Chazal, our Sages, say that the evil get rewards in This World and righteous in The Next.
In my small perch in Biblical Shiloh, I find it impossible to comprehend how Israeli politicians can be negotiating for the destruction of our country. How can they even speak to those Arab terrorists who proudly declare that their aim is to destroy the State of Israel? G-d forbid!
A short while ago, when brainstorming with some other pro-Israel activists, we heard ourselves saying: "Benedict Olmert"
Yes, we now wonder about his true aims. Ehud Olmert was raised as a strong patriotic Zionist and made his name as a Likud politician. Most of us were naively unaware that he has been married to a fanatic left-wing woman, and his children have gone even further to the left and its perverse, self-destructive life-style.
Olmert is holding onto his position as Prime Minister with all of his intelligence and strength, the same talents he should be using to develop and advance our precious country. The corruption charges against him are legendary. Will he pay for any of this in This World, or will his punishment be entirely in the Next One?
And who was Benedict Arnold? Apparently, he was also a man of contradictions.
...Why did Arnold desert the cause for which he had fought so gallantly and twice been wounded? Was there any justification for his conduct?In Judaism, there's a "way out." It's called Tshuva, Repentance. Will we see Olmert and his followers take the step?
...He was bold and creative, a man who sized up a situation and acted quickly. He was ambitious and extravagant, an egocentric man who craved power and the financial rewards that came with it. He was intrepid and ruthless, willing to risk his life "and the lives of others" to get what he wanted.
...Arnold made a fateful decision: he would seek fortune and fame in the service of Great Britain. With cool calculation, he initiated correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander, promising to deliver West Point and its 3,000 defenders for 2O,OOO sterling (about $1 million today), a momentous act that he hoped would spark the collapse of the American cause. Persuading Washington to place the fort under his command, Arnold moved in September 1780 to execute his audacious plan, only to see it fail when Andre, was captured. As Andre, was executed as a spy, Arnold received ce 6,000 from the British government and appointment as a brigadier general.
...Arnold's perfidy lay in the abuse of his position of authority and trust: he would betray West Point and its garrison "and if necessary the entire American war effort" to secure his own success. His treason was not that of a principled man but that of a selfish one, and he never lived that down. Hated in America as a consort of "Beelzebub ... the Devil," Arnold was treated with coldness and even contempt in Britain. He died as he lived, a man without a country.
Shabbat Shalom U'Mevorach
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