Hellenism vs. Havdalah – Universalism vs. Particularism

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https://rabbikahane.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/kedoshim-hellenism-vs-havdalah-universalism-vs-particularism/

Kedoshim: Hellenism vs. Havdalah – Universalism vs. Particularism
Posted on August 27, 2010   by rabbikahane
This article is dedicated to Rabbi Ido Elba, a true Tzadik and Torah scholar whose personal sacrifice for truth without compromise has landed him a two year jail sentence for “incitement to racism”.

An Indictment of Holy Proportions
Rav Elba delved into the depths of the Talmud and the Halachic Codifiers, and composed a scholarly Torah essay about the Halachic perspective on the killing of Gentiles and enemies during a time of war. Just a look at the title had the Shin Bet and the District Attorney drooling. They had been “looking” to get their hands on Elba ever since the round up of the alleged “underground” from Kiryat Arba, which proved to be a baseless hoax. When they saw the article, they knew they caught a “big fish”. This was not because they understood the contents of the essay. Even if they bothered to read it, they are a bit weak in the subject of Judaism, though they may boast great proficiency in the field of British and Turkish law.

And thus was hatched a rather amazing indictment against Rav Elba. An indictment which quoted directly and in great detail, sources which Rav Elba quoted. Rabbis from all sides of the political spectrum agreed that Elba quoted authentic views that exist within the framework of Talmudic discussion.

The Real Struggle
This is all very far from being a joke. We are talking here about another serious step taken by the Israeli regime to make Judaism illegal, and to turn the state of Israel into a universalist unJewish state. One of the great scholars of our generation who is a former Chief Rabbi of the state of Israel said, the way the Judicial system refer to Rav Elba reminds him of the way Heretics used to speak about the Talmud. And now for a little history. The law which Rav Elba allegedly violated termed “The Law Against Racism”, was drawn up and created to help silence my father, Rabbi Meir Kahane (may G-d avenge his blood). However, as my father warned us then, the law was not only against Rabbi Kahane as an individual, but against the entire Torah as well. And indeed, for the first time, a righteous Jew and Torah scholar has been convicted on this very charge for the words of Torah he has written. The worst possible nightmare is being actualized before our very eyes.

When Rav Elba was charged with “racism”, he was being accused of adhering to the concept of “Havdalah” – seperation between Jew and Gentile. This concept of particularism and belief that Jews are members of a “chosen people”, is one of the most basic and fundamental principals of Judaism. There is nothing that bothers modern day Hellinists more than this Jewish concept of “Havdalah”. The real goal of the Helinist is to assimilate into the Gentile world. They are universalists who want to erase the Jewish character of the state of Israel. They refuse to understand why the Jewish nation must be separate and special, and thus act to eliminate any Jewish uniqueness – and attack anyone who clings to the tenet of “Havdalah”. This was the crux of the war they waged against Rabbi Kahane, and it stands at the root of their obscession with Rav Elba.

We Must Decide Where We Stand
Our Parsha of the week states, “You shall be holy”, commanding us: Be seperated from their abominations, from the evil and from the falsehood of the Gentile. Every Saturday night, Jews around the world conclude the Sabath with the ritual Havdalah prayer and recite: He who separate light and darkness and between the seventh day and the rest of the week also seperates between the Jewish people and the rest of the world and between good and evil. What wil be next? Perhaps they should arrest Jews for observing the Sabath, performing a brith, reciting Havdalah or any of the countless Mitzvot which manifest the concept of Havdalah.

The sages comment in Leviticus, on the end of our Parsha (see Rashi): “If you set yourself apart from them, then you are mine; but if not, then you will belong to Nebuchadnezzar and his friends.” We must decide where we are holding! Here or there. There is no coexistence between good and evil.We are either with Hashem or with Nebuchadnezzar. We are either with Rabbi Kahane and Rabbi Elba or with Yossi Sarid and Achmad Tibi. Many “moderdox” Jews and Rabbis continue to live a big lie. They lack the courage and the honesty to chose. They speak of being Universalist and particularist at the same time. We are living through a momentous era of confusion. Now is the time for every Jew to take a stand and to be honest with himself and his constituents. Where is the outcry of the Rabbis on behalf of Rabbi Elbah? Do they not understand that the next decree may be against them and their confused universalist Judaism? Where are all of the universalists who fight for “free speech”? We must decide where we stand and act upon our convictions with integrity.

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By the way Yosi Sarid kicked the bucket a few days ago.
Rabbi Kahane used to add the curse to Sarid's name, Yemach Shmo V'Zichro (translation, let his name and remeberance be blotted out). See the end of Rabbi Meir Kahane's article quoted in Baruch Hagever.
There he said, our problem today is Yosi Sarid and partners, not the Arabs. It is an obligation and a mitzva to say Yosi Sarid Yemach Shmo V'Zichro.
The footnote brings a source for Rabbi Kahane's viewpoint - Talmud tractate Brachot 9a.

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I checked the source that Baruch Hagever's footnote provided for the mitzva to curse the wicked
Brachot 9a and didn't find it there but I did find it in Midrash Bereishit Rabba and here is the direct hebrew quote:
בראשית רבה (וילנא) פרשת וירא פרשה מט

וה' אמר המכסה אני מאברהם, רבי יצחק פתח (משלי י) זכר צדיק לברכה ושם רשעים ירקב, אמר רבי יצחק כל מי שהוא מזכיר את הצדיק ואינו מברכו עובר בעשה, מה טעמיה זכר צדיק לברכה, וכל מי שהוא מזכיר את הרשע ואינו מקללו עובר בעשה, מה טעמיה ושם רשעים ירקב

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http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/former-mk-ben-ari-yossi-sarid-was-vicious-hellenist/2015/12/07/

(JNi.media) In a media plateau drenched with expressions of affection for departed extreme left-wing leader Yossi Sarid, there have been precious few voices ready to evaluate the man from a negative point of view. Jewish tradition promotes the popular citing of the names of two Torah portions that are frequently read together on Shabbat, Acharei Mot / Kdoshim—literally: after their death they are saints—meaning that you don’t speak ill of the dead. At least not for a while. But former MK Michael Ben-Ari, a student of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, renowned for political stunts and unabashed statements, did not even wait until Sarid’s body was safely in the ground to let him have it.

As Ben-Ari himself put it: “It’s a kind of Jewish trait to forgive a man after his death, obscure his bad side, highlight his positive aspects. But Sarid does not deserve such a treatment because he made no concessions for his own opponents after their death. When Rabbi Kahane was assassinated by an Arab, the Knesset plenum stood for a minute of silence in his memory, but Sarid made sure to remain seated, so he could be interviewed later and hone words saturated with hatred at the expense of a Jews murdered in martyrdom. Even the passing of Rav Ovadia Yosef caused this man to open his mouth with the evil that was his unique domain.”

And so Ben-Ari went about expressing his own unique views of Sarid: “Anyone looking for the image of the modern Hellenist, should gaze at the image of Sarid,” Ben-Ari wrote in Srugim Sunday. “A highly fluent Hebrew speaker who at the same time was alienated by an equally abysmal hatred of everything we hold sacred. For him, everything that was sacred to the Jewish people was a proper subject for contemptuous animosity.”

For readers who are not familiar with the writings of Ben-Ari’s mentor, Rabbi Meir Kahane, the term “Hellenist” in the latter’s vocabulary was similar to the term “Cosmopolitan” in 1930s references to rootless European Jews, bereft of religion and cohesive community, adrift in a world of Western philosophy that is as empty of values at it is rife with cynicism.

“Using slogans of ‘seeker of justice,’ Sarid cursed and maligned the return of the nation of Israel to its land. He stepped on the sacred values of Israel for the sake of headlines,” Ben-Ari wrote. “With his rare talent he turned the Hebrew language into a tool to trample Judaism. No one was spared, not even the patriarch Abraham. We’ll remember Sarid’s title ‘Kiryat Arba — a.k.a. Sodom.’ We will remember his ‘Hitler Youth’ (in describing the Hill Youth). And for anyone who needs a more precise expression, we’ll remember his statement: ‘For me, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir are no less terrorists than Yasser Arafat.’

“His identification with the Arab enemy was perfect. I searched tonight for his statement against the brutal murderousness of Arabs, but found none. However, any retaliatory action of the IDF merited his poisonous article in his home newspaper Ha’aretz and more recently on Army Radio.”

Ben-Ari even suggested that “Sarid was not a man at all. He represented and represents the enemies of Judaism, the Hellenist who begrudges the redemption of Israel, who identifies with our enemies, rejoicing at our defeat.”

Ben-Ari concluded with the second half of Proverbs 10:7: “The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.”

Ouch.

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Brachot 9b as translated by Soncino

 Seeing that this verse, ‘Let the words of my mouth be acceptable etc.’ is suitable for recital either
at the end or the beginning [of the tefillah], why did the Rabbis institute it at the end of the eighteen
benedictions? Let it be recited at the beginning? — R. Judah the son of R. Simeon b. Pazzi said:
Since David said it only after eighteen chapters [of the Psalms],31 the Rabbis too enacted that it
should be said after eighteen blessings. But those eighteen Psalms are really nineteen? — ‘Happy is
the man’ and ‘Why are the nations in an uproar’32 form one chapter. For R. Judah the son of R.
Simeon b. Pazzi said: David composed a hundred and three chapters [of psalms], and he did not say
‘Hallelujah’ until he saw the downfall of the wicked, as it says, Let sinners cease out of the earth,
and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Hallelujah.33 Now are these a hundred
and three? Are they not a hundred and four? You must assume therefore that ‘Happy is the man’ and
‘Why are the nations in an uproar’ form one chapter. For R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in the name of
R. Johanan: Every chapter that was particularly dear to David he commenced with ‘Happy’ and terminated with
‘Happy’.1 He began with ‘Happy’, as it is written, ‘Happy is the man’, and he terminated with
‘Happy’, as it is written, ‘happy are all they that take refuge in Him’.2
Footnotes
(31) It comes at the end of Ps. XIX.
(32) The opening verses of Pss. I and II.
(33) Ibid. CIV, 35.
(1) In point of fact this is the only one. V. Tosaf. a.l.
(2) The last verse of Ps. II, which shows that according to R. Johanan Pss. I and II formed one Psalm.
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