Israel's Not-So-New Golden Calf?

ערב שבת קודש פר' נשא תשע"ג

Jews recently celebrated Shavu'oth, the anniversary of our acceptance of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.

Yet, what happened only 40 days after that?

שמות לב
ז וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה:  לֶךְ-רֵד--כִּי שִׁחֵת עַמְּךָ, אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלֵיתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם. ח סָרוּ מַהֵר, מִן-הַדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִם--עָשׂוּ לָהֶם, עֵגֶל מַסֵּכָה; וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ-לוֹ, וַיִּזְבְּחוּ-לוֹ, וַיֹּאמְרוּ, אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם. ט וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה:  רָאִיתִי אֶת-הָעָם הַזֶּה, וְהִנֵּה עַם-קְשֵׁה-עֹרֶף הוּא. י וְעַתָּה הַנִּיחָה לִּי, וְיִחַר-אַפִּי בָהֶם וַאֲכַלֵּם; וְאֶעֱשֶׂה אוֹתְךָ, לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל. יא  וַיְחַל מֹשֶׁה, אֶת-פְּנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיו; וַיֹּאמֶר, לָמָה יְהוָה יֶחֱרֶה אַפְּךָ בְּעַמֶּךָ, אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, בְּכֹחַ גָּדוֹל וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה.

Exodus 32
7 And the Lord spoke unto Moses: 'Go, get yourself down; for your people, that you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have dealt corruptly; 8 they have turned aside quickly from the way I commanded them; they have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and have said: This is thy god, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' 9 And the Lord said to Moses: 'I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I consume them; and I will make a great nation from you.'

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
We made the golden calf. We attributed our salvation from galuth (exile) to it. God then became very angry,... needless to say.

There is a mahloqeth leShem Shamayim (disagreement for the sake of Heaven) between Rav Paloni and Rav Almoni. Their names are kept anonymous, as I do not have either rav's permission to publicize his name.

The mahloqeth is this:

Rav Paloni says that the mamlahtiyuth (undying State loyalty) of Religious Jews is avodah zarah ka'egel hazahav (forbidden worship like that of the golden calf)

Rav Almoni, who makes a point of saying that he likes Rav Paloni, says that no, it is not literally avodah zarah, but rather fascism, in the sense that the centrality of HaShem, The Almighty, has been replaced by the the centrality of the State.

It is important to note that both of these rabbanim believe in the current obligation for Jewish sovereignty to be obtained and maintained over the Land of Israel.

My friend Ariel Ben-Yochanan of The Torah Revolution, who will no doubt love the doctored image below, is an Italian speaker, and has said that Rav Almoni's definition of fascism is incorrect,...albeit the mamlakhti focus on The Almighty has been usurped by the State, or at best, confused with the State.

Let's take a look at some of the prominent dancers in the (only proverbial, of course) dance around the Golden Calf of the State of Israel.

Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) thinks he is a "nationalist," yet he is really nothing more than Prime Minister Netanyahu's lap....

Rabbi Chaim Drukman, leading Religious Zionist rabbi, was called on the carpet for conversion shenanigans by the Tel-Aviv Dayan Rabbi Avraham Sherman. Whereas the dispute should have been settled in rabbinical courts; it was not. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled on the matter, a matter over which it has neither qualification nor authority to determine. Yet, Rabbi Drukman did not seem to mind when he was exonerated. Regardless of Rabbi Drukman's guilt or innocence, he bowed to the State's authority regarding a halakhic (Jewish Legal) matter, an action very disturbing for a rabbi, and a dangerous precedent. But, of course, that is why he is picture here, dancing around the State.

Rabbi Minister Shai Piron (Yesh Atid) is the current Minister of Education, or as I prefer to call the position, the Minister of Re-Education.

MK Uri Orbach (Jewish Home), noted radio personality and stand-up comic has been quoted as saying that he moved out of Jerusalem long ago because it "was becoming too Haredi." He is a prominent member of the Mustache Brigade.

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, the co-Chief Rabbi of Beth El and Rosh Yeshivath Atereth HaKohanim in Jerusalem's Old City. The list of his shenanigans is to long to post here in its entirety. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Accepting upon himself the authority of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu's ztz"l beth din, investigating his alleged shenanigans while making rulings on tohorath mishpahah (family purity), in his own hand (see below), he chose not even to show up to the hearings he was called to attend.

2. This same beth din ordered Rabbi Aviner to refrain from ruling on tohorath hamishpahah, again demonstrating acceptance of the beth din's authority. After six months of refraining, he started up again anyway. Then the mamlakhti (undying State loyalist) publicity machine rolled out to defend him and to condemn anyone who went up against him. Two rabbis from the original beth din plus one more, and with the agreement of yet two more Jerusalem dayanim (rabbinical judges) then ruled that because Rabbi Aviner "...maliciously teaches the transgression of prohibitions, punishable by excommunication," one may not ask him questions, nor receive instruction, nor read his books nor articles regarding ANY manner.

Of course, even though this has all been documented in black and white, mamlakhti drones cry "lies!" and refuse to acknowledge the facts. After all, their belovèd Rabbi Aviner is so popular.

Left: "A Student and his Rabbi," Right: Aviner expulsion photo op.
Far Right: Mrs. Aviner's hand-she was also wearing an orange "rav" vest. Hmm...

2. Rabbi Aviner participated in the expulsion of Jews from the homes and lands in Azza (Gaza).

Meanwhile,  non-Mamkakhti rabbis, Rabbi Dov Lior (Hevron-Qiriyath Arba) and Rabbi Zalman Melamed (Beth-El) were barricaded in a K'far Darom synagogue, fighting for Eretz Yisra'el, while watching over our youth, who were doing the same. These rabbis were the Yehoshu'a and Kalev of the day. The other "rabbis?" Well,...you can figure that one out on your own. Jewish heroes defending our (only true) Homeland, and fighting the expulsion, were accused of being "provocateurs" of the Shabba"k (General Security Service), and otherwise demonized.

3. Speaking of the Shabba"k, Rabbi Aviner has praised its so-called "Jewish Department," which has been known to be referred to by ideological settlers as the Israeli secret police. I mean, seriously.

Need I say more about Rabbi Aviner's respective relationships to the State and to the Torah? At the very least, they are confused, just like most of the other dancing celebrants pictured above.

Now, I suppose it is time to move on to those additional dancers....

Rabbi Dr. Daniel Hershkovits, the former head of the Jewish Home Party, who lost the leadership to Naftali Bennett, another prominent (ie. confused) member of the Mustache Brigade.

Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, Rosh Yeshivath Hesder Petah Tiqwah wants to encourage acceptance of the so-called "movements" of Judaism, including Reformism.

MK Elazar Stern (HaT'nu'ah), freshman MK and retired IDF General, Head of Personnel, recently earned the distinction of an Esser Agaroth (2¢) label, due to his extensive history of shenanigans.

Gen. Ya'ir Naveh, who was in command of the IDF in the Shomron (Samaria). According to some, his shenanigans have included expulsion of Jews, pogrom, incitement, and silent expulsion. An elaboration of these is found in a translation of Lev Yehudi's poster in Hebrew from 2007.

Rabbi Eli Sadan Rosh Yeshivath B'nei David in Eli which boasts more graduates to become officers in the IDF, than from any other religious educational institution, told his students that they may not violate any order from their IDF commanders. His stance was so extreme that it is said the Rabbi Tzvi Tau, Rosh Yeshivah of the Mamlakhti flagship Yeshivath Har HaMor had to call him to tone it down.

Rabbi Gen. Yisra'el Weiss (Ret.), former Chief IDF Rabbi, was completely silent on various issues such as the consequences of integrating women into previously all-male combat units, the sacrifice of soldiers safety for the sake of protecting "innocent Arab civilians," and, or course, the Israeli government's mesirah (handing over) of Jewish lands and other property. His shenanigans were exposed by Rabbi Elitzur HaLevi Sega"l of Ofra, in תשס"ה/2005. Rabbi Sega"l was recently convicted of making "anti-disengagement statements." "Disengagement" is the euphemism the Israeli government still insists on using to refer to the expulsion of almost 10,000 Jews from their lands in Azza (Gaza). In other words, Rabbi Sega"l was convicted for exercising his freedom of speech, and chose to do so, even though he knew that such a thing does not really exist in Israel. Rabbi Gen. Yisra'el Weiss expressed regret over his actions (or lack thereof) during the "disengagement."

Additional, "stars" of the State of Israel cheer leading squad include Sha'ul Yahalom, former National Religious Party MK, who stated in an interview that if the K'nesseth became filled with Arabs, and the majority voted to remove the Jewish nature of the State of Israel, such a vote would have to be honored. Why? Because of democracy. Thank goodness he is a FORMER MK.

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Eftrathah known for an infamous video in which he referred to the Christian false deity as "Rabbi." Anyone ever notice that the Orthodox Union is no longer a sponsor of Rabbi Riskin's annual Shabbos Shuvah and Shabbos HaGadol drashas?

Aharon Binah (Sorry. I just can't bring myself to call this one "rabbi.") Rosh Yeshivath Netiv Aryeh in the Old City of Jerusalem. By the way, has anyone ever asked the Rosh Yeshivah who actually owns that property? Aharon Binah is, of course, known for his purchase of a full-page ad praising Gen. Ya'ir Naveh, who was already mentioned above.

These three stars have not been included because they actually quite irrelevant where undying State-loyalism is concerned, albeit their egos undoubtedly tell them otherwise.

Back to that mahloqeth, I still have difficulties deciding. So, you can help me out here.

Do you think that the rabbis and politicians pictured up top dancing around the Golden Calf (for metaphorical and demonstrative purposes only) are they dabblers in avodah zarah, supporters of a fascist regime, or just super-duper naive?

Are there any other options?

Now, with the upcoming "elections" for Israel's Chief Rabbis, who do you think we will end up with, Torah based rabbis or State focused rabbis?

Anyone who still thinks that we can have both is extremely naive, and extremely wrong.