Without further beating around the bush, I am referring specifically to the voting frenzy that took place on 11 Shevat (January 22) in Israel. Oh yes, there were rabbis who exclaimed that it is a positive commandment in the Torah to vote in the Knesset elections. Of course don't tell this to the Satmar Hasidim or the Neturei Karta group, who hold that it is virtually the worst sin to vote in the elections for the Knesset, as according to them, one is having a share in the evil of the dictatorship of the Zionistic government. Actually, I can agree with this last statement to an extent, but not because of their claim that it is forbidden to claim the land of Israel as ours until Moshiach comes. And it is true that this Zionistic government, at least under the dictatorship of Prime Monster Bibi Netanyahu, is behaving far from what the Torah demands to say the least; nay, it continues with its double standards of against Jews and pro Arabs. However, if there is a force or party that clearly shows that it will not compromise under any circumstances, and fight what is wrong against the Torah, then most certainly, it can be said that evil prevails when there are no good men to speak up.
And so, the only way that it can be mandatory according to the Torah to vote in the elections is if one will vote for such a party that is known or has proven that it will not go to bed with those who are anti-Torah. And today, this means that virtually all the other parties in the Knesset have done just that, making no difference if they are known as nationally religious or ultra-Orthodox or anything else in between.
Now, in the previous election four years ago, there was only one party that was permitted and obligatory to vote for according to the Torah. And that party was the National Union - and for good reason. Well first, when Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, may the memory of the righeous be for a blessing, who was known for his strict stance of not giving in to pressure about giving land away to the Arabs, told settlement legend Ketzaleh to head the National Union party, it was meant to unify the religious parties, and would potentially help for the right causes. Moreover, when Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, who is closely associated with Kahane, was invited to be part of this party, you knew that some good would come out of all this if he were to get his foot in the door, which he lucked out as the fourth of four seats; for as good Jews know, Kahane represents the concept of no compromise, and so, this was the one chance of finally putting true good pressure in the Knesset of helping to prevent further evil from the anti-Torah dictatorship.
And what did we see in the last four years? All four Knesset members of the National Union party - Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh), Uri Ariel, Dr. Aryeh Eldad, and Dr. Michael Ben-Ari - spoke up at one time or another when something went wrong morally or religiously in Israel. But most importantly, it was Dr. Ben-Ari who not only spoke up at virtually every time, but quite often took action, from sitting on top of an army jeep to protest young Jews boys being arrested and mishandled by the evil police to protesting the illegal infestation of Sudanese coming off the boat and invading especially Tel-Aviv, which in fact eventually led to some of them being deported. Of course, he is also known for protesting in Arab towns to bring awareness of what is happening in this country in which Arabs continously build and live in buildings with no legal permits while true Zionistic observant Jews get thrown out of their homes in "outposts" in the middle of a freezing night, which includes kicking out sleeping babies into the freezing air. And then, he was the ONLY one of the 120 Knesset members who tore up the Christian Bible sent to them by missionaries who have no business being in Israel in the first place.
Now, like a year before the recent elections, the Jewish Home party, a "religious" party with an agenda that is less than nationalistic according to the Torah, including being anti-Kahane and anti-Ultra Orthodox to the extent of attempting to force very observant Torah Jews to join the anti-Torah army or be penalized, joined forces with the National Union party. I won't get into details about how this happened, but this was clearly a big mistake on part of someone in the National Union party, because it is forbidden to join forces with evil people, even if they may happen to be garbed with a Jewish skullcap who claim that they are Sabbath observant.
THE BIG TWIST IN VOTING FOR THE RIGHT PARTY
Let's get our facts straight. The truth is that both Drs. Eldad and Ben-Ari were invited to be part of the National Union in the last elections. However, contrary to what some will claim in not wanting "Kahane fanatics" to be part of the Knesset that these two were afraid that they wouldn't be elected in the upcoming elections, these two had attempted to come to terms with the Jewish Home party pertaining to the burning issues about Israel's security and rights for Jewish citizens versus Arab citizens; however, this did not happen because don't forget, the ones in the Jewish Home at the time were not in agreement of strict stances against Arabs. And so, the good doctors had no choice but to form their own party - which became Otzma L'Yisrael - Power to Israel - party.
And so now, the question begs to be asked - is it better to vote for what would be a big religious party with the possible chance of putting some good Torah influence in the Knesset, OR, vote for a "minor" party though with a strict Torah stance, could possibly not get their foot in the door to do anything?
Now, for those who aren't influenced by politics or false dreams, voting for the truth, especially Torah truth is just that - THE TRUTH, with no adulterations or alternatives. Hence, one can vote for a 100 religious Jews to enter the Knesset, but if they will be lame ducks when it comes to the Knesset dictatorship deciding what to do which will hurt Jews, then what good does it do despite what these 100 believe in or promise or exclaim? However, if even just one good Jew who had no fear of being arrested (though it was illegal to arrest a Knesset member) when he sat on top of the army jeep in his love for other Jews, or two good Jews burning the PLO flag that no other Knesset member would dream of doing regardless of their religious or irreligious beliefs, are looking to represent the rights of Jews that could make a difference, then the only question is, do you vote for Jewish heroes or Jewish cowards?
It is true that the Power to Israel party didn't have some of the good advertising that the other Knesset parties had because some media networks refused to air them or interview them, just as they did with Kahane, but what happened to the 10 percent of Jewish voters who voted for Kahane's Kach party some nearly 25 years earlier? I forgot, that was the older generation; but the new generation, not having the immediate Kahane influence, got rather tainted with some so-called right wing rabbis who as "moderates", at best preach Jewish settlement, but not strict stances against Arab rights; and the proof was in the pudding when it came to some 9,000 Jews being thrown out of Gush Katif when not only few rabbi leaders dared protest this gross injustice; but nay, there is video of some of these so called right-wing rabbis helping to throw Jews from their homes of 38 years, coming to some of their homes asking them to listen to the police and army and vacate the land for our Arab enemies to come ever closer to attack us. And as for the religious parties in the Knesset at the time, the national religious parties remained part of the government coalition until the last moment before the Jewish expulsion, and the Ultra-Orthodox parties were stuffed with some 290 million shekels to keep quiet.
O.K., I will cut a little slack here. There were those who thought that maybe they should vote for the Power to Israel party, but were brainwashed by others who told them that it wouldn't be worth taking a chance voting for a small party who might not make it into the Knesset so it would be better to vote for a big religious party referring to the Jewish Home party. And then of course, for the relatives and good friends of some of the good Jews who were invited to be part of the Jewish Home party, I can hardly blame them. In fact, I myself have to admit that there were quite a few good outspoken Jews for good Jewish causes who are now part of the Jewish home party. Now, I don't want to mention their names, because I don't want to make the Jewish Home party look good. As for these good Jewish individuals, the only problem is that they are in the wrong party, because when later on, when it comes to push and shove, they will be faced with having to make a moral decision when G-d forbid, Prime Monster Netanyahu will dictate, threaten, and blackmail them as he has done to many others before whom he was afraid of them voting against what he wanted. And so at the end, however you cut the pie, the Jewish Home will at best be at a loss at to how to proceed because to begin with, they don't have the guts as Drs. Eldad and Ben-Ari have to speak the truth as to how to deal with the current Arab situation, including demanding that the Arabs who are living in their illegal homes to at least pay taxes and all as all other good Jewish citizens, even if Jews in outposts will still be thrown out, for until now for the most part, part of the double standards of the Israeli government has been to overlook the Arabs not paying taxes.
However, the ones that I openly accuse of not allowing the Power to Israel party to get its foot in the door are the Zionist rabbis who signed a declaration that Jews were obligated to vote for the Jewish Home party, most of whom for sure had to have known about the Power to Israel party, but as I said before, these rabbis are basically what you might call settlement rabbis, but don't believe in strict stances against Arabs. In fact, one of these rabbis is closely associated with Rabbi Dov Lior, Shlita, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat-Arba/Hebron who was arrested and harrassed by police a couple of years ago for giving approval for a Torah book about the laws of Jewish sovereignty versus non-Jews, who wrote a letter following his meeting with Drs. Eldad and Ben-Ari who explained their position as to why they formed their own party, giving his support to them; but why mention the name of this one Zionisitic rabbi where there were many others who did the same, not wishing to have any Kahane "fanatics" help right the current wrongs in the Knesset. Ultimately, it will be these rabbis who will have to give an accounting one day to the Big Boss as to why they chose to ignore the statement of Rabbi Meir Kahane "it's either Kahane or Arafat", continously having a part in the terrorism of Arabs against Jews. No doubt if even a handful of these rabbis with their influence would have openly endorsed the Power to Israel party instead, while they would have possibly made themselves a little less popular in the eyes of a few who call themselves religious, there would have definitely been an increase in votes for the only authentic Torah party.
It seems that when it comes to the most important issues in the Jewish religion that some have very short term memories. It was only a short few months earlier, that Naftali Benet, present head of the Jewish Home, whom some wishfully think is a Tzadik (righteous person), was ready to start his own party, which would make things worse as far as unity among the struggling national religious parties, and it was only because he was offered his sweet deal that he agreed to not do so. And in case anyone thinks that he is the strongest and brave Jew in town in terms of Jewish idealism; at best, when confronted pertaining as to what should be done if Jews in the army are given orders to throw out other Jews, he said that if he were in that position, that he would asked to be reassigned. That's nice, but that is not the same as saying that one would have to disobey orders that go against the Torah, which wouldn't even be a question as to what the two good Jewish doctors would say about this. Of course for those so called good Jews who thought that one needs to vote for the largest party being referred to as the Likud party, since the few good Jews in that party could have good influence, their past record shows that they were ineffective, as Dr. Ben-Ari has pointed out, aside from the fact that all they did was to give more power to the shrewed Netanyahu. Nay, the good "right-wing" skull-cap Likud Knesset member Zev Elkin - who recently produced a cartoon video portraying himself as a Knesset member whom leftists and Arabs hate - openly said that if he were given orders in the army to evict Jews, he would obey orders, since one cannot disobey army orders. In other words, as far as he is concerned, the IDF boss is a greater boss than the Boss of Bosses. And before I forget, the good nationlistic Moshe Feiglin finally got his foot in the door as Knesset member in the Likud party, but after all is said and done, he doesn't stand much of a chance having an influence within the party that is headed by Netanyahu who demoted him twice before, as much as an individual party that has a clear right-wing stance that won't be compromising.
MY VOTING EXPERIENCE
While I voted on that fateful day as one of 64,782 people who made a statement of voting for truth, waiting in line to vote and seeing what I saw and heard what I heard at the voting spot didn't exactly make me all too happy.
O.K., I'll begin to tell you what I heard. First to tell you, I live in a town that is considered one of the more right-wing national religious places. Anyways, when waiting in line, I heard two national religious women nearby who mentioned to each other, as if almost in an undertone so the whole crowd around wouldn'd hear, but still loud enough within my earshot, that they were voting for (Naftali) Benet. In a way, it was good that I heard this, because they didn't even name the party that Benet heads, they just mentioned him, the same way that in the United States, one mentions the name of the presidential candidate the he or she is voting for. You see, this in itself shows how even what whom we call good Jews can replace their total faith in Hashem, voting for someone whom they like and think that he will make the difference for the Jewish people and Israel, when he doesn't even have a track record of doing such a thing, other than being in the Israeli army, and aside from his short stint that he worked for Netanyahu's wife several years earlier. Indeed, the Talmud tells us that in the future, there will even be some Tzadikim (righteous people) who will not have such a large portion of reward in the world to come, because of their small faith in Hashem, rather than believing in Him totally and that others are merely messengers of Hashem to fulfill His will.
Now for what I saw, when I finally came to the cart of the slips of papers from the various parties, if I were to have voted blindfold, I think that I would have figured out after five minutes as to who to vote for without seeing the print. You see, unlike in the United States where there are only two parties - Republican and Democratic, and so, it is quite easy to set it up on the computer to press on one or the other (actually, there was shtick with this from the Democratic party to get Obama re-elected resulting in much voter fraud, but this will not be the post to discuss the U.S. elections); the way that it is set up with the Knesset parties in Israel, you don't have just one or two, but quite a few dozen, including many small parties, so it is most practical just to print up slips of paper with the various parties, and place them in a compartmentalized box. Hence, taking a look at this, one can see what are the most or least popular parties as per how many or few slips are remaining. As I came around noon time, several hours after voting began, it was obvious as to who was the least popular party chosen, or the most stacked up pile - you guessed it, the Power to Israel party. Yes indeed, we live in a world of falsehood, as is called by the Zohar, the main Kabbalistic book. Even in a so called right wing religious town, aside from some secular Jews, few wished to vote for the truth, even though there were several banners of the Power to Israel party hung around. Of course, some would have wanted to tell me what was written on the banner for the Jewish Home party, "No Palestinian state", but that is the same basic thing that these phony parties have claimed all along, but instead allowed one step closer towards a Palestinian state when they sat by in their comfortable Knesset seats when the evicted 9,000 Jews were thrown out of their comfort zones, followed by Arabs destroying and looting the remaining synagogues in Gush Katif, even forcing Hashem, so to speak, out of His comfortable seats in His holy places.
But despite all this, the most disturbing thing to me is what I saw in between, that is, on the door right before entering the room where you present your I.D. and then you are given an envelope to put in the slip of paper of your desired party. It was a sheet of paper with a prayer pertaining to voting, including the first of three paragraphs which was about asking Hashem not to allow oneself to say Lashon Hara or Rechilut (evil speech or gossip) pertaining to the elections, and then in the next two paragraphs, guidance for voting for whatever party that will help Israel, finally ending asking for security for the State of Israel.
So, what could be so terrible with this? Asking Hashem for help not to committ one of the worst sins of saying bad things about other Jews? Asking Divine assistance for making the right decision? Praying for security for Israel?
But my friends, what is terrible is what is behind this prayer and the hyporcracy that is associated with this. Well first, even if this would be a good thing, this sheet was only placed on the door right before entering the room, after one would have waited in line for a while already, perhaps talking to others pertaining to the elections and all, so asking Hashem to save one from saying anything bad about other Jews pertaining to the elections at that point would hardly be effective if the damage was already done. But even at this, this is the moot point, but this will lead to the behind the scenes that I am about to reveal.
It so happens that indeed, this very day of voting took place on 11 Shevat, the birthdate of the famous Chofetz Chaim, who wrote the book on the laws of forbidden speech, as well as several other books on this subject. Hence, one might think that this was really Hashgacha Peratit (Divine Providence) that the above prayer was composed and placed for others to recite on this very day. The truth is that this is no mere coincidence from the Above, but there are those who used the spiritual powers of this Hebrew date to twist things around.
Now, for those who want to recite a prayer pertaining to help from Hashem not to speak forbidden things, one does not have to go far. Instead of reciting a prayer from whom are called Zionist rabbis or whoever else composed the above prayer in question, there is just such a prayer composed by the Chofetz Chaim himself, found in virtually every printed edition of the Chofetz Chaim book about these laws.
And as for whoever composed the elections prayer, no doubt that this was one or a group of people or rabbis or whoever - whoever was against voting for Power to Israel. You see, one who is a Kahane follower or agrees with his pure, unadultered Torah truth views knows one thing - for the most part, either you are loved or you are hated. There is no room of even having to tell others not to say anything bad about Kahane, because the ones who hate Kahane think that if anything, it is a Mitzva to say bad things about Kahane or Kahane based parties since they want to fool themselves to think that the Torah forbids us to be "fanatics". And so, the only ones who could have composed such a prayer were the ones who call themselves Zionistic, nationalistic, or whatever else along these lines without the fanatic part, many if not most were hoping for Benet, the big "Tzadik", to get as many votes for his anti-Kahane party as possible, even though it was only days earlier, that he made a statement that a Jewish town that is located on private Arab property has to be evacutated, the same way that it happened in the Ulpana section of Bet-El where one or more Arabs claimed that it was their property, and so treating their word as the word of G-d, the Israeli dictatorship resettled the Jews from that part of town to another part of town where things were not quite as good to say the least, leading directly or indirectly to a child being severely burned from boiling water due to a lack of facilities.
Excuse me, Zionist rabbis and all! You are worried about Jews speaking Lashon Hara? What happened in the months before the elections, when parties were bashing each other right and left? And what about the shtick that the Jewish Home did in having a billboard banner showing Netanyahu next to Benet as though they are of one party when they are in fact from two different parties - a perfect example of the Aveira (sin) of Geneivat Da'at (stealing another's mind), making others think that a vote for Jewish Home is an automatic vote for the big Likud party for everything to go right from henceforth? Even the rotten skull cap wearer Judge Elyakim Rubinstein, who is well known for his participation in the peace treaties with the Arabs, and who forbade the Power to Israel from having a certain campaign in his hatred for Kahane, ordered the Jewish Home party to remove the banner, but all that this party did was to spray paint Netanyahu's face, and so Elyakim slapped this party with a 72,000 Shekel fine.
And what about the Lashon Hara that the two present biggest parties - Likud and Yesh Atid - presented to the public about Rabbi Dov Lior, Shlita, claiming that he stated that Dr. Baruch Goldstein (may Hashem avenge his blood) who was murdered after gunning down Arabs who were ready to massacre Jews on Purim, was as great or greater than all those who perished in the Holocaust? Now, regardless of what Rabbi Lior actually said, or what one considers to be right or wrong, the point is that these two left-wing parties said what they said to downplay the Jewish Home (though this is not necessarily an indication that Rabbi Lior endorsed or voted for this party), but where was the public outcry from the Zionist rabbis who wrote that everyone has a Torah obligation to vote for the Jewish Home, even though this rotten part of the campaign was made to make the party look bad? Could it be that Rabbi Lior, the one who wrote his letter endorsing the Power to Israel party, was too fanatic for them, and so they simply ignored this?
So the bottom line is, according to those who don't wish for the "fanatic" Torah truth to be presented on the Knesset table, Lashon Hara is how one defines it for oneself. In other words, it is only Lashon Hara if you or I will say something bad about Benet - even though he already proved himself before the election that he is for Arab rights in some form, though according to the Torah, private Arab property is stolen property from our Jewish owned land - that would prevent him from receiving some votes, but some of these same Zionist rabbis had no problem with Kahane's Kach party being banned nearly 25 years ago. And of course, if someone says Lashon Hara about any fanatics, well, this particular group of rabbis will at best change the subject without saying this is Lashon Hara or facing the facts.
And while I am at it, let me say a word about the recently popular Yesh Atid party. With its "Rabbi" Shai Piron, who first said the Lashon Hara about Rabbi Lior and then quickly apologized when he realized that he went a "little" too far due to protests, is now viciously working on getting all the Ultra-Orthodox/Haredi Torah students to be ordered to be in the army that is headed by anti-religious/anti-Torah leadership, or be penalized - with no compromises whatsoever, even though there were others in other parties who were willing to go through some compromises. Chances are, this Rabbi Piron is a reincarnate of one of the 10 Spies in Moses' time, who though were themselves Torah scholars and leaders, told the Jews not to travel to Israel because it would be impossible to combat the surrounding enemies, which is virtually the same tone that this Rabbi Piron is using in stating that there has to be a Palestinian state in order for us Jews to survive.
Of course someone from this party is going to have to explain to me the purpose of drafting Jews into an army that is supposed to protect its own people; but ironically, is used instead to fight its own people in favor of the Arabs having a Palestinian state.
SON OF DARKNESS IN THE HOUSE OF DARKNESS
Those who are familiar with Israeli elections and voting, will know that each party has one, two or if a big party - three letters, representing that party. And so, the National Union party in the past has been trademarked with the letters Teit & Beit (Veit), together spelling the word Tov (good), though the usual spelling of Tov is with a Vav in the middle. And now, since the Jewish Home joined forces with the National Union, which actually became the main name of the two parties in terms of advertising, it was represented by these same letters or word.
For those who know a little Kabbala pertaining to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the letter Vav is called the "letter of truth", and is one of the three (different) letters of Hashem's main name YKVK. Hence, while some were misled by this type of advertising of the word Tov, and as endorsed by Zionist rabbis especially this time to vote for this party representing the Tov symbol in their vicious attempt to prevent the Kahane based party Power to Israel to have a foothold, the fact that this party didn't have the letter Vav in the Tov word, unlike a couple of other parties who had three letters representing them (including one left wing party with the word Emet - truth, but it is well known by non left wingers for the most party that this party is anti-Israel anyways, so there is not even a need to discuss this), is shown Kabbalistically that in the end, the truth that really needs to be put on the table by this party will either not be presented or not defended well if need be when Netanyahu continues his campaign of appeasing the Arabs.
With this said, since this Jewish Home party is not so good after all, let us note, as I have mentioned in quite a few posts in the past, the letter Teit represents darkness - the ninth of the 10 plagues of Egypt was the plague of darkness, some of the worst tragedies of the Jewish people, including the destruction of the two Temples, took place on the NINTH of Av (Tisha B'Av), and this month of Av is represented kabbalistically by the letter Teit. And as the other letter of the Vavless word Tov is Beit, which is spelled as the same letters for the word Bayit (home,house), this Bayit Yehudi "Jewish Home" is in essence the HOUSE OF DARKNESS. And amazingly, the last name of Naftali Benet, the present head of this party, as spelled Beit-Noon-Teit, can be read as Ben Teit - "Son of Teit", and appropo to his party's name and symbol is the SON OF DARKNESS!
And in case with all of Benet's promises of not allowing the Hareidi Jews from being forced into the army, it should be noted that the day before the elections, he came to the Western Wall to pray for his party's success, (which is no different than when the rotten former Prime Monster Ehud Olmert came to the Western Wall following his success in being voted as the new PM), when he was accosted by some Haredim who apparently knew of his true stance. Now, regardless of whether is was right or wrong for some to attack him in their anger, the point is that as a "nationalist" Zionist Jew who was in the army, the chances of him wanting to help the Haredim the same way as his own brand is quite slim, despite of what he may have promised a few Haredi rabbis. And sure enough, he just joined forces with Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid party in the coalition, and as we already know, the Yesh Atid party - being headed by Mr. Lapid, an outspoken irreligous anti-Haredi personage - is working very hard to draft or punish the Haredim, even though this party and all similar parties conveniently ignore the secular Jews in Tel-Aviv who successfully evade the draft. And in case anyone thinks that this is nothing new, there was a time that things were much more equal, including the time that one secular teenage girl who claimed to be religious so she shouldn't have to join the army, was found on a Shabbat at the beach, and was then picked up to join the army. However, would this same thing happen today?
THE REAL GOOD AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
Look, a few months ago, I wrote that it's proven in the Tanach (Bible) how Dr. Michael Ben-Ari is hinted as being the one (his party) to vote for, especially in this Hebrew year 5773. Now, I didn't say this as a prediction that he would actually get elected, but simply that if he were to be elected, this would be his prime time to happen, since it would be the first time since Kahane's party was banned that a Kahane based party (though the past National Union when it included Dr. Ben-Ari was O.K., but not everyone in this past term was always outspoken as Dr. Ben-Ari) could possibly get its foot in the door (Baruch Marzel with his Hazit party attempted to two elections ago, but he didn't even get one seat). After all, the other Power to Israel party leader Dr. Aryeh Eldad is a well respected surgeon who served Israel many years in the army and political arena, and as a secular Jew, could garner votes from even secular Jews who are fed up with the baloney politics and phoney peace treaties with the Arabs. Now, I understand if a Haredi/Ultra-Orthodox Jew would not want to vote for a party that includes a non-Torah observant Knesset member, even though there are times that you have to think out of the box and ask yourself if your own party that is supposed to represent you really does the job, instead of pocketing money to keep quiet about Jews having their lives ruined when thrown out of their homes. But for the national/Zionist ones, few of them could care less if whatever they consider their party would include a non-observant Torah Jew. After all, virtually all of them, at least the men, have been in the army when they interacted with all kinds of secular Jews - some a little more friendly, some a little less friendly - but clearly, these religious ones don't want to show that they are "prejudiced". And so, it is actually hardly surprising that a few too many of them would not want to be labeled as fanatics, especially when they continue to expect to get what they want from secular Jews - good jobs, good pay, or whatever they think they will get as though Hashem couldn't give it to them otherwise, showing their lack of faith and trust in Hashem.
It's most interesting to mention that it had been noted that the Power to Israel lacked only 9,000 votes to get its foot in the door. Now, this may seem to be a big number, but in stark contrast to the six digit figure voters for the Jewish Home, this is a very small number. Probably, it would have took just a few of the coward anti-Kahane Zionist rabbis who could have chosen good over evil, and publicliy endorse the Power to Israel power instead, which would have made a huge statement and shift towards changing the young generation of nationalist Jews to follow the long-term views of Kahane, aside from the immediate votes for the only right party. And for those who don't have selective memories, this 9,000 number is around the same amount of Jews thrown out in the Disengagement. Coincidence? Chances are, these difference of votes that would have otherwise gotten the good party in would have been a true Tikun Olam, rectification in at least small way for causing untold damage to 9,000 Jews some seven and a half years ago.
NU, ANY OTHER GEMATRIOT IN THIS POST?
I already mentioned about the Hebrew letters of the phony Jewish Home party and the number nine. However, getting into more details in terms of numbers, let us note the number of this post - 170. As per the above, the word Tov, as it is normally spelled as Tav-Vav-Beit, is the Gematria of 17. Without the letter Vav, the Gematria is 11 - which may very well spell disaster in the near future, the same way that the Twin Towers, represented by the number 11 as per their shape together, were destroyed with one blow to each building. For in the financial world, the Twin Towers represented the financial capitol of the United States, if not the world, ignoring what is written on the United States change and currency "In G-d we trust". And similarly here my friends, much of the votes garnered for this HOUSE OF DARKNESS party was based on trusting Benet, the SON OF DARKNESS, rather than Hashem or those who authentically represent Hashem's Truth - the unadulterated Torah that has been proved to be represented in the Knesset in recent times by only Kahane, or those who are followers of Kahane.
And so, while it is a "good" party based on vain, political promises as already shown in Benet's short track record, it is what we call in Yiddish - Gornisht mit Gornisht, nothing with nothing, as shown in the number 170 when broken down in two parts - 17=Tov and 0 (Zero), and as we know, any number mulitiplied by zero is just that - ZERO.
Now tell me my friends, what were the wasted Knesset votes? Regardless of anyone's non-Torah opinion, a vote for Torah truth is a vote - even if it didn't wind up being used in this finite, falsehood world. Maybe it will help to give encouragement for the next election, or maybe it won't, or just maybe...Moshiach will already be here and disband the Knesset. But one thing is for sure - it's a vote that DOES GET COUNTED IN HEAVEN, for which one will be greatly rewarded for attempting to prevent the Torah from being further violated via the allowance of Arabs to have free reign of Holy Land and Holy Jews. This reminds me of the story of Chana, the wife of the Vilna Gaon and a friend of hers, who went out together once a week to collect funds for poor brides to get married (Hachnasat Kala). Once, there was a rich man who was travelling along with his horse and carriage, when Chana attempted to stop him to request some Tzedaka (charity), but it was a little too late to get the rich man's attention. Some time later, when Chana's friend passed away, she appeared to Chana in a dream, and told her "You thought that your waiving your hand to get the rich man's attention didn't accomplish anything. But you should know, in Heaven, it means a big deal".
In fact, the wasted votes, unlike in an Arutz Sheva (Israel National News) article, in which, though the word wasted was put in quotes, but still wanted to somehow show how the votes for Power to Israel were wasted since this party didn't get in, since after all, this right-wing Jewish news network was founded by outgoing National Union Knesset member Ketzaleh and Rabbi Zalman Melamed, the latter who now endorsed the Jewish Home party - yes, the wasted votes were ALL the votes for ALL the other parties who represent falsehood, moderation, and compromises in terms of Torah principles. You see, the Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination) can even sometimes twist the arms, or rather, the brains of some rabbis who may be good in other areas, by showing them so to speak the false image of Moses being dead, just as the Jews were shown when they expected Moses to come down from Mt. Sinai after 40 days when Hashem taught Moshe the entire Torah, but miscalculated his return by one day, which lead to the idolatrous Golden Calf. And so, not surprising, the Yetzer Hara can even use the topic of the prohibition of speaking Lashon Hara to hide the Torah truth as preached by Kahane and his followers, so Benet and his ilk won't sound like phoney politicians. For after all, if one can't say anything that can make the difference as to the right party to vote for because it is "Lashon Hara", then why even bother voting, if one cannot be presented with the facts before one comes in the voting booth having a share in either helping Israel be defended from its enemies, or G-d forbid, having a share in helping Israel being attacked by its enemies?
Perhaps the Satmar Hasidim or the Neturei Karta won't see this the same way, and that is fine. They won't care about what I have to say here anyways, and I understand why they think the way that they do, and so, voting for Kahane or any Haredi party for that matter is a grave sin as far as they are concerned.
But one thing can be agreed upon at the end of the day. At the end of Tractate Sota in the Mishnayot, there is a relatively long Mishna describing the current events of the era right before Moshiach's coming, including how Chutzpa will increase among those who should have the right respect for others, as well as other types of tragedies happening at this time, which has already been interpreted as including the Disengagement of Gush Katif and the Galilee lying bare, which included Haifa, from the rocket attacks several years ago. But first, I want to focus on why this is mentioned particularly at the end of this tractate. You see, the name of this tractate is Sota, a terminology for a women whose husband suspects her of committing adultery, upon which he brings her to the Temple to be tested by the "bitter" waters which will instantly kill her if she is guilty but will be amply rewarded if innocent. Now, the word itself is based on "turning astray" from her husband, from Hashem. And so, the Jewish people, though we consist of many good people, has been quite astray. And especially today, it isn't just the "irreligious" people. There are most unfortunately, those who may even have long beards and sidelocks according to strict Jewish custom, who tell Jews not to follow the truth, or slander those who speak and represent the truth. Hopefully, this is a small minority, rather than a large majority, but part of the problem at times is that the few influence the many, when it is falsehood that they are preaching.
But perhaps after all is said and done, since the majority of whom we call good Jews didn't take advantage of the golden opportunity as hinted in the Tanach and vote for the party that would have enforced true Torah principles, and so there will be no authentic backup to stop the evil for when Netanyahu gives in to Obama/Gog Umagog which will just be a matter of time as the Scriptural prophecies unfold, we will learn - though through the hard way - that in truth, there is only One whom we can rely upon, as noted a few times at the end of Tractate Sota following each series of troubles - Avinu ShebaShamayim - our Father in Heaven.
Before I conclude, there are two major connections between the elections that took place this term and the Parsha of the week in which this occurred - Parshat Beshalach.
First, the Midrash tells us that at the time that the Jews were fleeing the Egyptians chasing them which eventually lead to the miracle of Kriat Yam Suf, the splitting of the Reed Sea (not Red Sea, the popular mistranslation from the Christian Bible), there were four factions of Jews who are debating as to what they should do - anywhere from deciding to fight the Egyptians, to returning to the land that the Jews were enslaved in for the last 116 years. This is based on the verses in which the Jews were complaining to Moses about their current situation. Moses then assures them that they have no need to worry, because shortly, they will see Hashem's salvation, since "Hashem will fight on your behalf, and then you will be silent" (Exodus
14:14). Now, it seems that in popular translations, the last part reads, "and you shall be silent". The problem with this latter translation is that it is implying that the Jews weren't supposed to speak up about the current situation, and let things the way that they were as being complacent. Now, it is true that the Jews were supposed to have full faith in Hashem. However, we are always supposed to speak up when evil is happening and make our own efforts to help prevent it from coming or continuing; and then we can rely on Hashem to do the rest. The proof for this is that Moses didn't say in reverse "You shall be silent, and Hashem will fight on your behalf" which would actually make more sense if the Jews would have been told not to do anything. Rather, after assuring the Jews after all was said and done that after that day that they wouldn't have to worry about the Egyptians anymore, he said that Hashem will fight on the Jews' behalf, which was besides what they were already doing, including continuing travelling towards the Reed Sea which was going to be split for the Jews to cross through, and only after then, once they see that Hashem is indeed fighting their behalf, then they would have no reason to continue complaining or taking further action, and so thus, "you will be silent" (based on an explanation from Rabbi Meir Kahane on this episode). In fact, this was the first display of voting by the Jewish people. Though the ones who were in favor of fighting the Egyptians were the best Jews, it so happens that in this case, this would not be necessary because as Moses told the Jews "Hashem will fight on your behalf", but if it wasn't for this, then the Jews would have had no choice but to fight the evil Egyptians.
The other topic in this Parsha that I am referring to pertains to the manna that the Jews received from Hashem and ate for 40 years in the desert. One of the reasons why the Jews were sent this manna was to instill pure faith in Hashem for their daily sustenance. In fact, there is a custom among some Jews to recite this section of the Torah every day as an assurance of a successful livelihood. And in more recent times, there is a custom, as mentioned from the Chasidic Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rimanov, to recite this portion as twice each verse with the accompanying Aramaic translation known as Targum Onkelos particularly on the third day of the week of Beshalach for the same assurance. I have written on this topic in the past, but the point of me mentioning this here is that voting day in this election indeed took place on the third day of the week of Parshat Beshalach. It was especially in this election that tested the faith of a few million Jewish voters in Israel, just like the manna, but most unfortunately, of all the voters whose votes counted, only 64,782 can be said to have passed the faith test, because every single one of these voters (Note: I am not here to exclude those who never even heard of Kahane, or those who voted for a new party whom they earnestly thought represents true Torah ideals) - regardless of their level of observance of Judaism - knows that this Power to Israel party, represented (and still represents - this party isn't going away anytime soon in case the anti-Kahane folks thought otherwise) authentic Torah and national idealism of settling the ENTIRE land of Israel with ZERO Arab tolerance which includes at the very least holding the Arabs responsible to pay no less rent, electricity, taxes, etc. than all other good Jewish citizens while the dictatorship in Israel won't allow for Arabs to be kicked out of our land.
Yes, let us now do true Teshuva (repentance) and vote for Avinu ShebaShamayim, as represented by the initials of these two words - Aleph and Shin, spelling the word Eish (fire), one of the many terminologies that Hashem is called. And as we have in our tradition, when the third Temple (Beit HaMikdash) - HOLY HOUSE will be rebuilt, it will be rebuilt with Hashem's fire from Above, which - unlike the first two Temples - will make this Holy House permanent, representing the concept that we will no longer have the politics and vain promises that have plagued us way too long. We eagerly await the day of the coming of Moshiach, the ultimate Jewish leader, along with the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash, the ultimate House of Hashem and the Jewish people. Amen!
O.K., I will cut a little slack here. There were those who thought that maybe they should vote for the Power to Israel party, but were brainwashed by others who told them that it wouldn't be worth taking a chance voting for a small party who might not make it into the Knesset so it would be better to vote for a big religious party referring to the Jewish Home party. And then of course, for the relatives and good friends of some of the good Jews who were invited to be part of the Jewish Home party, I can hardly blame them. In fact, I myself have to admit that there were quite a few good outspoken Jews for good Jewish causes who are now part of the Jewish home party. Now, I don't want to mention their names, because I don't want to make the Jewish Home party look good. As for these good Jewish individuals, the only problem is that they are in the wrong party, because when later on, when it comes to push and shove, they will be faced with having to make a moral decision when G-d forbid, Prime Monster Netanyahu will dictate, threaten, and blackmail them as he has done to many others before whom he was afraid of them voting against what he wanted. And so at the end, however you cut the pie, the Jewish Home will at best be at a loss at to how to proceed because to begin with, they don't have the guts as Drs. Eldad and Ben-Ari have to speak the truth as to how to deal with the current Arab situation, including demanding that the Arabs who are living in their illegal homes to at least pay taxes and all as all other good Jewish citizens, even if Jews in outposts will still be thrown out, for until now for the most part, part of the double standards of the Israeli government has been to overlook the Arabs not paying taxes.
However, the ones that I openly accuse of not allowing the Power to Israel party to get its foot in the door are the Zionist rabbis who signed a declaration that Jews were obligated to vote for the Jewish Home party, most of whom for sure had to have known about the Power to Israel party, but as I said before, these rabbis are basically what you might call settlement rabbis, but don't believe in strict stances against Arabs. In fact, one of these rabbis is closely associated with Rabbi Dov Lior, Shlita, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat-Arba/Hebron who was arrested and harrassed by police a couple of years ago for giving approval for a Torah book about the laws of Jewish sovereignty versus non-Jews, who wrote a letter following his meeting with Drs. Eldad and Ben-Ari who explained their position as to why they formed their own party, giving his support to them; but why mention the name of this one Zionisitic rabbi where there were many others who did the same, not wishing to have any Kahane "fanatics" help right the current wrongs in the Knesset. Ultimately, it will be these rabbis who will have to give an accounting one day to the Big Boss as to why they chose to ignore the statement of Rabbi Meir Kahane "it's either Kahane or Arafat", continously having a part in the terrorism of Arabs against Jews. No doubt if even a handful of these rabbis with their influence would have openly endorsed the Power to Israel party instead, while they would have possibly made themselves a little less popular in the eyes of a few who call themselves religious, there would have definitely been an increase in votes for the only authentic Torah party.
It seems that when it comes to the most important issues in the Jewish religion that some have very short term memories. It was only a short few months earlier, that Naftali Benet, present head of the Jewish Home, whom some wishfully think is a Tzadik (righteous person), was ready to start his own party, which would make things worse as far as unity among the struggling national religious parties, and it was only because he was offered his sweet deal that he agreed to not do so. And in case anyone thinks that he is the strongest and brave Jew in town in terms of Jewish idealism; at best, when confronted pertaining as to what should be done if Jews in the army are given orders to throw out other Jews, he said that if he were in that position, that he would asked to be reassigned. That's nice, but that is not the same as saying that one would have to disobey orders that go against the Torah, which wouldn't even be a question as to what the two good Jewish doctors would say about this. Of course for those so called good Jews who thought that one needs to vote for the largest party being referred to as the Likud party, since the few good Jews in that party could have good influence, their past record shows that they were ineffective, as Dr. Ben-Ari has pointed out, aside from the fact that all they did was to give more power to the shrewed Netanyahu. Nay, the good "right-wing" skull-cap Likud Knesset member Zev Elkin - who recently produced a cartoon video portraying himself as a Knesset member whom leftists and Arabs hate - openly said that if he were given orders in the army to evict Jews, he would obey orders, since one cannot disobey army orders. In other words, as far as he is concerned, the IDF boss is a greater boss than the Boss of Bosses. And before I forget, the good nationlistic Moshe Feiglin finally got his foot in the door as Knesset member in the Likud party, but after all is said and done, he doesn't stand much of a chance having an influence within the party that is headed by Netanyahu who demoted him twice before, as much as an individual party that has a clear right-wing stance that won't be compromising.
MY VOTING EXPERIENCE
While I voted on that fateful day as one of 64,782 people who made a statement of voting for truth, waiting in line to vote and seeing what I saw and heard what I heard at the voting spot didn't exactly make me all too happy.
O.K., I'll begin to tell you what I heard. First to tell you, I live in a town that is considered one of the more right-wing national religious places. Anyways, when waiting in line, I heard two national religious women nearby who mentioned to each other, as if almost in an undertone so the whole crowd around wouldn'd hear, but still loud enough within my earshot, that they were voting for (Naftali) Benet. In a way, it was good that I heard this, because they didn't even name the party that Benet heads, they just mentioned him, the same way that in the United States, one mentions the name of the presidential candidate the he or she is voting for. You see, this in itself shows how even what whom we call good Jews can replace their total faith in Hashem, voting for someone whom they like and think that he will make the difference for the Jewish people and Israel, when he doesn't even have a track record of doing such a thing, other than being in the Israeli army, and aside from his short stint that he worked for Netanyahu's wife several years earlier. Indeed, the Talmud tells us that in the future, there will even be some Tzadikim (righteous people) who will not have such a large portion of reward in the world to come, because of their small faith in Hashem, rather than believing in Him totally and that others are merely messengers of Hashem to fulfill His will.
Now for what I saw, when I finally came to the cart of the slips of papers from the various parties, if I were to have voted blindfold, I think that I would have figured out after five minutes as to who to vote for without seeing the print. You see, unlike in the United States where there are only two parties - Republican and Democratic, and so, it is quite easy to set it up on the computer to press on one or the other (actually, there was shtick with this from the Democratic party to get Obama re-elected resulting in much voter fraud, but this will not be the post to discuss the U.S. elections); the way that it is set up with the Knesset parties in Israel, you don't have just one or two, but quite a few dozen, including many small parties, so it is most practical just to print up slips of paper with the various parties, and place them in a compartmentalized box. Hence, taking a look at this, one can see what are the most or least popular parties as per how many or few slips are remaining. As I came around noon time, several hours after voting began, it was obvious as to who was the least popular party chosen, or the most stacked up pile - you guessed it, the Power to Israel party. Yes indeed, we live in a world of falsehood, as is called by the Zohar, the main Kabbalistic book. Even in a so called right wing religious town, aside from some secular Jews, few wished to vote for the truth, even though there were several banners of the Power to Israel party hung around. Of course, some would have wanted to tell me what was written on the banner for the Jewish Home party, "No Palestinian state", but that is the same basic thing that these phony parties have claimed all along, but instead allowed one step closer towards a Palestinian state when they sat by in their comfortable Knesset seats when the evicted 9,000 Jews were thrown out of their comfort zones, followed by Arabs destroying and looting the remaining synagogues in Gush Katif, even forcing Hashem, so to speak, out of His comfortable seats in His holy places.
But despite all this, the most disturbing thing to me is what I saw in between, that is, on the door right before entering the room where you present your I.D. and then you are given an envelope to put in the slip of paper of your desired party. It was a sheet of paper with a prayer pertaining to voting, including the first of three paragraphs which was about asking Hashem not to allow oneself to say Lashon Hara or Rechilut (evil speech or gossip) pertaining to the elections, and then in the next two paragraphs, guidance for voting for whatever party that will help Israel, finally ending asking for security for the State of Israel.
So, what could be so terrible with this? Asking Hashem for help not to committ one of the worst sins of saying bad things about other Jews? Asking Divine assistance for making the right decision? Praying for security for Israel?
But my friends, what is terrible is what is behind this prayer and the hyporcracy that is associated with this. Well first, even if this would be a good thing, this sheet was only placed on the door right before entering the room, after one would have waited in line for a while already, perhaps talking to others pertaining to the elections and all, so asking Hashem to save one from saying anything bad about other Jews pertaining to the elections at that point would hardly be effective if the damage was already done. But even at this, this is the moot point, but this will lead to the behind the scenes that I am about to reveal.
It so happens that indeed, this very day of voting took place on 11 Shevat, the birthdate of the famous Chofetz Chaim, who wrote the book on the laws of forbidden speech, as well as several other books on this subject. Hence, one might think that this was really Hashgacha Peratit (Divine Providence) that the above prayer was composed and placed for others to recite on this very day. The truth is that this is no mere coincidence from the Above, but there are those who used the spiritual powers of this Hebrew date to twist things around.
Now, for those who want to recite a prayer pertaining to help from Hashem not to speak forbidden things, one does not have to go far. Instead of reciting a prayer from whom are called Zionist rabbis or whoever else composed the above prayer in question, there is just such a prayer composed by the Chofetz Chaim himself, found in virtually every printed edition of the Chofetz Chaim book about these laws.
And as for whoever composed the elections prayer, no doubt that this was one or a group of people or rabbis or whoever - whoever was against voting for Power to Israel. You see, one who is a Kahane follower or agrees with his pure, unadultered Torah truth views knows one thing - for the most part, either you are loved or you are hated. There is no room of even having to tell others not to say anything bad about Kahane, because the ones who hate Kahane think that if anything, it is a Mitzva to say bad things about Kahane or Kahane based parties since they want to fool themselves to think that the Torah forbids us to be "fanatics". And so, the only ones who could have composed such a prayer were the ones who call themselves Zionistic, nationalistic, or whatever else along these lines without the fanatic part, many if not most were hoping for Benet, the big "Tzadik", to get as many votes for his anti-Kahane party as possible, even though it was only days earlier, that he made a statement that a Jewish town that is located on private Arab property has to be evacutated, the same way that it happened in the Ulpana section of Bet-El where one or more Arabs claimed that it was their property, and so treating their word as the word of G-d, the Israeli dictatorship resettled the Jews from that part of town to another part of town where things were not quite as good to say the least, leading directly or indirectly to a child being severely burned from boiling water due to a lack of facilities.
Excuse me, Zionist rabbis and all! You are worried about Jews speaking Lashon Hara? What happened in the months before the elections, when parties were bashing each other right and left? And what about the shtick that the Jewish Home did in having a billboard banner showing Netanyahu next to Benet as though they are of one party when they are in fact from two different parties - a perfect example of the Aveira (sin) of Geneivat Da'at (stealing another's mind), making others think that a vote for Jewish Home is an automatic vote for the big Likud party for everything to go right from henceforth? Even the rotten skull cap wearer Judge Elyakim Rubinstein, who is well known for his participation in the peace treaties with the Arabs, and who forbade the Power to Israel from having a certain campaign in his hatred for Kahane, ordered the Jewish Home party to remove the banner, but all that this party did was to spray paint Netanyahu's face, and so Elyakim slapped this party with a 72,000 Shekel fine.
And what about the Lashon Hara that the two present biggest parties - Likud and Yesh Atid - presented to the public about Rabbi Dov Lior, Shlita, claiming that he stated that Dr. Baruch Goldstein (may Hashem avenge his blood) who was murdered after gunning down Arabs who were ready to massacre Jews on Purim, was as great or greater than all those who perished in the Holocaust? Now, regardless of what Rabbi Lior actually said, or what one considers to be right or wrong, the point is that these two left-wing parties said what they said to downplay the Jewish Home (though this is not necessarily an indication that Rabbi Lior endorsed or voted for this party), but where was the public outcry from the Zionist rabbis who wrote that everyone has a Torah obligation to vote for the Jewish Home, even though this rotten part of the campaign was made to make the party look bad? Could it be that Rabbi Lior, the one who wrote his letter endorsing the Power to Israel party, was too fanatic for them, and so they simply ignored this?
So the bottom line is, according to those who don't wish for the "fanatic" Torah truth to be presented on the Knesset table, Lashon Hara is how one defines it for oneself. In other words, it is only Lashon Hara if you or I will say something bad about Benet - even though he already proved himself before the election that he is for Arab rights in some form, though according to the Torah, private Arab property is stolen property from our Jewish owned land - that would prevent him from receiving some votes, but some of these same Zionist rabbis had no problem with Kahane's Kach party being banned nearly 25 years ago. And of course, if someone says Lashon Hara about any fanatics, well, this particular group of rabbis will at best change the subject without saying this is Lashon Hara or facing the facts.
And while I am at it, let me say a word about the recently popular Yesh Atid party. With its "Rabbi" Shai Piron, who first said the Lashon Hara about Rabbi Lior and then quickly apologized when he realized that he went a "little" too far due to protests, is now viciously working on getting all the Ultra-Orthodox/Haredi Torah students to be ordered to be in the army that is headed by anti-religious/anti-Torah leadership, or be penalized - with no compromises whatsoever, even though there were others in other parties who were willing to go through some compromises. Chances are, this Rabbi Piron is a reincarnate of one of the 10 Spies in Moses' time, who though were themselves Torah scholars and leaders, told the Jews not to travel to Israel because it would be impossible to combat the surrounding enemies, which is virtually the same tone that this Rabbi Piron is using in stating that there has to be a Palestinian state in order for us Jews to survive.
Of course someone from this party is going to have to explain to me the purpose of drafting Jews into an army that is supposed to protect its own people; but ironically, is used instead to fight its own people in favor of the Arabs having a Palestinian state.
SON OF DARKNESS IN THE HOUSE OF DARKNESS
Those who are familiar with Israeli elections and voting, will know that each party has one, two or if a big party - three letters, representing that party. And so, the National Union party in the past has been trademarked with the letters Teit & Beit (Veit), together spelling the word Tov (good), though the usual spelling of Tov is with a Vav in the middle. And now, since the Jewish Home joined forces with the National Union, which actually became the main name of the two parties in terms of advertising, it was represented by these same letters or word.
For those who know a little Kabbala pertaining to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the letter Vav is called the "letter of truth", and is one of the three (different) letters of Hashem's main name YKVK. Hence, while some were misled by this type of advertising of the word Tov, and as endorsed by Zionist rabbis especially this time to vote for this party representing the Tov symbol in their vicious attempt to prevent the Kahane based party Power to Israel to have a foothold, the fact that this party didn't have the letter Vav in the Tov word, unlike a couple of other parties who had three letters representing them (including one left wing party with the word Emet - truth, but it is well known by non left wingers for the most party that this party is anti-Israel anyways, so there is not even a need to discuss this), is shown Kabbalistically that in the end, the truth that really needs to be put on the table by this party will either not be presented or not defended well if need be when Netanyahu continues his campaign of appeasing the Arabs.
With this said, since this Jewish Home party is not so good after all, let us note, as I have mentioned in quite a few posts in the past, the letter Teit represents darkness - the ninth of the 10 plagues of Egypt was the plague of darkness, some of the worst tragedies of the Jewish people, including the destruction of the two Temples, took place on the NINTH of Av (Tisha B'Av), and this month of Av is represented kabbalistically by the letter Teit. And as the other letter of the Vavless word Tov is Beit, which is spelled as the same letters for the word Bayit (home,house), this Bayit Yehudi "Jewish Home" is in essence the HOUSE OF DARKNESS. And amazingly, the last name of Naftali Benet, the present head of this party, as spelled Beit-Noon-Teit, can be read as Ben Teit - "Son of Teit", and appropo to his party's name and symbol is the SON OF DARKNESS!
And in case with all of Benet's promises of not allowing the Hareidi Jews from being forced into the army, it should be noted that the day before the elections, he came to the Western Wall to pray for his party's success, (which is no different than when the rotten former Prime Monster Ehud Olmert came to the Western Wall following his success in being voted as the new PM), when he was accosted by some Haredim who apparently knew of his true stance. Now, regardless of whether is was right or wrong for some to attack him in their anger, the point is that as a "nationalist" Zionist Jew who was in the army, the chances of him wanting to help the Haredim the same way as his own brand is quite slim, despite of what he may have promised a few Haredi rabbis. And sure enough, he just joined forces with Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid party in the coalition, and as we already know, the Yesh Atid party - being headed by Mr. Lapid, an outspoken irreligous anti-Haredi personage - is working very hard to draft or punish the Haredim, even though this party and all similar parties conveniently ignore the secular Jews in Tel-Aviv who successfully evade the draft. And in case anyone thinks that this is nothing new, there was a time that things were much more equal, including the time that one secular teenage girl who claimed to be religious so she shouldn't have to join the army, was found on a Shabbat at the beach, and was then picked up to join the army. However, would this same thing happen today?
THE REAL GOOD AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
Look, a few months ago, I wrote that it's proven in the Tanach (Bible) how Dr. Michael Ben-Ari is hinted as being the one (his party) to vote for, especially in this Hebrew year 5773. Now, I didn't say this as a prediction that he would actually get elected, but simply that if he were to be elected, this would be his prime time to happen, since it would be the first time since Kahane's party was banned that a Kahane based party (though the past National Union when it included Dr. Ben-Ari was O.K., but not everyone in this past term was always outspoken as Dr. Ben-Ari) could possibly get its foot in the door (Baruch Marzel with his Hazit party attempted to two elections ago, but he didn't even get one seat). After all, the other Power to Israel party leader Dr. Aryeh Eldad is a well respected surgeon who served Israel many years in the army and political arena, and as a secular Jew, could garner votes from even secular Jews who are fed up with the baloney politics and phoney peace treaties with the Arabs. Now, I understand if a Haredi/Ultra-Orthodox Jew would not want to vote for a party that includes a non-Torah observant Knesset member, even though there are times that you have to think out of the box and ask yourself if your own party that is supposed to represent you really does the job, instead of pocketing money to keep quiet about Jews having their lives ruined when thrown out of their homes. But for the national/Zionist ones, few of them could care less if whatever they consider their party would include a non-observant Torah Jew. After all, virtually all of them, at least the men, have been in the army when they interacted with all kinds of secular Jews - some a little more friendly, some a little less friendly - but clearly, these religious ones don't want to show that they are "prejudiced". And so, it is actually hardly surprising that a few too many of them would not want to be labeled as fanatics, especially when they continue to expect to get what they want from secular Jews - good jobs, good pay, or whatever they think they will get as though Hashem couldn't give it to them otherwise, showing their lack of faith and trust in Hashem.
It's most interesting to mention that it had been noted that the Power to Israel lacked only 9,000 votes to get its foot in the door. Now, this may seem to be a big number, but in stark contrast to the six digit figure voters for the Jewish Home, this is a very small number. Probably, it would have took just a few of the coward anti-Kahane Zionist rabbis who could have chosen good over evil, and publicliy endorse the Power to Israel power instead, which would have made a huge statement and shift towards changing the young generation of nationalist Jews to follow the long-term views of Kahane, aside from the immediate votes for the only right party. And for those who don't have selective memories, this 9,000 number is around the same amount of Jews thrown out in the Disengagement. Coincidence? Chances are, these difference of votes that would have otherwise gotten the good party in would have been a true Tikun Olam, rectification in at least small way for causing untold damage to 9,000 Jews some seven and a half years ago.
NU, ANY OTHER GEMATRIOT IN THIS POST?
I already mentioned about the Hebrew letters of the phony Jewish Home party and the number nine. However, getting into more details in terms of numbers, let us note the number of this post - 170. As per the above, the word Tov, as it is normally spelled as Tav-Vav-Beit, is the Gematria of 17. Without the letter Vav, the Gematria is 11 - which may very well spell disaster in the near future, the same way that the Twin Towers, represented by the number 11 as per their shape together, were destroyed with one blow to each building. For in the financial world, the Twin Towers represented the financial capitol of the United States, if not the world, ignoring what is written on the United States change and currency "In G-d we trust". And similarly here my friends, much of the votes garnered for this HOUSE OF DARKNESS party was based on trusting Benet, the SON OF DARKNESS, rather than Hashem or those who authentically represent Hashem's Truth - the unadulterated Torah that has been proved to be represented in the Knesset in recent times by only Kahane, or those who are followers of Kahane.
And so, while it is a "good" party based on vain, political promises as already shown in Benet's short track record, it is what we call in Yiddish - Gornisht mit Gornisht, nothing with nothing, as shown in the number 170 when broken down in two parts - 17=Tov and 0 (Zero), and as we know, any number mulitiplied by zero is just that - ZERO.
Now tell me my friends, what were the wasted Knesset votes? Regardless of anyone's non-Torah opinion, a vote for Torah truth is a vote - even if it didn't wind up being used in this finite, falsehood world. Maybe it will help to give encouragement for the next election, or maybe it won't, or just maybe...Moshiach will already be here and disband the Knesset. But one thing is for sure - it's a vote that DOES GET COUNTED IN HEAVEN, for which one will be greatly rewarded for attempting to prevent the Torah from being further violated via the allowance of Arabs to have free reign of Holy Land and Holy Jews. This reminds me of the story of Chana, the wife of the Vilna Gaon and a friend of hers, who went out together once a week to collect funds for poor brides to get married (Hachnasat Kala). Once, there was a rich man who was travelling along with his horse and carriage, when Chana attempted to stop him to request some Tzedaka (charity), but it was a little too late to get the rich man's attention. Some time later, when Chana's friend passed away, she appeared to Chana in a dream, and told her "You thought that your waiving your hand to get the rich man's attention didn't accomplish anything. But you should know, in Heaven, it means a big deal".
In fact, the wasted votes, unlike in an Arutz Sheva (Israel National News) article, in which, though the word wasted was put in quotes, but still wanted to somehow show how the votes for Power to Israel were wasted since this party didn't get in, since after all, this right-wing Jewish news network was founded by outgoing National Union Knesset member Ketzaleh and Rabbi Zalman Melamed, the latter who now endorsed the Jewish Home party - yes, the wasted votes were ALL the votes for ALL the other parties who represent falsehood, moderation, and compromises in terms of Torah principles. You see, the Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination) can even sometimes twist the arms, or rather, the brains of some rabbis who may be good in other areas, by showing them so to speak the false image of Moses being dead, just as the Jews were shown when they expected Moses to come down from Mt. Sinai after 40 days when Hashem taught Moshe the entire Torah, but miscalculated his return by one day, which lead to the idolatrous Golden Calf. And so, not surprising, the Yetzer Hara can even use the topic of the prohibition of speaking Lashon Hara to hide the Torah truth as preached by Kahane and his followers, so Benet and his ilk won't sound like phoney politicians. For after all, if one can't say anything that can make the difference as to the right party to vote for because it is "Lashon Hara", then why even bother voting, if one cannot be presented with the facts before one comes in the voting booth having a share in either helping Israel be defended from its enemies, or G-d forbid, having a share in helping Israel being attacked by its enemies?
Perhaps the Satmar Hasidim or the Neturei Karta won't see this the same way, and that is fine. They won't care about what I have to say here anyways, and I understand why they think the way that they do, and so, voting for Kahane or any Haredi party for that matter is a grave sin as far as they are concerned.
But one thing can be agreed upon at the end of the day. At the end of Tractate Sota in the Mishnayot, there is a relatively long Mishna describing the current events of the era right before Moshiach's coming, including how Chutzpa will increase among those who should have the right respect for others, as well as other types of tragedies happening at this time, which has already been interpreted as including the Disengagement of Gush Katif and the Galilee lying bare, which included Haifa, from the rocket attacks several years ago. But first, I want to focus on why this is mentioned particularly at the end of this tractate. You see, the name of this tractate is Sota, a terminology for a women whose husband suspects her of committing adultery, upon which he brings her to the Temple to be tested by the "bitter" waters which will instantly kill her if she is guilty but will be amply rewarded if innocent. Now, the word itself is based on "turning astray" from her husband, from Hashem. And so, the Jewish people, though we consist of many good people, has been quite astray. And especially today, it isn't just the "irreligious" people. There are most unfortunately, those who may even have long beards and sidelocks according to strict Jewish custom, who tell Jews not to follow the truth, or slander those who speak and represent the truth. Hopefully, this is a small minority, rather than a large majority, but part of the problem at times is that the few influence the many, when it is falsehood that they are preaching.
But perhaps after all is said and done, since the majority of whom we call good Jews didn't take advantage of the golden opportunity as hinted in the Tanach and vote for the party that would have enforced true Torah principles, and so there will be no authentic backup to stop the evil for when Netanyahu gives in to Obama/Gog Umagog which will just be a matter of time as the Scriptural prophecies unfold, we will learn - though through the hard way - that in truth, there is only One whom we can rely upon, as noted a few times at the end of Tractate Sota following each series of troubles - Avinu ShebaShamayim - our Father in Heaven.
Before I conclude, there are two major connections between the elections that took place this term and the Parsha of the week in which this occurred - Parshat Beshalach.
First, the Midrash tells us that at the time that the Jews were fleeing the Egyptians chasing them which eventually lead to the miracle of Kriat Yam Suf, the splitting of the Reed Sea (not Red Sea, the popular mistranslation from the Christian Bible), there were four factions of Jews who are debating as to what they should do - anywhere from deciding to fight the Egyptians, to returning to the land that the Jews were enslaved in for the last 116 years. This is based on the verses in which the Jews were complaining to Moses about their current situation. Moses then assures them that they have no need to worry, because shortly, they will see Hashem's salvation, since "Hashem will fight on your behalf, and then you will be silent" (Exodus
14:14). Now, it seems that in popular translations, the last part reads, "and you shall be silent". The problem with this latter translation is that it is implying that the Jews weren't supposed to speak up about the current situation, and let things the way that they were as being complacent. Now, it is true that the Jews were supposed to have full faith in Hashem. However, we are always supposed to speak up when evil is happening and make our own efforts to help prevent it from coming or continuing; and then we can rely on Hashem to do the rest. The proof for this is that Moses didn't say in reverse "You shall be silent, and Hashem will fight on your behalf" which would actually make more sense if the Jews would have been told not to do anything. Rather, after assuring the Jews after all was said and done that after that day that they wouldn't have to worry about the Egyptians anymore, he said that Hashem will fight on the Jews' behalf, which was besides what they were already doing, including continuing travelling towards the Reed Sea which was going to be split for the Jews to cross through, and only after then, once they see that Hashem is indeed fighting their behalf, then they would have no reason to continue complaining or taking further action, and so thus, "you will be silent" (based on an explanation from Rabbi Meir Kahane on this episode). In fact, this was the first display of voting by the Jewish people. Though the ones who were in favor of fighting the Egyptians were the best Jews, it so happens that in this case, this would not be necessary because as Moses told the Jews "Hashem will fight on your behalf", but if it wasn't for this, then the Jews would have had no choice but to fight the evil Egyptians.
The other topic in this Parsha that I am referring to pertains to the manna that the Jews received from Hashem and ate for 40 years in the desert. One of the reasons why the Jews were sent this manna was to instill pure faith in Hashem for their daily sustenance. In fact, there is a custom among some Jews to recite this section of the Torah every day as an assurance of a successful livelihood. And in more recent times, there is a custom, as mentioned from the Chasidic Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rimanov, to recite this portion as twice each verse with the accompanying Aramaic translation known as Targum Onkelos particularly on the third day of the week of Beshalach for the same assurance. I have written on this topic in the past, but the point of me mentioning this here is that voting day in this election indeed took place on the third day of the week of Parshat Beshalach. It was especially in this election that tested the faith of a few million Jewish voters in Israel, just like the manna, but most unfortunately, of all the voters whose votes counted, only 64,782 can be said to have passed the faith test, because every single one of these voters (Note: I am not here to exclude those who never even heard of Kahane, or those who voted for a new party whom they earnestly thought represents true Torah ideals) - regardless of their level of observance of Judaism - knows that this Power to Israel party, represented (and still represents - this party isn't going away anytime soon in case the anti-Kahane folks thought otherwise) authentic Torah and national idealism of settling the ENTIRE land of Israel with ZERO Arab tolerance which includes at the very least holding the Arabs responsible to pay no less rent, electricity, taxes, etc. than all other good Jewish citizens while the dictatorship in Israel won't allow for Arabs to be kicked out of our land.
Yes, let us now do true Teshuva (repentance) and vote for Avinu ShebaShamayim, as represented by the initials of these two words - Aleph and Shin, spelling the word Eish (fire), one of the many terminologies that Hashem is called. And as we have in our tradition, when the third Temple (Beit HaMikdash) - HOLY HOUSE will be rebuilt, it will be rebuilt with Hashem's fire from Above, which - unlike the first two Temples - will make this Holy House permanent, representing the concept that we will no longer have the politics and vain promises that have plagued us way too long. We eagerly await the day of the coming of Moshiach, the ultimate Jewish leader, along with the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash, the ultimate House of Hashem and the Jewish people. Amen!
5 Adar, 5773
