YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Jewish Holidays
- Holocaust Memorial Day
That generation of criminals mostly died in their beds without ever having to truly account for their crimes to the families of their victims or to the judgment and conscience of the world at large. Except for the Nuremberg Ten, Adolf Eichmann and a few hundred top Nazis who fell into Soviet hands, there were very few revengeful reprisals against the murderers who continued to live normal lives after the end of the war.
Simon Wiesenthal as an individual person, and later recognized by the organization named after him, continued, and still continues, to pursue the murderers living amongst us. But, in the main, their pursuit remains futile relative to the number of criminals and the crimes that were committed. Jews are apparently not that good at playing revenge games, as revenge is popularly defined in our violent culture.
Israel has managed a number of times to exact revenge upon terrorists and murderers but the list is long and the day is short. And in the clucking, politically correct, even-handed culture that currently dominates Western intellectual thought and political action, retribution is frowned upon. Where there is no morality present, there really is no crime present either, for everything is understandable and even justifiable.
And, anyway, victims must bear most of the guilt for the fate visited on them. For otherwise how can one explain the presence of this type of evil in a rational and mentally well-balanced world?
So Jewish vengeance must perforce take on a different definition and be seen in a far more focused and illuminating light than ordinary acts of retribution. Last week the family of the Belzer rebbe – the Rokeachs – celebrated the wedding of the rebbe’s grandson. The wedding ceremony took place in the courtyard of the great and magnificent Belz synagogue and the festive meal took place later in the International Conference Center – Binyanei Haumah – in bustling, traffic-choked Jerusalem. Over fifteen thousand people attended the wedding.
The previous Belzer rebbe escaped from Hungary in 1944 just weeks before the German invasion and takeover of the country. He arrived in the Land of Israel, broken in body and alone in spirit, with almost all of his family and chasidim on the way to Auschwitz. He barely was able to muster up a minyan – a quorum of ten men – to start up his court once again. But somehow Belz, like the Jewish people itself, rejuvenated and revitalized the future generations that were miraculously born to it.
Today, the grand Belz synagogue dominates parts of the Jerusalem view and once again, as in Eastern Europe, Belzer adherents flock to the court of the rebbe for advice, sustenance, prayer and spirit. Thus, last week, caught in a taxi on a Jerusalem street in the midst of a colossal traffic jam occasioned by the wedding procession, I thought to myself: "This wedding and all that it entails and represents is our true revenge against Hitler and his cohorts. I thank the Lord that I have lived to witness it."
In effect, the existence of the Jewish people and especially of the State of Israel is itself the true revenge against all those criminals who attempted to destroy and uproot us just a few decades ago. The Holocaust was a terrible event in our history – an event without human explanation or even seeming theological justification. Yet the aftermath of the Holocaust, the revival of the Jewish people in all facets of human life, culture, technology, medicine and politics, the creation and continued flourishing of the State of Israel, the salvation of Russian Jewry, and the immense growth of Torah and tradition in Jewish society, are all nothing short of being truly miraculous.
This is the ultimate revenge against those who sought to destroy us – if you will have it, the ultimate revenge against history itself. The prophet taught us: "Not by might nor by strength but by My spirit!" We cannot kill all of our enemies nor punish all of those who rise against us. But in our existence and continued intellectual, physical and spiritual development do we refute all of their hateful, false accusations and nefarious plans. Being Jewish in practice and perspective is itself sufficient to allow one to be part of the ongoing pattern of Jewish revenge.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
Shlach Lecha "Why So Many Don't Make Aliya?" - Parshat Shlach
This short article deals with the weird phenomena that every single time Am Yisrael is meant to enter the Land of Israel, throughout the Tanach, 2nd Temple and until today, they "chicken out" and look for excuses. What's the problem with this mitzvah that proves so challenging. The article, based on sources, suggests that the difficulties of Eretz Yisrael is precisely her secret and beauty!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 4
The class deals with Islam and how the Muslim tries convincing the King of the Khazars, and why he was also rejected.
Beha'alotcha JEWISH STATE= GUIDE TO G-DLINESS & SELFLESSNESS
A Jewish State not only is a good idea, but educates us towards selflessness, altruism and G-dliness in our daily lives.
Ein Aya In Zion Even the Smoke of the Bark is Sweet
Just as Jewish nationalism is different from others, so too our capitol of Jerusalem is totally different than other national capitols. Rav Kook beautifully explains the passage in the Talmud that the trees of Yerushalayim were cinnamon trees.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 3
The second speaker invited to convince the Khazar King is the Christian, who presents their beliefs. Even before the questions of the King, "between the lines", the author R. Yehuda HaLevi already begins disproving them.
Ein Aya "Intimacy: Love, Life & Giving or Egocentric Taking & Expiration"
Today, many confuse between intimacy in marriage, based on love, giving and life which are diametrically opposed to empty "sex", pornography and prostitution which destroyed the Beit HaMikdash. The practical importance of clarifying this topic in today's western society is obvious, especially for young adults.