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How did a religion as old as Islam gain such rapid power and ascendance over a few decades to menace and destabilize the entire civilized world?
Ironically the Rebbe attributed terrorism as a force originating from the “opposite of holiness.” Nonetheless, since everything is dependent on holiness, even that which is antithetical, is attracted to holiness so that it can draw its life force towards “the other side.”
Despite the knowledge that many nations supply terrorists with safe haven, manufacture a mythology of “Peace Talks” and entice or even coerce Israel to surrender land; the Rebbe never blamed the gentiles for their collusion with fanatical Islam.
The Rebbe clearly saw the safety and destiny of world Jewry and the State of Israel as being in the hands of the Jewish people in general and the government of the State of Israel in particular.
Whenever gestures were made by any Israeli Government to appease its enemies, in the form of territorial concessions, or the release of captives, he spoke out against the enormous boost it provided to the side of evil, which endangered everyone, everywhere, be they Jewish or gentile.
This tactic of generosity and appeasement, in fact, proved to have the opposite result: Since Camp David and Oslo the enemy has become much more brazen and arrogant, posing an unprecedented existential threat not only to Israel, but to all civilized nations, including Arabs.
When the Rebbe announced after the Camp David Accords that Israel had been” tricked” into making multiple concessions “in exchange for a piece of paper”, we were baffled. The Rebbe asserted moreover, that any form of territorial withdrawal from the Holy Land was conceived by the enemy as weakness, and it would have the snowball effect that we now see unfolding.
Even some of the Rebbe`s admirers were embarrassed by his rejection of the Camp David I accords, celebrating the “accomplishment of peace”, and proclaiming how “it took 30 years for an Islamic country to accept the right of Israel to exist.”
The Rebbe saw this too, as weakness: It implied that there are some in Israel who require Egyptian endorsement to justify their existence!
We saw the same repetition-compulsion of identity-seeking behavior by a confused Israeli society under successive leaderships willing to do literally anything to appease the West even at its own peril.
Often the Rebbe would publicly attribute specific terrorist attacks to the work of terrorists, released months or years previously, in “prisoner exchanges“ or “gestures of goodwill,” since the Israeli Government had attempted to suppress the consequences of its generosity.
But arrogance has an enigmatic way of taunting its victim by leaving some footprint, in its pathological need to inflict additional pain and shame.
Does anyone remember how Hezbollah was rewarded for torturing and slaughtering the kidnapped Israeli Soldiers Regev and Goldwasser?
This Samir Kuntar (Y`Sh`), the perpetrator of one of the most brutal terrorist attacks in the country’s history, was released on July 16th, 2008 in a “Prisoner exchange.” He was greeted as a hero to the proud nation of Islam. In November 2008, Syrian President Bashar Assad awarded Kuntar the country’s highest Medal of Honor.
The sadistic nature of the Mumbai terrorists was certainly reminiscent of the victims in Nahariya.
What made Kuntar so valuable to Assad?
Like Mumbai, the terrorists led by Kuntar landed on a lonely beach in Nahariya at night. The terrorists then divided into groups of two. Kuntar broke into the home of the Harans and subsequently killed Danny Haran and his four-year-old daughter Einat, and was convicted of the death of Danny’s son Yael. A police officer, Eliyahu Shahar, was also killed in the attack. (H` Y` D`).
What was so shocking about the attack was the appalling level of brutality involving the murders, particularly the four-year-old girl Einat.
The attacks on Mumbai used Kuntar’s exact method. It also happened to occur four months after Kunter`s release.
Newsweek described the details of Kuntar’s murders as “so sickening they give pause even to some of Israel’s enemies.” It certainly didn’t give pause to Olmert`s government from engaging in the most outrageous “prisoner exchange” in history:
A living Kuntar (as well as many other terrorists) was exchanged for the tortured remains of Israelis, which required eight hours of DNA analysis for identity confirmation.
In the case of “human remains”, while the Code of Law recognizes their sanctity, they are not more sacred than the lives of living people who lose their lives as a result of the release of any terrorist, anywhere.
Quoting the “Shulchan Aruch” (Code of Jewish Law), the Rebbe forbade even the exchange of living prisoners, unless the prisoner no longer posed a threat to the rest of society.
This could not be said about Kunter. He relished the death of the family that he annihilated and never expressed remorse for it.
What happened to the Harans in Nahariya was replicated twenty nine years later in Mumbai.
One of the distinct stamps of similarity was the level of brutality and depravity.
The Rebbe did not emphasize the spiritual or kabalistic reasons for “Holding onto every inch of land (liberated during the Six Day War)” or for killing terrorists.
It was not necessary to resort to esoteric explanations for matters that not only make common sense, but also are stated clearly in the Code of Jewish Law regarding the government’s mandate to protect its people.
The principle that applies from the teachings of Chabad Chasidism is that forces of evil cannot exist on their own, and can only maintain their existence and sustenance from the forces of good.
While the “West” has shown little interest in confronting evil, Russia and China have become more audacious in their shameless support for terrorists and terrorist states.
The Rebbe flamed in rage when he heard any mention about planned meetings or discussions that could lead to compromising the land that was given to the Jewish people as an eternal inheritance.
The ultimate synthesis of physical and spiritual sustenance for the entire physical universe is the land of Israel itself.
Kabalistic texts characterize Jerusalem as being the “heart” and Chevron as “the mind” of the universe.
Just as the brain provides the connection (chibur) between the soul and Divinity, Chevron connects the world to its Divine Source.
Islam knows this, and that’s just why its leaders want control over these two specific sites.
Chevron is also sentinel to Jewish history because, there are buried Adam and Eve (Chava), Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rivka, and Jacob and Leah all of whom introduced G-dliness into a material world. A world that would otherwise have remained spiritually barren, devoid of the merits described about our patriarchs and matriarchs.
When Jews or gentiles show the misguided generosity of abdicating such holy sites to the forces of evil, the universe becomes unbalanced in favor of the dark, negative side.
Another example of strengthening the forces of evil is when we collude with a propaganda template that we don’t even begin to understand.
The disinformation foisted on the public by a media intent on demonizing the victim such as the “Goldstone Report” plunges the world even further into this pit of spiritual darkness and confusion.
It has always fascinated me that the most receptive audience to the terrorist propaganda is to be found in the universities, particularly the more elite ones: Intellect alone appears defenseless against the forces of immorality.
A reminder of our “pact with the devil” was the discovery that the government of Israel forcefully dismantled another Jewish home in Chevron during the “Shiva” period of Gabriel and Rivka Holtzberg.
Is this the gratitude we should show those who sacrificed their lives for the Rebbe by devoting their lives for the good of others in Mumbai, India, so far away from home?
This was despite the appeal by the father of the murdered Rabbi’s to the Prime Minister of Israel to delay surrendering more land during the Shiva period out of respect for the departed.
Perhaps the simultaneous viewing of the funeral and the dismantling of Jewish families from their homes in Chevron might serve to dramatically express the concept known as “cause and effect.”
At this year’s annual Convention of Chabad Emissaries (which coincided with the one year commemoration of Mumbai), blessings were given to Netanyahu for following the Rebbe`s advice and addressing the U.N. like a true leader of days gone by.
At an assembly of the nations of the world he was the only one to step to the podium after Gedaffi and Ahmijinihad and pronounce “shame on you”.
