#109 - Why Hashem Keeps Punishing Japan

While we have seen in the last several years all kinds of unusual high level of disasters happening in various part of the world; in the last several months, Japan has been in the forefront to sustain blow after blow. First it was the nuclear plant explosion, then we heard about an earthquake accompanied with a tzunami, and the latest that occurred in the week of Parshat Korach- which records the very first earthquake in world history- another major earthquake struck Japan on a Thursday morning at 6:51 AM.

As our rabbis tell us, all the punishments that occur in the world is because of us Jews. You see, the truth is that virtually all the nations of the world are considered evil people, though of course there are many good non-Jewish individuals who exist on this planet who will be granted a share of Heaven in the world to come. Why I say this is because generally, wicked people are punished for their sins in Hell in the world to come, though sometimes they may be punished in this world as well. With this said, there are times that G-d may not wait to punish a country until its evildoers reach the gates of Hell. It is addressing precisely this situation that the rabbis tell us that the punishment that occurs in the world is due to Jews.

Now normally, the reason for this is to awaken Jews to repent. You see, Hashem in his mercy for His people whom He considers as His children doesn't want us to suffer all the time for every sin that we commit. Sometimes, Hashem has ways of awakening us up without needing to endlessly punish us. Hence, the nations - especially the ones who have inflicted on us anti-Semitism - are sometimes afflicted with punishment in addition to their eternal damnation.

However, there are times that nations may be punished - not just in order to awaken us Jews, but to get them to take action to make things better for us. The prime example of this is Hashem afflicting the Egyptians with plague after plague to get them to allow us to leave Egypt once and for all.


THE HASIDIC BOYS IN A JAPANESE PRISON

Over three years ago, three Hasidic teenagers from Israel were on a so-called charity mission from which they were supposed to receive money. This meant travelling abroad with suitcases with supposed antiques, as was assured by a "friend". It turns out that when they arrived in Japan, the suitcases were discovered to be containing some 90,000 ecstasy pills. Mind you, these naive Hasidic boys, being raised in a confined Hasidic environment not allowing them to know many things about the outside world, had no idea what they were carrying abroad themselves, and relied on their so called friend who lied to them about what they were carrying.

Next thing you know, the Hasidic boys get arrested and thrown in a Japanese prison, which is far below human standards, at least compared to an Israeli prison. With virtually no kosher food aside from fruits and vegetables, these Hasidic boys, including one who was a legal minor at the time of the incident, were trapped in a spiritual and physical exile. A lie detector test administered by the Japanese government showed that indeed, these Hasidic boys had no awareness of what they were carrying. Nevertheless, it made no difference as far as the government was concerned, and these boys kept languishing in prison, while the anti-Semitic and self-hating Jews were having a field day criticizing these frail boys who had no awareness of what even Ecstasy was, let alone know that they were carrying drugs.

Now, for any "honest" parent, if it was one of his or her OWN children involved in a crime, regardless of the level of crime, he or she would move heaven and earth to do everything humanly possible to prove that his or her child is innocent or at least not so guilty as claimed. Yet, when it comes to someone else, especially if it's not only someone Jewish, or just plain "religious" or "Orthodox", but "Ultra-Orthodox" or Hasidic, who got in trouble with the law, that same parent who would attempt to find every excuse in the world to exonerate his or her child, and is not on that cultural or religious level as the Hasidic boys who got arrested, will most likely judge them in the most critical way, as in fact has happened.

Today, there is truly no excuse for someone who is an internet user to blindly blame someone for a crime without reading the facts on the internet. But I don't mean just any website that could feed them with lies or spiritual poisoning. I mean that one has to see BOTH sides of the picture before making a true judgment against others. At least then, even if one is critical of others after reading both sides of the story, has at least done some homework without blindly looking to find fault with someone else because the two don't share the same religion or set of beliefs.

The truth is that this whole mess happened thanks to a lowlife named Bentzion Miller who screwed up the lives of these three Hasidic boys, who have or will not be able to learn Torah in a Yeshiva for the next several years or get married by the time they are 20 as many if not most Hasidic boys by that age are already married. Even if and when these Hasidic boys (the one who was a minor when they were first arrested was since allowed to return to Israel to serve his sentence in prison and was already released) are eventually released and allowed to live a "normal" life in Israel once again, and assuming that they could find themselves married in a short time, the psychological scars which they sustained as a result of the years of imprisonment will no doubt remain with them for life unless they seek serious treatment which would help them be able to live a half decent life being married with children, and perhaps be able to be employed unless they choose to return learning in Yeshiva.

With all the faults of the Communist Israeli government, at least it did the right thing and arrested this lowlife who was only concerned about his own pocket, having ties with the Israeli mofia. This government also arranged for the Hasidic minor boy to continue his sentence in an Israeli prison, allowing him to be in a better spiritual and physical environment. It is true that he was released from prison a year earlier than what the Japanese government agreed to, and it upset the Japanese government very much, and may G-d forbid affect the eventual sentencing of the other two Hasidic boys.

So you probably guessed by now - I am saying that the reason why Japan keeps receiving disasters is because of the imprisonment of the Hasidic boys. That is right, my friends! Indeed, I came to this conclusion all on my own. But more than this, Rabbi Dovid Twersky, Shlita, the Rachmastrivka Rebbe announced this past Purim the same exact thing as I just wrote here. You see, if these Hasidic boys would have known what they were carrying and knew that it is considered wrong for smuggling these in, then that would be a different story, and a pure Chilul Hashem/desecration of G-d's name. However, as the Japanese government itself administered a lie detector test that proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt, these naive Hasidic boys had no idea what they were even carrying, let alone know that they were doing something illegal, where is the beginning of justice, taking this fact into consideration? And like it or not, all the Japanese (aside from the few Jewish Japanese who do exist) are not worth the life of ONE OBSERVANT JEW - who is part of the reason of the world's continued existence - in the eyes of G-d! So before Jews - and especially Israel - want to continue rushing aid to the idol worshiping Japan following receiving G-d's wrath, they should FIRST be concerned about the lives of these Hasidic boys, and make it clear to Japan that the only way it will receive further help is if these boys are released.

If the Japanese government wanted to REALLY do the right thing, especially since it already was in touch with the Israeli government, it would exchange the Hasidic boys for the lowlife mobster Bentzion Miller who was FULLY aware of what he was doing to smuggle drugs for a profit, risking other people's freedom to hide his own crime. Why can't that evil government have this lowlife in prison for the combined amount of years that they intend or going to intend to sentence the Hasidic boys for? After all, the two Hasidic boys have already been rotting in prison for over three years already, ruining the prime time of their lives when they would have no doubt already been married and could have each brought at least one or two Jewish children into the world, and perhaps continuing to learn Torah in a Yeshiva, and this is for a crime that was proven that they had no intention of doing.

Indeed, as far as Hashem is concerned, after hearing the cries of these two Hasidic boys living on faith in Hashem for some 1,000 days, enough is enough. You see, if the Japanese government was smart, it would save money supporting two or three Hasidic boys, along with the expensive trial, and demand just the imprisonment of ONE lowlife who had FULL intention of going against the law. But since this is not all about justice, and it certainly does not love Jews to say the least, it is willing to spend MORE money for food and whatever else on more than one person who wouldn't be living in Japan otherwise, because it is not concerned about justice but to be anti-Semitic (and it doesn't matter if it would do the same for others who aren't Jewish) and pretend that it is doing everything under the guise of justice.

And so, one blow after another, you would think that maybe, just maybe, the evil Japanese who are running the government and political world, with their idol-worshipping religion in which they would understand in their way of thinking that gods do things when they get angry, that they would think about the possibility that the G-d of the Jews is also angry, even if the Japanese aren't followers of G-d, and would think twice before continuing to let these Hasidic boys rot in prison, which includes not even allowing the Hasidic boys to see each other, and the government went out of its way TO MAKE SURE that G-d forbid the boys would dare be allowed to see each other even for a second, and the only reason that this is so is because the Japanese government is anti-Semitic and want to do things beyond what their laws say, as long as it is Jews who are being tortured physically and mentally, not to even have some kind of hope or wait to look forward to seeing the only Hasidic friend each one has living around FOR OVER THREE YEARS, when they are both very close in the same prison. WHAT CRUELTY!

And so, while the Japanese government is busy screaming at Israel for releasing the Hasidic minor from Israeli prison one year early, the G-d of the Jews has other news for the Japanese. And since the Japanese are all idol worshippers, even if they don't know better, that's just too bad. If a nation is not doing its part to help Israel, then G-d has no reason to help it when He wants to punish the nation's country; and according to the Torah, when a non-Jew violates one of the seven Noahide laws, there is no patience granted for a non-Jew to repent of his or her ways, and is supposed to be sentenced to immediate death - no questions asked! After all, when a Jew in the times of the Sanhedrin of long ago purposely committed a crime that deserved the death penalty, it was immediately granted, so why should non-Jews have it better when they only have a few commandments to fulfill compared to a Jew who is commanded with 613 Mitzvot, and the non-Jews don't keep even the few that they were given?

Indeed, it was no mere coincidence that a second earthquake in the recent months in Japan took place in the week that Parshat Korach was read where we learn about the first earthquake that took place as a result of the rebellion of Korach against Moses and Aaron, his own cousins, in his jealousy for a prominent position of leadership. Meanwhile, doing these months, tens of thousands of Japanese died, became homeless, became penniless; and Japan, despite relief from various countries, still has to deal in the long term with the mess that was created, beginning with the nuclear plant that blew up, in effect, imprisoning people, not being able to be exposed to even fresh air. And as we know, the type of punishment that G-d grants is the way of Midah Knegged Midah - measure for measure. However, the evil idol-worshipping Japanese have yet to learn this lesson, and many if not most Japanese citizens no doubt know the news about the Hasidic boys, regardless of what propaganda info was fed to them.

Now, in case anyone reading what I wrote thinks that I am very prejudiced pertaining to Jews and the evil idol-worshipping Japanese, and still think that the naive Hasidic boys, even if they didn't know what they were doing, still deserve being punished, this is nothing new to me. It's just like the case of Jonathan Pollard, though according to the American law, he wasn't supposed to be in prison for more than two to four years, and was nevertheless sentenced to a life imprisonment despite a plea bargaining, there are those self hating Jews, who ignore this legal fact, as well as the fact that others who have done much worse in the way of spying for another country were only sentenced to a fraction of the sentence of Mr. Pollard, only because they don't fear G-d, and are jealous of other Jews who sacrificed their freedom to save other Jews' lives. For these rotten self-hating Jews, no legal or logical answer will satisfy their evil and twisted mind. However, I am reminded of another story that occurred many years ago.

In 1994, an American teenager by the name of Michael P. Fay, was arrested in Singapore for theft and vandalism. He was sentenced to a few months in prison, a fine of a few thousand dollars, and...caning - which is flogging administered to the butt, cutting off pieces of flesh. Meanwhile, Fay's father begged then President Clinton to ask the Singapore government not to administer this "cruel" punishment. In the end, the spoiled teenager Fay received only four lashes instead of six, and was in prison for only a few months for multiple charges of his crimes.

A little while later, I was travelling on a plane, and found myself sitting next to a guy from Singapore. The subject about the teenager in Singapore came up, and I told the guy that this boy deserved what he got. The guy was actually a little surprised that an American would say this about another American citizen. He explained to me that really, the Singapore government didn't have to listen to the American government, but was being very nice when usually, the punishment is administered accordingly.

Yes, it's very understandable that a parent such as Michael Fay's father was very concerned about what would happen to his son, and succeeded in reaching the president of the United States himself to have him agree to intercede on his behalf. Now, as far as I am concerned, this teenager should have been on his knees thanking the Singapore government for punishing him the way they did, because if he would have been in Saudi Arabia, he probably would have at least had his hands cut off. And for the multiple counts of crime that he performed between theft and vandalism, how much time did he serve in prison - a freakin' mere FOUR MONTHS! Yes, this is for what he knew FULLY WELL that this is wrong, but for extra gain and/or fun, he did what he did, and then was free to return to the United States!

Now, for these naive Hasidic boys who had NO AWARENESS of what they were doing wrong or carrying, they (two of the three) have been languishing in prison for over three years now. In the latest news, one of the two- Yaakov Yosef Greenwald, was sentenced to SIX YEARS OF HARD LABOR, which will not allow him any time to even pray, let alone learn a little Torah, as at least he had a little chance to do until now, along with a $50,000 fine - as though he had money to pay it, which was already paid by others who will be the ones to suffer financially, in effect punishing others for something that they didn't do at all. And for the other one- Yoel Zev Goldstein, only G-d knows how many more years G-d forbid he will have to endure this world's Hell upon his sentencing on August 29. So indeed, the Japanese can't claim, in comparison or rather in contrast to the Singapore government, that they are only concerned about justice. Also, why is or was the Japanese court delaying so long in making a court decision? It didn't take more than a few months for Singapore to lay out the sentence after being presented with all the facts for the evil teenager boy, which included MULTIPLE accounts of crimes that he performed. So, why is/was the endless wait, after around three years, making it worse for the Hasidic boys mentally and emotionally, worrying about what is going to be, not already being faced with the facts or sentence to deal with? As we see in Jewish law, it is forbidden to delay the deciding of a person's verdict, because it is unduly making the person in question suffer the agony of not knowing what is going to be. Of course in the legal system of most countries, there are times that a wait is necessary in order to put together all the facts, but part of this is in order for a person not to be sentenced unjustly. But after this, there are times that delays happen because of politics or more money for the judge and lawyers, having a field day based on someone else's expense.

So, what does all this have to do with Gematria? You see, this is my 109th Post, and one has to only look at Psalm 109, which I believe is the Psalm with the most graphic curse wishes for the evil that King David composed. But without getting into details about what the psalm says, why don't I just post it here for all to see crystal clear that the curses that King David declared for the wicked is what I wish the evil Japanese until they repent and release the Hasidic boys back to Israel where they truly belong. In fact, mark my words - THINGS WILL KEEP HAPPENING TO JAPAN UNTIL THE HASIDIC BOYS WILL RETURN HOME TO ISRAEL!


1. For the conductor. Of David, a song. O God of my praise, be not silent.
2. For the mouth of a wicked man and the mouth of a deceitful man have opened upon me; they spoke with me with a lying tongue.
3. And with words of hatred they have surrounded me, and they have fought with me without cause.
4. Instead of my love, they persecute me, but I am at prayer.
5. They have imposed upon me evil instead of good and hatred instead of my love.
6. Set a wicked man over him, and let an adversary stand at his right hand.
7. When he is judged, let him emerge guilty, and let his prayer be accounted as a sin.
8. May his days be few, and may someone else take his office of dignity.
9. May his sons be orphans and his wife a widow.
10. May his sons wander, and [people] should ask and search from their ruins.
11. May a creditor search out all he has, and may strangers despoil his labor.
12. May he have none who extends kindness, and may no one be gracious to his orphans.
13. May his end be to be cut off; in another generation may their name be blotted out.
14. May the iniquity against his forefathers be remembered by the Lord, and may the sin against his mother not be erased.
15. May they be before the Lord constantly, and may He cut off their remembrance from the earth.
16. Because he did not remember to do kindness, and he pursued a poor and needy man, and a broken-hearted one, to kill [him].
17. And he loved a curse, and it came upon him; and he did not desire a blessing, and it distanced itself from him.
18. And he donned a curse like his garment, and it came into his midst like water and into his bones like oil.
19. May it be to him as a garment with which he envelops himself and as a girdle with which he constantly girds himself.
20. This is the recompense of my adversaries from the Lord, and those who speak evil upon my soul.
21. But You, O God, my Lord, do with me for Your name's sake, for Your kindness is good; save me.
22. For I am poor and needy, and my heart has died within me.
23. Like a shadow when it lengthens, I was driven about; I was stirred up like a locust.
24. My knees stumbled from fasting, and my flesh became emaciated from fat.
25. And I was a disgrace to them; they would see me, they would shake their head.
26. Help me, O Lord, my God; save me according to Your kindness.
27. And they should know that this is Your hand; You, O Lord, have done it.
28. Let them curse and You will bless; they rose up and were ashamed, but Your servant will rejoice.
29. May my adversaries don disgrace and enwrap themselves with their shame like a cloak.
30. I shall thank the Lord exceedingly with my mouth, and among many people I shall praise Him.
31. For He will stand to the right of the needy to save [him] from those who judge his soul.


Now, some of you will ask. This is all very nice that you are very concerned about the plight and suffering of other Jews. But, is there anything that we can do?

Absolutely! First of all, you can pray for these two Hasidic boys - Yaacov Yosef ben Raizel (Greenwald) and Yoel Zev ben Mirel Risa Chava (Goldstein). Also, there was a website that was launched a few months ago to help them- www.thejapansong.com which includes a JEWISH song (in Yiddish & English) about the plight of these boys, and also a website www.japanpidyon.org. Of course, both of these websites ask the Jewish public to help these boys financially, which will include paying for their legal fees. And to note, the Mitzva of Pidyon Shevuyim - redemption of captives - is the GREATEST Mitzvah of kindness. And to contact the Japan embassy in Israel - whether it is to phone or fax what is on your mind about the grotesque injustice that is happening to the Hasidic boys, including the fact that G-d keeps punishing Japan for this but has yet to learn its lesson, or hold a protest, here is the information: Embassy of Japan in Israel
4 Berkowitz St., Museum Tower, Tel Aviv 64238
Tel: +972-3-6957293 Fax: +972-3-6910516

And speaking of praying for these boys, there is a unique division of the 150 chapters of Psalms that is presented in a chart based on what someone's last name is, as you can check it out here http://www.japanpidyon.org/tehillim.pdf. Based on my last name, the psalms offered for me are Psalm 13 & Psalm 14. Though I wrote this post based on the theme of Psalm 109, these two psalms perhaps most describe the suffering that these boys are going through. Psalm 13 hints to the four exiles that the Jewish people have endured, ending off with one's trust in Hashem's salvation; and Psalm 14 speaks of the ones who deny G-d while making others suffer, ending off with the request of Hashem returning the captives of His people. How fitting!

I have said this long ago, but people wonder why there is terrorism in the world. Well, if we can't even love each other, our own people, to put ourselves in other people's shoes to feel the pain that they are going through - even if truly deserved (though I am not saying that we have to go out of our way for certain Jews who openly rebel against our own people or publicly violate civil law) - then of course why should people whose lives are based on committing terrorism on anyone who doesn't agree with their philosophy should care about the lives that they wreck, G-d forbid?
I think that it is about time that people should take a second look at life, and before judging others without at least spending the time getting all the facts together, and spend a little more time examining themselves, and write down all the faults that they have themselves, and to make amends where possible. Indeed, quite often, it is the very ones who are critical of others who are guilty in one way or another of the very things that they accuse others of.

After all, for those bashers of the Hasidic boys or of Jonathan Pollard, was there ever a time in your life that you PURPOSELY SNEAKED extra time that you claimed that you worked when you didn't while accusing others of sneaking drugs that they weren't even aware that they were carrying? Or, have you ever eavesdropped on a conversation that you heard behind doors, only to make trouble for certain people based on what you heard WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE of the ones who were talking, while demanding that someone who was charged with one count of handing over classified information to an allied nation should be imprisoned for life for spying? It's about time that we are honest about ourselves, and think what it is like being imprisoned - but not just for a few months or a few years - but ETERNAL imprisonment in Hell or FOREVER being without a share in the world to come, most probably for all the evil slander that we said about others without giving a hoot about what we do wrong ourselves.

Indeed, it is so easy to accuse others, but how quick are way to make an honest determination about how we live our lives, even as we pass by the High Holidays every year - confessing to the same sins that we keep repeating without making a true, sincere effort to better our ways in some way? At least these Hasidic boys and Jonathan Pollard will most likely have whatever sins they may have had be atoned for, taking in consideration for all the unjust suffering that they have sustained. But for the rest of us, unless we are willing to at least feel another Jew's pain, why should we be considered any better than they who have truly suffered for whatever wrongs that they committed, while we go on enjoying our lives as though we did nothing wrong and manage not to violate the "Eleventh Commandment" - Thou shalt not get caught? Let us set the record right, and start with the observance of the Mitzvah of Ahavat Yisrael - Love of our fellow Jew, which we will learn about what it truly means when studying the Torah sources about what this includes. Then, and only then, can we hope for some true justice in this world, beginning with ourselves.


10 Tammuz 5771