Sometimes I literally want to take off my shoe and throw it at the computer. That is how angry and frustrated I am when I hear the president lecturing the Israelis about human rights and poor Gazans suffering from the terrible cruelty of the Israeli army.
When I read about how President Biden, the president of the United States, the so-called greatest democracy in the world, all but co-opting the talking points of the greatest Jew-haters in Congress and basically accusing the Jews of genocide, I just get angry.
For example: At one stop in Raleigh, N.C., Biden’s attempt to speak about his support for Obamacare was interrupted by a dozen protesters, who began shouting that the president was complicit in the lack of healthcare in the Gaza Strip and that hospitals were being “bombed” by Israel. Biden could have ignored them or pointed out that the problems in Gaza are the responsibility of the Hamas terrorists who governed Gaza as an independent Palestinian state in all but name for the past sixteen years. He could have pointed out that it was Hamas that launched a genocidal war against Israel on October 7, thereby causing all the casualties suffered in the current conflict. It was also a moment to remind the world that not only were the accusations of Israel bombing hospitals a big lie, but healthcare facilities in Gaza have been used — and are still being used, as the recent Shifa Hospital military operation proved — as Hamas command centers, as well as places where Israeli hostages were held captive.
Biden didn’t say anything like that. Instead, he told the crowd that those chanting against Israel and calling for a ceasefire that would crown Hamas the victors of the war deserved to be treated with deference. “They have a point. We need to get a lot more care into Gaza.”
I literally wanted to throw my shoe at the computer and shatter the screen.
“When Jews Defend Themselves…It’s Called a Riot!”
The same goes for the New York Times and all the major news networks. It is as if they were hit with willful blindness. Evil blindness. Blindness that costs and causes untold numbers of Jewish lives while increasing anti-Semitism and Jew-hatred throughout America and throughout the world.
I was thinking about the unfairness of it all, when I realized that perhaps we are not getting the message. Perhaps the message that we must learn and take home from this frustrating inability to see the simplest of truths is that this is the way Hashem wants it. Chazal teach us that “Puranuyos, unfortunate disasters, only come to the world because of Yisroel,” as a message to the Yidden.
This thought was further sharpened when I read Toras Avigdor, the wonderful weekly pamphlet containing the Torah of Rav Avigdor Miller. In the Purim edition, Rav Miller comprehensively discusses Jew-hatred and the fact that we are, in essence, friendless in the world. He cites a pathetic example of how the New York Times simply cannot stomach when Jews defend themselves. Rav Miller says, “You remember not long ago the New York Times was complaining that whenever the Jews have a chance, they make pogroms against the goyim. The writer mentioned that in the times of Haman, the Jews made a pogrom on the goyim, and he was upset that the Jews were doing it again.
“What happened? A homeless man, a bum with a razor blade, was in an elevator in Williamsburg, and he gashed a Jew’s face and took away his wallet.
“So, the Williamsburg Jews are not fools. They couldn’t appeal to the police; the police wouldn’t do anything. So, one of the Jews who saw what happened ran after this homeless man, and while he was running, he called for help. ‘Chaptzem! Catch him!’ He put out the Williamsburg call for reinforcements.
“You know, Williamsburg is not West Orange. They have big families in Williamsburg, and so, all of a sudden, the windows and doors of the apartment buildings open up and there are chassidim pouring out from everywhere into the streets.
“They responded to the call, and when they caught this shaigetz, they gave him the special chaptzem treatment. They gave him a treatment and he had to go to the hospital.
“So how did the good friends of the Jewish people report it in the New York Times? Headline: Homeless Man Attacked By Hassidic Mob. You know what that means, right? An innocent, homeless man walking in the street with no place to go, probably just looking to do a good deed, and the hassidic mob rushed out of their houses and made a riot. For no reason, they attacked the poor honorable fellow.
“That’s always how it is for the anti-Semites. When Jews defend themselves, it’s called a riot. The New York Times doesn’t like that Jews should make pogroms – they prefer it the other way around.
“But it’s not only the Times. When the Jews in Eretz Yisroel fought back against the Arabs who attacked them and won the war, they gained many enemies at that time. Now, I’m no patriot for Medinas Yisroel, but if the Arabs are coming to kill, the Jews shouldn’t defend themselves? The gentiles don’t think so. The U.N. makes a special meeting about the problem, a special declaration against Medinas Yisroel. All over the world, all the goyim hated the Jews because they won the war.
“Because that’s the way of the world. When Jews are killed, chas veshalom, the goyim, even the good goyim, don’t mind it much. But when Jews kill goyim, all the goyim are hurt very much.”
Prescient words from Rav Miller that were said back in the 1990s.
The Message for Us
There is a message here for us. As Jews who believe in Hashem, we cannot just let such an illogical move by the president (even though he does appear to be showing clear signs of early stage dementia) and the administration just raise our indignance without thinking about the message that Hashem is sending us.
Hashem is not letting Biden allow the Israelis to finish the job. Why not? We certainly don’t have nevuah today and no one can give a definitive reason as to why this is happening. That being said, we should think about how complacent we feel here in America and in other relatively benign countries despite being in golus. Perhaps Hashem is reminding us that we shouldn’t feel too complacent in golus.
Yes, we have our own politicians, our own askanim, our own multi-millionaires, and even a few billionaires. Yet, we must realize that mixing with the goyim is unnatural. It is not where we belong.
The Nations’ Theory: Jews Have No Zechus Kiyum
The Brisker Rov once commented about the fascinating dialogue between Yaakov and Lovon at the end of Parshas Vayeitzei. Yaakov finally left Lovon’s house after being tricked numerous times. Then, Lovon runs after him until he catches up. This time, however, Yaakov had enough. The posuk tells us that Yaakov gets upset and argues with Lovon. Yaakov Avinu puts down all his taanos against Lovon. “I never took a penny from you that was not mine. I served you faithfully and you changed the terms of my work thousands of times…”
Yaakov finishes clearly delineating all his claims against Lovon, showing how honest he was throughout the years and how dishonest Lovon has been. What does Lovon answer? “Habanos banosai, habonim bonai vehatzon tzoni – The daughters are mine, the sons are mine, the flocks belongs to me…”
The Brisker Rov asked: Lovon didn’t even try to answer Yaakov’s claims. It was as if they didn’t exist. All he answered to Yaakov’s claims was, “Everything is mine.” The Brisker Rov explained that Lovon was telling Yaakov, “You have no zechus to exist! The only reason you exist is because of my benevolence.”
That is the way the nations feel about us…today. In their eyes, we have no zechus kiyum. We don’t deserve to exist. We should be happy with whatever scraps they throw at us. We should never think that we have the right to defend ourselves and kill others. We must realize our place. To the nations, we are the ones who get killed, not the ones who kill…
Hashem’s Puppets
Now, of course, Hashem has placed something in the creation called hishtadlus, and it is our obligation to do whatever possible within the normal realm of hishtadlus. If that means campaigning to try getting less hostile members of Congress and a less hostile president into office, we must certainly try.
Nevertheless, we must also realize that Biden, The Squad, the UN and even the renegade Jew, Charles Schumer, are no more than messenger pigeons being used by Hashem to send a message to us. The message may be: Don’t think that you have equal rights. Don’t be complacent and think that you are not hated in the same way as Moshke the Jew was hated by the poritz in Russia and Poland of the 18th and 19th centuries. It is all the same.
Yes, we may be affluent. We may think we can throw our weight around. We may think that everyone should understand that our enemies who want to kill every last Jew in Israel should be recognized as the ones committing genocide, not the opposite, but that is only because we don’t understand our role here in golus.
Our role is to stand apart. Not to mix. Not to think that we can live among them, adapt their values even partially, and Hashem won’t send us a wakeup message saying, “Stop! You are going too far. You are too connected to them. You think like them and you act like them, even as you wear your black hats and white shirts, even if you have long peyos and a beard, even if you speak Yiddish, English, yeshivish or a variation of all. When you are connected through social media or any form of media, you are connected.”
We don’t even realize how much they have infiltrated the kodesh and the kodesh hakodoshim of our lives.
Again, no one can know exactly why Hashem makes things happen, but if we think that things will change because we can logically prove that we are right, we are being delusional.
The bottom line is that only when we get the message that Hashem is trying to send to us will things change.
May it be very soon.
