My Story 39

Now, I shall digress a bit from the saga of the Israeli political process, and get personal. In 1991, I was asked by Binyamin Kahane (HY'D), the son of slain Rabbi Meir Kahane (HY"D) (himself slain together with his wife, Talya, in December, 2000 while driving their kids to school) if I would want to teach at his Yeshiva at Kfar Tappuah in the Shomron. Kfar Tappuah was, and is, a place of strong opinions, and strong disagreements. It was founded by a group of Yemenites from the community of Bareket. They are called Habanim. In Yemen, they had been a fierce tribe, employed by the kings to guard the border. They were the only Jews allowed to bear arms. There were in Tappuah some other Yemenites, besides some North Africans, and an influx in the late '80s of Kahanists, mostly Ashkenazim. There were 40 families, with two synagogues. Last I heard, there were 60 families with 4 synagogues. In Israel, a rabbi is not the rabbi of a synagogue, but the rabbi of a community. After a few months of teaching at the Yeshiva, I was asked if I would like to become rabbi of Tappuah. I agreed. I began coming every Shabbat, alternating between the entire family making the half-hour trip from Beit El, and coming alone with one of our older kids. Normally, a candidate would need to be approved by the regional rabbi, but there was none. A committee (actually, an inquisitory court) of three rabbis was set up. There was considerable opposition to my candidacy. Firstly, I had been brought in by the Kahanists, to whom the Kookian concept of "baseless love" did not extend. Also, I didn't share their view of the sanctity of government, or the ultimate authority of the Chief Rabbinate. I was asked "do you accept every ruling of the Chief Rabbinate?" "Usually" was my reply. "Why usually?" "Well, if it's based on halachah, yes. If it's political, no". "What?!?! You think rabbis are influenced by politics? That is a denial of the Oral Torah." Their report of the meeting only said I was not qualified, as I had "denied the Oral Torah before them". A year later, when the National Religious Party lost the Chief Rabbinate, one of my inquisitors, Eliezer Melamed, told me that they do not accept the new Chief Rabbis. I asked him if this did not constitute a denial of the Oral Torah. "No, these rabbis do not represent the people, so they are not the Chief Rabbis" (I.e, not from his party). He saw the look in my eyes. He said "I guess I've just confirmed your impression that we are complete hypocrites". I heartily agreed. Of course, he had no answer. Appeals by many rabbis and community leaders were to no avail. Finally, a neighbor, Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan, who had formerly been personal secretary to Rabbi Mordecai Eliahu, the outgoing Chief Rabbi (Rabbi Ben Dahan is now a powerful government official), brought my story of woe to Rabbi Eliahu. I was called in for a meeting. After exchanging pleasantries, he said to me "all that we say from the Chief Rabbi's office is in accordance with halachah. But not all that is in accordance with the halachah can we say. What you said was right". He instructed the local rabbis to approve me, after two years of defamation and hell. An election was held at Tappuah, in which I received over 70% of the vote. Then, after the Rabin assassination, a police car drove up to my home in Beit El. This was unusual, as all the settlements were under martial law, not civil law. I wasn't home at the time, but Sima received, on my behalf, a summons to appear before the Serious Crimes Commission of the Israeli police in Petach Tikvah. The only time in my life that I had ever had a run-in with the police, was in 1973, for making an illegal left turn from the middle lane in Cincinnati. I was, to say the least, terrified. Several of my colleagues were under arrest at the time, and one was actually in prison on a three-year sentence for a halachic article he wrote, which could be interpreted as critical of government policy. As I have previously mentioned, Israel has a draconian law called "Administrative Detention", meaning one could be sent to prison without trial, if a high government or military official thinks he should. Like a real Israeli, I called my party; Shas. I was told to let my wife know what time the interrogation began, and what time it was over. If she didn't hear from me in three hours, the streets of Petach Tikvah would be blocked with demonstrators, and a coalition crisis would ensue. I entered the police compound with a feeling that I was entering Hell. I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligence and politeness of my interrogator. I began with informing him of the Shas threat, which seemed to surprise and trouble him. He asked me my political views, and got the long version, with emphasis on French philosopher Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville's work "The Tyranny of the Majority". He was impressed, and he told me so. Some comic relief came in when at one point, I quoted Woody Allen. He was startled "how do you know Woody Allen?" (Israeli rabbis rarely know anything of secular culture. One was even surprised when I informed him that the world was round. Honestly.) "I know him from his books and movies". The interrogator looked shocked. I said "OK, you've got me. if you want to end my career, you have the goods". He smiled broadly and said "you can relax". Then, he read what they had on me; statements I had made over the years about the lack of ethics in Israeli politics, my feeling that Oslo was not legitimate, as it contradicted assurances that had been made to the public by Rabin, and, worst of all, that it would not bring peace, but further bloodshed. The last, under Israeli law, constitutes "Incitement to murder" (!!!!). I knew to whom and where I had made these statements; to my "friends" and neighbors. I now knew that I could trust virtually no one. My suspicions were confirmed that I was living in a society not very different from Soviet Russia. After two and a quarter hours of questioning, he said "look. I know where you're coming from. I studied in the States. You think Democracy means that you can say whatever you want. Here, it means free elections, nothing more. UNDERSTAND? With that, I was released. Shortly after, a government agent insisted that I give him reports about what the people in Tappuah were saying, including names. I said "you want me to inform against my congregants?!?!". "You don't work for them, you work for us". He was right. All official rabbis in Israel are State employees. Rather than inform, I resigned. But this experience left me to wonder about the integrity of all those who don't resign.All the "Eliezer Melameds". Things did not return to normal, however. Our three oldest kids were repeatedly called out of class by the police and questioned. Our phone was tapped. (Very amateurishly. We could hear the voices). Once, I told the person listening and talking at the same time to please talk lower, as she was disturbing me. "You're not supposed to be able to hear us!" This was six years before we finally threw in the towel and returned to the States. The phone tapping, the interrogation and harassment of my kids, did not stop; neither under Netanyahu, nor Barak, nor Sharon. My hopes, dreams, my career, my vision of being "home", were over at that point. I would soon be heading back to America; broken, discouraged, scared, and too old to get my career back on track.
1. O L-rd, G-d of vengeance,
O G-d of vengeance, appear!
2 Arise, O Judge of the earth.
Give arrogant people what they deserve.
3 How long, O L-rd, will wicked people triumph?
How long? (Psalm 94:1-3)

My Story 38

After the Rabin assassination, his bitter rival, Shimon Peres, became both Acting Prime Minister and Acting Defense Minister for the next seven months. He was the opposite of Rabin in almost every way. Rabin was a military man since his youth. Peres had never done military service, Rabin was moved by power, Peres by ideology. (His wife, Sonya, revealed that when they were dating, he would sit her down on a park bench, and read to her from Marx). He strongly differed from Rabin in his vision of peace. Rabin's motto was "We here, they there, Peace for Israel". He never thought that coexistence was possible, but rather two nations living peacefully side by side was the solution. Peres envisioned a confederation of Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, run with Jewish know-how and investment, and Arab labor. When they have decent jobs, there will be peace. He personally invested in Palestinian ventures, particularly the casino in Jericho. Many Arabs accused him of economic imperialism. Whereas Rabin was barely educated (his written Hebrew was full of gross errors), Peres was fluent in several languages. (Although his inability to properly pronounce the word "Peace" in English, made him the butt of derisive editorials in the Jerusalem Post, urging him to see a good urologist). Although his ideology was far more radical left than Rabin's, there were no inflammatory speeches urging us to die. It was more "I feel for your situation deeply, but I am charged with making Peace (mispronounced)". He called the Palestinian leadership his "friends". The Right was mostly silenced in the aftermath of the assassination, but he was careful not to "rub their noses in it". He would wait for new elections, after which he would pursue drastic measures for peace. But a new star had risen on the horizon for the Right. Benjamin Netanyahu, the brother of the Israeli hero Yonatan Netanyahu, who had led the Entebbe raid, and was its only Israeli casualty, was chosen to lead the Likkud party. A charismatic speaker, both in Hebrew and English, he represented the hope of the Right. He identified with the settler movement, and made overtures to all factions in the religious camp, in which he famously remarked that Labor had "forgotten what it means to be a Jew".The Left refused to take him seriously, satisfying itself with the slogan "Bibi is not fit for the job". Israeli media is almost entirely controlled by the Left, with the exception of the English language Jerusalem Post, which had abandoned that stand when it was taken over by a British Jewish company. The Leftist press published polls that showed Peres with a forty percent lead over Netanyahu. Labor didn't need to do anything, or so they thought. A televised debate between Peres and Netanyahu included a segment where each candidate would ask the other a question. After Netanyahu posed his question to Peres and received an answer, the moderator turned to Peres, inviting him to ask a question. Peres arrogantly said "I have nothing to ask him". Israel had adopted a new election system. Previously, the party that received the most votes, would have its head become PM. Now, every voter would cast two ballots, one for a party for the Knesset, and a separate one for PM. The idea was to eliminate the undue influence and extortion of the small parties. What no one had considered, was the fact that Arabs who held Israeli citizenship constituted twenty percent of the electorate. The ability to extort would now be theirs. The Arab vote was solidly behind Peres. However, shortly before the election, Peres sent troops into Lebanon in order to stop repeated shelling of northern Israeli communities. (Operation "Grapes of Wrath"). Israeli Arabs, whose loyalty was never solid, were furious. Their leadership met, and decided to boycott the election. Sure, they wanted Peres, But, after all, he had a forty percent lead, whereas their influence was only twenty percent. They could have their man in office, while sending a powerful message...or threat..to the Labor Party. They didn't consider the fact that the media's "facts" were heavily skewed. Bibi squeaked by with a narrow margin. I will never forget that election day. I went directly from morning services to the polling place, still wearing my Tallit and Tefillin. I was doing my part to save Israel and the Jewish people. I rejoiced when the results were in. It is important to understand that few Israeli communities are heterogeneous. Nearly everyone in Tel Aviv votes Labor. Almost everyone in Jerusalem votes Likkud. The newscasters cried the following day that these results could not be real, as "the nation is overwhelmingly for Peres". A bright new day had finally dawned. Or had it? While Bibi had promised in his campaign that he would end the hated system of "administrative detention", where any high political or military figure could have someone arrested and imprisoned without charges or trial, he now had arrested with administrative detention...his biggest supporters. Ariel Sharon, who had become the darling of the Right, and had campaigned tirelessly for Netanyahu, now reported that he couldn't even get him on the phone. Feverish negotiations were now carried on with the Left, in order to shore up his narrow base. He wanted no interference from his overzealous supporters.Restrictions on settlements were imposed, and talks with the Palestinians were made top priority. He agreed to a meeting with settler leaders. They said "if you continue like this, we will no longer support you". He looked them in the face, laughed, and said "what are you going to do? Vote for Peres?" Three years of duplicity and, from our perspective, treachery, had begun. Another three PMs came and went, each one worse than the former. Then, Netanyahu returned. The duplicity remained. But he always spoke SO NICELY.

My Story 37

A profound tension gripped Israel. The Goldstein "massacre" increased the contempt for religious Jews, especially the "National Religious" (as opposed to the Chareidi religious) among rank-and-file Israelis. But the seeds of strife had already been planted deeply. Half of the country saw Oslo as a nightmare scenario. We had created a well-armed "Palestinian" army, thinly veiled as a "police force" that was murdering soldier and civilian alike. Wikileaks later revealed that Peres had phoned Bill Clinton and told him that, in retrospect, Oslo was a mistake. Until his death, however, he insisted publicly that it has made Israel safer. More and more land was ceded to the "Palestinian Authority". Anyone who said a word against this, was arrested and imprisoned for "incitement". The other half, however, saw just the opposite. Peace was at hand. Sure, people were dying. But these were no longer the victims of terror, but "sacrifices for peace". The National Religious, easily identified by their crocheted kipot (scull caps) were the monsters who wanted us to be in a state of perpetual war with a subject people who only wanted to live with us in peace (despite what they said and did). One news commentator even called us "antisemites". The bizarre ideology and ultra-nationalism of the settlers would bury the "normal" Israelis and their children. The then head of the security services wrote that the real danger to Israel was not the Arabs, but the religious. (He still maintains this view). Every time there was a terror attack, Bill Clinton would remind us that "those people belong to yesterday". The hate was palpable, both in the media and on the streets. Each side saw the other as the enemy of all they held dear. Among the National Religious, and especially among the settlers, the leadership still clung to the Kookian idea that this was part of the process, and must not be opposed. The ideal of "Baseless love" espoused by Rav Kook was often invoked; a Jewish version of "turn the other cheek".To complicate matters, the government had provocateurs go among the settlers, urging them to commit acts of violence, then having them arrested. Chief among them was Avishai Raviv. He learned how to act like a religious, ultra-nationalist settler. The security forces (Shabak) convinced a young woman in Kiryat Arba that it was her patriotic duty to marry Raviv, so he could infiltrate the settler movement. At first, he would get teens to throw rocks at Arab cars, and then have them arrested. Then he turned to bigger game; he urged the assassination of the Prime Minister. Many wanted Rabin dead. Numerous rabbis had said that he was a "rodef" (pursuer), who deserved to die. One young man Raviv approached to kill Rabin was a friend/student of mine, named Yitzchak Newman. Yitzchak was approached by Raviv and told that it was to be his honor to eliminate the hated Rabin. Yitzchak refused the assignment. I do not know how he was threatened, but I do know that he approached several friends begging them to hide him. All feared for their own lives. He was found dead a few weeks later in his college dorm room of a gunshot wound. The official word was that the wound was self-inflicted, as he was despondent over a breakup with a girlfriend. But many, including yours truly, were convinced that he was "silenced". Raviv's next victim was a young man named Yigal Amir. Yigal was a law student at the same university where Yitzchak Newman was enrolled. In fact, pictures of him appeared prominently in the school catalog. Yigal accepted the mission. He worked in secret, so as not to implicate others. On the evening of November 4th, 1995, after a huge Tel Aviv peace rally, he shot and killed the Prime Minister. Film footage taken by bystanders shows that he entered a "sterile zone" unchallenged. Was there inside complicity? Theories abound. There were demands that the court check out Peres, as he had the most to gain from Rabin's death, besides the mutual animosity between the two men, and he suspiciosly stepped away from Rabin moments before the shooting, But the court refused, saying that it was "too ridiculous to contemplate". The gunshot wounds were not consistent with the angle from which Yigal shot, and the bullets were not the same caliber as Yigal's gun held.   This puzzle was never answered. He was arrested, and sentenced to 400 years of solitary confinement,  His brother, Haggai Amir, was also arrested and spent 17 years in solitary. He was not accused of being part of the assassination, but simply because he knew that something was afoot, and didn't report his brother. I used to be friends with Haggai on Facebook. He was bitter about Israel in general, and even expressed sympathy for the Palestinian cause. Raviv was whisked out of the country, and sent to "study" in the U.S. A year later, he had a "trial" in which he was quickly exonerated of all responsibility. But, if, in fact, he had used entrapment against Yigal, why hadn't he stopped him before the assassination? This, and many other questions, remain unanswered. Anyone who had any connection with Yigal Amir was rounded up and arrested. Many cried. Women wore black for the next year. Many others celebrated. I knew several who were arrested for "being happy" about the assassination. (When they came to trial, they were released). Postage stamps were quickly issued with Rabin's picture. Some refused to accept these stamps, and were arrested for "incitement". In the Kookian community in which I lived, many regarded Rabin as King David himself, The assassination was an act of rebellion against G-d. One rabbi announced that he had a list of over 200 official government rabbis who had urged, or at least justified, the assassination, that he would reveal "at the right time". Everyone suspected everyone. I was informed by friends that since I had been rather outspoken against Rabin's policies, that it was widely suspected that I was actually working for the Shabak (Secret Police). Religious Jews, including me, were spat on by strangers as we walked down the street. There were several cases of religious Jews beaten up at random, with the police refusing to intervene. I told Sima that I thought the time had come to leave Israel. She insisted "No. It will get better". But, as a neighbor said to me "just when you think it can't get any worse, it does". Soon, a bright hope emerged, which proved to be a mirage. Next time.

My Story 36

The settlers' lives changed drastically after Oslo. We were demonized by the government as the reason for all of Israel's woes. We were the obstacles to peace and prosperity. Our dead were mocked, and we were declared acceptable targets in the Accords. Symbolic, perhaps, of the new situation were the events the night after the famous handshake between Rabin, Arafat, and Clinton at the White House. I was coming home from teaching a class in Jerusalem. Coming to Ramallah, the main street was brightly lit. The world media were filming an amazing sight. The Arabs were in the street, cheering, handing olive branches to Israelis driving through. As soon as we passed the lights, rocks and building blocks rained down on the cars. There is no way that the Arabs, the media, and the Israeli police did not know what was happening twenty feet away. A lie was being perpetrated, and we were the scapegoats. Even in our communities, we were not safe. People were offered 200 shekels (about $50) to tell the police what everyone was saying. Although some of the takers acted from greed, most were following the Kookian concept that everything the State does is sacrosanct, and a stage of the redemption. In February, 1994, an event occurred that shook Israel, and the world. Dr. Baruch Goldstein, the physician of Kiryat Arba (the Jewish community built next to Hebron, Judaism's second holiest city), got up early on Purim morning, went to the Cave of the Patriarchs, and shot up Muslims during prayer, killing twenty-nine, until he himself was killed by ax-wielding Arabs. His actions were condemned across the political spectrum. Many were puzzled. Dr. Goldstein was an American-born and trained physician, who had won many awards for heroic actions in saving both Jewish and Arab lives. I have a picture of him and me together. Interestingly, he was a childhood friend of Rabbi Kiwak. Israel wanted the world to know that it was committed to peace, and found these actions reprehensible in the extreme. It was thought that he would be buried in the ancient Jewish cemetery of Hebron. However, as that was in the middle of an Arab neighborhood, it was realized that his grave would be desecrated. Instead, he was buried within the confines of Kiryat Arba, with a beautiful plaza built around it. This further gave credence to the idea that the settlers were, in fact, terrorists themselves. A posthumous "trial" was held (and televised), with the Chief Justice being an Arab. All witnesses were obligated to refer to him not as Dr. Goldstein, but rather "the abominable murderer, Baruch Goldstein", including his close family and friends. The court "decreed" (I don't know by what authority) that anyone expressing approval of his actions would be imprisoned for three years. Also, anyone in possession of a book that had been put out about the incident giving an "alternative version" would get two years, or three years if he told the alternative story to anyone else. Needless to say, I hastened to get a copy (I will not be told what I may or may not have in my library!). I was shocked to read that the day prior to the attack, the army representatives had come to the Doctor, instructing him to be prepared with supplies to treat many wounded. He asked why. They told him that the next day, there would be a major attack of the Arabs against the Jews in Hebron. He asked "aren't you going to do anything?!?!" They remained silent. He understood what was happening. After the planned pogrom, the government would say that they are unable to protect the remaining Jews, and they must be forcibly evicted from Hebron and Kiryat Arba. It was part of Rabin's plan. Dr. Goldstein decided to stage a preemptive attack in order to head off both the massacre of Jews, and the expulsion of the Jewish community. To lend credence to this version (which to this day, has never been heard by most Israelis) large numbers of axes were found under the prayer rugs at the Cave of the Patriarchs, and announcements in Arabic had been pasted on walls warning to store up a lot of food, as there would likely be a long curfew following a major "operation". The book provided ample documentation for these claims.  When his home was combed for evidence, they found on his desk, the Likkutei Moharan of Rabbi Nachman, open to chapter 260, which says that sometimes a great man must give up his reputation, or even his life, in order to save an entire community. The government later came in and destroyed the plaza around his grave. Dead Jews were now a legitimate political target for Yitzchak Rabin.

My Story 35

The Oslo accords were negotiated in secret. One morning, I woke up, turned on the radio, and instead of the usual "It's six a.m., here is the news, first the headlines", I heard "...here is the news, Jericho and Gaza first" followed by a giggle. The country was sideswiped. An agreement had been reached in which a Palestinian State, in all but name, would be set up, armed by Israel. Reaction was fierce. The Right saw it as a suicide pact. The Left saw it as the road to Peace. When protests ensued, especially over arming the enemy, Rabin famously said "How long will you be afraid and make others fearful? There is no chance; NO CHANCE, that these weapons will be turned against us. They are for Arafat to be used against his own extremists". Arafat issued a statement that this was ridiculous. Rabin assured us that Arafat didn't mean that. When questioned about the wisdom of giving up strategic areas, vital for defense, both Rabin and Peres said "You don't get it. In peacetime, there is no threat!" Surprisingly, the agreement was enthusiastically endorsed by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Many of his most avid followers abandoned him at this point, and he was widely seen as a traitor. One prominent Sepharadic rabbi even told me that he believed that Rav Ovadia had lost his portion in the World to Come. My "inside sources" close to Rav Ovadia revealed what actually happened. Top military brass had visited the Rav, and told him that there was only a fifty percent chance that the deal would work. However, without it, there was absolutely no chance that Israel could survive. On that basis, the Rav concluded that this was the lesser of two evils. What he failed to consider, in my opinion, is that virtually every high officer, when he retires, goes into politics...on the Left. The Rav became a great hero in Arab countries, as well as to the Palestinian leadership. However, when Oslo resulted in even more terror and bloodshed, which goes on to this day, the Rav repudiated his stance, and called them "snakes". A Fatwa (death sentence) was placed upon him by Muslim clerics. Thankfully, it was never carried out. Later, he announced that Aryeh Deri, his right-hand man, had made a deal with the Left, and had arranged the meeting with the army brass, thus deceiving the Rav. When Rabin came to the Knesset to get parliamentary support for the agreement, as was required by law, he saw that he was one vote short. He announced that any Right-Wing Knesset member who would vote for the measure, would become part of the Labor government, and become a Cabinet member. This meant both a Volvo, which was a major Israeli status symbol, and a generous pension for life. One of the members of the ultra-Right Tsomet party took the bait. He sold out his party, as well as his country. Oslo was now law. Violence became widespread in ways that had never been seen before. Buses in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv were blowing up at such a rate, that many motorists stayed far away from them...just in case. Rabin demanded a denunciation of the violence from Arafat. But Arafat would only give a generic "I deplore all violence". President Bill Clinton spent a half-hour on the phone with Arafat, until he extracted a lukewarm statement. Rabin told Clinton that he was putting implementation of the measures on hold. Clinton said he couldn't do that. Clinton spoke, Rabin obeyed. Hundreds died in the next few months; many of them personal friends of mine. After this, I ceased flying the flag on Independence Day. My neighbors asked me "Hey, where's your flag?" I answered "Where's your independence?". To give this some perspective, during this period, and the following years, besides my daughter Feigie's kindergarten teacher being murdered, my daughter Nechama's kindergarten teacher's husband, a neighbor of ours, was captured, placed in the trunk of his car, and burned alive. My eldest son, Nachman, was THREE times on buses that were firebombed. My son, Natan, was one block away when a car bomb exploded. My son Eli was shooting baskets on one side of the road, with another boy waiting for a bus on the other side. Terrorists in a car drove by, shooting out of the left window. The boy, David Baum (an American) was killed. Eli, at fourteen, was the only eyewitness. Had they shot from the other side, it would have been the reverse. One Saturday night, right after Shabbat, we turned on the television that was broadcasting a news bulletin. A boy, who sat next to my son Shmuel Yitzchak at school, was in a hospital. He had been sitting in front of his house on Shabbat afternoon when a rocket exploded. His body was riddled with shrapnel, but he was alive and conscious. A reporter asked him "how should Israel respond to this?" He said "Get 'em!" The screen went instantly blank. Make no mistake, there were severe repercussions resulting from these events. However, those repercussions were not directed towards our "partners in Peace", but at Israelis who spoke up. Whoever spoke up, was summarily put in prison. No trial. My turn was to come as well, but there are still a few events that must be told first. Shortly after Oslo went into effect, an apparently dastardly act of Jewish terrorism rocked Israel and the world. It was violence for no rhyme or reason. Or was it? Next post.

My Story 34

When Rabin won the 1992 elections in a landslide, he was anxious to form a coalition government (No party ever had a majority in the Knesset, and always needed to form a coalition). This usually takes several weeks at least. But he was in a hurry. He first approached the Meretz, ultra-Left party, and vowed to implement their policies. There was immediate agreement. He only needed a few more seats in order to form a coalition. An unlikely deal was reached with the Shas party. Shas was formed in the early '80s. It was formed by one man, Aryeh Deri, who had been hired by then Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef to tutor his sons. He proposed a bold plan to Rav Ovadia. Sepharadic Jews, and especially North African Jews, have always been Israel's underclass, in many ways even less privileged than Israeli Arabs. Prejudice and discrimination were everywhere. Deri proposed to Rav Ovadia the forming of a political party, aimed at securing the rights of Sepharadic Jews. Rav Ovadia would be the titular head, while Deri would be the political action man. Shas became the anomaly of an utra Orthodox party, most of whose constituents were not observant! There is a fundamental difference between Ashkenazi and Sepharadi secularists. Ashkenazi secularists tend to hate religion (I have personally been spat upon by total strangers in Ashkenazi secular neighborhoods, and been searched when coming out of a supermarket, under the assumption that I had stolen something.) Among Sepharadic secular Jews, there is usually enormous honor for religious Jews, and especially rabbis. (I have had total strangers walk up to me and kiss my beard as I walked  through their neighborhoods,) Upon completing his term as Chief Rabbi in 1983, Rav Ovadia assumed the mantle of party head. The party grew and grew, until it finally became Israel's third largest party by the late 1990s. Rav Ovadia was one of the most impressive people I had ever met. He had a photographic memory of Talmud and later sources. More importantly, unlike most great rabbis who closet themselves in their own yeshivot, Rav Ovadia would give classes in the poorest neighborhoods, to people with little or no knowledge of, or connection to Judaism. He wrote more responsa literature than any rabbi in history. He felt the people's anguish, both material and spiritual. On several occasions, I brought him people who were having difficulties of various kinds, and witnessed the tears streaming down his cheeks as their story was told. Unlike other Sepharadic rabbis, however, who meekly accepted the supremacy of the Ashkenazi rabbis, his motto was "To Return the Crown to Its Former Glory". He advocated a return to Sepharadic practices and methods of study. In his written works, he acknowledged that Ashkenazim should abide by their practices, but that Sepharadim should renew their largely lost culture. In more intimate settings, he made clear that he thought that Ashkenazim had deviated from the true path of Torah and observance, preferring folklore to reality. However, he knew he would not win over the Ashkenazim, and concentrated on winning back his own people. As I have mentioned in a previous post, my studies had led me to be increasingly uncomfortable with Ashkenazi ways. I felt that the Sepharadic path was correct, but I was not Sepharadic. In 1991, I was teaching a course for sofrim. One of the students, one Yosef Anan, was a close follower of Rav Ovadia, later to become his personal secretary. He informed Rav Ovadia that he was "taking a course for sofrim, in which the rabbi (me) had lectured for four hours straight on the shape of the letter Alef, without repeating himself". Rav Ovadia expressed interest. When I later told the young man my feelings about the superiority of the Sepharadic system, he arranged a meeting for me with Rav Ovadia. The Rav spoke with me at length, and was satisfied that I wasn't just a kook, but was both well reasoned and well informed. He brought in two more rabbis, thus forming a Beit Din. He declared me and my family as Sepharadim. He later announced this on his weekly television program. We remained close. As long as I remained in Israel, I was under his "protection" (more on that in a later post). After Rabin had made his agreement with Meretz, an agreement with Shas was only hours away. Rav Ovadia realized that the gains he had made for his people would be lost if his party joined the opposition. In a few more days, other parties would certainly join, leaving him with little leverage. Thus, the strange alliance between Israel's ultra secular, anti-religious government, with an ultra-Orthodox party, was born. He secured a promise from Rabin that no territories would be ceded without a plebiscite. In return, he would support Rabin's moves for peace, while maintaining Shas' educational and religious goals. This move made him a hated figure in "national religious" circles. On the other hand, the radical left, that had traditionally called the Hareidim "parasites" and "vermin", now changed their tune, viewing them as possible partners, while the settlers and ultra-Zionist religious were the ultimate enemy. The situation came more sharply into focus when Oslo came to a Knesset vote. That will be my next post.

My Story 33

The night that Yitzchak Rabin's election victory was announced, my heart sank. He was shown on television doing a happy dance, and stomping up and down. I felt that he was stomping on my heart and on my dreams. Suprisingly, my neighbors in Beit El mostly did not share my pessimism. On the contrary, they were euphoric. "Now the Likkud will be a powerful opposition! They will wake up and save the country!" I'm still waiting. Sure, they made some comments in the Knesset, but nothing more. One delusional rabbi, cum false prophet, Rabbi Tzvi Tau (whom I always call Shabbetai Tzvi Tau),who had been a top student of Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook, boldly announced that "Rabin will be the Prime Minister to expel the Arabs from Israel". Momentarily, it seemed like he might be right. Intifada activists who were arrested, instead of just paying a fine, which was in any case paid by the PLO, were banished across the Lebanese border. Despite admonitions from the U.S. government, and indeed, the world, Rabin refused to allow them to return...ever. That soon changed to one year. Return they did, now trained by Lebanese militias in the "art" of suicide bombing. Before I get into Rabin's actions and statements, I would like to relate an incident that was a turning point in my thinking. The community of Beit El where I lived, had only a single small road connecting it with the main road going to Jerusalem. People felt that all the Arabs had to do was to block that entrance, and we would all be sitting ducks. It was decided to build a second exit. The government and army said "no". The community built and paved the road anyway. It was about one hundred feet long. The army notified the local government that they were coming to destroy the road. The public address system of the community blared out that we should all come to the new road. When I got there, I saw something terrible. All the boys from our local school, from first to eighth grade, were sitting on the road. The adults were standing alongside the road. Army vehicles soon showed up, and soldiers jumped out. The younger children didn't understand what was happening. They thought that the Arabs were coming, and that they were protecting the road until the army could intervene. When the soldiers arrived, they cheered! The officer in charge parleyed for fifteen minutes with the community leaders, asking them to clear the road, and allow them to destroy it. The leaders refused. The order was given, and the soldiers savagely attacked our kids. They were beaten with rifle butts, and tossed like sacks of potatoes. I saw all four of my sons beaten, together with their classmates. It was a pogrom! And the adults? They stood and shouted halfheartedly "Bushah! Bushah!" (Shame! Shame!). I approached the officer in charge, and asked how he could justify these actions. He said "just following orders". I said "I though that went out at Nuremberg" (where Hitler's top men had excused their killing of Jews by saying that. They were hanged anyway). He responded "say that again, and you are under arrest". It was at that point that I became aware that it was not MY army, but rather that of a regim, that did not see me or my neighbors as full citizens.. I had, until then, volunteered every year to perform the Passover seder for an army base. I never did that again. I vowed to do everything possible not to have my kids drafted. Since that day, I see the "IDF" as a symbol of oppression. I freeze when I see a Facebook friend post "Love the IDF <3". A half hour later, a "compromise" was reached, in which the road would not be destroyed, but instead have a huge boulder placed on it, so as to make it unusable. Both sides declared a victory. But for me, I was perplexed. Having been graduated from college in 1970, I had been to my share of demonstrations. Our motto had been "put your body on the line". It had never been "put your children's bodies on the line". The use of schoolchildren as a front line weapon in our struggle, seemed like something that Jews do not do. Yes, the IDF was no longer my army, but my community was also no longer my community. I was not ready to throw in the towel on Israel, but my ideology began to shift in the direction of "extremists", who sought to delegitimize the government, rather than the Kooknick's goal of "strengthening it and redirecting". Neither political party offered hope. Opposition leaders found themselves in prison (administrative detention; no charges, no lawyers, no trial). Later, when Yigal Amir assassinated Rabin, and a 400 year sentence was imposed, the head of the tribunal said to him "you are a bright young man. You could have written and spoken. You didn't need to take to the gun". Amir said "but everyone who spoke out was immediately arrested and put in prison". The judge knew that was true. He gave a nervous laugh and said "Bechol zot" (nevertheless). Rabin's first years in office saw the "settlers" portrayed as the problem, much as Arab leaders tell their people that the reason they suffer is Israel, rather than their own government's corruption. After the Oslo agreements were signed, things went from bad to worse. Until the signing, Israeli soldiers lined the road to Jerusalem. Suddenly, they were replaced by Palestinian soldiers, armed by Israel. (The rabbi who had said that Rabin would expel the Arabs, now said that we must honor these soldiers, as they exist by virtue of a treaty with Israel, and are therefore part of the process of redemption.) Statements by Arafat that the agreement's goal was to weaken Israel, until it could be destroyed, were dismissed by Rabin's government. The showdown was soon to come. Shortly after Oslo, Shalvah Ouzana, who had been my daughter Feigie's young kindergarten teacher, was shot dead on her way to Beit El from Jerusalem. A huge, spontaneous demonstration ensued. Rabin addressed the people. "This is not terrorism. These are the Sacrifices for Peace (this oxymoron became standard). You can spin like propellers (which he famously mispronounced as "plopellors"), you don't move me. You knew where you were going. (We certainly did, as every government, since Rabin's first term in office, had provided incentives for people to move to the "territories".) 97% of Israelis are safer now, 3% are less safe. DIE QUIETLY!" (To the best of my knowledge, these words were never reported outside of Israel). In the Oslo agreements, only terrorist actions inside pre-1967 Israel were banned. The attack on Ms. Ouzana was, in fact, quite legal under the agreement. The reign of terror had begun.