"And they said one to another: 'We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.'"
There are many in the Israeli public who can say to themselves: If we would have cried then- we would not be crying today * Rabbi David Meir Druckman writes on the painful subject of our Charedi brothers, threatened by the destruction of communities today – who didn't care to show indifference when the terrible edict calling for the destruction of 25 settlements in Gush Katif and Northern Shomron was decreed
Rabbi Dovid Meir Druckman,Rav of Kiryat Motzkin
The story is told of Jews in one of the exiles who had found a profitable way of "income" by smuggling gold bars over the border. It seems that the creativity of this group knew no inhibitions and boundaries, so they were smuggling their wares in coffins, as well as by other means.
But one border customs officer noticed that these coffin bearers had much too cheerful expressions, unbecoming conduct and forms of expression that doesn't match the mood of those attending a funeral…... So a policeman ordered them to open the coffin immediately and reveal the contents. And, of course, the atmosphere immediately changed beyond recognition, when the giggles quickly turned into weeping sighs.
"Oh, Jews", responded and said the customs officer," if you had removed the smiles before, showing weeping faces - you wouldn't be crying now ..."
What does this anecdote refer to? During the period preceding the terrible horror of Jewish expulsion of Gush Katif, this writer sought to put an ad in a famous ultra-Orthodox newspapers for full payment. The ad's text expressed a conscious protest at Israel's greatest disaster: the imminent destruction of Israel's settlements, the destruction of synagogues, Jews exiled from their homes, and worst of all: the fear of deportation. As an obvious result of the above, the prognosis for the future was very bleak: the security situation will be undermined and the country will be easily accessible for the enemy to wipe us out, Heaven forbid.
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It is hard to believe, but I am telling it as it was: the paper that is supposed to represent the ultra-Orthodox , refused to publish the ad, as mentioned, even for a fee. This theme called "Shleimus Eretz Yisroel" and the pikuach nefesh that will result, is perceived as "their" problem, not ours; namely the Dati Leumi (religious Zionists) - or a few very specific Orthodox circles. "What are we connected to all this lunacy," wrote someone in one of the charedi magazines. Even last weekend one of the commentators in the charedi press – as the false prophets in their times- wrote a 'calming message' to the people, as follows: Do not worry, Jews, things will work out with the passage of time, and in several months it will settle down ...
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Back to the story of the coffin and the false "funeral"; if they had the internalized years ago that the concession on Shleimus Haaretz means abandoning the people living in Zion, as indicated explicitly in the Shulchan Oruch, table set (Orach Chaim, 329), and that this is not a personal issue – regarding one sector or another, since we all in the same boat, if we would have cried and protested properly then - we would not cry now, when that noose is tightening around the necks of dear ultra-Orthodox Jews of sacred communities - Modi'in, Tel - Tzion, Immanuel (and Efrat- knitted yarmulke land and provinces, where some of its "sages" turned out to be high minded "patriots" during the expulsion ).
It may not be nice to say, and it may be incorrect to beat on someone else's breast in penitence. But Yosef's brothers knew very well how to acknowledge and admit their sin. "And they said one to another: 'We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us."
Hopefully, now, we will come to our senses at the last moment, gather up our strength, and help one another to be strong, to stand up, all together as one, against this unfathomable decree. May we be smart enough to get up and protest together, loud and clear, and take real positive action, with the clear message: fellow Jews, G-E-V-A-L-D!
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