by Dr. Haim Shine
The horrifying image of
an arm wrapped in tefillin along with the kind of plastic hospital
wristband worn by a new mother is one that will not be forgotten
quickly. It is the kind of image that sears itself into the pages of
Jewish history, and its effect will never diminish. It is as the verse
says: "I saw thee wallowing in thy blood, I said unto thee: In thy
blood, live" (Ezekiel 16:6). Death and birth are interwoven for forever.
Rabbi Moshe Twersky,
who was murdered in the terror attack in the Jerusalem neighborhood of
Har Nof on Tuesday, was the grandson of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, a
revered thinker and a central figure in American Jewry. I met Rabbi
Soloveitchik during my studies at Yeshiva University in New York. His
attitude toward the state of Israel was complex, not always clear, but
his take on the meaning of the state was impressive.
In the 1950s,
Soloveitchik wrote a wonderful article titled "Kol Dodi Dofek" ("The
Voice of My Beloved Knocks") -- a comprehensive analysis of the meaning
of the Jewish existence. In his article, Soloveitchik explains that the
conflict with the Arab entity is not a political conflict, nor is it
directed only at Israel -- it is a plot to destroy the entire Jewish
population, to "slay man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep"
-- a well-known Amalekite plot of thousands of years. In the 20th
century it was led by Hitler. Now, it is being led by Iran and Islamist
radicals. Soloveitchik warns that the Jews cannot rely on the integrity
of the liberal world to defend them -- the enlightened liberals did not
raise a finger, knowing full well the Jews' fate in Europe during the
Holocaust. "If, heaven forbid, yet a second spectacle of blood were to
take place before their very eyes, it is likely that they would not even
lose a night's sleep over it." This is true today as well -- Jewish
blood is being spilled and the nations of the world are entirely
uninterested.
Soloveitchik never
dreamed that some 50 years later his grandson, who immigrated to Israel
to live in Jerusalem and teach Torah there, would, along with others,
pay with his life for the hatred, bloodshed and the insanity of vicious
savages -- creatures who view the murder of Jews as a lofty religious
obligation. A Jew reads a prayer and gives his soul to God while
sanctifying his name, while the despicable killers yell "Allahu Akbar"
("God is great") and murder innocent people.
When will the Left
finally understand that our conflict with our neighbors is religious and
not diplomatic? This is a battle over the divine promise to Abraham
that "Unto thy seed will I give this land" (Genesis 12: 7), versus the
Islamic belief that the Jews, in their refusal to recognize the Prophet
Muhammad, have lost their right to Israel, as it says in the Quran.
Therefore, a diplomatic resolution to the conflict is nothing more than a
pipe dream. Hope is always important, but false hope can become an
existential danger. The recent terror attacks in Jerusalem have proved,
to whomever still needed proof, that the satanic verses and their human
messengers do not distinguish between secular and observant Jews,
between babies and adults, between Jews and non-Jews. When the angel of
death raises his ax, there is no difference between one person's blood
and another person's blood.
This is a battle we have to win.
We don't have any other choice. Victory can only be achieved by
combining tactical approaches, like security and patrols, and, more
importantly, our ancient strategic weapon of a shared Jewish fate and
the willingness to give our lives to protect the only homeland that the
people of Israel have.
Dr. Haim Shine
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=10649
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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