DAYS OF AWE
By Rabbi Meir Kahane Z’TL
“KAHANE” MAGAZINE September 1976 – Elul 5736
The high holy days, the days of awe, approach. The key word, the one that will be bandied about is tshuva, repentance and return. Lest the word continue to lose its meaning and reality, let us remember the key to that return –faith. Faith and belief, real and deep, faith that proves itself by self-sacrifice and by giving of oneself. That faith is manifested in a number of basic ways that go beyond the obvious mitzvoth-Shabbat, kashrut, learning family purity, etc.
Those basic ways are yardsticks by which one measures his commitment to faith. Those yardsticks are
1) Ahavat Yisrael-love of Jews and the readiness to feel their pain, to rush to their aid by giving of time, money and body. Tzedaka to the poor, sacrifice for the oppressed in the Soviet Union and Arab lands, not caring what the gentile says and acting on behalf of a Jew even if it means jeopardizing persona interests. Faith that if one obeys the commandment not to stand by his neighbor’s blood, G-d will help and protect.
2) Aliyah-to cleave unto the commandment of a returning and living in the Land of Israel and thus eliminating the Hillul Hashem-desecration of the L-rd-that is the essence of the exile. To manifest Jewish faith by knowing that to fulfill the commandment of living in the Land will find G-d standing by our side so that we overcome all the difficulties and dangers that appear to be so overwhelming.
3) Cleaving unto the land knowing that it is forbidden to give up Jewish land to gentiles and that every retreat from the land because of fear of the world is a retreat from the great miracle and Kiddush Hashem of 1967. Faith in the L-rd rather than in Washington.
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