Rabbi Ari Shvat
Question
Shalom Rabbi, I am wondering what is the best way to handle friends and acquaintances who are supporting our enemies and believing anti-Semitic lies because of what is going on in Israel? I ask this as I have a "friend" who is trying to gaslight me into supporting our enemies when he knows that I am firmly against that.
Answer
It's best to simplify the issue with 2 clear & undebatable (unless they're anti-Semites) points: 1. The Israel Defense (!) Force is by definition: defending when attacked, as opposed to the Hamas whose charter, by definition, unabashedly calls for the offensive eradication of the Jewish State. It's like R. Yosef Albo (Sefer HaIkarim 4, 35) writes: that by man, the example of gevurah (strength) is like a champion boxer whose goal is to knock down his standing opponent, sending him to the hospital, as opposed to Hashem who is described as the exact opposite ""אתה גיבור לעולם ה' מחיה מתים אתה ורב להושיע, מחיה מתים... סומך נופלים, רופא חולים ומתיר אסורים"", "You are strong: reviving the dead, raising those who fall, healing the sick, saving the hostages". Jewish heroism as seen through the Tanach is a defensive life-giving (!) gevura, as opposed to our enemies who idealize a life-taking gevura. During Operation Chomat Magen, while stationed in Arab Ramallah, I saw that the streets, avenues, parks & traffic-circles are named to glorify terrorists, where the more Jews that each killed, the greater his respective avenue! Contrarily, in the IDF, we teach Moreshet Krav (IDF history classes) educating the next generation's soldiers through examples like company commander Ro'i Klein who saved his platoon in Lebanon by jumping on a grenade, i.e. life-giving gevura. Baruch Hashem we are the opposite (!) of our enemies, but that doesn't mean that we are less resolved or weaker! Second: Everyone knows that if the Hamas lays down their weapons there will be quiet, but if Israel lays down our weapons, we will be slaughtered, raped & mutilated. Hamas terrorists videoed and proudly sent their parents their decapitating Israeli civilians while smiling. What kind of person is proud of such sadistic actions as kidnapping an 85 year old woman or 3 month old baby?! In 75 years of the State of Israel, there has never been even 1 such case, and here, on 1 day, Hamas sadistically and purposely kidnapped, raped and murdered in cold blood over 1,000 peaceful civilians. Anyone who doesn't see the difference is extremely not intelligent, or not objective & not worth wasting time on trying to convince. With Love of Israel, Rav Ari Shvat
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