage” with them and their demands, then Israel’s intransigence in defending itself against them is somehow wrong – if not criminal.

As Gordis further points out: “To love all of humanity equally is ultimately to love no one. To care about one’s enemies as much as one cares about oneself is to be no one. There needs to be priority and specificity in devotion and loyalty. Without them we stand for nothing. And without instinctive loyalty to the Jewish people, Jewry itself cannot survive.”

To a great extent, this lack of feeling for the peoplehood of the Jewish nation stems from the abandonment of traditional Jewish life style and values and the substitution for it of the new Judaism, propelled by the current politically correct fads of liberal society.

In the past .Jewish peoplehood has often been restored by outside non-Jewish attitudes and forces – the enmity towards and persecution of all Jews, no matter what their individual beliefs may be. Hitler and not the Jews stopped Jewish intermarriage in Germany. I would hope that it does not take such a bitter repetition of history to convince our current Jewish world citizens that in spite of their dreams of some sort of grand tikun olam – a universal panacea for all the billions of humanity – they still belong to a particular people and unique faith community. I

t is only the peoplehood of Israel based upon tradition and moral and halakhic values that can guarantee Jewish survival and continuity. We should all pray for the strength and wisdom to realize this truth.