“We saw the Nephilim there-the Anakites are part of
the Nephilim- and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have
looked to them.” (Numbers 13:33) JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh
I didn't make aliyah to become a grasshopper or
to live in a society of Jewish grasshoppers. I see no such reflection when I
peer in the mirror. Baruch Hashem, I don't suffer from this complex which
plagued too many Jews throughout history. But I can't speak for Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, since his actions suggest that he very well may see this
winged creature whenever he looks at his visage. How else can we explain the
incomprehensible fact of a prime minister placing the status of the dhimmi upon
his own people?
Nothing ever changes in Israel. Wars are always fought,
or not fought, in the same impotent manner. And so it shouldn't surprise us
that Netanyahu debased himself (yet again) before the make-belief “king” of
Jordan, by maintaining the degrading status quo on the Temple Mount which
prohibits Jews from praying. This insanity began long ago during the Six Day
War, when Moshe Dayan returned a Divine gift by refusing to destroy the Dome of
the Rock, Al Aqsa, and all vestiges of Islam's sovereignty. To compound his
sin, Dayan gave the mufti custody of the Mount. His shameful act became
Israel's de facto national policy on Har Habayit. We won the war;the mufti
retained control of our sacred site. Today, the Jordanian Waqf reigns supreme.
And Israel continues to take marching orders from Jordan. Even in the midst of
the latest intifada for which Jordan blames Israel, Netanyahu had the audacity
to utter the following:
“We respect the importance of the special role of the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, as reflected in the 1994 peace treaty between
Jordan and Israel, and the historical role of King Abdullah II.
Israel will continue to enforce its longstanding policy: Muslims pray on the Temple Mount; non-Muslims visit the Temple Mount.”
Israel will continue to enforce its longstanding policy: Muslims pray on the Temple Mount; non-Muslims visit the Temple Mount.”
We? Speak for yourself Bibi. No self-respecting Jew
believes this garbage. A rudimentary look at history reveals what the
“moderate” Jordanians did to our synagogues and cemeteries when they occupied
Jerusalem. Stables. Latrines. They defiled our holy places, and debased our
resting places.
How tragically ironic, that while it may be unsafe to do
so, Jews can legally pray in the streets of Germany, Spain, or France. Wherever
Jews legally reside, they are permitted to pray. Ironically, it is only in
Israel that there are restrictions on Jewish prayer.
On Judaism's most sacred site where two Jewish Temples
stood, the state of Israel forbids Jewish prayer. Ishmalite enemies caterwaul
to their blood deity. They shout at Jews, harass them, spit and beat upon them,
yet the Jew cannot pray or even make a
blessing on a cup of water. The Arabs
destroy precious artifacts from atop the Mount, in a crude attempt to remove
any vestige of Jewish identity. They can hurl stones on the heads of the
groveling Jews below who are satisfied with retaining Herod's retaining wall.
Sometimes, Arabs even spill acid on the heads of Jews, another horror which the
media never reports.
Jewish Prayer
I want to emphasize that I am speaking solely of the
right of Jewish prayer, since halacha cannot permit christian prayer on The
Temple Mount. The oft distorted argument by certain activists (who crave
interfaith alliances) that the Temple will be “a house of prayer for all
nations” speaks of righteous gentiles worshiping the One True Creator. We only
lose, if in order to defeat the Arab predators, we compromise basic halachic
tenets on the altar of a false hashkafa. The halacha is clear in permitting
righteous gentiles access within the Torah framework. Nothing more needs to be
said.
As far as those
timid sorts, rabbis and laity, who try to solidify their preferred halachic
position by noting that Jews who go up incite Arabs, these frightened nebs
need to leave the shtetl. If they oppose ascending the Mount on halachic
grounds then they should argue their position solely within that context.
Unless of course they follow a Satmar-esque philosophy, in which they should be
inellectually honest and refrain from even visiting Israel until the Moshiach
arrives riding atop a griffin vulture. In Judaism, we don't rely on miracles.
So if the state per-say is a sin, one who visits Israel relies on the security
of the IDF.
Without belaboring the point, there are legitimate halachic
positions which permit a person to ascend and visit certain areas. Naturally,
since most people are not expert on such matters they require the aid of a
learned man. All sides need to respect the halacha. And the oft mentioned
argument that we are speaking of matters of karet is a false one. No one
would argue that one Rav may render a different p'sak than another on a given
question pertaining to the laws of niddah (ritual purity). Also an issue of
karet (an act punishable by spiritual excision), and yet two equally respected
men of Torah may arrive at two different conclusions. “Elu V'elu.....”
Bibi The Dhimmi
Jews always lived as dhimmis under Islam. It wasn't
pleasant. The myth of Jews living well in Muslim countries is a liberal fairy
tale. Yet these same lovers of fantasy cannot explain why nearly a million Jews from Muslim/Arab countries fled
their places of birth, to migrate to Israel. The reason is simple: it sucked to
live with these people. Even the “good times” were terrible. Many scholars have
exposed the reality of being a dhimmi. At the end of the day, Jews and other
dhimmis faced daily debasement. Violence. Theft. Murder. Sexual assault.
Over-taxation. Injustice. A life of shame and debasement.
And there was no recourse for justice, since a dhimmi's word
was useless against a Muslim's.
The dhimmitude continues today in Israel. In the sovereign
state of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu placed the yoke of the
dhimmi on our necks. All in the name of maintaining the unacceptable statu quo
toward the same Islamic Amalekites who defiled our synagogues and graveyards
when Jerusalem was under Jordanian occupation.
After this latest disgraceful display of Jewish weakness,
how can any Jew with a vertebrae still support Netanyahu? After two thousand
years of being grasshoppers, how can the leader of modern state of Israel
debase himself time and time again in the manner of the original meraglim?
Today we live as dhimmis in Israel. Not only will the
country not protect us adequately, they deny us the right to defend ourselves.
Draconian gun laws permit only elitists to arm themselves. The rest of us are
entitled to pepper spray; not to use it mind you. We are told that we cannot
carry flags in some areas. We cannot drive in other areas, lest Fatah gun us
down. We cannot legally vote for a candidate who wants to throw Arabs out. And
we cannot pray atop Har Habayit. Self-debasement is the spine of our countries
superstructure.
Those who ascend Har Habayit halachically generally do so
with dignity. By merely ascending, they strengthen our ownership. The important
thing is not to ascend as a dhimmi. There are opportunities to elevate the kiddush
Hashem in some capacity. An added display of Jewish strength. Remember:
silence is not golden atop Har Habayit. Any opportunity to recite a
Jewish prayer: a blessing over a glass of water, or something else, is an
opportunity to contest Bibi's status quo on the greatest stage. And lest we
forget, there will now be video cameras. How ironic that an unacceptable
concession to antisemites can now become a magnificent tool to publicize Kiddush
Hashem.
The time for Kiddush Hashem is now.
