"The Right has taken over the street."
It's not very difficult to take over the secular street,
that is, public opinion. As they say, "Oilom goilom."
The masses are a gullible fool. The wilder and louder the
posters and the more space the billboard notices take up,
the more the "street" is under the influence of those behind
them. No more is needed, for this is the superficial street:
what talks to the masses are placards, ads, stickers,
jingles.
The chareidi street, world or milieu, is somewhat more
difficult to capture. Here the P.R. people need a different
formula which includes an element of religious sentiment.
Here the "rightist" sentiments must bend towards "the right
hand of Hashem." In order to conform to the general chareidi
outlook and still capture the street, the masses, one must
employ motifs of kiddush Hashem, the sanctity and
security of Eretz Yisroel as opposed to the chillul
Hashem inherent in restraint and submission. And the
color red is noticeably present: it screams out -- Do not
stand blithely upon the blood of your brethren!
The question we ask is: "Why do you think your blood is
redder than your brother's?" Consider the poor pure and
innocent chareidi souls oppressed by those who mislead the
masses. Chareidim have to restrict their steps from walking
in the very streets for fear of being assaulted visually by
lewd advertisements and all kinds of depraved things. Why is
their blood not a matter sufficient to shock those selfsame
ones who are begging for help in preserving their
settlements from being uprooted? Why don't they take up the
first cause as they embrace the second?
Why is it that kiddush Hashem and chillul Hashem
are such selective subjects in the eyes of those who
manipulate public opinion? Questions without answers.
The Satmar Rebbe, the Admor R' Yoel Teitelbaum zt'l,
addressed this subject in a speech he made in 5711 (1951)
which was published in the monthly Hamaor journal:
They Call Good -- Bad; and They Call Kiddush Hashem --
Chillul Hashem
This is how one must translate the verse, "Has a nation
exchanged their gods even though they are not gods? But My
people has changed its glory for that which does not profit"
(Yirmiyohu 2:11). Those who stray and those who
mislead exchange the glory of Hashem by claiming that
something which is basically kiddush Hashem is
actually chillul Hashem. And something that is really
a desecration of Hashem's name -- these sinners call
kiddush Hashem. This is how they transpose one for
the other, exactly as is alluded to in the verse in
Yirmiyohu. The phrase, "My people changed My glory,"
refers to their treachery in exchanging that which is called
the glory of Hashem with what is the very opposite -- the
desecration of His name.
This idea can be imposed upon another verse, in Tehillim:
"Hashem is our shelter and stronghold, therefore we will
not fear though the earth change" (Tehillim 46:2).
Even were the entire world to ignore the glory of Hashem, we
would not fear and would not surrender to the thrall of
these false, deceitful ideologies, for we know that such
notions are folly, designed to mislead Israel in false
visions and prophecies.
We walk steadfastly, assuredly, in our ways, the main
highway, the straight road, in the footsteps of the flocks
that cling to the dwellings of the shepherds. Those devious
ones dare express an opinion in matters of holiness when
they are the very desecraters, they defile the Holy Land, as
is expressed in Sefer Yereim, simon 86: Our Creator
knows the heart of man and has urged a strong hand against
allowing the wicked and inciters to settle Eretz Yisroel, as
we find in Mishpotim: "They shall not settle in your
land, lest they incite you to sin."
The Rashbam brings in Bovo Basra 117a: What are we to
learn from the words: "To these shall the land be divided?"
To those who are worthy and holy, in other words, this
excludes the wicked, who did not receive a portion in it.
We must stand steadfast in our outlook. The Torah says that
Horon died in the lifetime of Terach, his father. Literally,
"upon the face." Horon deliberated which side to take in the
famous clash between Nimrod and his brother, Avrom. If Avrom
wins, he said, I will follow him, and if Nimrod is the
victor, I will follow him. When Avrom was saved from the
fiery furnace, Horon was asked: Where do you stand? He said:
I am on Avrom's side. He was cast into the burning furnace --
and was burned to death.
Just imagine: Avrom was the only person in the entire world
who rejected polytheism and embraced the Only One Hashem and
disseminated the belief in Him as the Creator of heaven and
earth. The entire world was on one side, so to speak, and he
was on the other. Avrom Ho'ivri. Why, then, should we
be surprised at Horon's vacillation? Truly, we should praise
him for his strength of spirit in declaring publicly that he
was on Avrom's side!
Yet we see that since he vacillated and stood by the
sidelines to see what would develop and who would be
victorious, he was punished with a very severe and bitter
death.
The lesson to be derived from this is awesome. Sadly enough,
we see much more than this. When Avrohom is vindicated, at
those times when there is less concealment of the Divine
countenance and it becomes clear to one and all that the
wholesome, G-d-fearing ones have been right and have pursued
the true path -- even then, "they" don't have the courage to
proclaim aloud that they belong to Avrohom. On the other
hand, when the powers of evil are victorious, due to our
numerous sins, the scoffers and heretics shout aloud, "We
are on Nimrod's side!"
Woe then unto us from the day of rebuke, for man only sees
outward appearances while Hashem sees into the heart.
