The Light of The Soul

The Power of Prayer

–The True Strength of Israel–

Hasidic Jews of Poland

Nonviolence: The Higher Law

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. [Isaiah 11:6]

Although, as a means, violence satisfies the need for instant justice: whatever advantage is gained by it is temporal. It can not be lasting.What is gained by nonviolence is done so only over time and at the price of much forbearance and self-sacrifice.The fruit of its practice may take years if not decades to mature. But its victory is assured. And once achieved it becomes the eternal inheritance of mankind.

“Truth alone will endure all the rest will be swept away in the tide of Time”–Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi

A Letter from Amram Blau

A Call from Jerusalem by Rabbi Amrom Blau 1969, zt”l

It is the nations of the world who gave credence to the canard that the Zionists represent the Jewish people. It is an ironical fact that without this recognition, the Zionists would not have been able to establish their hegemony over the Jewish people.

If the Arabs lay the blame, for the loss of their territories,to the nations, then the Jewish people can attribute an even greater loss to their historic identity as a G-dly people through the acceptance of the Zionists as the spokesman of the Jewish people. By their recognition, they have inflicted more harm on the authentic people of Israel, its Torah and its faith than on the Arab people.

Actually, the Zionists atheists have no intrinsic connection with the Jewish people. There is no fact as axiomatic of the Jewish people as the fact that they are characterized by their adherence to the Torah. The Jewish people as such, has no interest in the Zionists or Zionism, or in power over the state. They eschew nationalism and its political implications.

The Jewish people are opposed to any confrontation with the Arab people. Before the advent of political Zionism the Jews had no conflict with the Arab world.

It is well known, that Baron Rothschild made substantial purchases of Land from the Arabs. The original Jewish settlers of Rischon Letzion, Zichron Meir, Rachovos, Ekron etc., lived in harmony amongst and under the authority of their Arab neighbors. Their was never any opposition from the Arab community concerning Jewish immigration or purchase of land before Zionism. We lived side by side with our Arab neighbors in tranquility. Moreover, the Arab population had genuine respect for their Jewish neighbors and maintained business relationships in a friendly and cordial atmosphere.

Not until after War 1, when the Zionists received the Balfour declaration and came to the Holy Land, did the fight between the Zionist and the Arab people begin. The Old Yishuv (the Jewish community which predated Zionism) found themselves caught in this conflict against their will.

The Zionist who have shown no regard for Jewish blood, and have proven to be irresponsible, extended their rule over parts of the Holy Land, which had been inhabited by Arabs, and there upon brought the entire Arab world into conflict with the Jewish community.

These Zionists claim to be the proud descendants of the infamous hoodlums who were responsible for the genocide of the Jewish people at the time of the First Temple. The prophet Jeremiah pleaded with them to lay down their arms in the face of insurmountable odds and certain defeat and surrender the city to Nebuchadnezer, King of Babylon. Jeremiah proclaimed it was the will of G-d that the city of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple be destroyed as punishment for their sins and if the “people of Israel” accepted this decree then their lives would be spared. Jeremiah was labeled a traitor by these hoodlums and as a result not only was the Temple destroyed, but almost the entire population slaughtered.

These Zionists also claim to be the proud descendants of the infamous hoodlums who were responsible for the destruction of the Second Temple. Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai, leader of the Jewish people, called upon them to lay down their arms and surrender to the Romans. They refused and brought upon the Jews the calamity of the destruction of the Second Temple and the exile which followed.

All former inhabitants of the Old City of Jerusalem know full well, that if not for the courageous two Jews who approached the Arab camps with the white flag raised during the Zionist war of 1948 to conquer the Old City, not a single Jew would have remained alive.

The Zionists thwarted the first attempt of these two elderly rabbis to leave the battle zone, by gunfire wounds. Undaunted, the two succeeded at their second attempt. Thereby saving the remainder of Jewish populace in the Old City.

In addition, the Zionists went step further and called these two valiant men traitors.

In their surge for power and victory at all costs, their proclaimed alternative is a Masada death. As one of their own leaders stated emphatically before the 1967 war, “we are prepared to fight to the last Israeli”. How much Jewish blood must be spilled in order for them to maintain their goal of a so called “Jewish State”?

The Masada complex of these ancient hoodlums and their modern reincarnation, the Zionists would have then, as now, condemned the Jewish people to complete physical annihilation. The Jewish people rejected national suicide inherent in the Masada complex and they survived as a people only because they accepted throughout the generations the leadership of the Jeremiahs and Rabbis Jochanan Zakai.

Moreover by the command of the Torah the Jew is obliged to further the welfare of the state wherein he dwells. He entertains no thought of rebellion, in particular the Torah forbids us to retake Holy Land by force of arms. Jews abhor the shedding of blood of any human being for any reason whatever. In our entire long exile, there has never been an instance where the Torah justifies the use of bloodshed even against opponents. As the Sages point out, with particular reference (Genesis Rabba93;) and it can be seen from their comment on the verse “Turn to the north” that this applies even to attackers (Deuteronomy Rabba).

The Jew deplores the loss of lives caused by the struggle for power. The “people of Israel” meaning the Jews who are loyal to G-d and to his Torah are also loyal to the covenant imposed upon them, even when dwelling in the Holy Land, to abhor force of arms. They are innocent of responsibility for the present disturbances, and they are actually captives of the present regime. Those who are unwillingly involved in the political state consider it a contradiction to their faith and conscience.

One should appeal to every upright person, to realize that the whole world will bear the guilt of an irreparable crime if this game, involving the lives of thousands of innocents, is enabled to develop, Heaven forbid. The attribute of compassion, which is in the heart of every scrupulous person, must be aroused to exert influence and compel those with this empty ambition to stop.

May He to whom peace belongs grant us and the whole world blessing and peace

Amram Blau