| 282 (most recent listed first) | |||
| Select A Different Topic | |||
| Dov: Dear Rabbi, I saw your recent press release in which you wrote that the religious parties that participate in the government of the State of Israel do not represent traditional Torah-based Judaism. You wrote that at the time Zionism was founded, it was clear to every observant Jew that the Zionist movement was deviant sect designed to steer Jews away from the Torah, no different from the other heretical sects that existed for brief periods of time throughout Jewish history. I went to a Modern Orthodox high school and now Im in Israel for a year to attend yeshiva. I respect your point of view, but I think youre misrepresenting the facts. Maybe a hundred years ago the rabbis looked at Zionism as heretical, but today it sure seems like most rabbis support the state. During the Gaza war my rosh yeshiva told us to pray for the Israeli army. Most of the gedolim say we should vote how can you say all these people do not represent traditional Torah Judaism? Your movement does not represent the majority of Jews today. You can express your opinion, but dont deny the facts. Dov Dear Dov,
I think you are ignoring an important aspect of Jewish history. More than three thousand years after the giving of the Torah, we are still keeping and believing in the same Torah that G-d gave to Moses at Sinai. There is no other people in the world who have held onto their faith, unchanged, despite so many persecutions, massacres and expulsions. It is an amazing fact. But we have to know that this did not happen by itself. The Jewish people has withstood many internal attempts to reform and alter its beliefs and practices. Large segments of the Jewish people did indeed go off the path of Torah and follow these movements. We Jews today are the descendents of those who remained staunch in their emunah and fought against the heretics and reformers. Sometimes those fighters were relatively few in comparison to the heretics. Just open up the Tanach and read about the Jews who worshipped idols Baal and Asheirah during the first Temple period. Eliyahu Hanavi said, I am left the only prophet of Hashem, while the prophets of the Baal are four hundred and fifty (Melachim I 18:22). Hashem said that there were only 7000 Jews left who did not bow to Baal, and only they would be left over (ibid. 19:18). Today, we have to thank Eliyahu that true Judaism still exists. The heretical Sadducees in the times of the Second Temple were no less dangerous. Under their influence, the kings Yannai and Herod carried out massacres of all the true Jewish sages (Kiddushin 66a and Bava Basra 3b). Yet we today are descendents of those sages and their followers, not of the Sadducees. Today, we have to thank those sages who disputed with the Sadducees and had the courage to stand up to them. 350 years ago, the Jewish people faced the challenge of the Sabbatean heretical movement. The movement quickly swept up most of the Jews of Europe with its messianic hope, and those rabbis who remained skeptical were ridiculed and persecuted. For a century after the false messiah died, his movement continued on in secret in various forms. The field of Kabbalah, the study of the hidden Torah, was littered with works that seemed authentic to the untrained eye, but were actually filled with Sabbatean heresy. It required great scholars like Rabbi Yaakov Emden to take it apart and expose the heretics. It is thanks to him and other zealots that true, authentic Judaism survives to this day. You have to realize that Hashem promised us that the Torah will never be forgotten from the descendents of the Jewish people (Devarim 31:21), and Hashem keeps that promise by making sure that there are always Jews who refuse to let the Torah be changed and will continue to speak out against the heretics and reformers, no matter how numerous they are. We are confident that in the end, the truth will prevail. Future generations will look back in disbelief at the masses of religious Jews who fell into the net of Zionism, and they will thank those few who stood up against Zionism in our time. Usually, the Jewish peoples struggles against heretical movements are an internal matter. Eliyahu Hanavi didnt need to go around to the gentile nations of his time and tell them, True Jews dont worship the Baal. But in our time, the Zionist movement has caused a large part of the worlds population to be angry at Jews. When there are religious parties in the Israeli government, whatever reasons they have for being there, the world sees religious Jews as part of the movement that angers them. At such a time, we cannot be silent or keep the struggle internal. We have to inform them that these religious Zionist parties do not represent true Judaism. Sincerely, Hersh Lowenthal |
|||
| Esdoh: Jan. 18, 2009 I am a Jordanian citizen who is currently living in Saudi Arabia. It was very interesting for me to see your web site, you might wonder what would make an Arabic man view a Jewish web site specially these days where the Muslims and Arabs are suffering tremendous amount of pain due to the crimes committed by "so called state of Israel" in Gaza strip. I am trying to find out any piece of information which can explain to me the faith of these people who are very thirsty to our blood and why they are using the most advanced and sophisticated weapons against women and children. These questions are always popping up in my mind, why they are doing this? What have we done? Is it their god instructing them to do so? Their faith? Their believes? Their genetic code? I couldn't find any logical answers for all these questions. I couldn't understand why! giving the fact that we (the Arabs) used to have huge community of Jews living among us for decades and we never did to them what they are doing to us now. Early 1980's I was still in my early childhood, Israel invaded Lebanon; I still remember those images of the women and children who were killed by the Israeli army in the refugee camps. I asked my father who are they and why they are doing this? The answer was, they are Jews and they hate us. Since then, the words Jew and evil for me were similar or even worse. I grew up with these images and thoughts. By the time new images continue to feed this perception and the hatred start to build up. The amount of hatred was growing inside me is too big to be described. I was always looking to the west Form my family house in Jordan. I could see the lights of the cars and houses on the other side of Jordan River. It is very near but I can't go there, the Jews (evils) are there. My favorite dream was the day it will be liberated and how happy I'll be., My first trip out side the Jordan was to Saudi. I met western peoples. I was able to build good relationships with some of them. We discussed the Israeli Arab conflict. I tried to find answers for my old questions. I thought they might be able to answer some of it. Non of them could give me reasonable answer, some justify it by the guilt feeling of the western nation because of the holocaust, actually this worsen the conflict in my mind simply because we are not the one who committed that crime. If this is the reason then the state of Israel should have been made in Germany not Palestine. Others said Palestine is their holly land. It used to belong to them 3000 years ago or so. Again the answer wasn't convincing. Shall we go now to the USA and kill people there and force the rest to leave and give the country back to the Native Americans. Unfortunately none of them could answer my questions therefore I realized that we are victims of the barbarian nature of the human being. I was very fortunate to see your web site. Now I realize that the problem is with Zionist not all Jews. I know that you are minority among the Jewish community but at least there are some people who still feel with us and believe with our rights and feel our pain. I'll make sure to inherit our fair case to my child but I'll tell him as well that there are some of the Jews don't agree with what Zionist did and what they will do to us. Thank you for your kind letter. We are encouraged to see that our message is getting out and you and others who formerly hated all Jews now see there are some of us who are interested in preserving the good relationship that once existed between Jews and Arabs throughout the Arab world.
|
|||
| Ralph: Jan. 9, 2009 Hello. I am very glad i have found your site. I am German, but i found out i have Jewish Origine, by my father's side. I found it all out in the internet , my father and my family never spoke a single word about it. My grandmother was Jewish and she survived the Holocaust. But i dont know anything about how my family survived living in the 3rd Reich. But one thing i know: I always had the feeling that there must be something wrong about the official version of history. Because i know that not all Germans are "bad" people or a "collectively guilty nation" like the MassMedia and the official Version try to suggest. Israel presents herself as a "victim" state, but i have seen what they do the Palestinians. I frankly think, its not much better than what the Nazis have done to the Jews. I read your website with great interest, and please correct me if i am wrong, but it seems to me as if the Zionists actually wanted and supported the Holocaust. When i read the comments by Izaak Greenbaum, Ben Gurion and others, it becomes quite clear that they valued the existence of a Zionist state in Palestine far higher, than saving Jews! What Ben Gurion said about the children, is quite shocking: What he actually expressed, is: its "Ok" to sacrifice Jewish children as long as the Zionists get control over Palestine. I am so disgusted about the Idea that the Zionists seemed to have supported the Holocaust, i have no words to express my disgust. In fact , this adds completely up with historic FACTS: Everybody knows that the railway lines to Auschwitz could have been bombed and the Holocaust would have stopped after less than 24 hours, and also it is known that the USA and Britain and all other countries with strong Zionist-influence FORBADE Jews to immigrate! I always wondered: Why did those nations who declared war to Germany under the pretext of "saving the Jews" close their doors to exactly those people - jews - that they claimed to want to "save"? So many things do not add upo in the historical version. When you want to save someone, you certainly dont close doors for him...... What i want to do is: support your idea, because i think that you are phantastic, i thank you for having given me some information that is completely unavailable in Germany and most of Europe. I think we would advance a great deal closer towards Peace, if Europe and especially Germany would find out about the true role of Zionism. In Germany, most people don't even know what Zionism means, and in Germany nobody ever dares to critisize Jews. You can actually go to prison in Germany for saying the wrong thing about Jews. As i am both German and Jewish by origine, i want Justice, means: Germans should have the right to critisize Zionists, and they would never dare out of fear of being labelled "Nazi" or "anti-semite". I want people to have the right to speak their mind and critisize Zionism and critisize Israel. Because after i studied your page, i believe that you are right and that Zionism HAS TO BE critisized! If i can support you, or if you have any Idea how i can spread your idea in Germany, please let me know. I want to declare again, that i truly admire your courage to stand up for your idea, and you do have my full solidarity. (in case my text was too long - in short, my question is: HOW can i help you to spread your idea? Believe me, nobody in Germany knows about Jews critisizing Israel, and if i had not found your page by coincidence, i would not know either.) kind greetings PS What is happening in GAZA right now is desaster and a Tragedy!!! I am glad you speak up against this injustice. I pray to god that this will stop as soon as possible. NOTE: please do not publish my email-adress Dear Ralph,
Thank you for your supportive letter. Perhaps the book Holocaust Victims Accuse (featured on our site) could be translated into German and sold in Germany. The 100-page book describes in detail and with documents how Zionists blocked efforts to save Jews during the war. If you could help us find an English-German translator and a sponsor please contact me again. There is a book in German called "Machtfaktor Zionismus" by Claus Nordbruch. The author based part of what he wrote on a written interview with me. A chapter of his book is available under the German button on the home page of our site. Hersh Lowenthal |
|||
