Dei'ah veDibur - Information & Insight
  

A Window into the Chareidi World

16 Tammuz 5762 - June 26, 2002 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
NEWS

OPINION
& COMMENT

OBSERVATIONS

HOME
& FAMILY

IN-DEPTH
FEATURES

VAAD HORABBONIM HAOLAMI LEINYONEI GIYUR

TOPICS IN THE NEWS

HOMEPAGE

 

Produced and housed by
Shema Yisrael Torah Network
Shema Yisrael Torah Network

Opinion & Comment
More Force - the Solution??

To The Editor:

Those Israelis who stress that we have to use more force and keep hitting the Arabs harder, imagine that this will stop the violence and put fear into the Arabs' hearts. As much as you try to explain to them that the it does not work like this, they are simply not interested.

All the advocates of more force and violence -- even some religious Israelis, who should know better -- insist on ignoring the fact that there is a book, which explains exactly how to understand our problems with the Arabs, and the name of that book is The Tanach. All we have to do is read it with a bit more sensitivity and look for the message -- a message that a five-year-old could, in fact, understand.

G-d explains over and over that when we have problems with our enemies it is always His way of punishing us. One example after another is related in the Tanach and G-d explains how each time it is He who saves us -- when we deserve it. Never is it mentioned that we must use more force to be redeemed! Only Amolek was a unique, one-time example which applied specifically and only to this one case.

We have to finally realize that the very hatred of the Arabs towards us is most certainly a punishment from G- d -- and that only He has the ability to reverse this, if we deserve it. Our first signal to G-d that we do deserve His help, will be our conscious recognition and awareness that it is He who has the ability to assist us in achieving "peace and security."

Unfortunately, we will probably be fated to suffer eternal hatred and terrorism from our enemies, unless we can truly begin to believe in G-d's might -- and cease being so embarrassed to even mention His existence. All this is not easy, for we cannot see G-d.

Let us keep in mind that in fact the supreme test of man since Creation has always been the test of his ability to believe in G-d Whom we cannot see -- to fear and revere Him and to even love Him.

Life, with all its hurdles and upheavals and tragedies, is in essence one long challenge to try to pass that test.

Sincerely,

Michael Glazer

Tanei Tikva


All material on this site is copyrighted and its use is restricted.
Click here for conditions of use.