Friday, January 12, 2007

World Peace Starts With Jewish Peace; Perfecting the World

World Peace Starts With Jewish Peace
It seems that the Israeli government and media have not tired of peace proposals. Every self-respecting minister has come up with a new peace plan, one more patently absurd than the next.

Manhigut Yehudit also wants peace. It wants the entire world to recognize the Creator, accept the ethical rules of the King of Kings, and to turn to Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and the House of G-d. When that happens, true peace will reign over all humanity and all of Creation. This is not a new concept. Jews explicitly say it in their prayers three times daily: "To perfect the world in the Kingdom of Heaven." That is the goal of the Nation of Israel. To achieve their goal, the Jews need a state in the Land of Israel. But they also need leadership that fears Heaven -- Jewish leadership.

Authentic Jewish leadership does not abide by Western values. Jews understand that if they want to attain good, they must fight what is bad. Coming to terms with evil is not pursuit of peace. It is the perpetuation of evil. World War Two would not have broken out without the peace movements in England, the US and France.

A perverse symbiosis exists between peace pursuing liberals and the cruelest of mass murderers. It seems that Sadaam Hussein's execution bothers the peace-pursuers a lot more than the slaughter, rape and inconceivable horrors that he perpetrated upon hundreds and thousands of his subjects. After all, Sadaam cannot harm us anymore. So why should we ruin our comfortable despair with the barbarous site of an execution by hanging?

In truth, what bothers them is much more than the revolting sight. What bothers them is the very fact that justice has been done. In their world -- a world that has no G-d, no good and no evil, in a world where everyone has his own narrative -- such a clear enforcement of justice shakes the very foundations of their consciousness.

Manhigut Yehudit understands that there is good and evil and that evil must be fought. When Israel will be the moral lighthouse of the world, our army may intervene in order to halt a Darpur -- type slaughter. Nobody would be surprised if an Israeli missile would suddenly destroy a terror enclave in the Sudanese desert.

But currently, Israel flees its identity and completely lacks the moral fortitude necessary to defeat evil and achieve authentic peace. If the IDF, which buried its soul in the sands of Gush Katif, is called upon to fight our enemies now, it will lose.

Before we can bring intrinsic peace to the world, we must make peace with ourselves -- with our own Jewish identity. The place to begin is at the Temple Mount -- Judaism's holiest site and the place that most expresses our Jewish identity.



Perfecting the World
"When you go up to the Temple Mount with Moshe Feiglin and the Manhigut crowd," reported Manhigut Yehudit activist DBL, "you understand -- one hundred percent -- that we will succeed in rectifying the State of Israel and that we are well on our way to accomplishing our goal. Our very presence there helps to change the present reality."

DBL joined Moshe Feiglin and other Manhigut Yehudit members on this Tuesday morning for the monthly Manhigut ascent to the Temple Mount. "The Temple Mount is the place where the destruction of the Temple and its lack in our lives is most acutely felt." DBL continued. "The most blatant reminder of the exile in our day is the exile mentality to which our State relentlessly clings. When you go up to the Temple Mount, you have to steel yourself for some really awful humiliation. The police searches and warnings -- reserved for religious looking Jews only -- that if you dare move your lips in prayer on the Mount you will be arrested and blacklisted from ever entering the Mount again, are painful reminders of the exile mentality that still plagues us.

But when you hear Moshe Feiglin talking on the Temple Mount, you can actually see the new, belief based reality unfold before your very eyes. While still feeling the pain of the destruction and exile, you become filled with hope and enthusiasm. The policemen who guarded us listened to Moshe intently and seemed to catch on. The Arab who scrutinized us to make sure we didn't dare pray, understood as well. The Manhigut group on the Mount is not there to dream. It's there to make the dream a reality."

"Close your eyes and picture the way the Temple will look," Moshe Feiglin instructs his listeners. "Imagine all the Jewish people walking here. Imagine the glorious Temple, towering 50 meters high. Imagine the Priests scurrying back and forth; imagine the heavenly songs of the Levites."

But in addition to imagining the future, Moshe continually emphasizes what small steps need to be taken today to create the belief based reality. "Do you see that policeman there?" he asks the group. "Today, he is here to make sure that we do not pray. When there will be a Jewish State, he will also stand in the same spot. Everything may look the same -- the same policeman and the same visitors. But instead of preventing people from worshipping the G-d of Israel in this holy place, he will finally be helping to preserve Jewish values. He will gladly make sure that everybody who enters the Mount is well-versed in the laws of the sanctity of the Temple Mount, that every Jew has ritually immersed in a mikvah, has removed his shoes, and does not enter areas forbidden by Jewish law. This change in consciousness is the epitome of the belief based revolution. And complete Jewish sovereignty on the Temple Mount is its quintessential expression." The policeman smiled slightly and nodded his head in agreement.

People often ask how it is that religious Jews go up to the Temple Mount. They are under the false impression that Jewish law prohibits entering the Mount at all. "Pray on the Temple Mount?" they ask in astonishment. "Why would you want to do that???" There is no question that there are places on the Temple Mount that are strictly forbidden. But the facts are that Jewish sages and scholars throughout the centuries have ascended the Temple Mount and prayed there, always abiding by the laws of proper honor for the Mount and strict observance of the boundaries over which it is forbidden to step. These boundaries are also well delineated today by Rabbinical authorities and observant visitors stay far away from them.

"The issue is not whether it is permissible or not to enter the Temple Mount," DBL added. "The problem is that today's religious leadership is petrified of leading this nation. They do not want to rock the status quo boat, in which the State is secular, with the observant people providing the spice of Jewish tradition. But Manhigut Yehudit aims to take responsibility for the Jewish nation. It strives for a state motivated by Jewish values and led by people who believe in G-d. As with all our other woes, the place that the lack of authentic Jewish leadership is most starkly felt is on the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount is also the place that symbolizes the revitalization process that has already begun."

"Our visit to the Temple Mount was absolutely inspiring," DBL sums up. It seems that even the policemen were moved by Moshe Feiglin's talk. At the end of the visit, one of the policemen surreptitiously approached Moshe and said to him, "In the end you will succeed. May that happen soon!"


For more on the Temple Mount and religion, see Moshe Feiglin's article: Rebuilding the Temple and Religion: Reflections on Tisha B'Av.



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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

OK, so what is your practical path from Point A (political nowheresville) to Point B (control of the Knesset and PM office)?

What self-respecting Orthodox group will sign on with your party that disses their Rabbonim?

Jason Gold-Editor said...

First, we are not in political nowhersville as you call it. We are now the single largest bloc in the Likud and getting stronger every day.Step 1, take over Likud, step 2, unite the right, step 3, take over leadership of the country and that's when the work really starts as the knives will come from all directions.

Secondly, no one is dissing the Rabbanim. I have said all along it is tragic that some Rabbaim are forced to sully their hands in a political process where they get heat both from the religious and the secular. That has to stop. They were never intended to be part of a political process (see Temple era history with clear separation of powers between King/Nasi and the Sanhedrin). Trust me people who are disgusted with the current situation, will sih=gn up in droves once feiglin and MY take over Likud. Since the Chanuka conference, it is already starting. Others just need a little more convincing. So, what are you waiting for? Want to bring change? WORK FOR IT!!!!

Anonymous said...

this is interesting could u please elaborate on the difference between nassi and king its a very interesting thing btw how come the leaders dont speak abt individual good things like chesed and the building blocks of good jews and good society it isnt just vote for me save the world it works by one good deed at a time to make power and energy in good over evil thanks soo much all im saying is id like to hear small talk once in a while