Hamas War

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Peace Treaties With The Arabs Are Forbidden, Written in The Bible

Yesterday in synagogue I saw it, towards the end of the week's parsha, Torah Portion of the Week:
ב וּנְתָנָם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לְפָנֶיךָ--וְהִכִּיתָם: הַחֲרֵם תַּחֲרִים אֹתָם, לֹא-תִכְרֹת לָהֶם בְּרִית וְלֹא תְחָנֵּם. 2 and when the LORD thy God shall deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them; then thou shalt utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them;
וָאֶתְחַנַּן, V'Etchanan, Deuteronomy Chapter 7 דְּבָרִים

"Wow!" I said.  "All that peace process is totally forbidden, midiraTa, straight from the Torah!"

You can't get much clearer than that!

Nu, we read this part of the Torah every summer.  Why hadn't anyone noticed?  How can a person claim to be Torah observant and still insist that we "make peace with the Arabs?"  Am I nuts?  I found the words I had remembered.  They are clear.  I suggest you read the Biblical text further, because these instructions are among the most important G-d gives us:

ג וְלֹא תִתְחַתֵּן, בָּם: בִּתְּךָ לֹא-תִתֵּן לִבְנוֹ, וּבִתּוֹ לֹא-תִקַּח לִבְנֶךָ. 3 neither shalt thou make marriages with them: thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
ד כִּי-יָסִיר אֶת-בִּנְךָ מֵאַחֲרַי, וְעָבְדוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים; וְחָרָה אַף-יְהוָה בָּכֶם, וְהִשְׁמִידְךָ מַהֵר. 4 For he will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods; so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and He will destroy thee quickly.
ה כִּי-אִם-כֹּה תַעֲשׂוּ, לָהֶם--מִזְבְּחֹתֵיהֶם תִּתֹּצוּ, וּמַצֵּבֹתָם תְּשַׁבֵּרוּ; וַאֲשֵׁירֵהֶם, תְּגַדֵּעוּן, וּפְסִילֵיהֶם, תִּשְׂרְפוּן בָּאֵשׁ. 5 But thus shall ye deal with them: ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire.
ו כִּי עַם קָדוֹשׁ אַתָּה, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ: בְּךָ בָּחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה, מִכֹּל הָעַמִּים, אֲשֶׁר עַל-פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה. 6 For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be His own treasure, out of all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.
G-d doesn't mince words.  The key to our survival is following this demand, simple commandment from G-d.  Our security won't come from treaties with the Arabs nor any other foreign power.  It will just come from G-d and following G-d's instructions.

As a People, things happen to us that don't make sense.  Let's start with our continued existence.  No other People, Nation, religion has lasted longer or wandered as much and returned to our own Land.  Actually, there is no other people like the Jewish People which is so intimately tied through history and religion to one small piece of land.  We the Jewish People are unlike any other.

That's the truth, the pragmatic truth.

Shavua Tov
Have a Good Week

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is referring to the ancient canaanites, not contemporary arabs.

let us imagine the arabs were willing to make sincere, realistic, peace(!?!). would you still have us say no?

Batya said...

a, if that's what you think, you don't understand modern importance of all what is written in the Torah.

Edward F. Villa said...

Dear Batya,

If it is written , it is for a good purpose.

Thou ... If there are any righteous like Rahav, Yitro or Ruth among the people who are Israel's enemies , spare ... redeem them.


I'm 100 percent behind The Eternal Torah's Words ... Commandments.

And as HaShem Commands , it will be done so.
It is the only way.

Classic point is the difference between King Saul and King David .

One King did not fulfill whole fully that which God commanded them to do while the other King not only did what was commanded ... He loved God.

What lacks today in my humble insight is not only The Knowledge of The Holy Written scripture in The young Soldiers of Israel today , but who will be the men who will be just like Kalev and Joshua ?


Who will be like King David and actually love God by doing exactly as HaShem commands ?

Who ?

- Edward

Moriah said...

To anon #1 : The Torah also states: Will a leopard change it's spots? Will there suddenly step up a faction in the Arab world to make peace with Israel? Will the generation that has been watching the equivalent to "Murder the Jews Mickey Mouse club" and all the other 24/7 hate Jew incitement all of a sudden be unaffected? Keep dreaming the dream. It's not coming true. If it's in Torah it's for ALL generations. When the Torah states, no assimilation and intermarriage, do you think it only refers to Canaanite women?

Anonymous said...

I wish you would explain.

Batya said...

Edward, Moriah, thanks
a,what isn't clear?

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that anon hasn't understood yet that the laws written in the Torah are applicable at all times, except for those contingent on the presence of the Temple and the Sanhedrin, most of which are still binding under rabbinic rulings.
Even if it was permissible to make a peace treaty with the Arabs they have given no signs, and in fact quite the opposite, that they are worthy of one.

Batya said...

Hadassa, but the Torah says that the basis of a "peace treaty" means that we recognize their rights, and that is forbidden.

Cubanito said...

I am quite worried that you apply this passage in Torah to present-day Israel.

These pssukim speak about ovdey avodah zarah. Muslims are not ovdey avodah zarah, they are, by and large, considered bney noach. (I think Rambam writes about that).

Secondly: those pssukim speak about peoples that are long extinct. If you are going to apply those verses to present-day palestinans, I worry that you once might identify "amalek" and execute the genocide against amalek, as ordered in the bible.

Batya said...

Cubanito, I'm even more worried by your opinions.
We are supposed to apply the Torah to everyday life. That's how Judaism has survived.
And if you really think that we shouldn't, then how can the Rambam tell us what the modern Arabs are?
I don't know where you get your ideas from. Sorry, but you're not making any sense.

Anonymous said...

well, the torah also says that husbands are the master of their wives and that people who have extramarital sex or break the sabbath should be executed. i think we can all agree that following the torah to the letter is not always the correct or moral thing to do.

Batya said...

a, you're not being exact. I'm quoting, and you're not. Torah definition of wife is "ezer kinegdo," meaning equal. I don't know where you get your bad information.
There are major differences between individual and national mitzvot. How to act as a People is what I'm writing about. the Torah quotation make a lot of sense.

MJ said...

You're so right. Everyone else is wrong. R. Aharon Lichtenstein must be incapable of learning chumash.

YMedad said...

The specific "them" as the first commenter noted refers to ther Seven Nations. And they only. They are also liable to the laws of cherem in the most punishable sense, as well. For sure, there is a body of Rabbinic literature dealing with entering into a brit with non-Jews in connection with the Land of Israel and even Avraham suffered because of what he did with Avimelech with the Rashbam asserting thsat the Akeidah was directly related to the making the covenant in which Avraham yielded the Eretz Plishtim.
The Midrash Shmuel even has seven Tzaddikim being killed and Seven Houses of God (Tabernacles & Temples) destroyed because of that covenant.

But, we do know the Rambam's opinion that Muslims are not idol worshippers and so this wouldn;t apply.
So, while the specific verses are not supportive of the paradigm, indeed, the Torah has lessons for us.

YMedad said...

The specific "them" as the first commenter noted refers to ther Seven Nations. And they only. They are also liable to the laws of cherem in the most punishable sense, as well. For sure, there is a body of Rabbinic literature dealing with entering into a brit with non-Jews in connection with the Land of Israel and even Avraham suffered because of what he did with Avimelech with the Rashbam asserting thsat the Akeidah was directly related to the making the covenant in which Avraham yielded the Eretz Plishtim.
The Midrash Shmuel even has seven Tzaddikim being killed and Seven Houses of God (Tabernacles & Temples) destroyed because of that covenant.

But, we do know the Rambam's opinion that Muslims are not idol worshippers and so this wouldn;t apply.
So, while the specific verses are not supportive of the paradigm, indeed, the Torah has lessons for us.

Batya said...

In light of today's situation, limiting the ban to ancient peoples who don't exist today makes no sense. The Torah is eternal. And, yes, I'd argue it with any rabbi.