Getting Encouragement From the Past on this Day of Destruction

Unfortunately, today, as I type, the community of Amona is being destroyed. The Israeli Judicial System adds another award of injustice to its already overflowing trophy case. We can only fervently beseech The Almighty and pray, "Return our judges as in the days of yore!"

We are, as it is written, a stiff-necked people, especially when it comes to Torah and Mitzvot. Settling the land of Israel is a mitzvah. This setback just means that we will redouble our efforts, receiving encouragement from the words of the prophet:

Thus saith the Lord GOD: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded. And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say: This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD have builded the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate; I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord GOD: I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed seasons, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the LORD.'

We can also receive much encouragement from recent history. I invite you to view this clip. See how setbacks, even an incredibly awful one, can be followed by a great victory:

The Elor Azaria Verdict

Any and every society has to have a judicial system. It is even one of the Seven Noahide Commandments. A nation without a strong judicial system and a strong government is in big trouble:

Rabbi Chanina, deputy to the kohanim, would say: Pray for the integrity of the government; for were it not for the fear of its authority, a man would swallow his neighbor alive.

Unfortunately, sometimes the judicial system can be corrupted. Here in Israel, one cannot help but feel that the verdict of "guilty" in Elor Azaria's manslaughter case was a miscarriage of justice. As Education Minister Naftali Bennett noted:

“We need to say the truth. The trial was corrupted from the outset,” continued Bennett. “The harsh comments by political leaders even before the opening of the army’s investigation, the removal of the soldier himself from the investigation process, the critical media coverage surrounding the case (including Army Radio) caused Elor irreparable harm.”

The verdict was based on fake morality, as one would expect from judges that lack the fear of God. Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu of Tzfat had this to say about the verdict:

Judge Maya Heller and her colleagues must console themselves by saying that they at least acted according to their consciousness and morality when they see the chaos they have brought to the IDF.

Well, you should know that their verdict is, first and foremost, immoral, even if the judge read it for two and a half hours.

There is no morality in having mercy on enemies who come to kill our soldiers. There is no morality in breaking the spirits of the soldiers who risk their lives to protect us. How is it moral to give strength to a cruel and merciless enemy when there is nothing between us and ISIS except the strength of the IDF alone?

The Sages of Israel, who were a little bit smarter than you, said about morality and the excesses of self-righteousness: 'The great humility of Rabbi Zecharia ben Avkolos destroyed our home, burned our Temple, and exiled us from our land. The great humility which a rabbinic authority took upon himself in the middle of a battle against a foreign enemy caused the destruction of the nation and an exile which lasted thousands of years, the crucifixion of hundreds of thousands of Jews by Rome and the rape of hundreds of thousands of women. The Jews became prey for other peoples, being killed and robbed, for generations. Our Sages were wise men and all raised their objections to Rabbi Zecharia ben Avkolos, asking him to see the big picture as one might expect from a man of his status.

On this matter is is possible to say to Judge Maya Heller that her morality has broken the spirit of the soldiers. The heads of our attackers have been raised and the spirit of our enemies has been strengthened. There is no morality in a judgment which gives impetus to those who send boys and girls with numbers and knives. There is no morality in strengthening the killers and terrorists. There is no morality or self-righteousness which rests on the backs of the soldiers. They is no morality in trying to beautify hate. In the eyes of Ra'ed Saleh and his followers we all bake matzot with the blood of Palestinian Arab children. All of us. Even you, Judge Heller.

I pray that Elor will be pardoned for his "crime". He and his family have suffered enough. And may God return our judges as in the days of yore.

Trial By Media?

Rabbi Meir Kahane's hy"d widow writes about the mistreatment of her grandson Meir Ettinger:

On July 31, 2015 a house in Duma, an Arab village in Samaria, was firebombed by unknown persons, and a child and his parents were tragically killed. The entire gamut of Israel’s “Who’s Who” condemned the unknown persons, whom they labeled “Jewish Terrorists” because of questionable grafiti in Hebrew.

The condemnation was not enough to satisfy the New York Times, which quickly published an article titled, “Israeli Justice in West Bank Is Seen as Often Uneven.” This was picked up by all the foreign media and our government was pressured into taking hasty, precipitate action.

Among those arrested was my grandson, Meir Ettinger, named for his late grandfather, Rabbi Meir Kahane, who had a reputation for promoting unpopular opinions. He was the perfect scapegoat. He was arrested on August 3 and interrogated using illegal physical force, including punching and shaking him. On Sunday, August 9, he was taken before a judge to extend his arrest, but the court hearing he should have had was cut short by the arrival of an administrative detention order straight from Minister of Defense Moshe Yaalon.

Read the rest.

How a Bunch of Lawyers Hijacked Israel's Democracy

A must read! This article explains how the ability to govern was taken out of the hands of the people of Israel and their elected representatives by a handful of lawyers.

Will Freeing Arab Murderers From Israeli Prisons Bring Peace?

Take a look at this and decide for yourself:

It is Good to Give Thanks to the Lord

MK Avigdor Lieberman after his acquittal:

:

This sums up the situation:

Lieberman has been a target of investigation by the State Attorney's Office for about 17 years, causing many to see him as a victim of political persecution by the state's legal system. Suspicions against him have come and gone, he has been questioned by police, and so have his relatives – but nothing "stuck" until last year, when charges were finally filed in the matter of Ben Aryeh.

One of the witnesses who testified against Lieberman was his former deputy, Danny Ayalon. Ayalon told the court that Lieberman had expressed preference for Ben Aryeh when the tender for ambassador was issued. This alleged fact, combined with Ben Aryeh's admission that he had leaked information about another investigation to Lieberman, were enough for the State Attorney to charge Lieberman with criminal behavior.

The judges found "problems" with Ayalon's testimony, which was given after Lieberman fired him as deputy minister.

Pollard Speaks Out

It is a painful read. Especially since it seems to me that he is correct:

• Israel is the only country in the world ever to voluntarily expel its own citizens from chunks of its homeland in order to hand over the land to its enemies.

• It is the only country in the world ever to voluntarily destroy the homes and businesses of its own citizens, leaving them with shattered lives and broken promises.

• Israel is the only country in the world ever to voluntarily dig up and transport the graves of its dead so that the land could be turned over to its enemies.

The State of Israel also holds unenviable world records for betraying those who serve the state, including the following:

• Israel is the only country in the world to restrain its military from rescuing a wounded soldier, for fear of provoking the enemy and risking its approval ratings with the world. The soldier, injured by enemy gunfire at a Jewish holy site, slowly bled to death needlessly while the IDF stood by and watched.

• Israel also remains the only country in the world ever to voluntarily cooperate in the prosecution of its own intelligence agent, refusing him sanctuary, turning over the documents to incriminate him, denying that the state knew him, and then allowing him to rot in a foreign prison for decades on end, cravenly forgoing its right to simple justice for the nation and for the agent.

• Additionally, Israel is still the only country in the world ever to violate its own system of justice by repeatedly releasing dangerous, unrepentant murderers and terrorists back into the civilian population with impunity. No other country in the world has ever done this! In summary, Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world so befuddled by moral ambiguity that it is willing to dishonor its dead, betray its bereaved, and disgrace its citizens for the sake of political expediency.

Read the entire article!

Justice?

INN:

Palestinian Authority resident terrorist Wael Salaman Mohammed el-Arjeh, of Hevron, has been convicted of two counts of murder in the deaths of Asher and Yonatan Palmer.

He will be sentenced in the upcoming days. Arjeh is facing life in prison.

The truth is that even if this low-life murderer would get the death penalty it would not be enough.

א-ל נקמות ה' א-ל נקמות הופיע

The New Israeli Draft Plan

INN has published details of the new draft plan as agreed upon by the three major partners in the new coaliton: Likud-Beiteinu, Yesh Atid, and HaBayit HaYehudi:

Sources in Bayit Yehudi said they had managed to alleviate some of the harsher strictures that Yesh Atid had sought in the agreement, and had even improved the standing of yeshivas in some ways. Among those accomplishments, party sources said, was the recognition by the state for the first time of the importance of Torah study.

The coalition agreement will read “the State of Israel recognizes the importance and centrality of Torah study as a central value of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.” Students who do receive exemptions will be receiving them as Torah students upholding these values, as opposed to receiving them for “academic excellence,” as Yesh Atid had sought to have them termed.

In addition, the draft of yeshiva students will begin at age 21, instead of age 18 – giving students an automatic deferment of three years. At that point, they will have to serve two years, like all other Israelis, as the coalition agreement calls for an eventual reduction of service for all Israelis to two years, instead of the current three years.

The reduction in service for all will be possible as a result of the extra manpower the army will have with the inclusion of hareidi yeshiva students. The army will significantly increase the number of Nachal Hareidi units to accommodate the new recruits. A wide-ranging plan for the drafting of women that Lapid had sought was also shelved, Bayit Yehudi said.

Yeshiva students who refuse to appear for military service will not be criminally charged, as had been planned. Instead they will be subject to economic sanctions, losing virtually all government support. Party officials said that this aspect of the agreement would avoid the “doomsday” scenarios hareidi political leaders portrayed of jack-booted military police marching into yeshiva study halls and pulling students away from their Talmud folios. No arrests will be made in yeshivas, the deal specifies.

The number of students who will be exempted for Torah study will be 1,800, far more than the 400 Lapid had suggested. The plan will take effect only in 2017, and students who are beyond enlistment age up until that time will not be “grandfathered” into the arrangement.

The article does not tell us if the plan has anything to say about the drafting of Arabs. Neither does it inform us of what will be the status of the various Hesder programs under this plan. Is the 1,800 exemptions per student-year, or is it the grand total? (I think that it is the grand total.) How will it be decided who gets these exemptions? Can you imagine what kind of Hareidi infighting this could cause?

If this plan goes into effect, what will the reaction of the ultra-Orthodox? Since the plan apparently does not talk about drafting Arabs, I imagine that the Hareidim will take their case to the High Court of Justice, saying that the plan is discriminatory. I do not expect the court to help them, because drafting Hareidim has been on the secular agenda for so long. They will resort to their regular legal newspeak to sanction the law.

It is obvious that many Hareidim will forgo government benefits in order to avoid army service and to continue the way of life that they are accustomed to. What's more, since this is being done against their will of the Hareidi rabbis, many of special programs that exist today that are geared towards the ultra-Orthodox, such as “Bina B'Yarok”, may be shunned.

I also suspect that there are those who will choose to live abroad. The land of Israel is acquired through affliction, and not everybody is ready to pay the price.

Court Rejects Corrie Family's Law Suit Against the Israeli Defense Ministry

This was a no-brainer:

A Haifa court ruled Tuesday morning that Rachel Corrie caused her own death by intentionally remaining in front of an IDF bulldozer. Her lawyer said he will appeal the decision.

Judge Oded Gershon supported the IDF claim that the driver of the bulldozer could not see Corrie, who was protesting the 2003 demolition of homes in Rafiah, Gaza, which were being used by terrorists.

The court noted that the case of Corrie is sad but that the young woman, who was 23 years old, was fully aware that she was in danger and that she could have prevented her own death by moving out of the path of the bulldozer.

An article at ynetnews has some more details:

"I reject the suit," the judge said. "There is no justification to demand the state pay any damages."

He added that the soldiers had done their utmost to keep people away from the site. "She (Corrie) did not distance herself from the area, as any thinking person would have done."

He rejected a claim of negligence explaining that the bulldozer's driver had limited vision unlike Corrie. "She consciously put herself in harm's way," Gershon said. The accident had been self inflicted, he added.

In a 162-verdict, the Judge Gershon pointed to three entry bans and noted that the Philadelphi route had effectively been a war zone formally declared a closed military zone at the time of the accident. He mentioned that the US had issued an Israel travel advisory warning its citizens to avoid Gaza and the West Bank.

The judge added that the organization where Corrie worked "abuses the human rights discourse to blur its actions which are de facto violence. He claimed that it specialized in disrupting IDF activity. "This included an army of activists serving as 'human shields' for terrorists wanted by Israeli security forces, financial and logistical aid to Palestinians including terrorists and their families, and disruption of the sealing of suicide bombers' houses."

Judge Gershon also rejected the Corrie family's claims that Military Police had not done its best to investigate the incident.

Like I wrote, this is a no-brainer.

Update: Jerusalem Diaries has a translation of the court's decision.

The Facts Behind the Ulpana Neighborhood Controversy

Beit El's Baruch Gordon wrote an excellent post, providing us with the information that you just cannot find in the mainstream media. Yishar Koach, Baruch!

The Hunger Strike

Have you heard about the hunger strike?

Hunger strikers are calling on the government to pass the Regulation Law, which would protect legally built homes in established Israeli communities from destruction. Demolitions ordered by the Supreme Court have been based on rulings that the homes are built on land owned by Palestinian Authority Arabs, although this is disputed and if not, the option of monetary compensation for bona fide errors in land registration has not been utilized.

I decided to visit the hunger strike tent to give them my support.  The tent is near the Israeli High Court of Justice:

Hunger Strike Tent

They will be there on Shabbat too.

Torat HaMelech: Case Closed!

Sanity prevails:

The Attorney General's office on Monday announced that it would not pursue charges against Rabbis Yitzchak Shapira and Yosef Yirmiyahu Elitzur, who authored the book that was considered controversial by some over claims that it incites against Arabs. The cases against Rabbis Yitzchak Ginsburg and Dov Lior, who gave a haskama - a stamp of approval- to the book will be dropped as well.

Interesting to note are the reasons for closing the investigation:

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said that the investigation was being closed because there is not enough evidence that the book was published with the intention to incite racism. Weinstein wrote that the Torat Hamelech is written in a general manner and does not call for violence. 

Readers of this blog already knew that.  Such a shame that the police harassed leading rabbis for no reason at all.  

Sexual Harassment?

Things have gotten way out of hand. They really have!:

An indictment was filed Thursday against Jerusalem resident Shlomo Fuchs, 44, an ultra-Orthodox man who hurled sexist slurs at a female soldier on a public bus in the capital.

Police officials said Fuchs' behavior was unruly, and that he sexually harassed the soldier, Doron Matalon, by humiliating her and making sexual remarks.

What did he do? Apparently he called her a "prutza", which means a slut or a harlot. Not a very nice thing to do, but does this amount to sexual harassment?

The court also stated that sexual harassment does not only apply when the harasser demands something of sexual nature from the harassed, but also when the harassed is humiliated based on remarks relating to his or her sex. The judge ruled such was the case in this incident, since "there is no dispute that Fuchs spoke bluntly and shouted harsh and humiliating words at the soldier aboard the bus, calling her a 'slut' three times."

"I am not a sexual offender," Fuchs told his attorney afterwards. "If anything – she harassed me. I wanted to move away and she kept moving closer."

Fuchs' attorney claimed this was not a criminal offense. "We live in a free country. We're allowed to curse, it's part of the freedom of expression," he explained.

If the court does decide this is a sexual harassment case, said the attorney, then any man who calls a woman a "bitch" or other curse words would be considered a sexual offender.

I have to agree with Fuchs' attorney. It seems to me that this is all a product of the media-fed frenzy of incitement against the ultra-Orthodox: the police and the court are abusing their power to legally harass Fuchs.

Once again we can learn a lesson from this. First of all, I do not think that the Rambam or the Chafetz Chaim would approve of calling this soldier a prutza, even if she did not follow the etiquette of the mehadrin line. We really should be careful about what we say. Even our mundane speech should be something that is worth studying.

Secondly, what I quoted recently from chapter 20 of "The Path of the Just".

Let's hope that things will calm down soon.

The Law for Preventing the Harming the State of Israel By Means of Boycott – 2011

The Israeli left and MSM are having a fit, shrieking away at this law . Unfortunately, the media does not provide enough objective information about the law for one to form an informed opinion about it. Feeling the frustration of many, I have translated the law into English. Now you can decide if the law is good or bad:

The Law for Preventing the Harming the State of Israel By Means of Boycott – 2011

1. Definition

In this law, "a boycott on the State of Israel" - intentional abstention from having an economic, cultural, or academic relationship with a person or other responsible body, only because of its connection to the State of Israel, one of its institutions or an area that is under its control, that has the ability to harm it economically, culturally or academically.

2. Boycott – Civil Injustice

a.) one who knowingly advertises a public call to place a boycott on the State of Israel, and according to the contents of the call and the circumstances under which it was advertised there is a reasonable possibility that the call will bring about the placing of a boycott, and the advertiser is aware of the mentioned possibility, has committed a civil injustice and the laws of damages will apply to him.

b.) With regards to paragraph 62a of the laws of damages [new version] one who caused the breaking of an obligatory contract by means of calling for the placing of a boycott on the State of Israel will not be seen as one who acted with adequate justification.

c.) If the court finds that an injustice was committed intentionally according to this law, it may obligate the perpetrator of the injustice with the payment of compensation that is not dependent on the amount of damage (in this paragraph, exemplary damages); in its coming to determine the amount of exemplary damages, the court will take into consideration, among other things, the circumstances of the committing of the injustice, its graveness and scope.

3.) Instructions Concerning to Limiting Tenders

The Minister of Finance, with the agreement of the Minister of Justice and with the approval of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, is allowed to set instructions with respects to limiting the participation in a tender of one who has knowingly advertised a public call for the placement of a boycott on the State of Israel or of one who obligated himself to take part of the mentioned boycott, including an obligation not to purchase goods or services that are produced or provided in the State of Israel, in one of its institutions, or in any area under its control; in this paragraph "tender" – a tender that must be conducted according to the law of the obligation of tenders, 1992.

4) Instructions Concerning Preventing Benefits

a) The Minister of Finance, with the counsel of the Minister of Justice, is permitted with respect to one who knowingly advertised a public call to place a boycott on the State of Israel, or with respect to one who obligated himself to take part of the mentioned boycott, that

1) It will not be seen as a public institution with regards to paragraph 46 of the income tax law.

2) It will not be eligible to receive funding from the Council of the Arrangement of Sport Gambling according to paragraph 9 of the Law to Arrange Gambling in Sports, 1967. The activation of the authority according to this subsection requires the agreement of the Minister of Culture and Sport.

3) It will not be considered a public institution according to paragraph 3a of the Law of the Foundations of the Budget, 1985 with respect to receiving support according to a paragraph of the budget; the activation of the authority according to this subsection requires the agreement of the Minister that the government has determined to be responsible for that paragraph of the budget, as is specified in subsection (2) of the definition of "responsible for paragraph of the budget" that is in the mentioned law.

4) He will not be eligible for guarantees according to the Law of Guarantees from the State, 1958.

5) He will not be eligible for benefits according to the Law of Encouraging Capital Investments, 1959 or the Law to Encourage Research and Development in Industry, 1984; the activation of the authority according to this subsection requires the agreement of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Employment.

b. in the activation of his authority according to subsection (a), the Finance Minister will work in accordance to the guidelines established for this matter with the agreement of the Justice Minister and the approval of the Knesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee. However, if the mentioned guidelines were not established, that does not harm the authority according to subsection (a)

5. Implementation

The Minister of Justice is responsible for the implementation of this law.

6. Inception

The inception of paragraph 4 is 90 days from the day of this law's publication.

I think that the law is excellent and long overdue. How about you?

Moshe Feiglin: Katzav Not Guilty of Rape

It seems that a significant number of Israelis are not convinced that the conviction of former Israeli President Moshe Katzav is justified. In addition to the people I mentioned previously we have the leader of the Likud's Manhigut Yehudit faction Moshe Feiglin:

משה קצב אשם במה שאיש לא העז להאשימו, וזכאי לחלוטין מן העברות המרכזיות שבית המשפט הטיח בו. הטרדה ברמה כזו או אחרת – אולי, ואם זה נכון, זה חמור ומתועב מאוד מאוד, אבל אונס - ודאי שלא

A rough translation:

Moshe Katzav is guilty of what nobody dared accusing him of, and is totally innocent of the main crimes that the court convicted him of. Harassment on one level or another - perhaps, if it is true, is serious and is very,very abominable - but (of) rape, (he is) certainly not(guilty).

Who Thinks Katzav May Be Innocent?

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner:

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, one of Religious Zionism's leaders, said Thursday that the former President Moshe Katsav was innocent, and that the Tel Aviv District Court should not have convicted him of the sexual offenses detailed in the indictment.

The rabbi stated that the case files had previously been revealed to him and his conclusion was that the man in question was innocent. His statements were first published on the Kipa website.

Ben-Dror Yemini:

Moshe Katzav was the victim of a feminist-leftist media lynch and his trial may well have been a mistrial, according to popular columnist Ben-Dror Yemini of Maariv.

Atty. Yoram Sheftel:

Maverick Israeli lawyer Yoram Sheftel says that justice was not served in the Katzav case and that the judges were unable to stand up to media pressure. “There is no evidence to back up the accusations,” Sheftel told Arutz 7.

Cosmic X:

The verdict is in. He may be guilty and he may not be. I do not have faith in the Israeli Judicial System.

Katzav Convicted of Rape and Molestation

The verdict is in. He may be guilty and he may not be. I do not have faith in the Israeli Judicial System:

A three-judge panel of the Tel Aviv District Court unanimously convicted this morning former President Moshe Katzav of all charges against him, except for that of harassing a witness. He was convicted on two counts of rape, one count of an indecent act, sexual harassment of three women, and an attempt to obstruct justice. It is not known when the sentence will be handed down.

The tensions had been high in anticipation of the reading of the ruling, but as soon as Court President George Kara began without declaring Katzav innocent, it was clear that he had been found guilty of at least one of the charges against him.

The judges declared that Katzav, a former Transportation Minister, should not have accused the media of "trying him publicly," because he himself "used the media to his advantage whenever he could."

The State Prosecution is now facing strong criticism for having offered a relatively moderate plea bargain offer to Katzav, while the women's groups have been empowered.

Public officials praised Israel's justice system. Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman said that the "commandment not to sway justice had been fulfilled," while Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch said that the ruling proves that all are equal before the law. The prosecutor in the case, Ronit Amiel, said that it shows the strength of Israel's democracy. A woman, known only by her first initial Aleph, accused Katzav over four years ago of attacking her more than once when she worked for him in the Transportation Ministry. Three other women also accused him of similar, though less serious, crimes. The charges by one accuser - another woman known as Aleph, who worked for Katzav in the President's office - were dropped over three years ago.

Katzav strongly denied the charges against him throughout the last four years. At one point, he even held an angry press conference, charging the media - and especially Channel Two - with waging a witch hunt against him.

The judges said that Katzav's testimony had been "replete with lies," and that he should have accepted the plea bargain that was offered him. He turned it down at the time, saying he would fight for his complete innocence.

Katzav's wife Gila was not in court. His son broke down in sobs when the ruling was read aloud, while Katzav himself remained stone-faced.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that Moshe Katzav is innocent. Katzav could have avoided this mess if he had kept the laws of yichud and negiah. With regards to negiah, apparently Moshe Katzav admits that he sometimes hugged female members of his staff. If he had acted in accordance to Jewish law with regards to these matters any attempt to slander him would have been immediately written off.

I know a God fearing doctor who will not perform bodily examinations on any of his patients unless a member of his staff is in the room with him. This is in order to avoid any claims of improper conduct on his part. Where I work, even the so-called secular Jews know that you don't hug or even shake hands with a religious member of the opposite sex.

I hope the case will lead to a strengthening of modesty in the workplace and in general.

Torat HaMelech - Part 5

I've finally finished reading Torat HaMelech Part 1, cover to cover, all 230 pages with the footnotes. In an earlier post I suggested that I would write a review of the book. So here it is:



Torat HaMelech Part 1
R' Yitzchak Shapira and R' Yosef Elitzur
230 pages
Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai

Torat HaMelech is the book that the Torah observant soldier has been waiting for. The books for religious soldiers up until now dealt for the most part with the private miztvah observance of the soldier: how to keep the Sabbath, dietary laws, etc. in the army. Finally, someone has taken the responsibility to clarify what is proper in time of war and what is not, relying on Torah sources and not from what he or she imagines to be "moral". We learn our morals from the Torah, and not from the Sabbath desecrating judges of the Israeli High Court of Justice.

The pedagogical technique of the book is fantastic. The authors take the reader step by step, teaching him the foundations of these laws before moving on to more complex situations. Everything they write is backed up by Rabbinic sources, which they quote in their original language and later explain in modern day Hebrew. This gives the reader the feeling that he is listening to a lecture. At the end of the book is a three page summary of the book's six chapters. You really feel that the authors are doing everything they can to make the deep halachic inquiries understandable to the average religious Jew who has a background in Jewish learning.

It is no secret that the book caused an uproar among the ignorant and among the learned as well. Personally, I could not care less what the ignoramuses have to say. They lack the tools to understand such a work. What's more, their desire to promote their warped version of reality often compromises any intellectual integrity they might have had. On the other hand, I am very interested in what the Rabbis have to say about the book. The gauntlet has been thrown down! Any Torah Scholar that does not agree with the book will have to pick up the gauntlet and show where the authors are mistaken, using Torah sources. Blanket condemnations that are not backed up with appropriate references to Rabbinic literature will not be accepted!

The relevance of the book is obvious. Immoral people spread their mistaken notions of morality through the mass media. Combat soldiers are sent to jail for using "nohal shachen", which Torat HaMelech teaches us is a completely acceptable practice according to the Torah. The IDF endangers the lives of its soldiers in order to protect the lives of the enemy's civilians, a practice which is against Jewish Law and common sense.

This book is not easy reading. It is not a novel. If you do not have a background in Jewish learning the book is not for you. However, if you do have a background, and you are interested in knowing what the Torah has to say about morality in war, the book is highly recommended. I cannot wait for Part Two.

Torat HaMelech

Take it from Cosmic X and his half century of life experience: If you see people reacting to a particular book in a totally irrational way, chances are that the book contains truth that is painful to them. Lacking the option of debating the contents of the book and proving the author wrong, the only weapons left for such creatures are slander, intentional distortions, ad hominem arguments and the like. In certain countries police harassment and judicial terrorism are also part of their arsenal.

I first saw the book "Torat HaMelech" when I went to the rally to support the soldiers that waved the banner proclaiming that they refuse to evacuate settlements.

I did not buy the book back then. I came to the rally to support the soldiers and not to buy books. What's more, the subject of the book was not on the top of Torah topics that I felt that I had to know.



However, the media circus surrounding the book including the utterances of certain media savvy rabbis, plus the police summoning the rabbis that gave approbations for the book for questioning, all these piqued my interest. The utter irrationality of it all told me that there must be some painful truth in "Torat HaMelech" that certain people want to suppress. I decided to buy a copy.

I still have a long way to go before finishing the book. So far it has proved informative and interesting. The multitude of sources cited by the authors is a sign of the long hours of research that went into preparing the book. Perhaps I will write a complete review when I am finished.