Jewish Law - Commentary/Opinion

For the Sake of Jerusalem
Yocheved Golani

For the Sake of Jerusalem

by Yocheved Golani

Chaim Silberstein, Executive Director of Yeshivat Beit Orot in the HaZeitim section of Jerusalem, Israel, stressed an important point during his July 21-13 visit to Baltimore, MD. "We can do concrete things to effect positive developments regarding the situation in Israel today. Jews must come and see for themselves the strategic security points of Israel, they must remember that G-d bequeathed this land to the Jewish people, and to perform actions pleasing to G-d, such as prayer and enhancing a sense of unity among Jews."

Silberstein continued with insightful remarks. "When an American Jew, born in any foreign land goes to the local American Embassy and secures a passport in the country of their birth, the passport indicates the city and country (or state and country) of origin. But the same situation in Har Nof results in a passport from the American consulate* in Israel, with identification as being born in Jerusalem. No country, no city, just the name Jerusalem. No state, just Jerusalem. In light of congress' act to declare Jerusalem Israel's capital no later that May 31, 1999, an act which Al Gore publicly applauded, this is almost inexplicable. But, if one examines the disclaimer listed at the end of this act," Silberstein explained, "you will see that the president of the United States is allowed to forego this congressional act if he deems fit. And so, Jerusalem remains an inappropriately designated piece of real estate to be politically manipulated.

"Events in Wye and all through the Oslo piece process, spelled P-I-E-C-E, prove that the pressure on Barak is tremendous. I do not envy him. But he remains indifferent to the fact that G-d Himself bequeathed Jerusalem and Eretz Yisrael to the Jewish people. The no-confidence vote recently held in Israel revealed that less than forty Knesset members support Barak, and twelve of those are Arab members of Knesset. He has lost the majority vote, certainly the Jewish vote," Silberstein declared before an increasingly interested crowd.

Silberstein explained to his rapt Shabbat afternoon audience at Congregation Shomrei Emunah that Rashi insists it would have been appropriate for Torah to begin in parshat Bo, but G-d started the Torah at Bereishit in order to tell Am Yisrael and the world that Hashem gave the nations to live in Eretz Yisrael, and just like he gave to them to live there temporarily, so he gave it to Am Yisrael for ever. When the nations of the world will accuse the Jewish people of being "robbers", we will then give them this message.

"Jerusalem is the soul of the Jewish people," Silberstein expounded. "But this terrible piece process has sectioned off the holy city into East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem, an up-for-grabs Jerusalem**. With the declaration that Barak concedes East Jerusalem to a Palestinian authority, 170,000 Jewish souls know that the prime minister, who promised the 'I am the Prime Minister of every Israeli citizen' at his inauguration, has abandoned them and embraced the Palestinians. It cannot be, not in the eyes of G-d. We cannot allow Jerusalem to be dealt away."

Silberstein spoke in Baltimore during Congregation Shomrei Emunah's "For the Sake of Jerusalem" weekend seminar. The synagogue's Israel task Force, convened by Rabbi Weinreb, had arranged his appearance. Silberstein stressed three things Jews around the world can do to forthrightly address the politically downward cascade of events concerning Israel. "R'iah, to see the land of Israel, particularly from the disputed areas of the Golan, Jerusalem, Azza, Yehuda and Shomron. Zechirah, to proceed with alacrity in addressing politicians who are abandoning the soul of the Jewish people, and the Jewish people who live in the disputed areas. Asiyah, to take action that will promote G-d's favor in addressing the fate of the Jewish state and the Jewish people. These are reasonable things a Jew can do to deal with the situation in a constructive manner."

At his Sunday morning, July 23, address to 300 Baltimore Jews gathered at Shomrei Emunah, Silberstein explained the naiveté of expecting Arabs to allow Jews access to holy sites should Jerusalem fall in their hands. "The Jordanians destroyed 58 synagogues in Jerusalem before 1967. At present, Arabs have been attacking and murdering Jews in every part of Israel they can wreak their mayhem." "Furthermore," Silberstein pointed out, "the façade of this proposed bridge from Abu Dis to Jerusalem is unnecessary. They are separated by less than a half-mile, a stone's throw, literally, from the Holy City."

Silberstein provided aerial photos and maps detailing the current and proposed situation in and around Jerusalem. "Ultimately, Arafat's goal is to surround Jewish areas, to separate Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, and to choke the Jewish people off from each other, from the ability of Israel Defense Forces to rescue them from attack, and their sacred sites," Silberstein explained. His comments reminded his listeners of the many firebombing, knifing and stone-throwing incidents that have killed and/or maimed Jews inside Israel. His own yeshiva has been firebombed eighteen times in the past eighteen months, without fatalities.

When questioned about the possibility of Arab-Israeli war over the disputes raging over Israeli real estate, Silberstein optimistically expressed that the political situation is not charged in that way. "The Arab world at this time is not ready for war with Israel. They are weak. Syria's army is near collapse and slowly being rebuilt with unreliable Russian weapons, Lebanon and Egypt are not ready for war either, and the weakest Arab country, Jordan, has peace treaties in place with Israel. The strategic threats, Iran, Iraq, and perhaps Saudi Arabia could choose to fight, but I do not believe they are ready for all-out war.

"A more likely threat is an internal threat among Israelis. We have a situation of 40,000 armed terrorists inside Israel today. Given The PA's revolving door policy of superficial arrests and quick releases for identified murderers and attackers of Jews inside Israel, Arafat's gestures at law and order are specious." Silberstein specified that despite this, the terrorists lack a cohesive army or navy and so do pose a substantial physical threat. "They pose a demoralizing threat, a war of attrition, via acts of terrorism and violence against Israel. Israel needs to take a strong stand of no tolerance of terrorists and acts of violence, much as Giuliani did with all types of criminals in New York. He was tough with even the smallest criminals. They must know that Israel means business. Arik Sharon successfully played down any kind of Intifadeh in Gaza during the 70s, and we had silence from that area for many years. We need to have a strong deterrent first, and a strong sense of unity."

Silberstein then joined approximately 75 concerned Orthodox Jews gathered in Thurmont, Maryland on Sunday afternoon, July 23rd, protesting protesting the Camp David process. He praised the gathering as an action of unity, and a beseeching for G-d's help. Outside the Thurmont Elementary school building where Barak, Clinton and Arafat have been meeting, the young educator and the Jews at his side formed a peaceful afternoon prayer quorum. Beseeching G-d to save Israel in its entirety and therefore the Jewish people, the peaceful crowd recited the afternoon prayers and tehillim, hoping to send a message of unity to their Israeli brothers and sisters, and to earn G-d's favor for Israel. Mrs. Shaine Rinde of Potomac, Maryland coordinated the prayer vigil. Her son blew on a shofar (ram's horn), the traditional call to Jews for prayer and to G-d for mercy. Mr. Joseph Rinde distributed a supplement to the traditional afternoon prayers.

Addressing the journalists convened at the site, Silberstein stressed the G-d-given inheritance of Israel, and the fact that private individuals who paid squatting Arabs for the real estate deeds additionally own many disputed areas.

Dr. Candy S. Zentz, a 27-year resident of Thurmont, and member of Frederick's Beth Sholom Congregation has been serving in the Press Room throughout the summit, processing credentials. She related seeing the various groups, which have visited the negotiation site throughout the peace talks. "Israeli drummers, children from summer camps, members of synagogues throughout the Potomac and Baltimore area, and other Jewish groups have come by," Zentz explained. "The individuals and groups visiting Thurmont did not declare any goals other than wanting to encourage the guarding of Israel's security."

Conditions in the pressroom remained tense as journalists waited for newsworthy events to unfold. Among themselves, some journalists commented that as yet, there was 'no story' to report. The emotional roller coaster of Barak's proposed premature departure from the talks, and his subsequent agreement to hand over to the Palestinian Authority portions of Jerusalem containing more than 170,000 Jews were followed by President Clinton's departure from and return to the negotiations. His absence generated nail-biting tension as journalists speculated on future developments for the talks, wishing for concrete actions on which to base the news stories they hope to file.

A Johns Hopkins physicist in the crowd of praying Jews, representing himself, declared to the press that, "People need to listen to what Arafat says in Arabic, particularly when he referred to a Koreshi treaty that he specifically mentioned in Johannesburg, a treaty in which steps are later taken to contravene preceding agreements. The many PLO-sponsored websites calling for the destruction of Israel and its Jewish citizens do not change their rhetoric despite the developments of peace talks. This is what Barak must observe, " said Dr. Avraham Goldfinger of Baltimore. "This great country of America can lead into a conflict because of present developments and commitments being made. This is something that should be avoided."

*Silberstein noted in his address that Israel is the only country in which the United States has not established an embassy in its capital. It is a telling omission.

**Along the lines of Abba Eban's frequent observation that "the Arabs never fail to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity," Doctor Philip Sutton, author of "The Arena: The Guide To America's Future", offers a timely thought. "The one piece of real estate Israel gained in the 1967 war that the Arabs can not realistically request Israel to relinquish is Jerusalem. On the Arab/Islamic pecking order, Jerusalem is third in importance. To Israel and the Jews, Jerusalem is a profound numero uno. If I were Arafat, et al, I would take the my 'free and independent Palestinian state', choose another capital, take the Israeli offer of autonomous access to east Jerusalem and run! There is no sense in expecting any more."

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Yocheved Golani may be reached at GOLANI@juno.com