Shabbat Zachor: Remembering Our Eternal Enemies

For me there is no need for a special "Holocaust Day." We have one every year the Shabbat before Purim, Shabbat Zachor, when we are commanded by Gd to remember that Amalek will use any trick to attempt to destroy us.

On a personal level, it's the Shabbat right after I was run over by an Arab terrorist in 1996. That Shabbat, while my foot was still very swollen, I hobbled down the hill to the large central Shiloh Tabernacle Synagogue, and all of us from Shiloh who had been at the attack thanked Gd together for our survival.

Gd commanded us, yes a real Torah Mitzvah/Commandment, to remember the dangers Amalek presents to us at all times.

“Zachor Et Asher Asah Lecha Amalek BaDerech Betzetchem MiMitzrayim”“Remember what Amalek did to you on your way out of Egypt! (Devarim 25)”On the Shabbat that precedes Purim, two Torah scrolls are taken from the ark; one for the regular parsha and one for the Maftir – ‘Remember what Amalek did to you’ (Devarim 25). Because of this reading, it is called, Shabbat Zachor (Remember). The Haftorah also deals with Amalek.
There is a mitzvah in the Torah to remember Amalek and his descendants and to orally recall their iniquity. We are to tell our children in each generation what the people of Amalek did to us during our departure from Egypt. This mitzvah will be fulfilled completely only when we shall have caused Amalek’s memory to perish, and their name to be erased from the world, together with the slightest remnant of anything that bears their name. As the Torah says: ‘Remember what Amalek did to you on the way, upon your departure from Egypt’… ‘You shall erase the memory of Amalek from beneath the heavens, you shall not forget.’ Upon which the Sages have expounded: ‘Remember,’ orally – ‘You shall not forget,’ in your heart. (OU)

On the Shabbat before Purim, the holiday on which we celebrate the foiling of Haman the Amalekite's plot to destroy the Jewish people, the weekly Torah reading is supplemented with the Zachor ("Remember!") reading (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) in which we are commanded to remember the evil of Amalek and to eradicate it from the face of the earth. (Chabad)

That's why I consider this Shabbat, the Shabbat before Purim, to be the true Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Nazi attempt to destroy the Jewish People, all ages and even those who weren't even Jewish by Jewish Law, just had a Jewish grandparent, were included in the Nazi extermination sic plan.

Unfortunately, as we can read in the news, the Jewish People/Nation still have enemies, tricky enemies. They will use "fake news" and pseudo-morality and inaccurate distorted history etc to destroy and endanger us. And like the Hellenists of old, even Jews will join the chorus claiming their Jewish roots make them experts in what's good for other Jews and the State of Israel.

Being "paranoid" is being wise. 

• We must REMEMBER that our eternal enemies still exist and haven't given up in their attempt to destroy us.  
• We must REMEMBER that King Saul was deposed by Gd, because he didn't destroy all of Amalek immediately.

The State of Israel and World Jewry must REMEMBER that our eternal enemies still exist and haven't given up in their attempts to destroy the Jewish People/Nation. These enemies are really one, Amalek, and we won't have a true peace until we destroy them completely, the way that Gd commanded King Saul. It is completely forbidden to have mercy on our enemies. That is the Torah Commandment of ZACHOR, זכור  REMEMBER!

Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach

May You Have a Peaceful and Blessed Shabbat

ZACHOR, זכור  REMEMBER!

Let's Pretend: Today's Elections at The Time of the Maccabees

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Democracy, elections such as we take for granted didn't take place in ancient times, but human nature and idealism, etc have always existed and haven't changed. There are just different labels, laws and customs. So, I'm going to tell you what I think our ancient heroes, led by Judah the Maccabee would have done if faced with the sort of Knesset Elections we are being faced with this Jewish Year of 5775, (2015 on the goyish calendar.)

A little background on Judah Maccabee:

Judah Maccabee was a fearless leader, a brilliant battlefield tactician and a man capable of inspiring thousands to take up arms in the battle for the preservation of Judaism. It was Judah Maccabee who conceived of ways for the Jewish forces to out-maneuver the larger, better equipped and seasoned Greek army. When at last the Jews captured Jerusalem, rededicated the Temple and witnessed the miracle of the oil, it was with Judah Maccabee as the leader of the Hasmonean family and at the head of the Jewish army of liberation. (Torah.org Who Was Judah Maccabee Anyway? by Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf)

This was a time in Jewish History when we weren't totally independent or sovereign in our Land. Our Holy Temple was in ruins and the Greeks ruled us, not only administratively, but they also forbade the practice of Judaism.

The festival of Hanukka celebrates the military victory of the Judeans over the Hellenist Syrians in the second century BCE, as recorded in the Al Hanissim thanksgiving prayer added to our Amida prayers and Grace after Meals for the eight days of the holiday; the festival also celebrates the ideological victory of Judaism over Greek Hellenism, as symbolized in the kindling of the Menorah, the Holy Temple candelabrum signifying “the illumination which is Torah.” Hence we were engaged in a two-pronged struggle; a national war of independence against the heirs of the military conqueror Alexander the Great, and a spiritual Kulturkampf against the wisdom of ancient Greece, which that same Alexander wished to dominate the entire civilized world at that time.
Moreover, as is clear from the historical writings of Josephus Flavius and the Apocryphal Books of the Maccabees, the enemies who were vanquished were not only the gentile Syrians but also the Jewish secular assimilationists, especially the ruling priestly aristocracy who had become bitten by the “bug” of Hellenistic culture and who wished to transform Judea into a Greek city-state (See Victor Tcherikover, Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews). (Jerusalem Post, Rabbi Riskin)

Their actual aim was the destruction of us as a people united by our Jewish religion.

Our war, the fight of the Maccabees against the Greeks, had to be a battle on two fronts, and there was no compromise. Taking a "Centrist" view would not give us a victory. I have no doubt that Judah the Maccabee would oppose the Likud of Binyamin Netanyahu and also the NRP aka Jewish Home of Naftali Bennett. Moderation under any name was not in his ideological or political lexicon. Judah the Maccabee would also oppose the Chareidi parties, because they only take on religious battles and in principle ignore national and defense issues.

I have no doubt that today's Judah Maccabee would be an active member and supporter of Otzma Yehudit (formerly Otzma LiYisrael,) led by Michael Ben-Ari.

The lesson of the Chanukah story is that compromise with our enemies is dangerous.When someone wants to destroy you body and soul you have to fight on both of those fronts. There is no negotiations. The only political group that understands this is Ben-Ari's Otzma Yehudit!

Against The "Spirit of Chanukah," Davka in Israel

The story of Chanuka, the fight of the Maccabees against the Greeks and their stooges the Hellenists, is a tale of freedom fighters, Jews fighting for minimal religious rights, religious freedom. Today we are a vibrant people with influence well beyond our small numbers.

There's a disproportionate amount of Jews who receive all sorts of prizes for excellence, whether in the sciences or the arts or philosophy etc. And where are the Ancient Greeks who so terrorized us and dictated the end of Jewish observance? They are gone. Their society is history. Their metropolises are archaeological sites, while the Ancient Biblical Jewish cities are filling with Jews, building and thriving.

The only thing that really casts a pall on our great Jewish success and revival is the fact that the anti-Jewish, anti-History Left is ruling here in Israel. They wouldn't dare do this to Arabs or Leftists.

'Radical Left Crackdown': Lehava Head Released to House Arrestand
Ben-Ari: I Get Raided, Zoabi Gets Away Scot-Free

The mentality and ideology of the Israeli Left is very reminiscent of the Ancient Hellenists, Jews who identified with Greek society and culture more than they identified as Jews and Laws of Judaism.

To make it clear. None of these problems put me off from living here in Israel. There is only once way to stop it, and that is for us to be here in larger and larger numbers. That is how we influence change. Making Israel more Jewish takes time. There is no instant cure. We must not get frustrated and give up. That is the lesson of the oil on Chanukah. We will survive and get stronger, no matter how small and weak we seem.

Chag Urim Sameach!

Have an Enlightened Chanukah Holiday!!!