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Moshe Feiglin
Authentic Jewish Leadership for Israel
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Authentic Jewish Leadership for Israel


The Jewish Leadership Weekly Newsletter
24 Sivan, 5772 (June 14, '12) Issue 7237

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In this Issue:

Connecting Heaven and Earth


Our Sages consider the Sin of the Spies even worse than the Sin of the Golden Calf. What is the root cause of the sin of rejection of the Land of Israel? What is so terrible about "We will make a new leader and return to Egypt?" At the time of the sin, as Rashi explains, the spies were righteous Jews who had just experienced the myriad miracles of the Exodus from Egypt and the journey through the desert. Did they really believe that G-d could not humble the lowly Canaanites as He had the mighty Egyptian empire? How could they so severely miss the mark?

There is a difference between the Exodus from Egypt and the entry into the Land of Israel. The entry into the Land of Israel brings with it an entirely new reality. G-d took care of Pharaoh by Himself: "G-d will fight for you and you, remain silent," G-d told the Israelites at the edge of the Red Sea. But for the Canaanites, the approach is different: Both the Israelites and G-d will be in the fight.

As soon as the Jewish People enters the Land of Israel, the manna stops falling from the heavens. In the Land of Israel, we must plow, plant and harvest. We must live a life of action and bring the manna down from heaven by ourselves – in full cooperation with the Creator. That is the message of the Jewish Nation. It is a message that cannot be applied without the Land of Israel. It is the message of perfection of the world – in the Kingdom of the Almighty.

The Sin of the Golden Calf, although totally unacceptable, was easier to rectify. The Israelites were punished, repented and returned to G-d. The Sin of the Spies is much more difficult to eradicate and rectify. It is not a tactical sin but a rejection of the entire purpose of the Jewish Nation. It is a strategic sin – a strategic error of cosmic proportions. It is a lack of understanding of the goal of the journey, the loss of the purpose for our very existence.

The resolution of the conflict between the material and spiritual has tormented humanity from time immemorial. The Western approach is to nullify the material in order to be holy. The Moslem approach is to wallow in the material in order to be holy. On the Festival of Tabernacles, the 70 nations of the world bring their holiday offerings to the House of G-d in Jerusalem. But there is one offering that only Israel can bring. It is the shlamim (wholeness) offering. Half of it is to be eaten by the people and half is for G-d. It is the offering that is irrelevant to a non-Jewish reality. The secret of the unification between the holy and the mundane was given to Israel alone.

There is only one way to resolve the conflict between the spiritual and the mundane. Only when the Jewish Nation lives in the unique Land chosen for it by the Master of the Universe and crowns the spiritual G-d over the material world at their fusion point – in Jerusalem, at the Royal Palace, the Holy Temple – will the world live in peace and serenity.

By attempting to return to Egypt, the Israelites effectively sent the entire world into a helter-skelter tailspin. No wonder that the consequences of that ill-conceived error are still plaguing us today.

The Sin of the Spies smolders in all sectors of Jewish society throughout the generations. It infects every person who excludes himself or G-d from even one aspect of our holistic reality. It infects those who cling to G-d to the exclusion of the Land of Israel and those who cling to the Land of Israel to the exclusion of G-d. It infects the person who studies Torah but does not work, the person who does not study Torah and only works, the person who does not settle the Land, the person who strictly settles the Land, the person disassociated from politics, the person who deals only with politics; any attachment to partial reality conceals within it a touch of the Sin of the Spies.

The solution is to open ourselves to the entire spectrum of our reality - and to perfect the world in the Kingdom of the Almighty.

Shabbat Shalom,

Moshe Feiglin

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Decision Time: By Moshe Feiglin

20 Sivan, 5772
June 10, '12

Translated from the NRG website

How did Netanyahu's comment on the Ulpana neighborhood that destruction is "a decree that the public cannot tolerate" turn into an Expulsion-like process? It is impossible not to notice the similarity between the Ulpana situation and the Sharon-led Expulsion from Gush Katif. In both cases, a prime minister elected by the Right, whose ideology certainly does not endorse destruction in Israel's heartland – veers sharply left and compels his ministers and coalition to support a Peace Now move – completely against their will.

Since the Six Day War in 1967 when we were miraculously forced to liberate Israel's heartland and Jerusalem, we have insisted on rejecting the gift of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Instead, we have created a time bomb, which has been rolling from generation to generation. We cannot expect the current Likud leaders to demonstrate more fortitude and determination than the leaders at the peak of Israel's legitimacy, immediately after the amazing instant 1967 victory. When whoever is leading Israel since 1967 is faced with a strategic decision that entails choosing between maintaining the status quo or annexing Judea and Samaria, the outcome is a given.
 
In truth, we cannot maintain civilian life on a legal foundation of military occupation forever. Peace Now is doing us a great favor by forcing us to decide once and for all if this Land belongs to us – or not.

When Israel was established in 1948, the Temporary State Council passed the Legal Jurisdiction and Authority Act. According to this act, Israeli law applies to all the territory in our hands. In the War of Independence Israel conquered quite a bit of territory beyond what the UN had designated for the fledgling state in the Partition Plan. At the end of the war, Israel applied its law until the very last centimeter, extending its sovereignty over all the territory in its hands. All of those places became part and parcel of the State of Israel: Nahariya, Eilat, Nazareth, Be'er Sheva and much more.

After the liberation of Judea and Samaria in 1967, Israel did not need to pass a new law. All that was necessary was to repeat what it had done in 1948. Nobody forced Moshe Dayan to block the Arab refugees trying to escape Israel at the Jordan River and to send them back to Shechem and Kalkilyah with bouquets of flowers. Nobody forced him to give the Arab wakf the keys to the Temple Mount, either.
But why should we denigrate Dayan? The consciousness of the entire Israeli leadership – including the religious leadership – was not prepared to deal with the identity challenge that suddenly burst into its reality – the Land of the Forefathers that fell into its arms.

The chance for peace with the Arabs vanished as soon as they realized that they really hadn't lost the war at all and that Israel saw the territory that it had conquered as nothing more than a bargaining chip. If what you wanted was not territory, but rather, peace – why should we give you that victory? In August 1967, three months after the war, the Hartoum Council gathered and the Arab countries announced three decisions:

No peace with Israel

No recognition of Israel

No negotiations with Israel

Israel could not swallow the territories that it had liberated, but it couldn't purge itself of them, either. On one hand, there was no one to give them to because nobody was willing to take them. On the other hand, the Zionist spirit that still coursed through the veins of the Labor party preferred to apply the 1948 rules to 1967. The orphans of Gush Etzion and the Jewish community of Hebron wanted to return to the homes that they had been forced to leave before their parents were murdered by the Arab mobs. Their demands were very much a part of the Israeli discourse.

This is the basic outline that explains how the settlements in Judea and Samaria were created. For all practical purposes, Israel declared to the world that this is not our Land but rather, occupied territory. It explained settlements as security needs. That type of legal foundation can hold up three to four years – not forty. The best PR professionals in the world cannot explain the justice of our settlement in Judea and Samaria when our conduct shows that we see ourselves as foreign conquerors settling our citizens in a land that is not ours.

Whoever fantasizes about an Israeli retreat from Judea and Samaria, with or without a partner already has the precedent of the Expulsion from Gush Katif and the subsequent missiles raining on Be'er Sheva and Ashkelon. It seems that we will not be able to change the decision of the Creator since the miraculous Six Day War and this Land will remain ours despite ourselves.

Sooner or later, we will be forced to do what we did in 1948 in Nahariya and Be'er Sheva. We will simply have to apply the Legal Jurisdiction and Authority Act to Judea and Samaria as well. To accomplish this, we will need leadership with a consciousness that does not fear the identity challenges posed by places like the Temple Mount, the Cave of Machpelah and the Tomb of Rachel.

And leadership like that will arise.

It is only a matter of time.

It will arise.
 
The Real Struggle: By Shai Malkah, Manhigut Yehudit Director General

Over the last week, I have been hearing from many frustrated volunteers and activists who want to know what else can be done to save the Ulpana neighborhood. I would like to broaden our perspective and talk about our struggle for all the settlements. What can we do to prevent the erosion and rolling expulsion from all of Judea and Samaria? What is our answer to unfounded and evil legal proceedings to drive Jews from their homes? And most important, how do we see the future of settlement in Judea and Samaria?

On the short term plane, we are working with the Likud ministers to advance a number of ideas that can help prevent a repeat of the Ulpana imbroglio.

1. A thorough investigation of the State Attorney's office to discover who is behind the scandalous state answer to the High Court. Clerks in the State Attorney's office who failed or intentionally sabotaged the case they were supposed to be defending, causing untold damage to the State, must be dismissed. This proceeding has already begun in the Knesset.

2. Regulation: A government decision that declares a change of its policy of destroying Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria. This entails relegating the Talya Sasson Report to the garbage bin of history.

3. Establishment of a ministerial committee for settlement: Implementation of all government decisions made after the Regulation Law did not pass. New government policy on construction in Judea and Samaria. Expropriation of the Defense Minister's authority on the settlements and supervision of all the mechanisms (State Attorney, Civilian Authority, army and police) so that they will internalize and implement the new government policy.

4. Protection for those Arabs who sell their property to Jews. Currently, any Arab who sells property to Jews receives the death penalty. The State must guarantee the well-being of Arab sellers and protect them from this intolerable and immoral reality. Problems with the Ulpana neighborhood and Machpelah House in Hebron and other houses, as well, could have been solved in a more just, ethical and expeditious manner if the State would take responsibility for the welfare of those who cooperate with Israel.

All of this does not mean that we should remove our eyes for even one moment from the source of the problem and its true solution. Most of the Likud ministers and certainly all those Likud MKs who voted in favor of the Regulation Law did not want to see the settlements destroyed. On the contrary, they would be more than happy to be members of a government that would understand that this is our Land and we must build and develop it.

It seems that reality (G-d) is forcing us to establish a faith-based alternative for leadership for Israel. Without it, we simply will not be able to hold on to our Land. We must make the fateful decision: Either this is our Land and we annex it, or we will be "conquerors" in a "foreign" land.

This is the time to strengthen our presence in the Likud and to empower the faith-based alternative for Israel. The fact that the Likud has currently underwritten leftist policy is not a heavenly decree. We, the Likud members, are the majority of the country and we want to see our Land built – not destroyed.

Currently, there is a drive to convince people to leave the Likud and join the NRP Jewish Home party. This move would be totally self-defeating: Should we really surrender our influence and stronghold in the ruling party in exchange for the chance that perhaps somebody will be elected to a high place in one of the remnants of the sectorial parties of the Religious Zionist community? Remember, it is possible to be a member of only one party at a time. If a person leaves the Likud, he will have to wait 16 months to renew his membership and may miss the upcoming elections and the chance to truly affect Israel's future.
 
 Primaries Movie Screened at Manhigut Yehudit NY Dinner

Click here for film

Close to 400 people enjoyed the 10th annual Manhigut Yehudit dinner in New York which highlighted Moshe and Tzippy Feiglin as the Guests of Honor.
Shmuel Sackett was the evening's MC and he was his usual entertaining self.
Awards were presented to:

Louis Wiener – Lifetime Achievement Award
 
Jeff and Barbara Kelman – Lev Yehudi Award

Shiffy Glikman – Eishet Chayil Award

and Yaakov and Hadassah Barzideh – Achdut Award.

A special award was presented to Ari Abramowitz and Jeremy Gimpel for Young Leadership. Ari spoke at the dinner and amused the crowd with his humor and high energy.

A guest appearance was made by Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive VP of the National Council of Young Israel, who informed the crowd about the latest developments with our dear brother, Jonathan Pollard.

2 round-trip tickets to Israel were raffled off and won by Miriam Mehl and Rabbi Don Well.

A good time was had by all.
We look forward to seeing you at next year’s dinner!

 Don't miss this film, a summary of the 2012 primaries between Moshe Feiglin and Netanyahu,
which was screened at the dinner. Enjoy!
 
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If you are already a Likud member and you would like to check your membership status, just email us at: shir@manhigut.org. Be sure to include your name, Israeli ID No., and a phone number where it is easiest to reach you. Or give us a call at our  "English Speakers" office: 02-996-1123 (Israel), or 516-620-2475 (USA).

If you are not Israeli citizen, you can  become a Manhigut Yehudit International Member. Joining Manhigut Yehudit International is much more than just a donation. Now you're part of the team!  If you are interested in arranging a lecture or meeting in your community with Moshe Feiglin or Shmuel Sackett, either in Israel or in the USA, please contact Dovid Shirel at shir@manhigut.org, or call: 02-996-1123 (Israel) or 516-620-2475 (USA).
 

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Our Aim: To perfect the world in the Kingdom of the Almighty