One G-d, One People, One Land

by Rabbi Eliezer Waldman

Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshivat Kiryat Arba

20 Av 5766

Although we have been pressured into accepting a cease fire,

which will only give our enemies an opportunity to rebuild their war

machine meant to destroy the Jewish people, this war has not come to an

end.  As the previous wars we had to fight, beginning with the war of

liberation in 1948, we are continuously forced to fight for the very

existence of our people and the independence of the Jewish homeland.

Unfortunately our leaders are still immersed in the twisted ideology of

Oslo, which created an illusion of achieving "peace" by fleeing from our

enemies and abandoning parts of our homeland.  This policy of

"disengagement" has injected a cancer into our national bloodstream,

which is destroying the natural instincts of national pride.  It has

also weakened our determination to decisively finish this war by

mobilizing all of our forces, to assure the destruction of our enemies.

We must open our eyes to the dual powers that have been revealed

in this last month of fighting.  It has been proven again that the Land

of Israel is One.  The Land has one soul, which cannot be torn apart and

separated in order to be parceled out to our enemies.  The evil notion

expressed by our leaders, "Who needs Gaza?  What are we doing in Gaza?

If we amputate this superfluous limb, the rest of the body will be

strong and healthy.", has been proven self deceptive, in line with the

distorted mentality of disengagement.   Not only did the surrender of

Gaza to the PLO result in strengthening our enemies, but this "amputated

limb" was turned into a force of destruction against our towns and

cities in the south.  Our enemies in the north took this policy a

further step forward, with their designed intention to destroy the

existence of Jewish independence in Israel.  Why not apply this policy

of amputation by firing destructive rockets upon towns and cities in the

Galilee, Haifa and Naharia, and force a million Jews to be uprooted from

their homes?  Our enemies learn quickly.  If Jewish leaders succeeded in

uprooting thousands of Jews and destroying their homes, then Nasrallah

and his gangs can uproot a million Jews and destroy their homes.

What a horrendous lesson to be learned by such a painful

comparison. There is only one clear conclusion any responsible leader

must arrive at: The Land of Israel has one soul which projects its

powers of life throughout the entire bloodstream, reaching every corner

of the Land, encompassing all of its territory.  Let us again make it

clear.  Only Jews can bring life and creativity to the Land, whereas

others can only bring destruction.  "And I will make the Land desolate,

and your enemies will be desolate upon the Land." (Leviticus 26:32)  Our

sages explain that this curse is really a blessing.  Just as the Jewish

people in Exile will remain loyal to the Land, so too will the Land of

Israel remain loyal to the Jewish people.  The Land will not bear its

fruit and powers of life for anyone else.  Only the Jewish people can

bring life, both physical and spiritual, to the Land.  Others can only

bring terror and destruction.

The second powerful phenomenon revealed again in this war, is

the fact that the people of Israel is One.  The Jewish Nation was

granted a Divine Soul, with great powers of unity; unity of devotion and

unity of purpose.  The distorted "peace" strategy of fleeing from our

enemies was rationalized by our leaders by the false claim,  "Our people

are tired; they don't want to fight any more". This rationalization,

begun at Oslo, was continued by Mr. Sharon as an excuse for

disengagement.  This malignment of the people of Israel was further

exacerbated by Mr. Olmert in a speech in New York just about a year ago.

Mr. Olmert said, "We are tired of fighting; we are tired of being

courageous; we are tired of winning wars; we are tired of vanquishing

our enemies."  The truth is, these leaders have become tired, and not

having the courage to admit their incompetency and relinquish their

positions, they project this lethargy upon the people.  This weakness

has brought them to a policy of compromising, yielding and fleeing from

our enemies.  The disintegration of responsibility and national pride

stems from a complete disengagement from Zionist faith and Jewish

values, not to mention the most basic survival instinct.  This war has

proven again that the secret power of Jewish existence is the unity of

the Jewish soul.  The people of Israel are not tired.  The courage and

willingness to sacrifice was demonstrated by the emergency mobilization

of our army units.  People came from all walks of life.  Even those who

were not called volunteered and demanded the right to participate in

this act of devotion.  There were battles in which officers threw

themselves upon live grenades in order to save the lives of their

soldiers.  Wounded soldiers in their hospital beds expressed their

desire to be released in order to return to the battlefront with their

comrades.  On Shiva visits we heard bereaved parents saying that they

were proud of their sons who gave their lives for the country and the

people.  This is the Divine power inherent in the Jewish soul.

We are proud and thankful to the G-d of Israel that we belong to

this one nation and one Land.  We need a leadership that has complete

faith and confidence in this Divine  Zionist process of redemption,  a

leadership that is putting all of its efforts into the re-engagement of

the Jewish people to its G-d, and its Land, a leadership that arouses

the innermost powers of the Jewish soul by calling to the people "follow

me" as is fitting for a genuine Jewish leader.

The great efforts and sacrifice revealed by Jewish soldiers

against the evil of those bent on our destruction is a true expression

of Kiddush HaShem, the sanctification of G-d's Name by His people.

Compromise and surrender by Jews to the powers of evil is a chilul

HaShem a desecration of G-d's Name. We, therefore, pray to our G-d that

He grant us a leadership worthy of leading our people to their Divine

destiny in our land.

"You are one and your Name is One and who is like your Jewish People One Nation in the Land"

(This article appeared originally in the Jewish Press)