Rav Kahane Purim writings.

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Purim - Drinking for clarity - Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane
The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 695:2) brings down as law the words of our sages in Megillah 7b: “A man is required to mellow himself (with wine) on Purim until he cannot tell the difference between 'cursed be Haman' and 'blessed be Mordechai'”. Many fine Jews have pondered this somewhat bizarre utterance, and have given different explanations.

Is the phrase teaching us that we should get absolutely “plastered” on Purim, to the point where our minds cannot distinguish properly? It seems odd that the sages would encourage such a thing. After all, Purim, like any other holiday, is intended to convey to the Jew certain ideas. Since one of the central ideas of Purim is the struggle between good and evil; between Mordechai and Haman – why would the sages want to muddle and obscure these concepts? Furthermore, the expression, “to mellow oneself” does not connote that one should be “rip-roaring drunk”, and certainly it is not likely the sages would endorse such a state of mind.

Our teacher, Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY”D, offers a powerful explanation to this question. The point is not that one should drink until he becomes confused and says, “cursed be Mordechai”, G-d forbid. Rather he should understand that there is no difference between blessing Mordechai and cursing Haman, between blessing the righteous man and cursing the evil one. Both are mitzvot.
It is a mitzvah to fight and curse the evildoer precisely the way it is a mitzvah to bless the righteous man. The two are equal, completing one another.
Let us develop this idea. It would not be a shocking revelation if we said that Jews in our generation, as well as in past generations, have a serious problem with the concept of cursing and hating evil. Despite the fact that this subject is a central part of Judaism, permeating the Tanach, Mishnah, Talmud, and Halacha, for all kinds of reasons it is difficult for Jews to internalize the need for the burning out of evil, and the hating of the evildoer. It is a hang-up we are familiar with from the days of King Saul (who in his misguided mercy spared Agag the Amalekite, which eventually brought upon us the episode of Haman!) - until this very day, where mercy on enemies and murderers has brought us to the brink of tragedy.
For the record, Queen Esther did not fail in this area. After the first day of Jewish vengeance against their enemies, Achashverosh asked her if she had another request. She answered: “If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day's decrees, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.” In other words, Esther did not have the galut complex of taking pity on a fallen enemy. On the contrary – she requested that the Jew-haters be killed one more day.
When the sages tell us that we should not distinguish “between cursed is Haman and blessed is Mordechai”, they are coming to tell us: You are required to mellow yourselves with wine, so that you will not hesitate to come to the full understanding that the concept of “blessed is Mordechai” is equal to the concept “cursed is Haman”. That is, hatred of evil is no less important or fundamental than love of good, and there is no one without the other.
Purim is the time to elevate ourselves in our thinking. Precisely by getting a little tipsy on wine, we can remove the usual inhibitions and hesitations, which commonly prevent us from cursing and hating evil!
The Rav has taught us something tremendous. Purim is not a holiday of drunken confusion and chaos, or for casting off our heavenly yoke. On the contrary. Purim is the day to cast off the hypocrisy of our everyday lives, and to sever ourselves from the phony self-righteousness which causes us not to want to condemn the wicked. Getting mellow or tipsy on wine straightens us out. If foreign, un-Jewish concepts permeate our thoughts all year round, on Purim we reveal our authentic, uninhibited selves. Without apologies, without “the mercy of fools” (as termed by the Ramban); without being “more righteous than our Creator” (as the Midrash depicts Saul when he refuses to kill Agag).

At this juncture, let us mention that Purim is the annual yohrzeit for the holy Dr. Baruch Goldstein, HY”D. In all his deeds, we remember Dr. Goldstein as a man, who in his life and his death, was a symbol of “not knowing the difference between cursed is Haman and blessed is Mordechai”. On one hand, he was the epitome of good. His dedication as a doctor to heal his patients was incredible. “Ahavat Israel” conquered his heart. From this aspect, he was “blessed is Mordechai”. On the other hand, this love was not “out of control”. He knew that just as it is an obligation to love the good, it is also a “mitzvah” to hate the wicked. This is the “cursed is Haman” aspect.

May we merit to be whole in our attributes, and to internalize our understanding that the war against evil is part and parcel to the goal of bringing good to the world.

From " The writings of Rav Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, HY"D

http://tzipordror.blogspot.com/2010/02/purim-drinking-for-clarity-rav-binyamin.html

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Shabbat Zachor – The awful sin of Amalek – Rav Meir Kahane
“Remember what Amalek did to you, on the way, when you were leaving Egypt, that he happened upon you on the way, and he struck those of you who were hindmost, all the weaklings at your rear, when you were faint and exhausted, and he did not fear G-d. It shall be that when Hashem, your G-d, gives you rest from all your enemies around, in the Land that Hashem,
your G-d, gives you as an inheritance to possess it, you shall wipe out the memory of Amalek from under the heaven – you shall not forget!”
(Deut. 25:17-19, Maftir of Shabbat Zachor)

Amalek’s sin is the great and eternal sin of those who refuse “to know Hashem” and to accept His yoke upon themselves, and who thereby desecrate His Name. The Children of Israel were on the way, and the word ba-derekh (“on the way”) appears here twice, indicating that they were both on the way out of Egypt and on the way to the Land of Israel: both of these components together prove G-d’s power and might in the eyes of the nations, so that they would accept the yoke of His sovereignty. And now Amalek, the foremost and most brazen representative of “I do not know Hashem” launches himself against Israel, in an attempt to demonstrate both to Israel and to the rest of the world that G-d has no power, and that He is not the G-d of history. (Peirush HaMaccabee, Sefer Dvarim, Chapter 25)

This is the key to understanding why G-d was more angry at Amalek than at any other nation. . This was the awful sin of Amalek, regarding which it is said (Ex. 17:16), “The hand is on G-d's throne. The L-rd shall be at war with Amalek for all generations”.
Our sages also comment (Pesikta Rabbati, Ch. 12):
“The hand is on G-d's throne”: R. Levi said in the name of R. Chama of the school of R. Chaninah, “So to speak, as long as Amalek's offspring are on earth, G-d's name is not complete [In the verse, “G-d” is represented by the short form yud-kei], neither is His throne complete [represented by kes rather than kisei]. Once Amalek's seed is uprooted, G-d's throne is complete and His name is complete”.
King David said, “Enemy! The waste places are come to an end forever, and the cities which you did uproot, their very memorial is perished” (Ps. 9:7). What follows? “But the L-rd is enthroned forever. He has established His throne for judgment.”
Amalek set out to annihilate Israel, as our sages said (Tanchuma Yashan, Yitro 4), “Why was it called 'Amalek'? Because it is am lak, 'the nation that licks'. Amalek set out to lap up Israel's blood like a dog.”
Even more than this, however, Amalek came openly to insult G-d and blot out His name. Mechilta (Ibid., Parshah 1) comments regarding (Ex. 17:, “Amalek arrived”: “Amalek came openly. In all their other attacks they came in stealth...but not here.”
Amalek attacked G-d's throne, as our sages said (Tanchuma, Ki Tetze, 11):
One verse reads, “You must obliterate the memory of Amalek” (Deut. 25:19), and another reads, “I will totally obliterate the memory of Amalek” (Ex. 17:14). How can the two verses coexist? Until Amalek attacked G-d's throne, Israel were commanded to obliterate them. Henceforth, however, G-d said He would do so Himself. Can flesh and blood attack G-d's throne? Rather, because they destroyed Jerusalem, of which it says (Jer. 3:17), “At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the L-rd”, G-d said He would obliterate them.
Amalek's sin is the waging of brazen warfare against G-d, as they did when Israel left Egypt.
Yet when any other nation, as well, curses and fights G-d, Amalek's sin clings to them and they become like Amalek.
Thus, although Amalek, the nation, did not destroy Jerusalem, our sages say that Jerusalem's destruction constituted Amalek attacking G-d's throne. This teaches that whoever attacks G-d's throne is called Amalek. We must understand and remember this principle for our own times.
Since, in the nations' eyes, Israel's weakness and lowliness, and their suffering at the nations' hands, are interpreted as G-d's weakness and inability to save His people, and that is a Chilul Hashem, it follows that Israel's power, exaltation and victory over their own enemies and the blasphemous enemies of G-d is a Kiddush Hashem.
[For illustration, this is a quote from one of Rabbi Kahane's earlier popular books, “Listen World, Listen Jew” pp. 120-122]
Do you want to know how the Name of G-d is desecrated in the eyes of the mocking and sneering nations? It is when the Jew, His people, His Chosen, is desecrated! When the Jew is beaten, G-d is profaned! When the Jew is humiliated – G-d is shamed! When the Jew is attacked – it is an assault upon the name of G-d!
What he [the non-Jewish persecutor] is really saying is: “There is no L-rd, there is no G-d of Israel and if there is, He is an impotent and helpless god. For if He truly existed as the Omnipotent and All-powerful Sovereign of the Universe, His people would not be in exile, they could not be at my mercy, they could not be beaten and shamed and humiliated by me.”
This is the desecration of G-d's name.
Every pogrom is a desecration of the Name. Every Auschwitz and expulsion and murder and rape of a Jew is the humiliation of G-d. Every time a Jew is beaten by a gentile because he is a Jew, this is the essence of Chilul Hashem.
An end to Exile – that is Kiddush Hashem.
An end to the shame and the beatings and the monuments to our murdered and our martyred. An end to Kaddish and prayers for the dead.
A shaking off of the dust of the Exile and its shame and a return to a Jewish state of our own created with the fire and the spitting of Jewish guns.
A Jewish fist in the face of an astonished gentile world that had not seen it for two millenia. This is Kiddush Hashem.
Reading angry editorials about Jewish “aggression” and “violations” rather than flowery eulogies over dead Jewish victims. That is Kiddush Hashem.

The State of Israel came into being not because the Jew deserved it, but because the gentile did. It came into being not because the Jew was worthy of it but because the Name of G-d had reached its fill of humiliation and desecration. “I do this not for your sake, O House of Israel, but for Mine holy Name's sake which ye have profaned among the nations”. [...]

G-d established a principle that as long as Israel possesses a sovereign government with the power to blot out Amalek's memory, it is a mitzvah and a duty for them to do so.
For this reason our sages said (Sifri, Re'eh, 67):
Israel were commanded regarding three mitzvot for when they entered the Land: to appoint a king, build the Temple and destroy Amalek's seed. I would not know which one comes first if not for Scripture saying, “The hand is on G-d's throne. The L-rd shall be at war with Amalek for all generations” (Ex. 17:16). As long as a king sits on G-d's throne, we destroy Amalek's seed. How do we know that “G-d's throne” refers to a king? It says (I Chronicles 29:23), “Solomon sat on G-d's throne to reign”.

We must understand that today, with G-d kindly having restored our land and sovereignty, we must once more share with Him in blotting out Amalek if its existence is clear to us.

[Asides from current events like Arab attacks on Israel, Iran’s threats and other brazen attempts to delegitimize or coerce Israel, there is one more aspect of this in our times, mentioned by Rabbi Kahane in another one of his popular books, “Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews”, p. 271]:
Jewish self-respect and honor must be resurrected with an end to the humiliating obscenity of carefree political relations with the Amalek of our times, Germany. Was there a greater abomination than that of Israel establishing relations with Germany less than a decade after Auschwitz? And for money reparations, of course! Today, there is not the slightest feeling of guilt on the part of the Israelis who happily travel on business or vacation to Munich and Frankfurt and Hamburg; many of whom live there. There is no guilt on the part of a state that regularly sends youth on cultural and sports excursions to walk on the land stained with Jewish blood. There is no guilt felt when Jewish and Israeli leaders [...] travel to Germany and eat and drink with the Germans at state dinners, or when a high-ranking German official arrives in Israel and the Israeli army band plays the German national anthem, “Deutschland Uber Alles” as the new Hebrews stand at attention with respect. The Germans owe us reparations. The money does not absolve them of one sin, of one crime, of one murder. But they owe us reparations for property and we owe them nothing. Political and cultural ties will be cut with the Germans and they will be expected to fulfill, to the letter, their obligations to the Jewish people.

G-d will go forth to avenge His great name, profaned among the nations, and to avenge the Jewish People, through whose humiliation and distress at the hands of the nations His name was profaned.
The Prophet Obadiah was an Edomite convert, as our sages say (Sanhedrin 39b): “Obadiah was an Edomite convert, illustrating the adage that, 'the axe comes from the very forest.'” Rashi explains, “From the forest, itself, comes the wood for the handle of the axe that chops it down.
Such was Obadiah to Edom and David to Moab, David being descended from Ruth the Moabite.
Who, as much as Obadiah, a former non-Jew, knew the nations hatred of the Jewish People! Addressing the redemption, Obadiah prophesied (Obadiah 8-12, 15): Surely, says the L-rd, on that day I shall destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the Mount of Esau. Your mighty men, O Yemen, shall be dismayed, such that everyone from the Mount of Esau shall be cut off by slaughter. For your violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you and you shall be cut off forever. On the day that you stood aloof, that strangers took his force captive and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots upon Jerusalem, you too were one of them.
You should not have looked on the day of your brother, the day of his misfortune, nor rejoiced over the children of Judah on the day of their destruction. [...] For the day of the L-rd is near upon all the nations. As you have done, so shall be done to you. Your deeds shall return upon your own head.
As long as exile and servitude were decreed for Israel, G-d restrained Himself. Hence, the fools thought He did not exist, and they mocked the Jewish people (Ps. 115:2): “Why should the nations say, 'Where is their G-d'”? Yet His silence in the face of His name being profaned was a heroic act.
G-d, despite His silence, has not forgotten the insult, there being no forgetting before His throne of glory. Revenge is concealed with Him for the future, sealed up in His treasury, and vengeance and retribution are His.

Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from “The Jewish Idea” of Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY”D, with quotes from his books “Peirush HaMaccabee, Sefer Dvarim” (translation by Daniel Pinner), “Listen World, Listen Jew” and “Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews”.

“Also the sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending to you and all who despised you shall prostrate themselves at your feet.” (Isaiah 60:14)

http://tzipordror.blogspot.com/2010/02/shabbat-zachor-awful-sin-of-amalek-rav.html

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1- The Hidden Hope Which Lies in the Hidden Messsage of Purim (1997)
Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane
Translated by Lenny Goldberg
Two points in Megilat Esther are not clear. Firstly, what brought on the decree to destroy all the Jews, and secondly, what suddenly happened that caused the decree to be canceled? To understand this, we will look at the story of Purim.

Like a bolt of lightning, the decree "to destroy to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day" fell upon Persian Jewry. The reaction of the Jews to this edict was quite puzzling. The Megilah says that the "City of Shushan was in consternation". Consternation? Certainly, a more normal reaction would be to shout or cry. But "consternation"?

But if we take a glimpse at the of situation Persian Jewry at the time, we would see that consternation is the reaction we might expect after all. For it never entered their minds that such a thing could ever happen. They were the biggest patriots! They were the most loyal to Achasverosh! That is why when Achashverosh (nine months earlier) sent out invitations for the 180-day feast, the Jews were the first ones to confirm their attendance. All this despite the protests from the "extremists" such as Mordechai, who warned against their participation in such a feast, since it's intention was to make the Jews assimilate. But the Jews wanted to prove that they are not different than the rest. Thus the reaction of consternation upon hearing the shocking decree.

But then the Megilah continues: "And Mordechai knew all that was done..." He had no illusions, and understood fully what caused the decree. He knew that the assimilation - precisely what the Jew thought would ease anti-Semitic tensions, was the very cause of the decree! For the rule was learned since our days in Egypt: Whenever the Jew tries to water down his Judaism and be accepted by the gentile, the latent hatred (which is always there) of the gentile towards the Jew outwardly manifests itself.

If so, why was the decree annulled? Because immediately upon receiving word of the decree, Mordechai, as we mentioned, knew the reason for it, and did not give up. He also did not go on a boot-licking campaign to plead the case of the Jews to the king or his cabinet, despite the fact that he was no stranger to the palace and had connections there. What he did was to undergo a last-ditch effort to awaken the Jews to understand the real cause of the problem - that precisely their effort to shed their uniqueness as Jews and to blur over their Jewish identity and be like goyim is what brings upon them bad times.

Indeed, it is not easy to convey such a message to a Jew, when he is socaught up in having the goy love him. Because such a message seems tocontradict all logic. But in Shushan, a great miracle occurred, and it is the real hidden miracle of Purim - the Jews did "Tsheuva"! And not just "Tsh'uva" of talking without backing it up, but rather one of deeds. Instead of continuing to grovel to the Persians and bring down barriers as most Jews naturally react, they made themselves subservient to the truth of Mordechai only, admitting to their original mistake of participating in the forbidden banquet. This was the significance of the mass fast which was declared. It signified a genuine "Tsheuva" to G-d.

By the way, now we can see why the Name of G-d does not appear in Megilat Esther, despite the fact that the theme of the story is "Tsh'uva to G-d". It is to tell us that when there is distress, one should not just rely on G-d to solve our problems in some miraculous fashion. Rather, we must prove by our actions that we understand the reason for the distress, and then do the right thing, even if it appears to be "illogical".

This should give us encouragement for today. For the problem of today is the same: Our need to copy the gentiles, to blur over our uniqueness as a people, and our absolute dependency on the world. At times it seems there is no hope. Can our people ever understand that America won't save us? And behold, we have a precedent in our history where from great distress, the Jewish People were able to wake up and to cling to the truth of Hashem. May we see the same awesome "Naha-Fochu" (a turning of the tables) quickly.
 ___________________________________________________________________________

Jewish Isolation: Recipe for National Security (1994)
Weekly Parsha Commentary by Binyamin Zev Kahane
Translated by Lenny Goldberg
There always existed Jews who delude themselves into thinking that if only we could bring down the walls between us and the Gentiles, we could live together in peace, and anti-Semitism would disappear. What these self-hating, guilt-ridden Jews do, in essence, is blame the anti-Semitism on the Jews themselves, who distinguish themselves from the Gentile and are not willing to assimilate. But the fact is that the very opposite is true. History has proven that precisely when the Jew tried to get close to the Gentile, a wave of vicious and "unexpected" anti-Semitism would explode, bringing with it pogroms and holocausts. In Germany, Jews had stopped referring to themselves as Jews and called themselves Germans of the Mosaic persuasion. More Jews died defending the Father Land in WW1 than in all the wars of Israel. German Jews were the epitome of assimilated Jews prior to the Holocaust.

The Torah and our sages teach us about this strange law of nature, and we see a perfect example in the Megilat Esther, and the story of Purim. The story in the book of Esther centers around two major events; the sin of the Jewish participation at Achashverosh's party, and the intentional provoking of Haman by Mordechai who would deliberately wait at the gates which Haman had to pass, and then would refuse to bow down to him.

Is there a connection between these two events? What could the participation in Shushan's banquet and Mordechai's provocation have in common? Many have difficulty understanding Mordechai's deliberate instigation of Haman. Why did he have to hang out at that very spot, looking for trouble? How could have Mordechai behaved in such an "irresponsible" manner towards this known Jew-hater? For them, it is obvious that it was Mordechai who caused the evil edict which called for the extermination of the Jews! The sages teach us otherwise, explaining that the Megilah opens with the story of Achashverosh's banquet to indicate that the real cause of the evil decree against the Jews was divine punishment for the pathetic participation of the Jewish community at Achashverosh's party.

Why did they take part in the feast in the first place? They thought that banning such an event which was to be attended by all the nations of the Empire, would make the Jews stand out and would incur the wrath of the nations. They thought that Jewish participation in the feast would help bring down the barriers, relieve tension and help put a halt to anti-Semitism. Mordechai and those faithful to Torah knew that assimilation and liaison to the Gentile not only does not ease anti-Semitism, but strangely enough intensifies it. They knew that there is a clear Torah prohibition against partaking in such a meal. This commandment is intended to prevent assimilation and the muddling of Jewish identity and uniqueness.

We can now understand Mordechai's "extremism". Mordechai understood that the direction the Jews of his generation were going in would surely lead to Divine Punishment. Thus, he took the zealous route. He purposely provoked Haman with the knowledge that this would infuriate him and provoke a reaction which would shock all of assimilated Persian Jewry. Mordechai knew his actions could not bring harm to the Jews, in the long run. He knew his act of faith could only lead to the awakening of Jews to their grave mistake of assimilating (which is indeed what happened when the whole nation of Israel joined Mordechai's call for three days of fast and prayer). This was the only way to cancel the evil decree.

The More Things Change, the More They Stay The Same

Today's peace process is nothing more than a modern banquet of Achashverosh, except this time it has been initiated by the Jews. The goal is to create a "New Middle East" which means the erasing of the Jewish character of the state in an attempt to merge, and turn Israel into a nation like all others. This plot to wipe out anything distinctly Jewish will not succeed in buying the love of the Gentiles, nor will it bring us peace. The Interfaith programs of the ADL and AJC, and the New Middle East of Shimon Peres will only exacerbate the very hatred and tensions they seek to diffuse. The Jewish way is the way of "Mordechai HaYehudi" - separation, and not assimilation.

Today, after the fatal bombing in Jerusalem we are once again reminded what the outcome of our "peace" with our neighbors will produce. The only answer is a real separation between Jews and the hostile Arabs who live in our midst. Peres speaks of building a fence around the Green Line, yet ignores the Arab threat within the Green Line. The Likud and the other "right wing" parties still speak of coexistence between Jews and Arabs. The Jewish way is our way and the way of "Mordechai HaYehudi" - separation now!

Skull-Cap Donning Hellenists

Legend has it that the late Professor Yeshiyahu Leibowitz was not particularly fond of the holiday of Purim. In order to evade this barbaric festival, it was his custom to travel to Jerusalem on the 14th of Adar, and on the 15th he would return to Ramat Gan. In an interview last year, his son denied this famous folklore, but admitted that it found its source in the fact that his father abhorred one of the verses in the Megilat Esther, and would skip over it during the reading. (We will bring the verse shortly)

Anyone who knows us, knows full well that when a hellenist (with or without a yamulke) rises up and goes against something in Torah, we will immediately become quite fond of that particular something. For Torah is complete perfection, and if it is not complete, it is not Torah. One who denies even one verse or word of Torah is denying all of the Torah. The Torah is not a supermarket where one picks and chooses.

The professor would have preferred that the Megilat Esther deal only in the "positive aspects". The idea of Jews killing their enemies was repulsive to him. But did anyone ever pay attention to the fact that almost all Jewish holidays involve to a large extent confrontations with Gentiles, our separation from them and our exacting of vengeance upon them? Take a look: Hanukah - Greeks; Purim - Persians; Passover - Egyptians. Even regarding the Holiday of Shavuot, the rabbis tell us that from Mount Sinai, the hatred of the gentile originated (and thus the Hebrew word for hate and "Sinai" are of the same root). Food for thought, no?

Last but not least, here is the "banned" verse. (Despite the fact that this verse constitutes a violation of the following laws: revolution, incitement, racism, assisting terror, use of free speech for prohibited goals, we will take the risk and present it for all the Shin Bet to see): "And the king said to Esther the queen, the Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the capital, and also the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the kings provinces? now what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what more dost thou request? and it shall be done. Then Esther said, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows." The result of Esther's request was 75,000 dead gentiles. I ask you, is that nice?


http://www.thephora.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-42466.html

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BS"D

YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kroizer SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva

PARSHAT TETZAVEH
11 Adar, 5766/10-11 March, 2006



PURIM 5766 - AND STILL GOING STRONG!

Some weeks ago the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, while denying that a Holocaust against the Jews took place during World War 2, stated that there was indeed a holocaust which took place in Iran some 2000 years ago, in which the Jews killed thousands of people, and to this day still celebrate year in and year out with singing and drinking. He was, of course, talking about the story of Purim.

Some might indeed mistakenly come to the conclusion that all killing is a bad thing. In fact, we find even among fellow liberal Jews, that the holiday of Purim can make them blush and feel uncomfortable, for here we find the Jews celebrating the downfall of their enemies after killing some 75,000 of them. Now how un-Jewish is that?

There is, then, in this world good and evil, and they are not the same - and Woe to one who mixes up the two! Take, for instance, the example during World War 2, when Germany bombed England and England bombed Germany. Both bombed, but surely, every sane person knows that one was pure evil and one was fighting for good.

Hashem has created good as well as evil in this world, and it is our job to complete creation and eliminate evil from the world. Amalek and his physical and spiritual heirs must ultimately be wiped off the face of the earth, as King David said: I hate all those who hate You (Hashem). King David himself had killed thousands, as the Book of Samuel tell us: Saul with his hundreds and David with his thousands. Still, all whom King David killed were looked upon as a sacrifice before Hashem, for David had eliminated evil from this world, thereby making it a better place.

Today we are witnessing, throughout the world and in Israel, the mercy of fools; those taking pity on the wicked - such behavior is not good, but evil. How clearer a signal could Hashem have sent us than the Hamas
landslide victory? Now it is clear for all to see that there are no innocent bystanders among the Arabs living here in Israel. Clearly, the great majority of them want to see Israel destroyed, as was made clear by them in their elections. It is high time for Israel to act accordingly and stop playing around, claiming that there are innocents in the area and moderates to work with. Clearly the law must be the same for all of them.

And still, we see the nations of the world continuing to explain away the Hamas victory, even as the Arabs have learned to use the great tool of democracy to their advantage. They (the nations) too, are guilty of taking pity on the wicked, and surely this, too, will backfire on them in the end. As nation after nation invites Hamas to visit, and the European Union and the U.S. continues to pour millions of dollars in the PA, which of course will go to continuing their terror campaign.

So, it really is too bad that the beloved president Ahmadinejad of Iran does not understand the difference between one who comes to kill, and one who kills defending himself. For history repeats itself so often. And if he comes, like so many before him, against the Jewish State - he and his people will be the ones to fall. It is worth recalling the strange last words uttered by one of the leading Nazis, who was hung after Nuremberg trials: "PurimFest 1945".

So take note, cruel and harsh world: Purim is still going strong for the Jewish people!


With love of Israel,
Levi Chazen

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During these days of Purim, in these difficult hours, many adversities from without besiege and afflict the entire nation of Israel.

Yet the greatest anguish stems from our internal conflicts, because internal tranquility, the peaces of the House of Israel, is lacking. Let us then recall those days and their events as they are recorded in the Scroll of Esther, written, as it was, with divine inspiration. For the divine spirit transcends all passages of time and the changing ideologies of each generation. The eternal words "Go, gather all the Jews" must once again revitalize us and elevates us from our degradation.

Is Unity Possible?

But one may certainly ask: Is it really possible today to gather all of the Jews? How can one unite all the different factions and parties? How will the bones scattered across the wide valley of exile — both material and spiritual — once again form that entity known as "Klal Yisrael" and put forth a demand for its strength, its renewal, and a return from its captivity?

The answer is that there is one location where this dispersion, both physical and spiritual, cannot govern us. But you should object: We see with our own eyes the awful internal strife, Jews fighting Jews, brothers turning against brothers like wolves and snakes. How then can one say, "Go, gather the Jews"?

Whoever thinks that Haman was lying when he said, "There is one nation scattered and divided" [Esther 3:8], is mistaken. Indeed, this one nation is scattered and divided, but nevertheless, it is one nation. Nor should one question the possibility of a nation being simultaneously united and divided. There are wonders in the world. This nation, whose entire existence in the world rests upon wondrous wonders, demonstrates by its very existence that it is essentially one nation, despite its being scattered and divided.

True, the malady of exile has scattered and divided us. But the Eternal One of Israel does not lie. The exile and all of its terrors must come to an end. Now that the wind has begun to blow from the four corners of the earth, from both the troubles surrounding us and from the spiritual revelation which stirs us to return and be rebuilt in the land of our life — now we are nearing the realization that there is a cure for the malady of our dispersion and division. In the final analysis, we are, and shall be, one nation, and Israel shall once again rise to the eternal words, "Go, gather all the Jews."

The Hidden Collective Soul

But the difficult question obstructing the path of redemption remains: dispersion and division are consuming us. The answer is that a person has two aspects. Medical treatment of the individual draws from the inner springs of vitality and health dormant within a person's soul. That soul is so hidden that the patient himself is unaware of its essence. Spiritual maladies and their physical manifestations infect only the baser part of man, that familiar side of which he is aware. But his hidden, unknown side always bursts with energy, brimming with life and strength. This hidden repository of health has the power to affect the outer self, which misleads one into thinking that he is sick and feeble when he in fact possesses an energetic, healthy soul full of life and vigor.

That which is true for the individual applies to a much greater degree to the entire collective. "Klal Yisrael" in particular is truly one nation: "And who is like Your nation, Israel, one nation in the land?" [I Sam. 15:19] We must therefore admit our error in identifying the essence of Israel with its surface appearance, its outer, baser side. For this self-image has made us fearful. We are conscious only of our dispersion and division.

The Hamans of every generation, who strike at us with their poisonous hatred, particularly in this transition period, perceive our weak side, for it is visible and recognizable. But precisely through these tribulations we shall come to sense that we possess a previously unknown, collective soul, a great national spirit whose existence we have forgotten. It abounds with vitality and possesses sufficient power to renew our lives as of old and to withstand all of the Amalekites who wish to smite our feeble.

This hidden Judaism, unknown even to ourselves, this great soul of a great nation, which bears both the suffering and the light of the world within it, will become known to us during these portentous times. The blessing of "Go, gather the Jews" will emerge from its unknown place in the national soul. Every Purim we must appreciate the great, hidden repository of our blessedness and wealth and the virtue of our oneness, which shall vanquish our scattered and divided side. From a condition of 'until he cannot distinguish between cursed is Haman and blessed is Mordechai' comes the supernal inclination to find the unknown Jew within us. Brothers shall know one another and join hands, and a mighty voice will be heard: "Let us rise up and ascend to Zion, to the house of our Lord!" [Jer. 31:5]

[from "Celebration of the Soul," translated by R. Pesach Jaffe, pp. 126-129]

http://kahane.blogspot.com/2006/03/purim-go-gather-all-jews.html

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

Thanks for posting this.  Yasher koach.

[muman613]

I find nothing objectionable concerning the Purim story. The Persians involved in Hamans decree all deserved death for their desire to take part in the decree against the Jews. I think it is great that the Jews of the time were motivated to rise up against those who wanted to kill us and killed them first.