Parsha Pearls: Parshas Ki Seitzei

 

Staying Far from Danger

Pleasure from a Heretic’s Torah

Avshalom Was a Zionist

Amalek’s Attack on Emunah

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The Brisker Rov said already in 1937, when England’s Peel Commission proposed to partition the Holy Land and designate a piece for a Jewish state: “The Arabs will not let the partition happen quietly and peacefully; there will be bloodshed. And it is forbidden that even one Jew be killed in order to found a Jewish state. Even if all the laws of the state would be according to Torah, and the prime minister would be Reb Chaim Ozer, this does not take away from the prohibition to found a state through the spilling of Jewish blood.” And early in 1948, he wrote a letter pleading with other Gedolim to find some way to intercede in the negotiations and prevent the founding of a state. “In general,” he wrote, “a Jewish state will mean a constant situation of warfare, and who knows what its end will be?” (Peninei Rabbeinu Hagriz, p. 148) History has shown how bitterly true his prediction was. The Zionist state has brought the Jewish people into seven wars, costing 27,000 Jewish lives, in addition to the thousands killed and wounded in random terrorist attacks. It is clearly the most dangerous place in the world for a Jew to be. Let us fulfill the command of the Torah to stay far from danger, and merit the words of the Shulchan Oruch, “May the blessing of good come upon him!”

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The Mishnah in Makos 22a says, based on the orally transmitted interpretation of the Torah, that a person gets 39 lashes and not 40. The Talmudic sage Rava commented, “How foolish are most people, who stand up before a Torah scroll but not before a Torah scholar! For in the Torah it says forty, but the Rabbis came and deducted one.” Rabbi Chaim of Brisk once quoted this Gemora and then commented, “It seems that the main accomplishment of a rabbi is to save a Jew one beating!” (Nesivos Raboseinu, p. 235)

The religious proponents of Zionism claim that their beliefs and practices are true to the Torah, and bring proofs. But the Torah is not open to all to interpret, only to the great Poskim of the generation (see Korach, p. ??). And none of the great Poskim ever issued an halachic ruling permitting the establishment of a state. Who knows how many beatings the Jews could have been saved, had they listened faithfully to the Poskim?

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There is another parallel here to Zionism. Just as Dovid Hamelech’s minor sin of making an effort to bring Moshiach too soon by taking Bas Sheva led to Avshalom’s major sin of completely displacing Moshiach, the history of Zionism took a similar course. It began with Rabbi Hirsch Kalischer and the Chovevei Tzion, who wanted to settle Eretz Yisroel with the goal of bringing Moshiach closer. They said clearly that they did not desire a state, an army or wars, merely to farm the land and hasten the redemption. But this led to the Zionist movement, whose goal was not to hasten Moshiach’s coming but to replace it entirely with a political and military movement.

Achisofel became Avshalom’s adviser, and had his advice been followed, perhaps Avshalom would have succeeded in thwarting the coming of Moshiach. When Achisofel saw that his advice was not followed, he went home and hanged himself. This story had an echo in our time, but in the opposite direction. James Forrestal was Secretary of Defense under President Truman, and he advised Truman again and again to oppose the creation of a Jewish state. Eventually Truman fired him and he went home and hanged himself (sic) (on May 22, 1949).

Just as Dovid Hamelech triumphed in the end, we believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach, and we are confident that the Zionist replacement will not endure.

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Now that we understand that Amalek’s attack was essentially an attack on emunah, we can understand what Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman writes: “The Torah teaches here that this war against Amalek exists in all generations until the coming of Moshiach. However, the Amalek is not always the same. In the olden days when the Jewish people was ruled only by Torah, the enemies were the descendants of Amalek in the gentile world. But ever since we have thrown off the yoke of the Torah, the seed of Amalek thrives in our midst.” He goes on to say that the Zionist leaders are today’s Amalek. (Omer Ani Maasai Lemelech, paragraphs 5-6)

Indeed, Zionism is the only movement ever faced by the Jewish people that has been an attack chiefly on emunah and not on the observance of mitzvos. We have suffered under governments that forbade mitzvos and forced Jews to abandon the Torah in favor of another religion, or no religion at all. But the Zionist state allows Jews to keep mitzvos – knowing that mitzvos contribute to their Jewish image in the world – while deviously weaning Jews away from their emunah in Hashem as the only One who can dictate when Jews should be in exile and when they should be redeemed.

When faced with this trial, we must remember that the Torah commands us to take action in initiating the battle against Amalek. Only then can we rely on Hashem’s promise to come to our aid and grant us success.

Read more:

https://torahjews.org/2023/11/26/parsha-pearls-parshas-ki-seitzei

Tags :

Rabbi Chaim Ozer – Rabbi Hirsch KALISCHER – Dovid  haMelech – Achisofel – Truman – James Forrestal – Amolek – Elchonon WASSERMAN