Parsha Ki Seitzei
21:10 When thou go forth to battle against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God delivers them into thy hands, and thou carry them away captive, 11 and see among the captives a woman of goodly form, and thou hast a desire unto her, and would take her to thee to wife; 12 then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; 13 and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month; and after that thou may go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
Rabbi Beryl Wein Shlita @torah.org this week comments on this section. I did not plan to write too much on this as over the years I have extensively covered this from many angles but Rabbi Wein talks about the struggle within all of us. This comment is good for Chodesh Elul.
… The enemy described is not so much a physical or national enemy as it is a spiritual or societal foe. In the immortal words of the famed comic strip character Pogo “we have met the enemy and they are us.”
We are all aware that many times in life we are our own worst enemy. We engage in harmful practices and commit acts that we know to be detrimental and self-destructive. Yet, we are driven by our desires, and we often allow ourselves to be trapped into a situation that can only lead to disappointment. The Torah as is its wont to do, vividly describes the struggle that we have with ourselves for self-improvement and personal accomplishment. It describes this struggle as a war, a battle against the ferocious and aggressive enemy who must be combatted.
This idea, that our struggle in life is to be viewed as an inner battle in the war of life, is meant to impress upon us to develop within ourselves as wholesome personalities. At one and at the same time, we are bidden to deal with eternity and heavenly ideals, and simultaneously, we are occupied with the mundane fact of everyday living.
Caught in this contradiction of circumstances, we are oftentimes prone to succumb to our daily problems and issues, completely ignoring the larger spiritual picture that is present. It is at such moments of self-absorption that temptation translates itself into reality, and we create situations that ultimately prove to be enormously harmful to our well-being.
Great generals oftentimes engage in a tactical retreat, to achieve a strategic victory. War is always a long-term situation, filled with temporary reversals and plans that remain unfulfilled or even abandoned. But the overarching reality is that basic strategy requires tenacity, courage, flexibility, and a stubborn refusal to succumb to the societal, political, and worldly pressures that beset all of us. It is interesting that despite all our pleas and prayers for peace, war is a constant in human history. It may take on different forms, cold, economic, or military, but it is ever present within our world. By reminding us of this fact, the Torah prepares us for victory in the struggles of life.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Berel Wein
14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not deal with her as a slave, because thou hast humbled her.
Chances are that the soldier will take the woman and without waiting humble her. The Pshat is that she must shave her hair, pare her nails live in his house and wait a month for Mikvah. Even the act of cutting the hair and paring the nails is humbling to her. In that month even if he did something with her, he is to make her into a wife. However, the captive woman has a chance of hating him for everything.
15 If a man has two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the first-born son be hers that was hated;
This is next to the captured woman so maybe she hates him and nags him. On the other hand, she might like being treated nicely by the Jew instead of how our cousins the Arabs or Taliban treat their wives. For it is not usual for the commentary to state that she is the hated wife and it could be that his original Jewish wife is jealous of the newer and sexier wife. So the question remains unsolved and the other possibility is that he married two Jewish wives and one is a nag or not cleanly.
16 then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved the first-born before the son of the hated, who is the first-born;
The Pshat here is that his wives could be born Jewish and he did not want to divorce his first wife but needed a second wife for some reason (aging or ill first wife). Since it is rare that a man gives away inheritance in his life time, the cause is usually his passing.
17 but he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the first-fruits of his strength, the right of the first-born is his.
This is proof that the son is from his first wife.
18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, that will not hearken to the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten him, will not hearken unto them;
The ben Sorah V’ Moreh eats like a glutton and begins stealing food. His father and mother speak in one voice and the Sages say that they sound alike.
19 then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; 20 and they shall say unto the elders of his city: 'This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he doth not hearken to our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.' 21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die; so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
The Talmud discusses this and one says there never was such a son and another said that he saw the grave of such a son.
22 And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree; 23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is a reproach unto God; that thou defile not thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Honor for the dignity of the deceased human.
22:1 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep driven away, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt surely bring them back unto thy brother. 2 And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, and thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it home to thy house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother require it, and thou shalt restore it to him. 3 And so shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his garment; and so shalt thou do with every lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found; thou may not hide thyself.
This includes the donkey or property of another Jew whom he dislikes or hates as it says brother and that means fellow Jew.
4 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again. 5 A woman shall not wear that which pertains unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Cross dressing is forbidden however it has become the custom on Purim among some to put on the wife’s wig and since men wear a toupee it is not the cross dressing of the Pasuk. Men have given their wives jackets or coats during winter in a chivalrous manner and although not for starters it is not the cross dressing abomination of the Pasuk. There is a problem with slacks or pants on women unless they are doing sport to keep certain areas covered up or they wear like the Yemenites a dress over the pants or like the Peruvian women. I am not giving a Heter for this but just saying that per sec it is not a violation of the Mitzvah. A dress width pants called KOOLAUTS or something like that since it is only worn by women also does not violate the Mitzvah but is not necessarily approved of by the Rabbis.
6 If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young; 7 thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, but the young thou may take unto thyself; that it may be well with thee, and that thou may prolong thy days.
Prolong they days not necessarily in this world but in the next which is one of Justice and Compassion.
8 When thou build a new house, then thou shalt make a parapet for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thy house, if any man fall from thence.
It could be that a man is given a Gezaira of Skilla (throwing down and stoning) and by falling off the roof the Gezaira will be completed. However, you must do what you can to prevent this. If he falls then it is from the DIVINE but you are not culpable as you put up a railing or good fence.
9 Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with two kinds of seed; lest the fullness of the seed which thou hast sown be forfeited together with the increase of the vineyard. 10 Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. 11 Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff, wool and linen together.
We had the forbidden mixtures Shatnez in Sefer Vayikra Parsha Kedoshim.
12 Thou shalt make thee twisted cords upon the four corners of thy covering, wherewith thou cover thyself.
Tzitzis is covered in Parsha Shelach Lecha.
13 If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, 14 and lay wanton charges against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say: 'I took this woman, and when I came nigh to her, I found not in her the tokens of virginity'; 15 then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate. 16 And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders: 'I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hates her; 17 and, lo, he hath laid wanton charges, saying: I found not in thy daughter the tokens of virginity; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity.' And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. 18 And the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him. 19 And they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel; and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.
Such charges being false will play all hell into him for the rest of his life.
20 But if this thing be true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the damsel; 21 then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die; because she hath wrought a wanton deed in Israel, to play the harlot in her father's house; so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.
If she was an Arusa or married without consummating the marriage or without the Ketuvah then she can be put to death but today where the ceremony is perhaps an engagement ring and party it is not the same as in the Talmudic times and no real marriage occurs and she does not violate anything (other than the trust of her father and the intended groom).
22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so shalt thou put away the evil from Israel.
A standard case of adultery.
23 If there be a damsel that is a virgin betrothed unto a man, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; 24 then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die: the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbor's wife; so thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.
After Arusim or full marriage this is the punishment for adultery.
25 But if the man find the damsel that is betrothed in the field, and the man take hold of her, and lie with her; then the man only that lay with her shall die. 26 But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death; for as when a man rises against his neighbor, and slays him, even so is this matter. 27 For he found her in the field; the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.
She screamed ‘help rape’ but being far away in the field or woods etc. nobody could hear.
28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, that is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; 29 then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her; he may not put her away all his days.
Women don’t usually like fellows that rape them and she will play hell unto him all her life. However, seduction is a different story.
23:1 A man shall not take his father's wife, and shall not uncover his father's skirt. 2 He that is crushed or maimed in his privy parts shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD. 3 A bastard shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of the LORD.
A man for whatever reason is maimed in his privates or a Maumzer is forbidden to participate in the Mikdash as like the Korban he should be complete.
4 An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of them enter into the assembly of the LORD forever; 5 because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Aram-naharaim, to curse thee. 6 Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee. 7 Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.
Certain nations have bad genes that have a negative effect on the Neshama. They are Amalek, Ammon and Moav. What made Ruth from Moav worthy of siring the Moshiach was her modesty. Amalek applies to both male and female but the other two only the males.
8 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother; thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because thou were a stranger in his land. 9 The children of the third generation that are born unto them may enter into the assembly of the LORD.
One is from Yitzchak and the other hosted us for good or for evil.
10 When thou go forth in camp against thine enemies, then thou shalt keep thee from every evil thing. 11 If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of that which chances him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp. 12 But it shall be, when evening comes on, he shall bathe himself in water; and when the sun is down, he may come within the camp. 13 Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad. 14 And thou shalt have a paddle among thy weapons; and it shall be, when thou sit down abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee. 15 For the LORD thy God walks in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore, shall thy camp be holy; that He see no unseemly thing in thee, and turn away from thee.
Two points here, a ritually impure person should not join in the battle. [Nowadays, see Aruch Chaim Siman Tzadde (90) one can pray but a full shower and even Mikvah is preferred.]
16 Thou shalt not deliver unto his master a bondman that is escaped from his master unto thee; 17 he shall dwell with thee, in the midst of thee, in the place which he shall choose within one of thy gates, where it likes him best; thou shalt not wrong him.
The slave was treated well by the master he was given employment that had a compensation package, he was given food, board and clothing and sometimes even a wife by the master. If he runs away from this to nothing, it means that he must have been abused.
18 There shall be no harlot of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel. 19 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a harlot, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow; for even both these are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Oh would this be true. However, the generations of Yisrael have weakened and some females look for ‘easy money’ and they might even enjoy their work if they are independent but if there are two things that the L-RD hates they are idol worship and immodest/immoral behavior. So I do not know the price of such a woman but if it is let us say $X then one cannot donate $X to the Mikdash and the same thing if a pedigree dog cost $1000 or from the pound $100.
20 Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother: interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of anything that is lent upon interest. 21 Unto a foreigner thou may lend upon interest; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon interest; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou put thy hand unto, in the land whither thou go in to possess it.
This is the basis for a Gemach or giving Chessed to your brother or neighbor. Sometimes it does not have to be a poor person who borrows. Right before my daughter’s wedding, my car was totaled. I needed a new car fast and for me to bring over money from the States took time. I took out a large loan from a Gemach that I paid back in less than a month.
22 When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not be slack to pay it; for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it will be sin in thee. 23 But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee. 24 That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt observe and do; according as thou hast vowed freely unto the LORD thy God, even that which thou hast promised with thy mouth.
Every time we say Hallel, we say that “Vows unto HASHEM, I shall pay” and the Psalmist repeated it twice 116:14.
25 When thou come into thy neighbor's vineyard, then thou may eat grapes until thou have enough at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.
This Pasuk was misinterpreted by some Israelis last year who came to field and had a picnic it was hundreds of families and they destroyed a watermelon field of a farmer on Shabbos Kodesh (literally deserving the death penalty for picking fruit or harvesting on Shabbos and stealing) in short the poor man paid a small fortune for water and he lost all his crops. The Pasuk is referring to the corner of the field or Shmita that belongs to the poor or others.
26 When thou come into thy neighbor's standing corn, then thou may pluck ears with thy hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbor's standing corn. 24:1 When a man taketh a wife, and marries her, then it cometh to pass, if she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some unseemly thing in her, that he writes her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, 2 and she departs out of his house, and goes and becomes another man's wife, 3 and the latter husband hates her, and writes her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, who took her to be his wife; 4 her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD; and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Also from the Torah.org this week:
Question: Why is it forbidden for a woman to remarry an ex-husband after having married someone else for period of time?
Answer: Rabbi S.R. Hirsch (Deuteronomy 24:4) observes that there can be nothing legally wrong or immoral with either the first divorce, or the second marriage and its own subsequent divorce. Why then, he asks (precisely as you do), does the Torah forbid the first husband from remarrying his original wife?
Finding ingenious textual evidence, Rabbi Hirsch suggest that with this law, the Torah attempts to forestall any corrupted abuse of the holy marriage institution: Should a couple wish to engage in a reprehensible cycle of “wife-swapping” – but with the imprimatur of legality – they could collude with another man to plan a set of divorces and marriages to facilitate their desires.
By forbidding this remarriage, this avenue is blocked. Could this potentially have caused harm to a perfectly innocent couple who made an honest mistake? Perhaps. But I am sure that the knowledge of this law has made many other mildly dissatisfied couples give every ounce of extra energy they had to make their existing marriages work – thereby further sanctifying marriage in general.
I hope this helps,
Rabbi Boruch Clinton
5 When a man taketh a new wife, he shall not go out in the host, neither shall he be charged with any business; he shall be free for his house one year, and shall cheer his wife whom he hath taken.
One of the 7 Berachos of the marriage is to Samayach both the groom and bride. (order of the Bracha not the bride and groom in the English language).
6 No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone to pledge; for he taketh a man's life to pledge.
Or truck, or computer, store or other means of earning money.
7 If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and he deal with him as a slave, and sell him; then that thief shall die; so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.
The Rabbis say that this is thou shall not steal of the Decalogue.
8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you, as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do. 9 Remember what the LORD thy God did unto Miriam, by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt. 10 When thou dost lend thy neighbor any manner of loan, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge. 11 Thou shalt stand without, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring forth the pledge without unto thee. 12 And if he be a poor man, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge; 13 thou shalt surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment, and bless thee; and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God.
You have given a poor man a loan; have compassion upon him and return his pledge by night so that he can cover himself at night.
14 Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates. 15 In the same day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD and it be sin in thee.
Similar to the raiment of the poor man in both cases and the case where you do not loan him- lest he cry against thee unto the LORD and it be sin in thee.
16 The fathers shall not 17 Thou shalt not pervert the justice due to the stranger, or to the fatherless; nor take the widow's raiment to pledge. 18 But thou shalt remember that thou were a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence; therefore, I command thee to do this thing. 19 When thou reap thy harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go back to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.
Your charity will bless you and save you from death and/or becoming poor yourself.
20 When thou beat thine olive-tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 21 When thou gather the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it after thee; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 22 And thou shalt remember that thou were a bondman in the land of Egypt; therefore, I command thee to do this thing.
This charity will prevent your children from being fatherless or your wife a widow.
25:1 If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, and the judges judge them, by justifying the righteous, and condemning the wicked, 2 then it shall be, if the wicked man deserve to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to the measure of his wickedness, by number. 3 Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should be dishonored before thine eyes. 4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treads out the corn. 5 If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not be married abroad unto one not of his kin; her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her. 6 And it shall be, that the first-born that she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother that is dead, that his name be not blotted out of Israel. lest he cry against thee unto the LORD and it be sin in thee.
We do not really do Yebum today for two reasons. One she is a wife of a brother but she or you might not want each other. Secondly, there is no inheritance as in the time of Yoshua when the land you lived on was from the original family lottery in which the daughters of Zelphad got their portion too.
7 And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate unto the elders, and say: 'My husband's brother refuses to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother unto me.' 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him; and if he stand, and say: 'I like not to take her'; 9 then shall his brother's wife draw nigh unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say: 'So shall it be done unto the man that doth not build up his brother's house.' 10 And his name shall be called in Israel the house of him that had his shoe loosed.
This was a terrible embarrassment that people did not do the Mitzvah of Yebum. Of course if he had a daughter the brother was exempt.
11 When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smites him, and puts forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets; 12 then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall have no pity.
What type of a woman grabs a man’s private parts! If she took a broom or shovel and banged him there it is not the same but not recommended.
13 Thou shalt not have in thy bag diverse weights, a great and a small. 14 Thou shalt not have in thy house diverse measures, a great and a small. 15 A perfect and just weight shalt thou have; a perfect and just measure shalt thou have; that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 16 For all that do such things, even all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Parsha Kedoshim calls for an Ephod Tzeddek, Hin Tzeddek for weights and measures.
17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt; 18 how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were enfeebled in thy rear, when thou were faint and weary; and he feared not God. 19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget.
This is a special Mitzvah to remember what Amalek did like for Americans Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
ISIS and the Taliban put armies on the run so what is the secret of the IDF?
The whole Middle East was ruled by the Byzantine Empire. They were Christians. In the course of years after Mohammed the area was Muslim and only Charles Mantel stopped their advance in France. The anti-Islamic reaction that came about was the Crusades and its pogroms and eventually the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal.
All this is history. Simply when a cruel murderous force like ISIS or the Taliban fight an army the troops have two choices fight to the death or flee. If one fights to the death, he might die a hero and stop the enemy but if he surrenders or is captured he is murdered. So the rout begins and the soldiers break ranks like playing cards pushing themselves backwards.
It was Dr. Harry in one of his poems about 5 to 10years ago. The poem was called: “Nowhere to Hide” and perhaps after the Shoah that is Israel’s answer. We do everything not to fall into captivity of our cruel enemies. We know that if we are captured the chance of survival is very low. We know that if we flee the border then Metulla, Kiriat Shema, etc. in the north is wide open or in the south some Kibbutzim and Ashkelon.
Israel knows that the Swiss and Belgistan don’t allow Kosher Slaughter and the later wants to abandon circumcision but the Muslim population would burn down the country. When your back is to the wall you have no choice but to be willing to fight and if necessary make the ultimate sacrifice. What happened in Saigon in ’75 and Kabul this year would be the fate of Israel if not for a strong and ready fighting force.
NOW WHAT DOES ALL THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ELUL?
ON ROSH HASHANAH WE ARE JUDGE WHO WILL LIVE AND WHO WILL DIE. WHOM BY HAVING A SHORT LIFE AND WHOM WITH A LONG LIFE, WHOM BY EARTHQUAKE AND WHOM BY PLAGUE, WHOM BY FIRE AND WHOM BY WATER.
BUT TESHUVA, TEPHILLA AND TZEDUKA WARD OFF THE EVIL DECREE.
OUR BACKS ARE TO THE WALL WITH OUR SINS AND TRANSGRESSION THE ONLY CHOICE WE HAVE IS TO FIGHT THEM. NOW IS THE TIME TO FIGHT THE EVIL DECREE.
Undercover spy spoils Nazis. By Prof. Steven J. Ross
On July 26, 1933, a group of Nazis held their first public rally in Los Angeles. As Jewish groups in the city debated how they should respond to Adolf Hitler’s persecution of Jews in Europe, L.A.’s Nazis, many of them German emigres, gathered at a biergarten downtown, wearing brown shirts and red, white and black armbands with swastikas.
The Nazis belonged to a growing movement of white supremacists in L.A. that included many American brothers in hate: the Ku Klux Klan, a group of Hitler supporters known as the Silver Shirts, and a dozen like-minded organizations with vaguely patriotic names such as the American Nationalist Party, the Christian American Guard, and the National Protective Order of Gentiles.
Hindenburg Park gained notoriety in the late 1930s when the Bund, a political group styling itself after the Nazis, staged several rallies there. (Historical Society of Crescenta)
Some weeks ago, white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., chanted “Jews will not replace us.” Their predecessors were even less subtle: They called for “death to Jews.”
Unwilling to wait and see if any of them would act on their threats, Leon Lewis, a Jewish lawyer and World War I veteran who had helped found the Anti-Defamation League, decided to investigate the anti-Semitic hate groups. In August 1933, mere weeks after the rally, Lewis recruited four fellow World War I veterans, plus their wives, to go undercover and join every Nazi and fascist group in the city.
Leon Lewis understood that hate knows no national boundaries.
Lewis’ recruits did not know there would be another world war. And they certainly did not know a Holocaust would occur in Europe.
But once they had infiltrated the groups, they understood that they had to take the Nazi threat seriously. They repeatedly heard fellow Americans talk candidly about wanting to overthrow the government and kill every Jewish man, woman and child.
Lewis’ operatives were all Christian, save for one Jew. They regarded their mission as an American one. Their intention was to gather sufficient evidence of illegal activities by the groups, then turn it over to the appropriate government agencies, after which Lewis planned to return to practicing law. What Lewis did not anticipate is that local authorities would prove indifferent to – or supportive of – the Nazis and fascists.
Within weeks of going undercover, Lewis’ network of spies discovered a plot to wrest control of armories in San Francisco, L.A. and San Diego – part of a larger plan to take over local governments and carry out a mass execution of Jews. Lewis immediately informed L.A. Police Chief James Edgar “Two-Gun” Davis of the Nazi scheme to seize weapons and, as Lewis warned in a memo later, to “foster a fascist form of government in the United States.”
Lewis was shocked when Davis interrupted him to defend Hitler. The police chief, he noted in the memo, told him: “Germans could not compete economically with the Jews in Germany and had been forced to take the action they did.” The greatest danger the city faced, Davis insisted, was not from Nazis but from communists living in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Boyle Heights. As far as Davis was concerned, every communist was a Jew and every Jew a communist.
Lewis got a similar response from the Sheriff’s Department and local FBI agents, many of whom were sympathetic to the Nazis and fascists. He decided he had to continue the operation, and his spies agreed.
From the summer of 1933 until 1945, while many Americans closed their eyes to the hate growing around them, Lewis’ spies and informants, who numbered close to two dozen at the height of operations, risked their lives to stop Hitler’s minions and alert citizens to the danger these groups posed.
They uncovered a series of Nazi plots. There was a plan to murder 24 Hollywood actors and power figures, including Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldwyn, Charlie Chaplin and James Cagney. There was a plan to drive through Boyle Heights and machine-gun as many Jewish residents as possible. There were plans for fumigating the homes of Jewish families with cyanide, and for blowing up military installations and seizing munitions from National Guard armories on the day Nazis intended to launch their American putsch.
These plans for murder and sabotage failed because Lewis’ operatives penetrated the inner circles of the hate groups and foiled them. Charles Slocombe, Lewis’ ace spy, thwarted two of the deadliest plots to kill Hollywood figures, one of them by turning Nazis and fascists against one another and raising fears that they might be arrested for murder due to leaks inside the German American Bund and Silver Shirts. Slocombe stopped a second mass murder plot by convincing three of the plotters that the mastermind behind the plan, the British fascist Leopold McLaglan, was about to betray them.
Knowing their inner circles had been infiltrated, but not by whom, and unwilling to risk prison, the groups postponed their plans. Permanently.
Without ever firing a gun, Lewis and his spies managed to defeat a variety of enemies. Only after Congress declared war on Germany did government authorities finally relieve Lewis – “the most dangerous Jew in Los Angeles,” as Nazis called him – of the burden of tracking down these dangerous elements. Nevertheless, he and his operatives continued to monitor the groups throughout the war years.
Leon Lewis understood that hate knows no national boundaries. Foreign-born Nazis and American-born Silver Shirts and Klansmen gladly joined together in targeting Jews and communists. And few Americans, either inside or outside the government, tried to stop them in those early years.
He and his network of spies understood the importance of vigilance. They refused to allow their city and country to be threatened by hate. With their actions they show us that when a democratic government fails to stop extremists bent on violence, citizens must protect one another, no matter their race or religion.
This article originally appeared in the LA Times.
Steven J. Ross is a professor of history at USC and the author of “Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America.”
At the Church of the Latter-day Saints my mother’s moment of truth By Rabbi Levi Welton
https://www.aish.com/sp/so/At-the-Church-of-Latter-Day-Saints-My-Mothers-Moment-of-Truth.html?s=hp1
My mother was an “Eishet Chayal” – a “Warrior Woman” – long before she knew the meaning of King Solomon’s words that my father sings to her every Friday night. Her childhood touch-points with Judaism were sparse. It was only when she went to the free-thinking and free-loving college campus of U.C. Riverside that her connection to her spiritual heritage truly started to flower.
It was the 1970’s. She was modest by nature, what some frat boys called a “prude”. She initially lived in the women’s dorm and then moved into an apartment with three salt-of-the-earth Mormon female roommates.
They made her feel comfortable – chatting without cussing, abstaining from alcohol and drugs, and not making fun of her for wearing skirts and dresses that comfortably fit her body without uncomfortably advertising it. Their idea of a "party" was having get-togethers where people had pleasant conversations, followed by packing food for charity.
One day, her roommates burst into their flat, shivering with excitement. My mother put down her book and adjusted her glasses. What’s gotten into them? Did one of them start dating a boy? she wondered.
“You won’t believe it,” they told her. “Our Church is choosing a new prophet!”
My mother had never seen them this excited. “When? What happens?”
They excitedly told her of the “once in a lifetime” moment when a new President, or “Prophet”, of the Church of Latter-Day Saints is chosen. Swept up in the rush of youthful zeal, my mother found herself agreeing to join them on the road trip from California to Utah, headquarters of their faith.
Why not? she told herself. She was an inquisitive person and what better way to explore a culture than with a literal front-row seat. And if anything goes wrong, I can just shut my mouth and keep my head down and no one will notice me. This introverted life-approach had served her well so far, hiding her sensitivity and intelligence from intimidating people, especially men, who teased her for it.
Those who believed the imminent Mormon president to be the “only true Prophet on Earth” should stand up and lift their palm towards the ceiling. That’s when my mother’s Jewish soul woke up.
But 663 dust-blown miles and many changes of outfits later and my mother found herself trapped. She was sitting in the third-row balcony of a castle-like hall, surrounded by thousands of believers and dozens of national and international media cameras and reporters. Someone had just announced that all those who believed the imminent Mormon president to be the “only true Prophet on Earth” should – when called upon – stand up and lift their palm towards a small, blue-sky filled, square window in the ceiling as testimony to the One Above in all things.
And that’s when my mother’s Yiddishe neshama (Jewish soul) woke up. You don’t believe in this, so you can’t do this. You must be honest, an inner voice told her. My mother glanced around, looking for a way out. But she was jammed in between her two friends. And on either side of her, crashing towards her was a wave of hands being lifted in the air, highlighted by bolts of bright sunlight from the tall windows.
Maybe she should stand up but keep her mouth shut, or raise her palm but keep her head down. Maybe slink lower into her chair and pray for a miracle that no one notices her. She was experiencing the introvert's worst nightmare.
Her heartbeat zoomed into overdrive. And as the color crimson filled the capillaries in her translucent cheeks, she remained seated, even when she realized that all the people below were looking up at her section, and at her, at the one person sitting. The news cameras zoomed in to capture her face. Shocked whispers and furious note-scratching of journalists assaulted her from every angle. She shut her eyes and felt the heat of shame.
Her picture was later featured in international magazines, with commentary speculating who was this mysterious woman who remained sitting. My mother wondered what hell-fire her roommates would receive from their church and friends. But back in their hotel room, they consoled her and said, "You shouldn’t do what you don’t believe."
My mother told me, “My roommates supported me; they had my back.”
By the end of her college years, my mother was attending regular Shabbat services. Upon graduating with a PhD in Microbial Genetics, she stepped out of the rat race to attend Machon Chanah, a women's seminary in Chassidic Brooklyn.
My mother, my teacher, embodies the ideals of the Jewish woman of valor. She’s a warrior not defined by the glorification of violence but by the moral nobility of her values.
Her bold moment of shame for staying committed to her Truth and her fierce courage to live authentically makes me so proud to call her my mother.
Ed. note: The original version said this took place in the Mormon temple. After checking with his mother, the author has changed the location to a large hall.
Moreh Leah was the English Teacher of Menashe. She has put out some songs. This one is for small children. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311726 for Simchas Torah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgfQXwGD_V8
Who is the legal mother the surrogate or genetic mother? https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311855
Seven-year-old gives charity and finds a wife when he grows up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQMGboR5e6Q
Milestone philanthropist Eva Besen, 93. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312011
Inyanay Diyoma
Children 5 – 11 at high risk get Covid shot. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311810
Bennett calls to vaccinate 24/7. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311710
Kabul falls expect ISIS and more. https://www.debka.com/with-taliban-at-the-gates-of-kabul-al-qaeda-and-isis-also-set-for-comeback/
Iran is emboldened. https://www.debka.com/tehran-nuclear-diplomacy-is-contingent-on-a-new-agenda-new-anti-west-fm-tipped-by-raisi/
Poland stealing Jewish Property. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311726
7.2 Quake in Haiti many dead. https://www.timesofisrael.com/haiti-quake-toll-soars-to-1297-as-storm-threatens-rescue-effort/
Iron Dome defends Sderot. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311825
Dopes at the State Dept. refuse to meet Iranian freedom member. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311839
Armed Arab dressed as IDF arrested by Kfir Brigade. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311827
Kabul Mayor on US withdrawal. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311836
Ed-Op Bederman on BDS: https://dianebederman.com/bds-and-israel/
Vaccines become more available. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311727
After Kabul and Iran all the State Dept. can do is impede Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311720
FL Federation delivers 7500 backpacks to the needy. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311716
IAF orders investigation into malfunction on plane. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311728
Fires started near Yerushalayim may evacuate Hadassah. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-august-16-2021/
Winery goes up in flames in the middle of the harvest. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/3118115 dead at
Kabul Airport, falling stowaways filmed. https://www.timesofisrael.com/5-killed-at-kabul-airport-amid-reports-of-shooting-stampedes-falling-stowaways/
Down under send Jews to gas Chambers after violation. https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-melbourne-lockdown-breach-hospital-intern-says-send-jews-to-gas-chamber/
Rabbis condemn violation of curfew. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311828
Chocolate to finance Hamas. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311835
Soon injections for over 40. https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/hkrsehdey
Hezballah learns from Biden’s and Bennett’s weakness. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311784
Original horse might have been found in Troy. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311806
Lambda variant more dangerous. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311817
Baby born to bereaved parents. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311819
600 Americans still trapped in Afghanistan. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311826
Canadian Elections in Sept. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311794
Biden stands by withdrawal. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hkc28ndgk
Yemeni – the fall of Kabul is a sign for Israel. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjlw4jdly
Israel asks for international help if fires continue. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/8JJZBNRJS
Israel reaches a Million Booster Shots. https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/h1kr3ndxf
Analysist what does the fall of Afghanistan mean. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/byqtdivet
Hamas embraces Taliban’s takeover. https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/08/16/a-lesson-for-all-oppressed-peoples-iran-hamas-embrace-violent-takeover-of-afghanistan-by-taliban/
Activists save Vilna Grave Yard. https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/08/16/jewish-activists-declare-victory-as-lithuanian-government-shelves-plans-to-build-conference-center-on-vilnius-cemetery-grounds/
Former Amb. Israel must rely upon itself. https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/08/15/former-israeli-ambassador-warns-fall-of-afghanistan-shows-israel-must-rely-on-itself/
New guide lines for schools. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311884
Haley vs. Biden on rewarding terrorists. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311882
In the future shutdowns can be avoided https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311876
Taliban to reporter “woman stand aside”. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/311851
Pentagon warned the State Dept. https://www.timesofisrael.com/we-warned-them-for-months-ire-mounts-at-pentagon-over-bidens-afghan-pullout/
On Sunday the 70th Arab murdered this year was a friend of Justice and Education Ministers. https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/education-ministers-advisor-shot-dead-in-israels-north-report-676746
Covid cases rise. https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/byqptiogf
Several Afghan Flag wavers killed. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkfb1aoxf
Health Min a homo scraps all bans males who are homosexual blood donors. https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/hklw00fjly
Who is the leader of the Taliban? https://www.timesofisrael.com/who-is-abdul-ghani-baradar-the-man-who-led-the-taliban-takeover-of-afghanistan/
Female Mayor expects assassination. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSXbPuIeviM
Gaza getting ready on both sides. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1qrfs9xy
Yemeni - Fall of Kabul a warning. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjlw4jdly
Afghan’s neighbors worry. https://www.debka.com/afghanistans-neighbors-nervously-watch-talibans-takeover-as-jihadists-celebrate/
How the Taliban takeover effects Bennett – Biden meeting. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/how-the-taliban-takeover-changes-the-dynamics-in-a-biden-bennett-meeting-analysis-677094?traffic_source=Connatix
Dr. Answers anti-vaxxers. “Do you know what the difference is between you and those who weren’t vaccinated – who are now sedated and intubated?” he asks. “They believed everything you wrote.” https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312054
Fighting brain cancer. Israel produces printed cell to test meds. https://www.jpost.com/health-science/israel-prints-worlds-first-3d-living-malignant-brain-tumor-677079
Female Pilot is now Deputy Commander of Helicopter Combat force. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/female-pilot-to-become-deputy-commander-idf-combat-squadron-677023?traffic_source=Connatix
Iranian fuel tanker bound for Lebanon. https://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-says-iran-fuel-tanker-to-sail-to-lebanon-dares-israel-and-us-to-act/
Arab stabbed by Jews in Yerushalayim. https://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-man-seriously-injured-in-stabbing-by-jewish-mob-in-jerusalem/
Chief Rabbis protest new Kashrus Laws. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312015
Retarded woman jailed in Peru to return home. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312020
It is inconceivable that somebody could be so incompetent. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312025
Taliban recalls Karzai for a respectable face. https://www.debka.com/hamid-karzai-returns-to-kabul-talibans-bid-for-a-respectable-face/
New Hope Party would not pass the threshold. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312023
Post Corona Inflammation has an effect on children. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312115
Booster Vaccine prevents infections. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312051
Business owners angry at Covid restrictions. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312111
For example, swimming pools, theaters, restaurants and play spaces for children.
Trump will make people happy: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312110
Vaccinate now avoid a lockdown. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312112
Blinken was warned last month about the fall of Kabul. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312093
State Dept. Contingency plans for Iran. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312098
RP: After Afghanistan they are between never-never and la-la land.
Charedi Areas growing fastest. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312032
Syria bombed activates air defenses. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hyxmp22gt#autoplay
Education Minister taught a lesson. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hkqpviogf
Qatari Aid to Gaza resumes. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sjgfjw2lk
Aftermath of Afghan withdrawal. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312104
Yeshiva Student murdered in Denver 4 of 5 arrested. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312086
Woman murdered by son in Sderot. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312035
Gaza factions gradually escalating. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1qrfs9xy
Over 40 to get booster then followed by over 30 etc. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312078
Antisemitic graffiti hits Canada. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312087
Toronto Synagogue vandalized. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312076
Biden could face hostage crises worse than Iran. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312089
Taliban fire at Afghans celebrating Independence Day. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312073
UK Gov’t remembers Welch Pogrom. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312082
Tucker Carlson reports that FBI hid that Omar married her brother. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312040
Incompetent ‘Leadership’. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312022
Human remains found in wheel base of plane. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312043
Ancient Coin to go to space. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312048
Airport workers protest potential Covid layoffs. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/312050
2 weeks plus to Rosh Hashanah be prepared!
Have a healthy, happy and peaceful Shabbos,
Rachamim Pauli
