Are Kabbalists for War or for Peace?
Questions about an article I wrote in 2000:
1. Did this interview really take place?
2. If it did, do the below quotes accurately portray what you said?
3. It’s hard to understand how a Kabbalist – someone who is a complete altruist – could recommend military rule, preemptive strikes and abandoning the peace process. For example, you said:
“It is not a government of national unity that we need, but a military rule that will have absolute power, assume the responsibility and come forth with an intense preventative strike against Syria, our main enemy. Then we would completely destroy its military machine and the camps where terrorists are trained.”
In other parts of the interview you recommended the following,
“These days we don’t need a Knesset (parliament) whose seats are filled by our natural enemies – the Arab deputies (who don’t hide this fact), and the peacemakers who have paralyzed the people’s will to live on this land.”
4. Finally, even if we agree, and accept the fact that we can’t see the proper course of action because we haven’t yet crossed the Machsom (barrier), shouldn’t a Kabbalist understand that such statements won’t influence Israel’s politics? Did you truly expect people to pay attention to your advice?
My Answer: This wasn’t an interview, but an article I wrote called, “The Threat of Destruction,” and yes, I am for preventative actions, like what Israel did in the Six Days War. It’s obvious that if you’re being attacked, you have to defend yourself. But the question is: Who will be the first to strike? The aggressor? Or the party for whom the strike is intended?
Imagine that a group of criminals have surrounded your son and are about to kill him – and you’re advising him to wait for peace. Or that your daughter is about to be raped! Would you stand around and reason about it, or would you take all the necessary measures to prevent the attack?
Evidently, in our case, you don’t feel close to the victims, the way you would with your children. Egoists, who can’t perceive others as themselves, are calling for inaction and hence are the evil of this world, allowing the killers and rapists to multiply.
King David spent 40 years in continuous warfare, killing and at the same time writing Psalms, which are recognized as the height of love for humankind and the Creator…
And as to no one taking notice of my advice, you’re incorrect about that. People, just like you, took notice back then and are taking notice now. And I didn’t expect anything less. Reactions such as yours bring understanding. You can love only once you acquire power, severity and mercy – in equal measure. It’s because love is the most corrected property – the fourth phase of the Creator’s revelation.
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Rav,
This video was handed out within our group (St. Louis). Seemed to apply as a end result to the nature of a human you described in this morning’s lesson.
Here is the link if it doesn’t show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXSkfTedVb0)
First you present an example of the questioner’s own son about to be murdered or daughter raped. You conclude since in that case the questioner would take action (which seems reasonable) and since the questioner is inquiring about your advice to recommend military rule, intense preemptive strikes and abandoning the peace process that they must not feel as close to the victims in Israel as they do about their own children. I see your inference as overly simplistic. Let me explain further. Let’s modify your example slightly and assume that I found out about a plot to murder my son. Certainly I would take immediate action, but I would not necessarily in that case kill the suspects. I would instead take immediate measures to protect my son, have the suspect arrested and brought to justice in a court. Would that imply that I don’t care about my son, or perhaps I wish to avoid killing another human being?
Similarly, is the fact that I might want to avoid the extreme actions you recommend, which would result in the killings of huge numbers of people including children, due to the fact that I feel there may be a way to avoid such killings or due to the fact that I don’t feel close to the victims? You can perhaps argue that I simply am misinformed, or simply cannot see the future like you can, and that the action you suggest is the only way to avoid even more massive killings. Frankly, I am not able to see that the actions you suggest are the only means to avoid even more massive bloodshed. But I don’t see how you can infer from that the I don’t feel close to the victims.
Also I haven’t seen anything in your statement that expresses compassion for the children in countries other then Israel that would be killed as a result of your actions. Could I not reasonably conclude that you don’t feel as close to those potential victims as you do to the people of Israel?
In your statement you also seem to be implying that the questioner is an egoist or more generally those who are do not take the action you recommend are egoists and are actually the evil of this world causing killers and rapists to multiply. But why are you singling out the questioner and those who might seek peace through other means. Aren’t all of us who have not crossed the barrier egoists? Even those who would take the action you recommend are egoists. Are you saying that those who seek peace through negotiation are more responsible for the killers and rapists?
Rav, I was very impressed with the some of the teachings in your books but became increasingly disillusioned with other teachings that I learned in the bnei baruch classes I took in nyc that appear to be cultish like. When I read your comments, from the Threat of Destruction article I lost confidence that what you are teaching is authentic. Nevertheless, I am still open to the fact that I may be wrong and hence I am very interested to hear from you why my reasoning may be faulty. You seem to display little understanding that what most people in this world would see as extremist might be hard to accept even for one who is seeking truth. I personally have no doubt that there is much more then what I am able to see in this world and that there is some incredible amazing purpose to all this.
I do hope that you can respond to my comments and questions. But also I am interested in why the creator would require us to make decisions that would result in the killings of large numbers of people, including children? The thought of killing anyone is abhorrent to me.
There are children being killed all over the world everyday, many more in countries other then Israel. For example, more children in Iraq have been killed then in Israel. Also your recommendations would lead to the killings of large numbers of children.
But you may argue that in the long run, less children will die if your advice is followed. Certainly being able to see that is much more complicated then the situation you describe.