ed note–again, as we have said here on occasions too numerous to count, the problems with the world today as it spins out of control towards that very same Apocalypse/Armageddon that has been the subject of thousands of years of curious discussion is no mystery at all for those who use the brains given to them by their creator and who apply just a tic’s testicle-sized amount of common sense to the whole picture.
First what needs to be understood about the essay penned by our deranged follower of Judah-ism is that he is not taking things ‘out of context’ as far as what Judah-ism teaches. Nor are these ‘new’ ideas, as some defenders/apologists of Judah-ism will inevitably maintain, whereby someone with a bias and an ‘ax to grind’ has cobbled together bits and pieces of disparate and unconnected ‘protocols’ found within the Torah (Old Testament) and like some religious version of the board game ‘Scrabble,’ has ‘invented’ the whole ‘thou shalt kill’ commandment which serves as the topic of discussion on the part of our deranged Judaic author.
As he himself makes Kristol Clear, Judah-ism, GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO ITS FOUNDING DOCUMENTS, MEANING THE TORAH, does indeed command the ‘children of Israel’–as our deranged Jewish author makes Kristol Clear–
‘You shall utterly destroy them’
and–
‘Do not allow a single soul to live.’
And again, this ‘thou shalt kill’ commandment did not come from the Talmud, from Kabbalah, the Zohar or from Theodore Herzl, but from Moses himself, something that has been sitting there as an open secret for THOUSANDS OF YEARS, SPANNING THE HISTORICAL ENTIRETY OF BOTH THE CHRISTIAN AND ISLAMIC FAITHS TO STUDY AND UNDERSTAND FOR ALL ITS DANGEROUS IMPLICATIONS.
Now, in putting this thing in its proper perspective, all can just imagine what the result would be if a Muslim had penned an identical OpEd entitled ‘Allah wants all Islamic nations to be Jihadist’, and using word for word the exact same argument put forth by our deranged Judaic author…
The organized Jewish interests in control of the mainstream media in America and throughout the West would use this as prima face evidence of the ‘existential threat’ which Islam poses to the rest of the world and the arguments put forth by the ‘jihadist’ would be used as justification for starting new genocidal wars in the Middle East for Israel’s benefit.
Dittoes if this had been penned by a ‘Christian Nationalist’ who made the case that America and the West (being destroyed as they are by the organized forces of anti-Gentilism and their ‘Ju-had’ of ‘woke-ism’, liberalism, immigration, war on the family, etc) need to rise up in ‘holy war’ against those organized Jewish interests who are in the process of ripping the Christian West to shreds, such an essay, as well as its author, would be trotted out in front of the court of public opinion and used as proof of the danger which ‘right-wing’ patriotism poses to the rest of the civilized world…
However, just as it is with ALL things where the ‘children of Israel’ are involved, Christians and Muslims around the world, rather than reading these words for themselves or being on the receiving end of an important sermon from their religious and/or political leaders, will hear ABSOLUTELY NOTHING of the dangerous contents contained in this essay, despite the fact that within it, one can easily see the seeds for Armageddon in Kristol-clear clarity.
Steve Apfel for Israel National News
The Israelites indeed are commanded by their Torah and traditions to wage holy war, and if a bellicose impulse comes upon them, they are allowed to take up arms for plunder or new territory. In order to settle the Promised Land they were commanded to annihilate Seven Nations in Canaan with ‘You shall utterly destroy them’ from the book of Deuteronomy, 20:17.
Failure to do so violates a negative command. ‘Do not allow a single soul to live.’
Another jihadist-sounding command is to ‘remember to destroy the nation of Amelek.’
Note the present tense of the command. The obligation to wipe out the enemies of Israel and of the Jewish people is not bound by time or circumstance.
The Torah is not peaceable at all. Taking someone else’s ancestral land and defending it from their trying to reacquire it leaves no room for pacifism.
Maimonides, the great Jewish scholar, was clear that Judaism mandates Jews to go to war for two purposes. The one is to deal with implacable foes and the other is to expand the boundaries of Israel and to plunder the wealth of the Gentiles.
The army of Israel takes an arsenal of ethical and moral dos and don’ts into battle. Here is not the time or place for them, but to give just one example, before any killing starts Israel must try for peace. If the enemy accepts the terms given by Israel and submits to us taxing them, then the army must pack up and go home.
Jews however will be Jews. Give them basic ground rules and they will build them up like the Tower of Babel. Set a moral bar to clear and they will ratchet it up by notches – higher and higher to make the Gentile nations approve of the Jews more.
Since they have to be a light unto the nations, nothing less than a dazzling LED light will suffice. War is the occasion to parade the Jews’ magnanimity and mercy, to go above and beyond the letter, and the spirit, of the law. Think how impressed the nations will be.
And there’s the rub. ‘Be not over righteous, nor too clever.’ (Ecclesiastes 7:16). And, in the words of Rabbi Shimon b. Lakish: ‘Whoever shows mercy to the cruel will ultimately be cruel to those deserving of mercy.’
Israel’s wars, both ancient and modern, make perfect case studies for those early warnings. They teach that trouble will come to the people of Israel if they bend like a reed in order to win the approval of others. Never mind that it faces enemies which mistake mercy for weakness and bite the hand that feeds.
The sages of the Talmud frown upon allowing a weaker opponent to get the upper hand. If any Jews die because of feeling sorry for a foe it is regarded as a form of suicide. Cain killing the stronger Abel after the latter felt sorry for his brother set the precedent. The law therefore sets limits to mercy. A foe intent on bloodshed loses his right to life.
A pity therefore that Jewish compassion seems ingrained. Treating the enemy mercifully goes against common sense. The astute diplomat, Abba Eban, encapsulated the absurdity after the famous Six-Day War.
‘I think it would be the first war in history that on the morrow the victors sued for peace and the vanquished called for unconditional surrender.’
Quite so, and the looked-for pat on the back at the United Nations did not happen. Indeed displays of mercy fed expectations and demands on Israel to ‘act with restraint.’ Is there another country constantly told, like a pre-recorded message, to rein back the military and not go on to victory?
The Jewish people oblige and handcuff themselves for battle while raising the moral bar.
‘Heaven help us if our moral standard is reduced to not committing crimes against humanity. From my country I demand a lot more.’
Jessica Montell of the Israeli human rights outfit B’Tselem wrote this in the Forward, a publication that gives a platform to Jews on he left who demand more than above-board conduct from Israel – a whole lot more.
Montell’s comments came in the wake of Operation Cast Lead, an urban war involving every hazard imaginable and every trick in the arsenal of Gaza’s crazies. Brought up short by a catalogue of canards, Israel came out bruised but not guilty.
But the halo brigade is insatiable. It wants more, and sets the bar high enough to make it impossible for Israel to clear. The IDF has to be cleaner than clean. And the higher the bar the better the chance of Israel failing to clear it. Deliberately so. For on the sideline the media wait and watch. How high can Israel jump? A mere shiver of the bar transports the court of public opinion into frenzies of scorn and condemnation. And instead of a light unto the nations, Israel becomes the world’s polecat.
Even its supporters are patient only up to a point. They allow Israel to fight back but no more. Outright victory is disallowable.
And what does God think of Israel’s careful wartime conduct? Is He an understanding divinity? It all depends. Are the Jihadists who fire rockets into Israel descended from the Seven Nations in the bible? Would they be among those that Israel is commanded to annihilate? Or are they descendants of Amalek, the enemy of all enemies for all time?
No one really knows. Many do however know that the mini wars which Israel has had to fight in its backyard (Defensive Shield, Cast Lead, Pillar of Defense, Protective Edge, etc) can be traced back to the original sin of treating the Promised Land like a hot potato. Parts won in miraculous victory became land to surrender, land to bargain with and to curry favor.
This has made a strong but magnanimous Israel more hated than a weak Israel. Mayhem and terror and international pariah status have been the wages of sin. Israelis have learned that land for peace does not appease; it emboldens demands for more. The lesson has sunk in that Israel is a people who dwell alone. ‘Palestine from the river to the sea’ echoes in UN corridors and chambers meant to keep nation from warring on nation.
So how does God feel about Israel’s conduct?
A parable in the Talmud relates how a king bestowed gifts and favors on a preferred son. The son took the king’s benevolence for granted and thought of the gifts and favors, when he thought of them, as his rightful due. To court popularity he liberally gave away the gifts, even to people who hated him. Some, plotting to kill the boy, were glad to accept them. By the power of the king, the boy’s life had been saved many times over, but he was unmindful of it.
Was the king angry? Angry is not the word.